Thread: Yet another CMS - first post

I've been lurking on this site for several months and gaining a lot of useful information about CSM. So I thought I should say hi, join the site and contribute especially now that I have something useful in the form of a CSM that I sort of finished last night.

The chain saw shown is my brother-in-law's ancient (1972) McChulloch with a 16" blade. For the moment this is all I have although I might soon be getting access to a Husky with a 24" balde.

Being in too much of rush I didn't wait for the paint to harden so there has been some cosmetic damage during assembly - no big deal, I might give it a bit of a touch up but it'll soon get dinged up anyway.

Because I spend a lot of time at my day job in meetings where I stay focussed by planning my next tool project, it may be a wee bit over-engineered for what it does.

The main differences between this and other mills I have seen around are;

- it can be adjusted to accomodate CS bars from 16 to 24 ". This is done by loosening the lock nuts and turning a horizontal piece of allthread, the mill then expands on the RHS up to a bar length of 24". The reason I have kept it this small is I only have access to small logs. If an when I see a need to tackle big stuff I will either make a whole new mill or make an new RHS for this mill that will allow it to handle say a 24 to 36" bar.

- The outer part of the blade is held at its tip by a single ended clamping arrangement. The way this is done has the effect of tucking the whole bar tip well under the mill and much less bar and chain is exposed hopefully making it safer.

The main handle is horizontal and is permanently welded in place. A second horizontal handle rides on the horizontal allthread and can be locked into any position within in the range of available allthread. The vertical handle is an ally handlebar mount post from the remains of a racing bicycle. The black handle cover material is hot water pipe insulation.

At the moment the allthread adjustments are done with a spanner but I have some small cranks in production.

I anyone would like to close ups details I am happy to provide pictures.

I haven't fired it up yet as I have no logs. Maybe next weekend.

Cheers

Hey Bob,

Well done on the mill it sure looks well built, what sort of timber will you be milling? I got'a warn you it won't be long before you upgrade.

I started with a 65cc Stihl farmboss with a 24" bar and Westford slabbing mill and somehow ended up with a husky 3120 with a 42" bar plus I built a Procut CSM and homemade bandsaw mill. And like you I'm still planning

When you do some milling post some more pitures.

Steve.

Thanks Steve, I am a amateur woodworker whose main interest is making furniture and woodworking tools so I just need relatively small pieces of wood. Tool making wise, the attachment shows the sorts of things I do, I also do all the metal work as well. The handle of this saw is made from Australian Sheoak which is probably my favourite Aussie timber that I can get reasonable access to. Sheoak doesn't grow very large or tall hence my initial interest in a small CSM.

I have mainly just been picking up offcuts from the footpath during our city council cleanup weeks which happen twice a year. I also have access to offcuts a local arborist can't fit through his chipper. The pieces of Sheoak I pick up from him are typically 12 to 18 in diameter and 3 - 4 ft long

What I have been doing up until now is using a chainsaw to break down Sheoak or redgum blocks from my wood pile to a point where I can tackle them with a conventional band or table saw. However, as we know freehand ripping anything longer than a couple of feet doesn't result in too straight a cut which is where a small CSM should come in handy.

Having said all that I have several friends who own properties and have said they are happy for me to take some timber from their places. Having gone and had a look at the sorts of trees involved I can see some serious Aussie hardwood slabs in my future and of course a 36" mill has to figure in there somewhere. Heaven knows where I am going to put them?

Cheers

Nice looking mill, good job on the build.

Good looking mill. I like the way you made the mill adjustable for different bar lenghts. Pictures of it in action are a must. Good job!

Howdy and welcome.

Looks like you are off to a good start.

nice mill. I have thought of building one too. May end up building a band saw mill for larger logs and milling boards

Originally Posted by TNT

nice mill. I have thought of building one too. May end up building a band saw mill for larger logs and milling boards

Nice looking stash of logs.

Welcome. Nice job on your mill. WARNING... this is addicting. You WILL be getting a bigger saw/mill in the future, it's only a matter of time.

I envy you guys down there in Australia with all the different unique kinds of wood you have at your disposal.

Thanks guys, yeah we have some really nice hardwoods here. From the wonderfully varied coloured Red Gums that grow like weeds all over the place, to the rarer desert eucalypts that are incredibly hard and challenging to work with.

My addiction is currently strongly tempered by a distinct lack of space in which to store timber. I live on an inner city small house block with our house almost filling the block. About the only place I have to store timber is a small cellar. Currently I have a pile of redgum slabs and bits and pieces of other lumber there. Plus I have my small van full of offcuts that I picked up on Saturday. The end of our drive has a heap of small logs and offcuts which annoys my wife no end and keeps asking when I am cleaning up the midden.

[QUOTE=Stevensam;604641]Hey Bob,

Well done on the mill it sure looks well built, what sort of timber will you be milling? I got'a warn you it won't be long before you upgrade.


Yep-"You done it now!" Nice-something about solving problems and welding up your own tooling. Even painted it nice too! I just welded up my own granberg style mill. Got thru 1 pass on a log and my oiler on my 066 wasn't up to the task. Waiting on a new HO oil pump to come in. Anyway welcome to the fray and happy milling!

....and another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust....

Start drawing up plans for a bigger one to go with the bigger saw you are going to buy. "Give in to the dark side"...chainsaw milling

Mark

Originally Posted by oldsaw

....and another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust....

Start drawing up plans for a bigger one to go with the bigger saw you are going to buy. "Give in to the dark side"...chainsaw milling

Mark

Oh yeah, it's well and truly started alright. I showed the CSM pics to a guy I work with and he said, "I have an old chainsaw at home I picked up a few years ago and have never used, do you want it?" Of course it could be a no-goer but I'm going around to his place this evening to take a look.

FWIW my father was a tree faller back in the early 1950's falling 250 ft high 70 ft base girth Aussie Hardwood Karri trees with axes and cross cut saws. In those days there were still some massive trees around and it sometimes took 2 fallers one and half days to cut down a single trees. I used to go out and watch him sometimes - I'll never forget these sights, t'was, brutal, awesome and very scary. The volume of wood out of just one big tree was amazing.

I would have liked to have seen them drop those huge trees by hand also. The first tree I ever felled I did with a two man crosscut saw with my Dad on the other end. In forestry, my intro to logging practices class, they didn't let us touch a chainsaw in the woods till we all spent several weeks cutting down trees with two man crosscut saws. Although we all thought it was silly at the time, looking back on it now I think that was a good idea. For one thing, every part of the felling process, from clearing away brush with an ax, all the way to sawing the backcut till the tree started to drop was kindof in slow motion compared to using a chain saw. Good idea for beginners.

Gday Bobl, just thought I'd drop you a line to let you know I joined up.

Brilliant forum here with tons of info on addictive chainsaw milling.

I'm look at getting a Stihl 075 that needs some rebuilding, so this place will be a massive help if and when it happens, cheers...