Help choosing a mill.

[PB]

I posted a while back about getting a mill. I think I have pretty much decided to not get a stationary type mill, and go portable.

I have been looking at the Granberg, and seems as though that is the standard mill. I also seen the Logosol version, and was wondering if someone can recommend a portable mill.

Most logs will be 20" or under, mix of hard and soft wood.

Thanks.

 

[LAndrews]

I bought a Granberg because I found myself in a time-limited situation and wasn't able to build one in the time it took to drive over to Webb's. Wound up figuring out that the money I'd have saved by doing it myself would have probably been negative in the sense that it's fairly well designed and reasonably well built. Of course, there's lots of room for improvement - whatcha want for two c-notes?

It does seem that my 395 with the 36" mill on it is reasonably easy to carry around and I get 24" of cutting width from a 32" bar. Could get a couple more inches, but like to leave a little extra room at the base for chain adjusting and at the top for sprocket clearance. The hassle is the unistrut ladder and associated tidbits - although I think I've got that a bit better under control now. It's actually kind of nice to have the framework around the bar - you can lay the saw down to warmup/cooldown and not worry.

I think that one of the Haddon (or equivalent - Granberg Mini, etc) clamp thingamajigs would be nice, but not exactly necessary, for getting a square cant. I cheat by screwing a board to the sapwood and cutting the first square edge on my tablesaw. Works fine for me...

Have been watching the threads on the Ripsaw and that looks like a good *second* mill. From what I can tell, seems like an alaskan or haddon would be needed to get the first few cuts needed to shape a cant for the Ripsaw - but then the thin kerf would be a HUGE improvement over making barrels of sawdust per log. I did one cut about 8" wide and 5' long and produced a gallon of sawdust, easy.

There's a lot of wisdom on this board too - I learn something everyday.

 

[BobL]

It does seem that my 395 with the 36" mill on it is reasonably easy to carry around and I get 24" of cutting width from a 32" bar. Could get a couple more inches, but like to leave a little extra room at the base for chain adjusting and at the top for sprocket clearance. The hassle is the unistrut ladder and associated tidbits - although I think I've got that a bit better under control now. It's actually kind of nice to have the framework around the bar - you can lay the saw down to warmup/cooldown and not worry.

Yet another limitation of conventional standard mills. I hate it when the bar and chain roll into the dirt.

The solution to this is "mill feet", like this.

The mill then sits well above the ground. And the feet can also sit inside old oil cap lids screwed to the top of my portable work table. I can run/tune the saw on the table and it doesn't rattle its way off the table.

My feet under the inboard side of the mill are also wheels that ride on the sides of logs/cants.

 

[BobL]

I posted a while back about getting a mill. I think I have pretty much decided to not get a stationary type mill, and go portable.

I have been looking at the Granberg, and seems as though that is the standard mill. I also seen the Logosol version, and was wondering if someone can recommend a portable mill.

In case you are unaware there are a number of things about standard alaskan mills that commercial websites will not tell you about. 99% of standard mill users live safely within these limitations but as they say, "once you have seen the city lights the hog farm looks pretty ordinary".

1) Standard mills use bar clamps that:
- use up excess valuable cutting length
- require the mill clamps to be dismantled to replace chain
- if you forget to tighten a clamp the chain can be toast
Mills that connect to the CS bar bolts are generally better all round.

2) If standard mills use a full length horizontal tube handles, these are almost always too low so sharpening the cutters from that side with a file is a PITA or sometimes not possible without lowering the bar away from the mill. Using a 12V grinder is often the way to go for these.

3) Standard mills constantly jam up against logs and almost as much energy is expended pulling the mill away from the log as pushing the mill. Essentially the inboard skids are not much good except when cutting boards from cants. Wheels on the inboard side of mills make a big difference and would be the first mod I would make on a standard mill.

4) Apart from bar clamps standard alaskans have nothing to stand on. So when the mill goes onto the ground the saw, bar and chain are very close to or in the dirt. The solution is feet.

There are more - but that will do for now.

 

[excess650]

I posted a while back about getting a mill. I think I have pretty much decided to not get a stationary type mill, and go portable.

I have been looking at the Granberg, and seems as though that is the standard mill. I also seen the Logosol version, and was wondering if someone can recommend a portable mill.

Most logs will be 20" or under, mix of hard and soft wood.

Thanks.

YO! PB!

I think the Granberg Alaskan is the way to go. Its lightweight, simple, and pretty solidly built. I would suggest buying one size larger than you think you're going to need. The 24" will cut 21" width with a 28" bar, but the 30" isn't much bulkier and will allow another 6" width with a longer bar.

You need to keep in mind that milling requires a more powerful powerhead than just cross-cutting. Also, once you get the 36" rails(or longer) you might want or need an auxiliary oiler and give the compactness and transportablilty that makes the 24" and 30" so attractive.

The Granberg Mini Mill is a great compliment to the Alaskan. While it can be used to mill slabs vertically, its forte is squaring the sides of a cant (when using an Alaskan) to eliminate the need to roll the log.

The Haddon Lumbermaker, its clones, and lesser types like the "beam machine" work ok for rough lumber, with emphasis on ROUGH.

 

[SilverBox]

If you don't want to build one (its not all that hard), then the granberg is what I'd get if I was you.

 

[PB]

Thanks for the help guys. I think the Alaskan mill is the way I am going to go. Not that handy at metal work, and I just don't want to build one. They are local at home so I might see what they go for.

Has anyone had experience with the Logosol Big Mill? I see they sell portable looking mills.

They also sell the Jober mills there, and my dad wants to take a look at those. Not portable, but he might not want to be hunched over a log. The J100 is what he likes, but it won't mill large logs if the need arises.

 

[BIG JAKE]

PB: Right-Tool has granberg mills on sale right now. I had made one myself but it was heavy. I got a 48" mill for 188.00 (which is less than 30" mills at most places). Glad I did. It is easy to adjust and I like the scribe lines . It's lighter than my old mill, and replacement parts are a phone call or click of the mouse away. Money well spent for time saved making another one or modding the one I have. I just don't want to spend the time on that right now. One mod I am going to do is put some wheels on it so when the saw pulls into the log it will roll and be much easier to push rather than fight friction.