"Chainsaw Lumbermaking" by Will Malloff PDF Project

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Yeah,i think he spends too much time preparing to cut with that system:jawdrop: I would just build a carage mill for the saw and use that in the yard instead of bolting all that stuf on the log.With a carage,all you have to do is level the log and go.:)
 
thanks this really helps me get a good idea of whats going on here! looking forward to the rest.
 
instead of publishing. he could make a few of this.

so how about we see if mr malloff has a paypal account or equivalent and send him a few bucks? he could get a boost off of AS members alone.

looking forward to seeing the rest. makes a few peoples rigs look @ss backwards compared to what he accomplished years ago.

i found a great source for 95" aluminum i beams that aren't too heavy.. 2 1/2" x 5" i believe. will be making some stuff off of that. also sourced a used mk III locally that i'm looking to mod. good fun.
 
Well, there is a mailing address at his site HERE, but no email or anything. By the way, be sure to check out the "Will Mill" there, and especially the beautiful Walnut pieces at the bottom of the page. It's quite the setup for large logs. I have some 4'-5'+ diameter Douglas Fir to tackle next year, and I'll be rigging something similar but smaller up, probably just to quarter the logs.

As far as the scanning is coming, I'm working on 10 and 11 now. Chapter 11 is BIG and I've been otherwise busy a bit, but everything should be done in a few days.

EDIT: I did dig up THIS LINK under the Contacts & Links page. There's an email address there, and wouldn't you know it, he's apparently QUITE aware of his popularity on ArboristSite.com.
 
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This extract by Will from the site referred to in the previous post is pretty sad.

"In the ArboristSite.com there are many references to "Chainsaw Lumber Making" as being the bible of chainsaw millers. The out of print book now sells for 65 to 195 dollars U.S. available through dealers like Amazon.com. In the site I have even been called the king of chainsaw milling. The book cost me 24K to produce for which I got 19K back in royalties. As the demand seems so high I would like to sell the rights to reprint but no luck so far. "

So there you go, he has this very popular book and can't sell the rights to reprint to recover his investment - somehow the system sucks. :chainsawguy:
 
Yes, Western copyright laws are complete BS. They do nothing but stifle creativity because the individual creators have almost no rights at all - they are transferred to the publishers, record labels, movie studios, etc. So in the end, the fat cats keep getting richer off of other people's work as always.
 
Yeah,i think he spends too much time preparing to cut with that system:jawdrop: I would just build a carage mill for the saw and use that in the yard instead of bolting all that stuf on the log.With a carage,all you have to do is level the log and go.:)
I think it is a complicated mess as is, there are other better ways of doing it.
I just received the book itself from Amazon & it is not worth the just under a 100 bucks I spent.
Now the pictures tell a story, looking at it from that view you might could say it was worth it.
Believe me read what can help you here & dump the rest.

Now I know he must be the guru of chainsaw milling, but out of date.

There are some smart people just here on this string of post that has better ideas.
 
I think it is a complicated mess as is, there are other better ways of doing it.
I just received the book itself from Amazon & it is not worth the just under a 100 bucks I spent.
Now the pictures tell a story, looking at it from that view you might could say it was worth it.
Believe me read what can help you here & dump the rest.

Now I know he must be the guru of chainsaw milling, but out of date.

There are some smart people just here on this string of post that has better ideas.

I agree that his set up looks complicated.

I think what you have to recognize is the timing of the book, I think the fact is that he was one of earlier adopters of using the chainsaw for milling and that is what give him his credibility.

As with anything else once you see what someone has done, the idea sparks in your head and you can improve upon but you still have to give credit to the originator.

I personally would like to the other chapters.
 
I agree that his set up looks complicated.

I think what you have to recognize is the timing of the book, I think the fact is that he was one of earlier adopters of using the chainsaw for milling and that is what give him his credibility.

As with anything else once you see what someone has done, the idea sparks in your head and you can improve upon but you still have to give credit to the originator.

I personally would like to the other chapters.
Well I would like to see the price of the book itself come down in price.
You are right about his ideas, but that was in the 60s.
40 years later they're much improved.
If Kinkos would copy it that might be one way but the amount of pictures in the book may increase the cost.
You know portable bandsaw mills have not been around to long, My son had one but sold it. When he lost a big contract on pallets for a mfg. company.
That was one slick machine.
 
somehow the system sucks. :chainsawguy:

You didn't even scratch the surface of the publishing industry...It is a complete goatrope...the author, who do 99.99% of the work get pennies if they are lucky enough to get published...the authors who make the money are the million plus bestsellers...

Wifey has written and sold two bestsellers in it's category...tech books on Google analytics..made a little $$ on advances..but barely earned them out.

I could see he might have spent twenty grand developing his technology,
but 20k on the book? Nah..if he'd wanted to make money on the deal
he should have gotten into the manufacturing end of it..selling "A" book
is no way to make money.

I dig the book though.

There are some folks right here on this site who deserve a big slice of the
credit for pushing chainsaw milling technology forward...not too many
folks in the world are running a 72" bar in an alaskan f'rinstance...

The cats that made their money in sawmill development are the Woodmizer guys...
 
Well I would like to see the price of the book itself come down in price.

The reason the book is currently so expensive is that it is out of print so supply/demand pressures kick in. Even if the publisher were to print a new run the price is not controlled by the author but the publisher.

The book sold 250 thousand copies but Will Malloff only made $19k or 8 cents a book! He still hasn't recovered his $24k initial investment.

I asked my wife who is a librarian about the legality of copying an out of print book. She says (here in Australia at least) if the book is out of print it is fully legal to make a full copy for yourself. You obviously cannot sell it but sending the author a dontation for his ecological stance on timber recovery would be OK.

I would definitely make a contribution if a paypal account could be set up for him.
 
The reason the book is currently so expensive is that it is out of print so supply/demand pressures kick in. Even if the publisher were to print a new run the price is not controlled by the author but the publisher.

The book sold 250 thousand copies but Will Malloff only made $19k or 8 cents a book! He still hasn't recovered his $24k initial investment.

I asked my wife who is a librarian about the legality of copying an out of print book. She says (here in Australia at least) if the book is out of print it is fully legal to make a full copy for yourself. You obviously cannot sell it but sending the author a dontation for his ecological stance on timber recovery would be OK.

I would definitely make a contribution if a paypal account could be set up for him.
I had to copywrite something through a lawyer one time here in the US but it was just good for 5 years or so. I guess you have to stay on top of it.
 
i'd say the ideas especially the ones that promote the safety/fatigue prevention of the user as well as the remote controlling of the saw are worthwhile as a starting point. plus also having a book or other reference material helps to validate what you are doing in the face of criticism.. ie.. the wife. my wife thinks i'm nuts. .i can't speak for anyone else. i'd say this forum and the book are encouraging if not anything else.

what will has had posted on websites in recent years should also be looked at as well.

i guess its all about problem solving for the situation you are in anyways.
 
The reason the book is currently so expensive is that it is out of print so supply/demand pressures kick in. Even if the publisher were to print a new run the price is not controlled by the author but the publisher.

The book sold 250 thousand copies but Will Malloff only made $19k or 8 cents a book! He still hasn't recovered his $24k initial investment.

I asked my wife who is a librarian about the legality of copying an out of print book. She says (here in Australia at least) if the book is out of print it is fully legal to make a full copy for yourself. You obviously cannot sell it but sending the author a dontation for his ecological stance on timber recovery would be OK.

I would definitely make a contribution if a paypal account could be set up for him.
I have had dealings with one of your countymen for years here in the US in miltary arms books and a noted writer of British Arms history.
Ian Skennerington. Ian has all of his publishing work published in Thailand.
 
I think it is a complicated mess as is, there are other better ways of doing it.
I just received the book itself from Amazon & it is not worth the just under a 100 bucks I spent.
Now the pictures tell a story, looking at it from that view you might could say it was worth it.
Believe me read what can help you here & dump the rest.

Now I know he must be the guru of chainsaw milling, but out of date.

There are some smart people just here on this string of post that has better ideas.

