My First Slab

[Marktever]

I am a wood sculptor/abstract furniture builder and my favorite form to work with is logs but 2"-3" slabs are also desirable. I got tired of paying $12 a bd.ft. for good hardwood, especially when I get a lot of nice logs for free! I have already built a small dehumidifier kiln so I began looking around online for info about saw milling and really hit the jackpot with this site and started reading the accounts of some real experts. Anyway, I have a 20" dia. birch log that I want to build a bench with. I found a 31" bar for my old Homelite vi944, 82cc saw and welded some tube steel together and here are my first results. All things considered I'm Fairly happy with the outcome, although it looks like I cut it with a cheese grater, with 1/4" grooves in the surface. I also realized immediately that sawmilling is not for sissies. It was quite a ball buster getting through the 6' log. I used a 72 series full skip tooth chain which I believe is not the ideal ripping chain. Any suggestions on what chain would make my cuts smoother and easier? And yeah, that's my driveway I'm working in and yeah I may be a bit crazy for running a sawmill in a suburban neighborhood bu I'm hooked now so I'll keep ya posted on my amateur milling adventures. I also included a table I did with a walnut slab I bought.
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[cityslicker]

The table you made is exceptional! Way to go!!!

I also sometimes mill in my driveway but don't tell my neighbors! I have met many wood folks that do so and as long as you are not doing it while your favorite neighbor is having a family reunion things will be fine.

As for the heavy saw marks- it looks like I can see a bit of see-sawing action which is what you want to avoid. I usually let the bar tip lead by an inch or two which allows the fence of the mill frame to surf over all the many bumps and chunky bark of a log. Also It may be that your bar slot is too loose allowing the chain to move around excessively in the cut. A nice properly toleranced bar slot will keep the kerf the chain creates more uniform and also smaller, which will mean less wood waste and less wear on your saw head. Many of us like to use skip tooth full chisel chain straight from the box and slowly with every sharpen take the top plate angle down to 10 degrees. Also run an aux oiler even with your short'ish bar, it will only make things better. I use canola oil in mine but it gets thick in the cold!

 

[pastryguyhawaii]

Read through the Milling 101 sticky, it helped me tremendously. And that is one dang nice table!

 

[Dave Boyt]

Mark, welcome to the forum, and thanks for posting the photos. I love the table, and look forward to seeing what you do with the slabs. Sounds like you've got some understanding neighbors. Hope the chain saw doesn't disturb them too much. Keep after it, you've got a good start!

 

[mad murdock]

Welcome to A S. a great first stab at it. Your walnut table is stellar! Looking forward to your future escapades!

 

[rarefish383]

Welcome to the site. I mill with old Homelites too, mostly my Super 1050, but sometimes my XL923. I use my saws for all my other tree and firewood work so I use factory grind on Stihl chain, cuts smooth enough for me. These are some White Birch slabs I Milled with the 1050 last summer. I plan on making a mortise and tenon coffee table out of them. Keep posting pics, your work looks great, Joe.

 

[flashhole]

First Slab rep sent. Any chance of posting a pic of your kiln?

 

[Marktever]

Thanks, Cityslicker, I think you hit the nail on the head! The saw has this flange that the teeth bolt onto and rather than give up that inch of slab width I just bolted my mill onto that. Also the nose end connection may be a bit funky. And yeah there was a lot of see-sawing. I'll try the nose-lead technique. But really, BIG THANKS, You guys are great:msp_biggrin:View attachment 313050View attachment 313051

The table you made is exceptional! Way to go!!!

I also sometimes mill in my driveway but don't tell my neighbors! I have met many wood folks that do so and as long as you are not doing it while your favorite neighbor is having a family reunion things will be fine.

As for the heavy saw marks- it looks like I can see a bit of see-sawing action which is what you want to avoid. I usually let the bar tip lead by an inch or two which allows the fence of the mill frame to surf over all the many bumps and chunky bark of a log. Also It may be that your bar slot is too loose allowing the chain to move around excessively in the cut. A nice properly toleranced bar slot will keep the kerf the chain creates more uniform and also smaller, which will mean less wood waste and less wear on your saw head. Many of us like to use skip tooth full chisel chain straight from the box and slowly with every sharpen take the top plate angle down to 10 degrees. Also run an aux oiler even with your short'ish bar, it will only make things better. I use canola oil in mine but it gets thick in the cold!

 

[andydodgegeek]

Nice work, you bench looks really good.

 

[scogar]

Beautiful work - I'm new to here too and live in subdivision - I don't fit in there but hope that I do here. But that's half the fun. I just try not to be too disturbing to the neighbors and it works well.

keep it up

Scott

 

[dustytools]

Its hard to tell from your picture but it appears that the angles on your cutters aren't consistent. This could lead to some of the roughness in your cuts. Looks good though, love the table.

 

[discounthunter]

welcome.feels good to take the next step and mill your own lumber! i live in the country ,so my neighbors dont have a problem with noise,but sometimes i get spectators while im milling as no one does it with a chainsaw around here.plus my projects sit in my driveway before moving on.

 

[Marktever]

Beautiful work - I'm new to here too and live in subdivision - I don't fit in there but hope that I do here. But that's half the fun. I just try not to be too disturbing to the neighbors and it works well.

keep it up

Scott

I live within 25 miles of three international airports so its not like retreat here. So far no complaints and I'm on pretty good terms with all the locals. Either way I'll be doing a lot more of it. It is very therapeutic.:jester:

 

[Marktever]

First Slab rep sent. Any chance of posting a pic of your kiln?

Sorry for the delay but by the time I saw your post the kiln was up and running. Anyway , it's made from 1/2" rigid fiberglass insulation and 3/4" chipboard. In hindsight I wish I'd have made it 36" wide instead of 24 but at the time I coudn't conceive of a slab over 2 feet wide. Other than that it works well, got that green Birch (cut down 2 weeks prior) down to 12%MC in 11 days.View attachment 314627View attachment 314628View attachment 314629View attachment 314627View attachment 314628View attachment 314629