Milling times

[jredjim]

I was milling some red oak today 21 1/2"squared cant 10' long, is 10-12 min. a good time for one pass?. Stihl 088 , .404 semi chisel.

Jim

 

[dustytools]

I was milling some red oak today 21 1/2"squared cant 10' long, is 10-12 min. a good time for one pass?. Stihl 088 , .404 semi chisel.

Jim

If my math is right ,thats about an inch every 5 seconds or so. In 21 -1/2" Red Oak with .404 chain I would say thats not too bad. You could switch out to .375 and gain a little time.

 

[jredjim]

Ok I just wasn't sure if that was comerable to everyone else of I was really draggin A$$.

 

[dustytools]

Ok I just wasn't sure if that was comerable to everyone else of I was really draggin A$$.

Speed when milling with a chainsaw can be changed by things like type of chain, sharpness of chain, number of teeth in your drive sprocket, etc... Oak is one of the toughest woods to mill with a chainsaw and will be slow going especially when its that wide. Keep that chain sharpened every pass or two and dont get discouraged. I started milling with .404 chain and switched to .375 after some of the more experienced guys here told me about the gains in speed and the slightly narrower kerf.

 

[Zodiac45]

Speed when milling with a chainsaw can be changed by things like type of chain, sharpness of chain, number of teeth in your drive sprocket, etc... Oak is one of the toughest woods to mill with a chainsaw and will be slow going especially when its that wide. Keep that chain sharpened every pass or two and dont get discouraged. I started milling with .404 chain and switched to .375 after some of the more experienced guys here told me about the gains in speed and the slightly narrower kerf.

+1 Totally agree. This same theory being the reason that you'll see LowProfile or .325 narrow kerf on some long bar that you wouldn't think of. Pin sharpness is got too be a must, along with the trade off of the angle of your cutting tooth. The less the angle 10 degree or less the slower but smoother your cut. The greater the angle 10+ too a normal bucking chain of 30 degrees the faster you'll cut but the rougher the surface. As Dusty also said your drive sprocket (if you have the saw too pull it) can give you an advantage in chain speed too. The Pro's here have all found what works best for them in a given situation I'd imagine. For instance if you were going to resaw and plane your boards later, then why bother too go for the smoothest (slowest) surface.

 

[Nikko]

Here's a few cutting times for my rig (Husky 2100, 37" Oregon bar, sprocket tip, 3/8 x .058 Carleton A2EP-RP ripping chain sharpened to 10*):

green Hemlock, 16" wide, lineal speed about 1 inch/second.
Chain lasted about 80 lineal feet (maybe a bit more).

green Western Red cedar, 14 - 16" wide" wide, lineal speed about 1 inch/second.
Chain lasted about 100 lineal feet (or more - it was still cutting fine)

English Walnut 16 - 18" wide, lineal speed about 1" every 2 seconds.
Chain lasted about 80 lineal feet.

Copper beech, 30" wide, lineal speed about 1" every 5-8 seconds
Chain lasted about 35' lineal feet (max).


Nikko

 

[deeker]

Speed when milling with a chainsaw can be changed by things like type of chain, sharpness of chain, number of teeth in your drive sprocket, etc... Oak is one of the toughest woods to mill with a chainsaw and will be slow going especially when its that wide. Keep that chain sharpened every pass or two and dont get discouraged. I started milling with .404 chain and switched to .375 after some of the more experienced guys here told me about the gains in speed and the slightly narrower kerf.

Tell me about the "number of teeth", more teeth??? I use a 088 when I use the CSM on the large logs. My band saw handles up to a 24" finish cut from a 31" log.

I wholeheartedly agree with the narrower chain, I have used the square skip tooth chisel, when I am in a hurry to split it for the mill. But there are times when I want the widest cut possible that won't ever see the band saw. A lot of work, suggestions?

Thanks

Kevin

 

[guitarborist]

I run a full comp on my csm. Sharpening sucks with so many cutter to sharpen but the cut is supposed to be better, I have not tried to run a skip tooth.