You have to know where he's coming from though. He doesn't mill for pure profit (I realize that might not even register with some people). His whole purpose of milling like this is to have the absolute least impact on the environment, while being able to cut logs that are otherwise impractical or impossible to cut, and to be able to produce some very unique pieces, as you can see in his website. He's very much an environmentalist, and prefers a simple, private life. So if you're just looking to make a wad of money or are looking for the most efficient setup, then his isn't the way to go. If you want to be able to do some things that most others cannot for a relatively small investment, then it is. I'm not really sold on the whole winch setup myself, but every hour I spend pushing the 090 through a log by hand makes it look more and more attractive.

True, the book might not be such a great investment for someone who is already well set-up and has their own efficient system worked out. It is, after all, aimed at n00bs. I'm not sure I would say there is anyone here who has BETTER ideas necessarily, just improvements on his basic ideas based on personal experience. For instance, I think that BobL's BIL mill is a vast improvement over the Granberg mills as far as user-friendliness goes (unless the pictures LIE!!!:D) , but the basic mechanics of it are the same. I don't know what part of this book I could "dump" though. There's a lot of great info on how to maintain saws and especially chains, and I still find myself browsing through the milling pictures now and then. And in the last section there's some really unique uses for saws and some other custom milling jigs. The book is worth the going rate for me, because it's saved me numerous hours of learning from my own mistakes. Just my $.02.

Plus also having a book or other reference material helps to validate what you are doing in the face of criticism.. ie.. the wife. my wife thinks i'm nuts. .i can't speak for anyone else. i'd say this forum and the book are encouraging if not anything else.

Agreed. My mom thought I was nuts for having over a dozen saws, and spending free time sweating my a$$ off in the bush to make something I could easily buy. I tell her you don't learn anything that way, and then I show her pictures of some of your guys' collections of saws, or other crazy milling setups and the beautiful and unique projects that come out of them. And point out that making the beams for my deck this summer cost me about $50 instead of many hundreds. Case closed.
 
I'm not sure I would say there is anyone here who has BETTER ideas necessarily, just improvements on his basic ideas based on personal experience. For instance, I think that BobL's BIL mill is a vast improvement over the Granberg mills as far as user-friendliness goes (unless the pictures LIE!!!:D) , but the basic mechanics of it are the same.
No lies, the slabs are piling up as fast as I can use it. Before anyone else says it, let me say it first. I would not claim the BIL mill as a vast improvement. I made a basic Alaskan and used it for a few months before deciding I could do better. Mechanically the BIL mill really just a collection of a dozen or so useful things I have see either on this or other sites, some of which have nothing to do with milling. Most of the ideas came from looking at AggieWoodbutchers mods on his mill.

I don't know what part of this book I could "dump" though. There's a lot of great info on how to maintain saws and especially chains, and I still find myself browsing through the milling pictures now and then. And in the last section there's some really unique uses for saws and some other custom milling jigs. The book is worth the going rate for me, because it's saved me numerous hours of learning from my own mistakes. Just my $.02.

The $100 price is the going rate because that's what others are prepared to to pay for it, and for a noob it will save way way more that that. Like any book I don't take it as gospel but as a guide. BTW, Will Malloff does not get any of this $100, it goes entirely to the seller minus whatever epay etc want.

I wouldn't dump any parts of the book. As a book written in the 80's its completeness is of significant historical value. I just wish Will could benefit
financially from it more than he has.
 
All Done All Done!!

Had some spare time tonight, so I buckled down and did the last 80-odd pages. Only took about 3 hours. This final version contains every page from front cover to back cover, except the totally blank ones. I think I got everything, but of course let me know if you notice something wrong.

This file is at 75ppi resolution and comes in at 13.1MB, not too shabby for 224 pages full of photos. If anyone wants a higher-resolution file, let me know and I'll figure out a way to send it, probably Rapidshare would be the easiest.

Chainsaw Lumbermaking by Will Malloff (1982)

Enjoy! I know I will, now I can just load this up on my Pocket PC and I can take it with me wherever I go, to any jobsite, and I don't have to worry about greasing up the actual book.
 
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