If you're not going to go the low end bandsaw route or the portable Ripsaw route, I agree with Ted that as far as ease of use, something like the M7 that you crank instead of push is easier on the back etc. Of course all mills have their pros and cons. Price being a big starting factor, and I mean TOTAL price, including the cost of the size saw one might need for the particular mill in question. I suggest you take an evening or two (prepare to spend couple hours reading) and just start searching the forum on keywords like logosol, ripsaw, alaskan, woodbug, granberg, bandmill etc etc and you will soon find tons of info, pics and opinions on the various mills. If you've seen some of my previous threads you will find I'm partial to the alaskan in conjunction with the Ripsaw because I think they compliment each other very well for the way I personally mill lumber. However, the alaskan needs a big (read expensive if buying new) saw to work well in big lumber, and the Ripsaw ain't cheap. It's claim to fame is that it is an extremely portable (handheld) bandmill. If I had the space though, I would own a larger, faster, bigger capacity more permanent bandmill. In the end it usually boils down to how much are you willing to spend for the expected portability, speed and log size capacity.TedChristiansen said:
