first time milling

[markvanzee]

i have milled a ash tree lately. i did this with my stihl mill and stihl 084 chainsaw. this was the first time i tried milling, and it was a succes. i still need to make some improvements to my mill and chainsaw, (hand crank, auxilary oiler, remote throttle, better air filter, install bicycle handlebar to mill etc)

but it was a great day, my dad is also very enthousiastic about chainsaw milling and he helped me out. my grandpa was interested how the milling worked and came to check it out. my little brother filmed the process and made photos.

feel free to make any suggestions or ask any questions,

video: chainsaw milling stihl 084 - YouTube

what we took home:
http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=196966&stc=1&d=1314565037

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=196968&stc=1&d=1314565213

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=196967&stc=1&d=1314565154

 

[mtngun]

Very good for your first time. The slabs look straight and the finish looks fairly smooth.:msp_thumbup:

 

[burningwood]

i have milled a ash tree lately. i did this with my stihl mill and stihl 084 chainsaw. this was the first time i tried milling, and it was a succes. i still need to make some improvements to my mill and chainsaw, (hand crank, auxilary oiler, remote throttle, better air filter, install bicycle handlebar to mill etc)

but it was a great day, my dad is also very enthousiastic about chainsaw milling and he helped me out. my grandpa was interested how the milling worked and came to check it out. my little brother filmed the process and made photos.

feel free to make any suggestions or ask any questions,


I'm use to milling softwood and realize the hardwoods take longer.

1.Are you using a ripping chain?
2.Get the aux.oiler then use veggie oil in it, less expensive,works great(smokins suggestion)
3.You need a way to get the log up in the air (easier on your body)

View attachment 197014

 

[stihl038x2]

There must be a Duchman in the crowd :msp_w00t: Nice wooden shoes !

Steve

 

[markvanzee]

I'm use to milling softwood and realize the hardwoods take longer.

1.Are you using a ripping chain?
2.Get the aux.oiler then use veggie oil in it, less expensive,works great(smokins suggestion)
3.You need a way to get the log up in the air (easier on your body)

View attachment 197014[/QUOTE]

yes i'm using a ripping chain.
that's a great idea about the veggie oil! the regular oil is pretty expensive over here.
you can't see it in the video, but when i took 2 slabs off i actually raised the log on one end, works great

 

[Talltom]

Unsafe Practices

Wow, Mark - Your You Tube post was one scary movie. Your father put himself in dangerous situations by putting his hands close to the moving chain before the saw was fully imbedded in the log, by sitting in front of the mill during operation, and by being in front of the mill as the saw exits the log.:msp_scared: Your grandfather was in the proper position for a helper - it's much safer and gives better leverage anyway, and your father should have been out of the picture entirely. And yes, you need a handle so your right hand has a firm hold further away from the chain.

CSM is an inherently dangerous activity so using the safest practices is essential. Otherwise, you could be needing some of that nice wood to make a peg leg.

 

[markvanzee]

Wow, Mark - Your You Tube post was one scary movie. Your father put himself in dangerous situations by putting his hands close to the moving chain before the saw was fully imbedded in the log, by sitting in front of the mill during operation, and by being in front of the mill as the saw exits the log.:msp_scared: Your grandfather was in the proper position for a helper - it's much safer and gives better leverage anyway, and your father should have been out of the picture entirely. And yes, you need a handle so your right hand has a firm hold further away from the chain.

CSM is an inherently dangerous activity so using the safest practices is essential. Otherwise, you could be needing some of that nice wood to make a peg leg.

your right about that, i'm going to make a remote throttle and a hand crank. so i can hold the mill with 2 hands and operate it on my own.

thank you for your advice,

mark

 

[burningwood]

your right about that, i'm going to make a remote throttle and a hand crank. so i can hold the mill with 2 hands and operate it on my own.

thank you for your advice,

mark

This is the bible if your after information on Milling.

Amazon.com: Chainsaw Lumbermaking (9780918804129): Will Malloff, Beth Erickson: Books


zap

 

[BobL]

feel free to make any suggestions or ask any questions,

Thanks for posting the vid and photos.

