bar stud mount alaskan style mill?

[scott fowler]

any one built an Alaskan style mill mounted to bar studs to maximize useable bar for milling.would like to set up my 20 inch bar saw for milling small logs but in order to support end of bar I would have more useable bar by mounting to bar mount studs on side cover and making a glide plate tight to saw to protect it. just thinking out loud and would like input or pictures from those who have done it

 

[IyaMan]

In considering the bar stud mounting, you may only increase the width by half an inch or so. You will still need some sort glide plate in there to not just go against the side of the wood, but to also support the whole rack (remember, the studs would be on the bottom of the saw when milling, and on the Alaskan the rack slides over the log above the bar). Also, when clamped to the studs, if you are also connected at the bar tip somehow then you won't be able to easily adjust the chain tension without also either adjusting the connecting point at the bar tip or by extending the width of the whole mill.

@BobL on his big mill has a stud mount, but he also has custom chain-tensioner out on the bar tip. Its a really cool set-up, but probably only worth doing on a big mill and a big saw (his 880 also has an inboard clutch, so he can remove the clutch cover to clamp on the studs)

Though, if you use the "Small Log Mill" by Granberg, there is only a connection on the engine side, not at the tip, so you can get more cut width with this, but also less support and more chance for an uneven cut.

I have the "Small mill" by Granberg and on my 20" bar I made my own nose clamp set-up. Just used some angle iron, a u-bolt, and put a 6mm (1/4") screw through the sprocket center to maximize the width (instead of clamping on the bar, which would be done below the tip sprocket). This stabilizes the bar much better than the single clamp, and gives an extra inch+ instead of clamping on the bar tip.

I have seen set-ups with a stud mount where the saw slides on fixed rails that are below the log, but this isn't quite an Alaskan style mill and more of what is done by Logosol. You may want to look for some home-made Logosol-style mills if looking to do stud mount.

 

[BobL]

Nearly all my mills are done this was.
The is the all Ally BIL mill with the 076
One of the two bolts you see is reflection of the other
There's also the other bar bolt on the other side of the curved place very close to the reflection.


Here it is with the temporary clutch cover that became permanent

Same mill modified to take the 880
The 880 has a longer clutch to dog distance so a spacer plate was needed or the


All steel mill with the o76, this is with the outboard chain tensioner

Now with 880




Here's my mini-mill example.
This clamps onto the bar AND bar bolts, providing for excellent rigidity of the saw in the vertical position.


If I was making any mill these days I would use the bar bolts as a major anchoring point.

 

[Czech_Made]

^^^Clever!^^^

 

[IyaMan]

@BobL you are in a class of your own.

If you can re-post a close up of the bar nose chain tensioner, I'm sure all would appreciate. (but to tension the chain on the vertical mini-mill, do you just adjust/loosen the bar clamp ?)

 

[BobL]

@BobL you are in a class of your own.

Thanks

If you can re-post a close up of the bar nose chain tensioner, I'm sure all would appreciate.

(but to tension the chain on the vertical mini-mill, do you just adjust/loosen the bar clamp ?)

Yes

 

[Mad Professor]

any one built an Alaskan style mill mounted to bar studs to maximize useable bar for milling.would like to set up my 20 inch bar saw for milling small logs but in order to support end of bar I would have more useable bar by mounting to bar mount studs on side cover and making a glide plate tight to saw to protect it. just thinking out loud and would like input or pictures from those who have done it

Why do you need anything on the tip end with a 20" bar". I use 25" on my logosol with nothing on the end and boards are square

 

[Yellowbeard]

Well I guess this answers my question from the other thread. Thanks for posting all the pics, bobl!

 

[Yellowbeard]

BobL, can you tell me more about what's going on with the tensioner in these two pictures? What am I looking at?

 

[Yellowbeard]

BobL, I know you're the world's ultimate scrounger. Where do I get spare roller tips for this? Just order one? Just buy an old bar from somewhere? I am going to the drawing board on this.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Like, could I just get something like one of these and use it? Any reason not to?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHAINSAW-BA...fc796c&pid=100005&rk=2&rkt=18&sd=231878148105

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHAINSAW-BA...148105?hash=item35fd03c009:g:Og8AAMXQZdFRH-hR

I assume they don't have to match the brand of bar I am using or anything. Correct?

 

[Yellowbeard]

Also realizing that I am going to have trouble implementing your detached adjustable roller tip on my existing roller-tip bar. Hmmmmm......

 

[BobL]

FWIW the separate nose is a roller (not a sprocket) so I can use either 404 or 3/8 (all my long bars are like this) but otherwise these is no reason why you couldn't use a rocket nose. The bar being used is a hard nosed bar. I could also be a roller nose but it should not be a sprocket nose especially if there is the separate nose is a sprocket as their could be a mismatch between the positions of the two sprockets.
The other benefit of using a hard nose is that B2 blow can be close to the end of the bar to maximise cutting width.

I got the roller nose from a GB agent here in Oz and it was the last ones he had and could source as they are no longer being made. you could also take a sprocket nose apart and cut the teeth of a sprocket.


