Thread: Tough Day Milling Elm

Great thread Danivan. I have major wood envy. All the elms up here in Northern New York are lost to the Dutch elm disease as soon as the bark starts to get a little rough it seems. I have a bunch in the eight to ten inch range on my property that have died off in the last two years, the good ones I will mill and the others will be firewood.

I love that Photo Dan, . . . orange sawdust and blue sky, ocean & city in the background. . .

Re: Dust mask

The only time I've felt the need to wear a organic vapor mask while milling was using a 3120 running 25:1 mix on windless days - the exhaust fumes made me feel quite ill. As soon as we switched to 40:1 this problem seemed to reduce quite a bit but one of course does not know and there could have been some effect going on that my senses could not detect. The other thing I noticed was that the 3120 warmed my legs a bit more than I liked. To some extent all saws with with forward facing mufflers where the exhaust bounces off the log will have these problems. I haven't experienced this that badly with the 440 or the 660, probably because I haven't milled for long periods with either saw. I do notice the air is generally clearer around me when when I switch from the 440/660 to the 076/880 on the same day.

In the case of dust, maybe it's our timber but dust does not seem to be a problem to me that I know about. My standard cumulative detector is the "size and color of boogers test". These are always smaller after a day of milling than I seem to get after an hour of wood turning, even though I have a dust collector running while I'm turning. Of course, once again stuff could be happening I'm not seeing.

I guess all this is a good argument for a winch

Thanjks for all the kind comments.

I think I'm fortunate to have easy access to this type of wood for free. I'm sure it'll come to an end someday, with city budgets being tight and all, but I understand the city has been allowing it since the 70's.

Mesh goggles! Brilliant! Thank you for pointing that out to me, I will order up a pair ASAP.

On the 2100 I normally use a 36" bar, my mill will permit me to mill about 31" wide. I also have a 60" bar, the 2100 seems up to the task, but the operator finds it to be waaaay more work, so a helper is essential with the bigger bar!

I wear the vapour mask it it seems like cheap insurance, but I do find sometimes still feeling a bit woozy at the end of the day. It depends a lot on which way the wind is blowing.

I got a chip that wouldn't come out in my eye last year. I had to go to the eye doctor to get it taken out. Ironically the piece came out while I was sitting in her waiting room, but I still got a tongue lashing from her!

Dan

Could you get away with only doing one side - that is, the one that the chain 'pulls' through? Seems like it wouldn't be all that critical to get the other as the cut goes from clean wood out....