I realise that this was your first try, but as requested, comments and suggestions.

If the mill needs up to 6 hands to guide and push-pull it there is definitely something not right with your setup.

If the mill and log are set up right the mill/saw should almost cut under its own weight and there should be no need for more than one person pushing. I'd start by placing the log on a slope - see my vid below

It also sounded like the saw was laboring more than it needed to on that size log. It would be interesting to see your chain cutter and raker profiles.

I reckon the fewer people around the saw the safer it is for everyone. Seeing as you appear young enough you should try to learn to operate the mill on your own.

It would be much easier to operate your mill if it had a few more handles added to it then you won't have to bend over and push on the rear mill rail to drive it. Have a look at some of my mill designs for handle ideas.

If your dad insists on helping put a helper handle on the outboard end of the mill for him to hang onto (he should only need to apply light pressure on the helper handle with his left leg) but keep him away from the body of the mill. The operator needs to see the full length of the bar/chain when starting the cut and having somebody in the way blocks the operators view, Having arms and body anywhere blocking and operators view is a risk not worth taking.

The cross bars on the stihl mill look too flimsy for the mill to be used with an 084 - this photo shows that the cross bars are bent and they also look like they are bending further when starting the cut.

I guess is why your dad is helping? My guess is they also bend when the cut is finishing - this will lead to a crooked start and finish. If the cross bars bend even slightly when starting this means the bar will be under some stress when the back mill rail tries to perch up onto the log top and this will damage the bar and chain. I think this is a major design flaw with that mill - I would remove those cross bars and weld or bolt on a couple of much stronger cross bars in their place.

Removing those thin cross bars means you could then use log rails for every cut. Then you don't need any help to start the cut, just perch the saw on the rails, start it and then slide it into the log.

This was my first go with my BIL mill
BIL_MILL_maidenV.mov - YouTube
This extreme slope is fun but not necessary, even a few degrees of slope helps.

I'd also suggest everyone near the saw uses a face shield or at least eye protection, if something drops onto the chain and it flicks the object into face or eyes they will know about it. The first time I used my BIL mill a bolt came off the mill and landed on the chain and flicked into my face - lucky I had a full face sheild on.

I'd also suggest muffs over ear plugs, or preferably both. There has been some pretty clear research that suggests that ear plugs that are equally rated to ear muffs are in practice only at best 75% as effective as muffs. Even professional audiologists cannot consistently fit plugs to their supposed full effectiveness.

If your dad insists on sitting in this position while the milling is taking place I'd strongly recommend he wears full wrap chaps.

When starting out and fresh it is probably OK but after while concentration drops off and one slip and his legs are in big trouble.
If a helper handle is provided on the saw nose it will get him away from that dangerous poistion

 

[markvanzee]

Thanks for posting the vid and photos.

I realise that this was your first try, but as requested, comments and suggestions.

If the mill needs up to 6 hands to guide and push-pull it there is definitely something not right with your setup.

If the mill and log are set up right the mill/saw should almost cut under its own weight and there should be no need for more than one person pushing. I'd start by placing the log on a slope - see my vid below

It also sounded like the saw was laboring more than it needed to on that size log. It would be interesting to see your chain cutter and raker profiles.

I reckon the fewer people around the saw the safer it is for everyone. Seeing as you appear young enough you should try to learn to operate the mill on your own.

It would be much easier to operate your mill if it had a few more handles added to it then you won't have to bend over and push on the rear mill rail to drive it. Have a look at some of my mill designs for handle ideas.

If your dad insists on helping put a helper handle on the outboard end of the mill for him to hang onto (he should only need to apply light pressure on the helper handle with his left leg) but keep him away from the body of the mill. The operator needs to see the full length of the bar/chain when starting the cut and having somebody in the way blocks the operators view, Having arms and body anywhere blocking and operators view is a risk not worth taking.

The cross bars on the stihl mill look too flimsy for the mill to be used with an 084 - this photo shows that the cross bars are bent and they also look like they are bending further when starting the cut.

