Newbie here, need advice on chainsaw selection.

[stillsurfing05]

Every dollar counts in my book too Rob. I've been saving for a long time for this and the Alaskan mill, just want to get it right. I did find a local husq dealer if I need assistance or parts but they can't match this online price.
Many thanks,
Forrest

 

[stillsurfing05]

Rob, pulled the trigger on the 595 could not pass it up, lot of saw for the money compared to other brands. I'm pumped!

 

[rube2112]

You're not going to be disappointed for sure. I've milled with alot of different saws and the 395 xp is easily the best for milling that I've ever used. Robb

 

[stillsurfing05]

Well, I've had my 395xp for about a month and granberg 36" mill ships tomorrow,so I'm slowing getting set up as funds allow. I'm ready to order a 36" bar and ripping chain but notice on the 36" bar the gauge jumps to .063, my 28" bar is .05o is this because the longer bar requiring heavier duty chain? Believe I'll go with the Woodlandpro ripping chain for the 36" as the specs are the same for the bar. any thoughts or sugguestions would be appreciated.
My first milling project may be a tough one. I have access to two live oak trees that have been down for about a year, diameter approx. 30"+/_,
Thanks,

 

[BobL]

. . . I'm ready to order a 36" bar and ripping chain but notice on the 36" bar the gauge jumps to .063, my 28" bar is .05o is this because the longer bar requiring heavier duty chain?

The longer and narrower the chain is the more it will stretch. Longer chains also tend to be driven by more powerful powerhead which can more easily break lighter chains. 28" is about the limit for 050.

 

[stillsurfing05]

Understood, thanks Bob!
Hope to see a book from you soon.
Forrest

 

[jnl50201]

Well how much milling have you done since you got your setup? All the info you got was good except for the part about milling with standard chain. I have never bought milling chain I just refile regular cutting chain and have great results and end up with a good smooth cut. Also good choice of saw. The 395 xp is as good as it gets.

Sent from my RCT6303W87DK using Tapatalk

 

[stillsurfing05]

I've been meaning to post up some pics of the Live Oak and Walnut I've slabbed up but just haven't gotten around to it, hopefully tomorrow as I would like some expert thoughts and opinions, especially on the ripping chain. The chain right out of the box really did well on the Oak, nice big slivers of saw dust but as I had to re sharpen I ended up with more fine dust than those curly slivers I had at first. I took some pics of the chain and hopefully some expert eyes can tell me what I'm missing. I'll go back and re-visit prior posts on sharpening and hopefully get a better understanding on this. I really enjoyed the whole process of slabbing but let me tell ya it's a lot of work!!

 

[BobL]

It looks like you don'y have anywhere near enough hook but the photos are too out of focus and not directly side on enough to say anything definitive.
Photos need to be a closeup, and directly side on as possible like the one below.
Otherwise I cannot make measurements on the cutters in my graphics program.

 

[stillsurfing05]

Thanks Bob, I'll take a few and post em up.

 

[stillsurfing05]

Bob, is this better?

 

[stillsurfing05]

Black Walnut I slabbed up last week. Ended up with four 2" slabs and two 1" slabs. I have one more tree to take down which is roughly 36" in diameter but that will have to wait till fall when it's not 96 degrees outside! Notice the piles of fine saw dust? Need to improve on my sharpening skills.

 

[BlueRider]

You might want to consider cutting your slabs a bit thicker. I cut most stuff I mill at 2 1/4" thick and by the time its dry it shrinks down to a bit over 2". After surfacing those slabs that I mill at 2 1/4" inch finish out at 1 3/4"- 1 7/8" depending on the amount of warp, and that is for a slab that dries with very little warp. Different woods shrink a bit more or a bit less but at 2" the difference isn't enough to worry about. It really depends what you intend to do with your wood but leaving yourself the most options for later takes a bit planning now.

 

[BobL]

Bob, is this better?

Focus is better and confirms you don't have enough hook, but the camera has to be much closer to 90• to the chain in all directions. Look again at my photo above. There should not be any side on or vertical angle to the shot.

 

[stillsurfing05]

Sorry Bob, hear we go.

 

[BobL]

That's better.

Firstly your rakers are too high.

Go to the Milling 101 thread which is a sticky at the top of this forum and ready the last few pages of the thread.
start at this post (#106) http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/cs-milling-101-hints-tips-and-tricks.93458/page-6
In that thread and elsewhere I refer to "raker angle" -its not the angle across the top of the raker tip, because that should still be curved.
Instead it's the angle made by the blue lines in the picture - the top but line is parallel to the bar
As a "general guide" the raker depth "D" should be 1/10th of the gullet width "G"
Remember this is a general guide - your depth will vary with, type of wood, power of saw, length of bar etc Ultimately you need to determine what they should be.

The next thing that is incorrect is the lack of hook the red lines shows what you should have.
The technical name for this is top plate filing angle.
This angle is really important because it goes hand in hand with the raker angle, too little and you will need to push much harder than necessary, too much and the chain will bog down.
Here are a couple of cutters showing more like what they should look like.

 

[009L]

Tag

 

[stillsurfing05]

Got it Bob..Thanks so much for the info. I'll go to the 101 thread and follow and post any questions I have. I do have a few questions on file size for the 3/8" chain so I'll check in tomorrow .
Best,
Forrest

 

[BobL]

Got it Bob..Thanks so much for the info. I'll go to the 101 thread and follow and post any questions I have. I do have a few questions on file size for the 3/8" chain so I'll check in tomorrow .

Once again there no hard and fast rule on files. I always recommend starting with the chain manufacturers recommendation and varying the file size slightly up and down from there.

The second thing that affects the hook is if you use a "file guide" and if that guide is made for a specific file size or can be adjusted up and down relative to the top plate of the cutter.

On the LHS of the picture below you can see the effect of using the same size file and changing the file height relative to the top of the cutter.
Lower down (Red) makes more hook, through to the blue, higher up, as the least hook.

On the RHS you can see the effect of using small and large files.
For the filing all done at the same height, larger file (Red) makes more hook etc

You have to experiment in an incremental way to find what suits your setup.


More powerful saws can handle lower rakers and greater hook, finish may suffer a little but I've found operator skill is just as important as these factors.
There's always a trade off with these things because greater hook will also go blunt faster .

 

[abbott295]

BobL, again, thanks for your excellent graphics. I had understood about how file size and file height affect hook; this last graphic makes the point quite graphically. This should be helpful for many.