Chainsaw Mill or Bandsaw Mill

[Bmac]

All great stuff from Brian72, he knows his stuff. You'll definitely get the feel of when to sharpen.
Care for your powerhead is also important. I'd run a 40:1 fuel ratio, let it cool down by idling after cuts, port your muffler if possible to let it breath better.
As for size of your mill, the same goes for your powerhead, the bigger the better.

Also, you need to keep an eye on your rakers, once I understood them better it has improved my cutting immensely. Read the CS Milling 101, great tips and a lot of discussion about rakers.

 

[Brian72]

All great stuff from Brian72, he knows his stuff. You'll definitely get the feel of when to sharpen.
Care for your powerhead is also important. I'd run a 40:1 fuel ratio, let it cool down by idling after cuts, port your muffler if possible to let it breath better.
As for size of your mill, the same goes for your powerhead, the bigger the better.

Also, you need to keep an eye on your rakers, once I understood them better it has improved my cutting immensely. Read the CS Milling 101, great tips and a lot of discussion about rakers.

Also great advice. Thanks for sharing some things I missed. That's why I love these forums! Keep an eye on this guy Derik! Bmac does some of the most beautiful woodworking I've ever seen!!

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

 

[Derik]

Okay, I took a look at the milling 101 pin. The rakers, set the depth of which each tooth cuts into the wood.

On the current saw I have, which I use for clearing brush and other things, is an Echo CS-310, I use a depth guide and file. I believe the depth is .025, from what I understand is that, the depth gauge and file aren't enough to properly maintain the rakers. Is that correct?

 

[Bmac]

Correct, you need to learn about progressive raker depth, look at this link!
https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...ly-progressive-depth-raker-generators.114624/

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Anyone who thinks it's just as much work to push a BSM through a log as a CSM hasn't milled with a BSM much!

CSM's are HUGE amount more work than a BSM!!

Then there's the amount of time you are pushing too!

SR

 

[Derik]

Correct, you need to learn about progressive raker depth, look at this link!
https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...ly-progressive-depth-raker-generators.114624/

There was a video in that thread posted by, BobL, at least I think that's the person. Looks like he was filing the rakers at an angle versus a curved edge like they were from factory.

The way I see the rakers that BobL filed down, less drag that they impose on the wood the less resistance of the saw.

I noticed a bit of discussion about the angle at which they should be, what's the purpose of the angle? There's only so much of the raker that touches the wood.

Granted it's better than what I do, which is file the top of the raker flat using a depth plate, but since I use those strictly for cross cutting, it's not a critical.

 

[Bmac]

There was a video in that thread posted by, BobL, at least I think that's the person. Looks like he was filing the rakers at an angle versus a curved edge like they were from factory.

The way I see the rakers that BobL filed down, less drag that they impose on the wood the less resistance of the saw.

I noticed a bit of discussion about the angle at which they should be, what's the purpose of the angle? There's only so much of the raker that touches the wood.

Granted it's better than what I do, which is file the top of the raker flat using a depth plate, but since I use those strictly for cross cutting, it's not a critical.

It's my understanding that the steeper the angle the more/deeper bite your cutter makes. In soft woods you can have a steeper angle with more bite, in harder woods you want less of an angle with less bite. Once you set your raker angle it will decrease over time as you sharpen your cutters.

 

[Derik]

It's my understanding that the steeper the angle the more/deeper bite your cutter makes. In soft woods you can have a steeper angle with more bite, in harder woods you want less of an angle with less bite. Once you set your raker angle it will decrease over time as you sharpen your cutters.

Okay, that makes sense. I don't touch rakers but maybe every 5 times when I sharpen the chain.

A buddy of mine, he has a large saw, it can run 36 inch bar but he runs 24 inch. Anyway, he told me that I'm wasting my time sharpening chains.

If a chain gets dull for him, he puts a new chain on. No idea what he does with the old chains, probably junks them. I've worked with him before and he runs the crap out of his equipment. I helped him take a tree out before, he ran the chain so much that it blued on the cutters.

He buys his chains at bailey's, buys 10 chains at a time.

 

[Bmac]

Well with milling you sharpen a lot, so you need to keep an eye on those rakers. Usually I'll take a swipe or two off of them during a long milling session. I check the angles a lot less frequently.

 

[Derik]

Well with milling you sharpen a lot, so you need to keep an eye on those rakers. Usually I'll take a swipe or two off of them during a long milling session. I check the angles a lot less frequently.

So it's not something to really worry about but need to know

 

[Bmac]

With new chains I don't worry, but as I sharpen the chain I need to start adjusting my angles. I set my angles and taking a swipe or two of the rakers during milling means I don't need to spend a lot of time with my angles after they are set. The few swipes I take during milling keeps my angles pretty close to what I want.

In hardwood I try for a 6 degree angle and shoot for a 9 degree angle in softwood.

 

[Brian72]

Okay, that makes sense. I don't touch rakers but maybe every 5 times when I sharpen the chain.

A buddy of mine, he has a large saw, it can run 36 inch bar but he runs 24 inch. Anyway, he told me that I'm wasting my time sharpening chains.

If a chain gets dull for him, he puts a new chain on. No idea what he does with the old chains, probably junks them. I've worked with him before and he runs the crap out of his equipment. I helped him take a tree out before, he ran the chain so much that it blued on the cutters.

He buys his chains at bailey's, buys 10 chains at a time.

That's a lot of wasted money and equipment! I'm always surprised at how little people know about chain maintenance. I'm no expert and I've learned a lot from these forums but a dull chain makes the work much harder than it should be and it's much harder on the saw.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

 

[Derik]

That's a lot of wasted money and equipment! I'm always surprised at how little people know about chain maintenance. I'm no expert and I've learned a lot from these forums but a dull chain makes the work much harder than it should be and it's much harder on the saw.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

I agree but I know how he uses and abuses tools. Once the chain starts to dull, he forces it to cut. So really the chain is already gone by the time he pulls it off

 

[WolfMann]

Chainsaw mill sounds like a good fit for what you're trying to do. I would recommend the Malloff grind for your chains, lasts longer and in my experience cuts faster/smoother.

 

[Derik]

Chainsaw mill sounds like a good fit for what you're trying to do. I would recommend the Malloff grind for your chains, lasts longer and in my experience cuts faster/smoother.

What is a Malloff grind?

 

[WolfMann]

You take a full comp, round ground chisel chain, file straight across at 0°. Then set the hook a little deeper, 45°-50° depending on hand file or grinder.

 

[WolfMann]

Sometimes sounds more confusing than it really is, but the straight edge let's you make more cuts without having to sharpen as often. (There's no point to dull on it). Not to say you never have to sharpen, but compared to a Granberg chain which can dull out after 2-3 cuts, it'll help save some time for sure. Faster cut too.

 

[WolfMann]

What I do recommend from Granberg is the G-106B file jig. You've maybe seen one before, it's a handy little jig that mounts to your bar and lets you perfectly hit all these less than traditional top plate angles (0,5,10°) for ripping chain. Good for the cross cutting chain too.

 

[WolfMann]

Also, take a look online for a copy of Will Malloffs book Chainsaw Lumbermaking, can find hard copies or pdfs, but there's a lot of good info there, including a more detailed description of the chain modifications.

 

[WolfMann]

Alaskan mill is addicting, be careful.