Above shows the setup before a few fancier bits were added - note lighter springs in these pics compare to above which shows much HD springs.
B2 on the bar nose fixes the bar to the mill frame - that bolt is only touched to replace the chain.
The short piece of hex bar (B3) is connected by a bolt to s similar piece of hex bar underneath.
The bolts (B) that tension the chain pass through holes in the hex bar.
The separate nose is bolted to a T-slider that rides in a slot (S) underneath and locks that nose to the slot via bolt L.


To adjust the chain tension, bolt L is loosened and the two B bolts are tensioned.

Swapping a chain involves removing the top most bolt B and bolt B2, loosening the chain and slipping the chain between the bar nose and mill frame.

If I was making it again I would make the whole tensioner with the mill frame component on top of the bar so B2 would not need to be removed to replace the chain.

 

[BobL]

I had a spare roller nose but I used it to turn a 60" Stihl bar from a sprocket to a roller nose bar.
I made two adapters - a prototype (RHS) out of MS plate, and the other from a circular saw blade that had lost a few teeth because that steel was about as hard as as he bar rails.

 

[CR888]

Bob we know you don't think your ideas and work is overly clever or special but it is and you are. Hope your feeling good & health is up. Great stuff.

 

[BobL]

Hope your feeling good & health is up. Great stuff.

I am feeling a bit tired but otherwise OK.
However, further scanning and testing in the last few weeks has shown I many "lumps;" in my lungs, chest cavity and abdomen.
The lumps are up to 3/8" in size and there may be more that are too small for the scans to see.
It's a long story, not to mention the expense , but the radiologists think I might have either lymphoma or something called sarcoidosis and I'm undergoing further tests .
Sarcoidosis cannot be tested for and is only determined once everything else has been eliminated.
If if comes to a choice I'd rather have the sarcoidosis as most people get over this without any treatment although severe forms can lead to organ failure.
The worst part is not knowing what it is. Once I have the further tests the lumps will be biopsied but that will take a couple of weeks.

Other than that I feel good enough to start milling again in the near future.
,

 

[Yellowbeard]

OK, so I am now realizing (for the first time) that there is a difference between a sprocket nose and a roller nose. My guess is that a sprocket has "teeth" as it were that are engaging the chain and a roller is just a wheel with a groove much like the bar. Is this correct? If so, why prefer one over the other? I am sure there is a reason; I am asking what that reason is.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Also, I just saw your other post. I was unaware that you were having health issues. However, I get the part about "the worst is not knowing." Last year around this time I went for an ultrasound of my heart (which turned out fine) but while looking the tech found "some spots" on my liver, which is a bit funny because I was joking with her about how things looked and she never said anything or gave any indications (they're not allowed to do so). "Some spots" turned out to be a softball sized mass which took up about 40% of liver real estate. However, after a LOT of looking and scanning it was determined to probably be something called a "giant, cavernous hemangioma" (and mine is TRULY a giant - haven't even been able to find literature describing them as this big) which is benign and likely nothing to particularly worry about (though I still have to have more scans this year some time to make sure it hasn't changed).

But those couple of weeks of not knowing is pretty tough, so I feel for you. I hope everything turns out OK and that you are treatable and treated. Look at it this way: at least you're not in Yank land where you'd have to pay $1000 every time you got a scan.

 

[blades]

Minimum rate a few years back was $1600 around here, that has increased since then. We do have a few of the scan only clinics which are about 1/2 the cost of the hospitals and healthcare conglomerates, but the Hosp. and Congl. will not always accept those scans. They tell you that they can't read them which is of course pasture droppings. ( this was mid 2000's I could pull the images from the cd up on my 1980's win 97 box with out a problem) Personal experience.

 

[BobL]

OK, so I am now realizing (for the first time) that there is a difference between a sprocket nose and a roller nose. My guess is that a sprocket has "teeth" as it were that are engaging the chain and a roller is just a wheel with a groove much like the bar. Is this correct?

yes

If so, why prefer one over the other? I am sure there is a reason; I am asking what that reason is.

With a sprocket nose you must use a chain with the same chain pitch as the nose whereas with a roller you can use any pitch i.e. 3/8 or 404.

FWIW In the last 5 months I have had 3 CAT scans, an Ultrasound, a PET scan, 6 rounds of blood testing, visited the GP about a dozen times and seen 3 specialist (Kidney, Neurologist twice , Lung). The PET scan cost ~AUS$1500 and the CAT scans are ~AUS$550 each. I've paid for slightly less than half of two of the CAT scans, while the blood tests, and other scans were fully covered by compulsory medical Insurance. The specialist visits are about $350 and I get just under half back from insurance, The GP visits are $80 - $120 each and I get back ~ 1/3rd from insurance. During the same time I've also accrued about AUS$2000 worth of dental expenses which additional private medical insurance has reimbursed about half.

I have also now reached a medical expense threshold for the year whereby the government medical insurance will cover a bit more on GP and specialists visits and all my scans for the rest of the year are fully covered. I will probably have some hospital expenses in the next few months so with private MI I could use a private hospital (less waiting) but the public hospitals are just as good.