I guess is why your dad is helping? My guess is they also bend when the cut is finishing - this will lead to a crooked start and finish. If the cross bars bend even slightly when starting this means the bar will be under some stress when the back mill rail tries to perch up onto the log top and this will damage the bar and chain. I think this is a major design flaw with that mill - I would remove those cross bars and weld or bolt on a couple of much stronger cross bars in their place.

Removing those thin cross bars means you could then use log rails for every cut. Then you don't need any help to start the cut, just perch the saw on the rails, start it and then slide it into the log.

This was my first go with my BIL mill
BIL_MILL_maidenV.mov - YouTube
This extreme slope is fun but not necessary, even a few degrees of slope helps.

I'd also suggest everyone near the saw uses a face shield or at least eye protection, if something drops onto the chain and it flicks the object into face or eyes they will know about it. The first time I used my BIL mill a bolt came off the mill and landed on the chain and flicked into my face - lucky I had a full face sheild on.

I'd also suggest muffs over ear plugs, or preferably both. There has been some pretty clear research that suggests that ear plugs that are equally rated to ear muffs are in practice only at best 75% as effective as muffs. Even professional audiologists cannot consistently fit plugs to their supposed full effectiveness.

If your dad insists on sitting in this position while the milling is taking place I'd strongly recommend he wears full wrap chaps.

When starting out and fresh it is probably OK but after while concentration drops off and one slip and his legs are in big trouble.
If a helper handle is provided on the saw nose it will get him away from that dangerous poistion

thank your for all the feedback bob, but i thought the cutting went fairly smooth for the first time. in fact, we didn't apply much pressure at all and my grandpa was just holding the mill, i didn't ask him to push or anything.

but your right about the saw, i also thought that it would rev higher in this log, but it was a little low on compression (ordered new piston + rings) and the ash log was pretty dry, in fact , ash doesn't contain much water at all, and this log was felled in the winter and laid there for over half a year. so it was pretty dry and the 084 oiler could not keep up. the chain was clogged with sawdust all the time so this might slow down the speed as well (increased friction?) plus i'm running .404 so a pretty big kerf.. also the chain is not a 100% ripping chain. as you might know, i bought this setup used and the previous owner simply used it with 45 degree cutters. now i've already filed it back to 35 degrees, but it's still not a real ripping chain. i'm not sure if this also slows the milling down, but it does leave a fairly rough surface, but i don't think this is much of a problem. we have a jointer and planer etc.

your right about the crossbars on the stihl mill, these simply don't work. luckily , my grandpa is a retired blacksmith and i've asked him to remove the round bars (the ones that the skids are welded on to) and replace them with square ones. then i can then mount some HDPE on the rails,(thanks for the advice) for less friction. will also add some handlebars, and i'm working on a remote throttle right now. i also want to mount a temp gauge on the mill, that was a great idea of yours, i don't want the seize the saw, i really like my saw.

after we cutted 2 planks off the log, we indeed raised it, and that helped. but i do not own the special tool that you use to raise the log, but i'm looking for one, but milling is one expensive hobby and i'm having driving lessons right now so i'm kinda broke.

i know my father is in a pretty dangerous position, but when i get some extra handles and a remote throttle i think i can operate it on my own, at least that's my goal. i'll also make sure to wear a faceshield, i learned the hard way, got a small piece of sawdust in my eye, and it didn't want to come out...

thanks again Bob, i really apprechiate that you put so much effort into explaining things to rookies like me through posts and threads etc.

 

[BobL]

It sounds like you have all the right ideas in mind, and as they say "Rome wasn't built in a day".

.
.
after we cutted 2 planks off the log, we indeed raised it, and that helped. but i do not own the special tool that you use to raise the log, but i'm looking for one, but milling is one expensive hobby and i'm having driving lessons right now so i'm kinda broke.

Raising one end of a log about the size you were cutting can be done (slowly) with two strong levers used by two people either side of the end of the log - I think you can work it out from there. It does not need to be much, just a few degrees helps.