With the 42" hard nose bar I cut 28" of Siberian elm at approx. .5" per second. With a 10 degree cutter, full comp .404 chain, 075 head. I cut through the same wood only 12" wide with a 17" hard nose bar and the same chain and head at approx 2" per sec. I think the short bar really helps. I really want to see what the change to .325 chain will do.

 

[Zodiac45]

Tell me about the "number of teeth", more teeth??? I use a 088 when I use the CSM on the large logs. My band saw handles up to a 24" finish cut from a 31" log.

I wholeheartedly agree with the narrower chain, I have used the square skip tooth chisel, when I am in a hurry to split it for the mill. But there are times when I want the widest cut possible that won't ever see the band saw. A lot of work, suggestions?

Thanks

Kevin

Kevin,

He's talking about the drive sprocket on your saw. Most (I believe) come standard with a 7 tooth spur or rim (floater) drive sprocket. There are others available with 8, 9 "teeth" for example, that would give you essentially higher gearing and higher chain speed. The 088 probably has plenty of grunt too pull a larger sprocket, but the chain speed comes at the cost of a bit of pulling power. More chain speed, faster cut, if the saw can hold that chain speed in a given size of cut.

 

[dustytools]

Kevin,

He's talking about the drive sprocket on your saw. Most (I believe) come standard with a 7 tooth spur or rim (floater) drive sprocket. There are others available with 8, 9 "teeth" for example, that would give you essentially higher gearing and higher chain speed. The 088 probably has plenty of grunt too pull a larger sprocket, but the chain speed comes at the cost of a bit of pulling power. More chain speed, faster cut, if the saw can hold that chain speed in a given size of cut.

Yep!

 

[deeker]

I just changed a needle bearing in the 088 and it does have a 7 sprocket drive. I ordered a couple of larger ones from my local Stihl dealer. Might even have an advantage with some of the large cottonwoods I am felling. Over 55" at the base.

Thanks guys.
I learn something everyday.

Kevin

 

[woodshop]

There was a thread a while back about milling speeds, lots of input on it... but the speeds posted here are about what I get in similar wood. As all have said though, LOTS of variables, not the least of which is how sharp the chain is. I've found that (more so with milling than standard cutting) as soon as the chain even starts to get dull it slows down milling a LOT and gets frustrating. So keeping a sharp chain is essential. Since I don't want to waste time sharpening in the field, I always take several sharp chains and then just swap them out as they get dull. Also, for my 36 in bar, although it does give a slightly rougher finish, I use skip tooth, and it seems to go faster. Also, less to sharpen of course.

 

[deeker]

I agree with several sharp chains being on hand. But on the long bars 48" and above, I would almost prefer to sharpen than change. Keeping the bar tip at the right angle, in line and all the fun stuff leads to :censored: :censored: alway with a witness too.

Kevin

 

[Nikko]

Bar tip at the right angle?

Could you explain?

Nikko

 

[Zodiac45]

There was a thread a while back about milling speeds, lots of input on it... but the speeds posted here are about what I get in similar wood. As all have said though, LOTS of variables, not the least of which is how sharp the chain is. I've found that (more so with milling than standard cutting) as soon as the chain even starts to get dull it slows down milling a LOT and gets frustrating. So keeping a sharp chain is essential. Since I don't want to waste time sharpening in the field, I always take several sharp chains and then just swap them out as they get dull. Also, for my 36 in bar, although it does give a slightly rougher finish, I use skip tooth, and it seems to go faster. Also, less to sharpen of course.

Interesting about the skip tooth. It's got too be the fact that your saw is pulling the skip chain faster. Full comp chain is always faster than skip given the same conditions or rather rpm. Where skip has shone was in it's ability to clear chips better and of course run faster on longer bars where the saw had an easier time pulling it.

 

[woodshop]

Interesting about the skip tooth. It's got too be the fact that your saw is pulling the skip chain faster. Full comp chain is always faster than skip given the same conditions or rather rpm. Where skip has shone was in it's ability to clear chips better and of course run faster on longer bars where the saw had an easier time pulling it.

Since I usually only use the csm to slab and get the log into cants small enough for the Ripsaw, I'm not concerned with how smooth the surface is. After trying different combos over the years, I found that the fastest ripping is with Oregon 75JG, which is skip version of their standard round chisel chain. It doesn't seem to get as dull as quickly as the Bailey's milling chain I used to use, and definitely is faster down the log. Don't know why or how, but experience has shown me it is the fastest. Somewhat rougher surface than with my millling chain sure, but again, I'm not concerned with that when just milling cants. My goal when milling is to mill the most bd ft of lumber, sawn the orientation I want (quartersawn, riftsawn or flatsawn), in the shortest amount of time. I plan the various parts of my milling session around that goal. Again, that means having spare chains to quickly swap out if I hit hardware etc... plenty of bandsaw blades, tools and part so I'm not down long or worse case for the day... and generally try to keep it organized and keep the way I do things standardized, so it goes as smoothly as can be under the particular circumstances. I hate reinventing the wheel to myself, and since I find I forget things more and more these days, I try and write them down, or organized them such that I can't forget it, because it's in the way if I do. In my book, about the worse case scenario milling (other than a serious injury or dropping a tree on a BMW) is driving an hour to a log, getting set up and you either have equipment failure or you're missing a key component that kills the day. I can handle the log turning out to be a dud, full or bugs or whatever... nature of the beast. But to fail because equipment was not prepared and checked or you're not organized and so you leave something important at home... that's a very bad day for me.

 

[Zodiac45]

Since I usually only use the csm to slab and get the log into cants small enough for the Ripsaw, I'm not concerned with how smooth the surface is. After trying different combos over the years, I found that the fastest ripping is with Oregon 75JG, which is skip version of their standard round chisel chain. It doesn't seem to get as dull as quickly as the Bailey's milling chain I used to use, and definitely is faster down the log. Don't know why or how, but experience has shown me it is the fastest. Somewhat rougher surface than with my millling chain sure, but again, I'm not concerned with that when just milling cants. My goal when milling is to mill the most bd ft of lumber, sawn the orientation I want (quartersawn, riftsawn or flatsawn), in the shortest amount of time. I plan the various parts of my milling session around that goal. Again, that means having spare chains to quickly swap out if I hit hardware etc... plenty of bandsaw blades, tools and part so I'm not down long or worse case for the day... and generally try to keep it organized and keep the way I do things standardized, so it goes as smoothly as can be under the particular circumstances. I hate reinventing the wheel to myself, and since I find I forget things more and more these days, I try and write them down, or organized them such that I can't forget it, because it's in the way if I do. In my book, about the worse case scenario milling (other than a serious injury or dropping a tree on a BMW) is driving an hour to a log, getting set up and you either have equipment failure or you're missing a key component that kills the day. I can handle the log turning out to be a dud, full or bugs or whatever... nature of the beast. But to fail because equipment was not prepared and checked or you're not organized and so you leave something important at home... that's a very bad day for me.

+1 Woodshop, Yep I've read your post on how you mill a log and it's very detailed and organised. There's no substitute for experiance and your lumber pile is proof of that! 75JG is .063 gauge? Do you find any difference in kerf between a .050 gauge or .063? Probably negledgable. I'd love to try a loop of the Stihl PMX that the Logosol guys use but it's pretty hard to come by and I don't know if my 3/8s set would run it?

 

[woodshop]

... 75JG is .063 gauge? Do you find any difference in kerf between a .050 gauge or .063? Probably negledgable.

Actually, chain gauge (yes you are correct, 75JG is .063) is the drive link's thickness where it fits into the guide-bar groove. Has little to do with size of kerf. Pitch on the other hand does. I run .375 (3/8) chain, and some do use the thinner 3/8LP which does give you a slightly less kerf. However, although some of the Logosol guys here might disagree, running 3/8LP on anything over say 24" scares me and I run a 36 inch bar mostly. Not enough metal and strength to handle the stress of a bar that long with a chainsaw that powerful... chain more likely to break, and when it does you better hope your hand/arm/face are not in it's path. I think aggie and others here have run .325, more beef than .375LP but still not standard .375.

 

[Matildasmate]

I was milling some red oak today 21 1/2"squared cant 10' long, is 10-12 min. a good time for one pass?. Stihl 088 , .404 semi chisel.

Jim

Times sound pretty good to me , but where are the pic's , I cant find them:hmm3grin2orange: Cheers MM