Norwood Portamill?

[Gypo Logger]

Are there any Norwood chainsaw mill owners out there? Im thinking of getting one to mill some 8x2x16 ft rafters for a log home. Thanks in advance for any input.
John

 

[Trx250r180]

Are there any Norwood chainsaw mill owners out there? Im thinking of getting one to mill some 8x2x16 ft rafters for a log home. Thanks in advance for any input.
John

i have one ,i made a wooden frame to hold it square out of 2x6 layed flat on the ground ,then once i leveled it out it makes nice lumber,i mounted it to my car trailer and that was a nice table for it ,a cement slab will be poured later so i have nice flat ground for it ,chisel chain was a real rough finish ,once i got ripping chain ,i got really nice boards ,here is mine ,it takes all the work out of milling with a saw

also take you west coast dogs off when milling as seen in this video towards end they may hang up on the wane

[video=youtube;3KMyV2I8fNc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KMyV2I8fNc[/video]

 

[Trx250r180]

after i make my kants ,i stand em up and cut my boards ,i can cut down to 1/2 inch thick and be same size at both ends for cedar siding or fence boards ,it says 20 inch bar is recomended in directions ,i run a 28 inch ,but have to freehand rip the sides off the log so it fits in the dogs for bigger logs

also for 16 foot beams you will need a 19 or 20 foot ladder length ,longest i could find in town in stock was 16 foot ,so i am limited to 13 foot beams max right now unless i loosen and slide the beam down the rollers mid cut ,you lose 1.5 feet at each end of ladder from size of powerhead roller table

[video=youtube;PEgumVm0BVM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgumVm0BVM[/video]

 

[Gypo Logger]

Thanks for taking the time to show your mill. It seems the max butt dia is 14", will the mill make anything larger than an 8x8? If it could do a 9x8 you could probably get 4 2x8 boards.
Thanks
John

 

[Trx250r180]

Thanks for taking the time to show your mill. It seems the max butt dia is 14", will the mill make anything larger than an 8x8? If it could do a 9x8 you could probably get 4 2x8 boards.
Thanks
John

I can cut 20 or 22 ish slabs if i notch rhe bottom of the log to fit the dogs,if thei freehand rip the sides of a 30 inch log off ,so sides are flat when start,can mill bigger logs,but ypu waste some wood doing this,i will see if i have a pic of what i am trying to explain tomaro

 

[Gypo Logger]

Thanks again for the quick response. That's good to know one can fit a bigger stick on the mill. It seems to have the Alaskan mill beat in many ways. Are the rollers that engage the ladder plastic or metal?
I have a saw driven bandmill by Ripsaw but it takes a lot of setup time.
John

 

[Trx250r180]

here is a cedar slab ,with my 28 inch bar looks like about 20 inches ,you can see the rough sides where i freehand made the kant




heres what i have to do with bigger logs ,rip the sides off ,but then i have a tall kant to work with

this saw has 32 inch bar for reference on log size ,i was able to set this log on ,then start slicing slabs off

View attachment 317595View attachment 317596

 

[Trx250r180]

Thanks again for the quick response. That's good to know one can fit a bigger stick on the mill. It seems to have the Alaskan mill beat in many ways. Are the rollers that engage the ladder plastic or metal?
I have a saw driven bandmill by Ripsaw but it takes a lot of setup time.
John

mine are plastic rollers ,i don't sweat at all milling with this ,it takes all the work out of milling ,i have a small skid steer with forks for setting the logs on the mill ,in the bigger logs i do have to cut a notch in bottom of log ,enough to get the dogs in to lock it solid ,4-6 inches on bottom ,so the last slab has some waste ,i bet i could get a 16x16 beam if i wanted to ,if i am making board and batton ,i cut a 10-12 inch kant ,stand it up tall ways ,then start slicing my boards ,the extra oiler is a must ,the bar gets real hot without it ,the only weight on the rollers is the powerhead ,i have not had one fail yet ,being plastic they don't rust or need lubed


i could not see log pics so reposting here

View attachment 317597View attachment 317598

 

[Trx250r180]

View attachment 317599View attachment 317600

try again here ,i can not see them in my other posts

 

[Gypo Logger]

I guess what Im not understanding is how you cut the cant when its standing on end. The max cant I need here would be a 9x8 x 16'

 

[Trx250r180]

I guess what Im not understanding is how you cut the cant when its standing on end. The max cant I need here would be a 9x8 x 16'

i start with a round log for example ,set it on the 2 rollers ,there's 2 ways i do this that works for me ,1 traditional make a square ,cut the first pass ,flip it over so the flat spot is on the roller dogs ,then make a second pass ,now top and bottom of log are flat ,,now rotate the log 90 degrees so the flats are on the sides ,in this pic you can see metal levers to hold log square ,on rh side the lever has a bolt like off a c-clamp so you can sinch it tight ,now cut the wane off the top ,then flip 180 ,cut the other wane and you are square ,i get more wood waste this way View attachment 317607View attachment 317608

the way i do now to get less waste ,i set the log on the rollers ,then just slab it like an alaska mill would ,then stand the slabs up tall ways and cut my boards off the slab ,so if i am cutting 2x6 i will cut a 6 inch slab ,stand it up tall ways ,then make a 2 inch cut from top and get my board ,this method is pretty quick for popping boards out,here is the mill mocked up in my shop to see the dogs ,i use a longer ladder now than these pics

View attachment 317610View attachment 317611View attachment 317612

 

[Trx250r180]

here is how i make tall boards like 2x16 ,cut slabs ,then stand the slabs up ,cut the wane off ,then measure 8 inch down ,cut your first board ,flip the bottom one over cut the wane off ,for the second 2x8

View attachment 317613View attachment 317614View attachment 317615View attachment 317616

 

[Trx250r180]

are my photo's showing ? they upload on my end ,but i can not see in the post

 

[lmbeachy]

I can't see them either,n but I certainly would like to.

 

[Dave Boyt]

Junk Man, thanks for posting the info and the link to the youtube video. Look forward to seeing the photos. I've seen the porta-milll, but never actually used one. Seems like a good design to keep the user back from the chain saw a bit. Do you think the mill could be configured to cut bigger (5' diameter) logs, possibly with a second ladder on the other side for a fixture to support the tip of the bar (I realize that you'd need to keep both ladders perfectly parallel)?

 

[Trx250r180]

I guess what Im not understanding is how you cut the cant when its standing on end. The max cant I need here would be a 9x8 x 16'

Did you ever get one of these John ? I realize the thread is a couple years old now ,just got a notification for it so followed up .

 

[Gypo Logger]

Did you ever get one of these John ? I realize the thread is a couple years old now ,just got a notification for it so followed up .

Not yet Brian, but hope to soon.

 

[babybart]

Did you ever get one of these John ? I realize the thread is a couple years old now ,just got a notification for it so followed up .

You have any problem with squareness due to the longer bar flexing since it is only attached to the mill on one end? I wanted to get one of theses that concern held me back. Also anyway you could repost the pics that are missing?

 

[Trx250r180]

You have any problem with squareness due to the longer bar flexing since it is only attached to the mill on one end? I wanted to get one of theses that concern held me back. Also anyway you could repost the pics that are missing?

A 28 inch cannon is what i am running now ,it is the stiffest bar i have found so far ,has a 32 inch oregon before that it was not too bad ,i get better cuts with the cannon though ,i used to have to run an extra oiler with a .050 guage bar it was getting hot without it ,since i wapped to .063 and .404 it oils fine without the extra oiler with a 660 stihl .
It will not let me edit my post for images because the thread is so old ,but here are a few .
I have the mill bolted to a skid i made of 3 6x12 beams so i could keep the mill square and in a strait line ,a flatbed trailer is something flat to mount it to also if have one .

This is about as big a log i can mill ,this one is 13 feet long ,to do 16 feet i need a longer ladder ,i have a 16 foot ladder ,but you lose a little each end due to the saw carriage ,
,what i do first is slice off some slabs ,if making 1x6 or 2x6 i cut 5 1/2 inch thick slabs ,when you get about a third of the way into the cut ,you want to add wedges behind the saw to keep the slab from pinching the bar ,this makes a nicer finish in the boards also .
Here is some fence boards from cedar ,6x6 and 2x6

 

[Trx250r180]

Here is a 6x12 beam i milled it was 16 foot long ,so i milled 13-6 then slid it back and finished the cuts to get 16 foot for a header for my porch ,material is douglas fir .

Here is a cut after a slab was made