I have at least a 20 year old Granberg Alaskan mill that came with a 36" set of rails I picked up a decade ago, and eventually bought a 60" set of rails too for whenever I might need to drag out my 72" bar - which is pretty much never in these parts. But sometimes the 34" that is the max with the 36" rails isn't quite enough and I need the larger 60" mill. Got a cheap ($100) nearly new 24" Granberg and switched out rails so now I have complete 36" and 60" Granbergs. Plus leaves me a spare set of 24" rails for converting my small log mill to two clamp system if I feel like it.
Kudos to Granberg that even though they changed their design a bit some years back, everything is still largely compatible between the two systems except maybe the alignment of the stabilizer tubes. But I won't be using one on the 24" mill if I make it up too so no issue mixing and matching old and new on it.
I bought the GB 72" bar on clearance some years back new with a D009 mount I machined out to a 14mm Stihl but was working with a carbide burr on a bouncy little air die grinder and made a hash of it. Front end of the slot ended up 16mm and back end 15mm. Made some 1mm thick spacer rings I must not have used the one time I used the bar because the rear one didn't fit the slot. I also never drilled new oil holes, being a lot more ignorant back then about bar/saw compatibility, and didn't have an auxiliary oiler, so the small amount I tested it on some 3.5' x 30" pecan I was not oiling the bar at all. I just got an 8 bit set of ridiculously cheap carbide tipped concrete bits for $1.79 from China to see if they worked for hard metal drilling (like my titanium bar) though sometimes such bits need sharpening to be effective. The smallest one I used worked amazingly well out of the box for cheap China crap, and drilled oil holes w my drill press effortlessly. Also expanded the tensioner holes a bit so they lined up better. Bosch sells the same kinda "multipurpose drill bit" for about $6.59 each, and I'm not even sure they work as good. (Best machinist tip I ever learned, cheap concrete bits for drilling super hard steel.)
The other thing I learned experimenting one day, or maybe read about someone doing it, was just to put my 1/4" carbide burr in my handheld router to do light machining like on chainsaw bar slots. Where I could never get a little die grinder to stay steady, it's smooth and steady as can be in a router. I would have never botched that bar slot on the 72" bar like I did had I used my router. So I got the slot evened out so the spacers fit right, and finally the 72" bar is set up for proper use for the first time ever. Plus I have an auxiliary oiler on my 60" mill.
Kudos to Granberg that even though they changed their design a bit some years back, everything is still largely compatible between the two systems except maybe the alignment of the stabilizer tubes. But I won't be using one on the 24" mill if I make it up too so no issue mixing and matching old and new on it.
I bought the GB 72" bar on clearance some years back new with a D009 mount I machined out to a 14mm Stihl but was working with a carbide burr on a bouncy little air die grinder and made a hash of it. Front end of the slot ended up 16mm and back end 15mm. Made some 1mm thick spacer rings I must not have used the one time I used the bar because the rear one didn't fit the slot. I also never drilled new oil holes, being a lot more ignorant back then about bar/saw compatibility, and didn't have an auxiliary oiler, so the small amount I tested it on some 3.5' x 30" pecan I was not oiling the bar at all. I just got an 8 bit set of ridiculously cheap carbide tipped concrete bits for $1.79 from China to see if they worked for hard metal drilling (like my titanium bar) though sometimes such bits need sharpening to be effective. The smallest one I used worked amazingly well out of the box for cheap China crap, and drilled oil holes w my drill press effortlessly. Also expanded the tensioner holes a bit so they lined up better. Bosch sells the same kinda "multipurpose drill bit" for about $6.59 each, and I'm not even sure they work as good. (Best machinist tip I ever learned, cheap concrete bits for drilling super hard steel.)
The other thing I learned experimenting one day, or maybe read about someone doing it, was just to put my 1/4" carbide burr in my handheld router to do light machining like on chainsaw bar slots. Where I could never get a little die grinder to stay steady, it's smooth and steady as can be in a router. I would have never botched that bar slot on the 72" bar like I did had I used my router. So I got the slot evened out so the spacers fit right, and finally the 72" bar is set up for proper use for the first time ever. Plus I have an auxiliary oiler on my 60" mill.
