Hi there. Newbie to the site

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cypressfarms

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south Louisuana
Hi,

I’m a newbie to this site. I make guitars, and prefer to use local woods. (Not my day job, lol)

just sprung for a Husky Rancher 460, along with a chainsaw mill, and some ripping chains. Most mill operators in my area either don’t know, or don’t care to quartersaw lumber. Guitars must have quartersawn lumber.

anyway, cheers, glad to be a part. I did a ton of research and the husky 460 seemed to be the best, with available parts, for what I needed. I got tired of Poulan’s giving out after a year. I won’t be dropping a lot of trees, but each one will require hard work to mill.

any help/advice is greatly appreciated
 
Welcome aboard! Lots of great advice around here, but this particular area of Arboristsite is not well populated. Other sites (Forestry...Forum) have many more members in the milling section, but it is rather overwhelming over there, especially for a newbie. I'm also new to milling, but I have a Woodmizer sawmill.

I'm surprised you're having trouble finding quartersawn wood. I would think most millers would understand the value of it. Are you on facebook? Lots of millers advertise there now.

As for chainsaw milling, it's pretty hard on the saw, so I'm not surprised a less-than-top-quality saw would give out quickly. Good saw maintenance, keep the chain sharp and well lubed (an additional oiler is a must), and good technique. Give the saw warm-up time after you start it, and cool down time after you finish cutting. About a minute or two each.

So what kinds of questions do you have?
 
Knowing what kind and size of wood you are milling would be a Big Help in advising you on a saw.

Personally, I would suggest a 372XP, or the 562XP as a minimum, unless you are doing short cuts in small diameter softwoods

Milling is about the hardest service you can subject a saw to. The 460 Rancher and the 562XP are comparable in cc displacement, but the 460 is a Homeowner Grade saw with the plastic clamshell design crankcase, the 562XP has a Magnesium Crankcase, and Autotune carburetor. It would be a worthwhile improvement over the 460 for milling

This isn’t to say that the 460 can’t be used for milling, but milling will definitely reduce it’s service life, which is true with all saws, but the pro level saws will hold up better and longer in milling use

Doug
 
Good afternoon, and thanks for the replies.
some clarification: I’ve bought Poulan for the last 10 years or so. They never lasted. I had only used them to cut smaller trees around the farm. I also make guitars (as a hobby). I decided to spring for a better saw, so did some research and bought the Husky 460. There is one local guy to me with a mill that’s willing to quartersaw if I show him how.
I mostly will cut very hard wood: persimmon, Osage orange, locust, and catalpa to a lesser extent.
I also have a local cabinet maker with a big resaw, that will resaw blanks for a decent price. I’m sure the 460 will handle dropping and bucking the trees, just not too sure about using it with the chainsaw mill...

thanks again
 
I have not done a much milling myself, only helped some buddies out moving slabs around. It does seem real hard on a saw, esp if your milling hardwood (osage orange?! oh for chri wah!) and yep a homeowner saw (is it a 60 cc?) probably wont like it much. Everyone I know chainsaw milling around here is running at least a 90cc commercial grade Husky or Stihl, and its usually something you do when you are building a cabin with no road access. You probably don't need a 12 foot board to make a guitar, of course but if you got a guy with an actual sawmill that seems like a good thing to pursue.
 
Thanks again for the replies. Yes, Osage is hard as concrete, lol. That’s one of the reasons it sounds so good on an acoustic guitar. I’ve yet to even crank up the 460.... My guess is, I’ll use it for felling and bucking, but have to use a local guy for the heavy milling. The local guy I mentioned offered to do it for half the wood, when I told him what I was doing. Not too bad of a deal. For smaller trees, I may cut the middle third out, and have my buddy resaw.
For acoustic guitars the finished sides/backs need to be just above 1/8” thick. I don’t see me doing that with a chainsaw mill
 
Thanks again for the replies. Yes, Osage is hard as concrete, lol. That’s one of the reasons it sounds so good on an acoustic guitar. I’ve yet to even crank up the 460.... My guess is, I’ll use it for felling and bucking, but have to use a local guy for the heavy milling. The local guy I mentioned offered to do it for half the wood, when I told him what I was doing. Not too bad of a deal. For smaller trees, I may cut the middle third out, and have my buddy resaw.
For acoustic guitars the finished sides/backs need to be just above 1/8” thick. I don’t see me doing that with a chainsaw mill

Half the wood?!? Jump on that!!
I wouldn’t mill anything for anyone if all I got in return was some wood.

.
 
Half the wood?!? Jump on that!!
I wouldn’t mill anything for anyone if all I got in return was some wood.

.
Lmao! Yes, he seemed like a nice guy. I offered him 2/3rd’s. I’ll only really need the center third of the log, since that where the widest quartersawn boards are. He liked that, because he could sell the Osage he keeps as bow staves (bow and arrow). There’s a big market in people making their own bow; and they’re deadly strong. I don’t need that part of the log, seems like a great deal to me :)
 
Mini mill setup.jpgWelcome to the forum. I have been reading about acoustic guitar making for quite some time now and played around making some components in time past. I am drying some ash now to be used for solid body (which I have never owned) and acoustic back/ sides. Have you thought about a 14"-16" bandsaw with a tall fence to re-saw? When I quarter saw slabs, I use my GB lumbermill (similar to Alaskan) for horizontal cuts and the mini mill for vertical cuts. You can get by with some marginally rift sawn wood for the backs. GB Lumbermill setup.jpg
 
Got a chance to put the Rancher 460 through the paces this weekend. A friend of mine is digging a pond soon, and needed some red oaks cut down and cut into firewood sized pieces.
I have to say this saw was a beast. It did everything I asked and more. After 4 hours of cutting though, it wore this 51 year old out. I’m definitely getting an 18” bar for it.... today! While the 22” is great for felling large trees, it’s cumbersome (and tiring), for dropping and bucking smaller trees. I need a day of rest after that, lol. With the 22” bar, it does get heavy after a while.... maybe I’ll get a smaller Husky to complement this one
 
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