New to milling and need help

[Dale M]

Hi Guys I’m totally new to the milling part of saws.
I bought a little 24 inch Mill from a guy. I have a husky 372 xp with a 24 inch bar and chain.
It’s just a normal chain Not a ripping chain.
Question is can I just grind down every second tooth with my Oregon electric sharpener and use that chain.?
I’m only playing around and I know I’m going to be limited to about 18inch logs and that’s fine, I just want to slice a few boards to about 1” thick slabs and they only need to be about 4 feet long. The trees are all
Pine and spruce and are green.

 

[SS396driver]

So in essence you want to make it a skip tooth?

I used a standard 24" chain on my 395 to mill this hickory . Pine and spruce are soft I would just sharpen it and try a cut see what happens. I had to sharpen the chain after the third cut.
Edit: used a standard 36" chain

 

[sean donato]

I dont bother with ripping chain either. You get a little more chain mark in the cut but it works for me. Just keep the chain sharp and let the saw do the cutting. Dont need to dog the crud out of it.

 

[SS396driver]

Yep let the saw do the work my not be evident but the log is down hill. Very light pressure to keep the tip of the bar ahead of the saw head

 

[Dale M]

Thanks Guys
I appreciate the help
D.M.

 

[SS396driver]

​

I did use the 24 on the ash

 

[Dale M]

​

I did use the 24 on the ash View attachment 837633

What size of saw are you using? Are you using a ripping chain? Skip tooth?
Thanks
Dale

 

[SS396driver]

395xp lately but at times I still use my 7910 Dolmar .Just standard chains I do have a skip 36" but haven't used it yet because I'm basically lazy and hate changing chains out. Never purchased a ripping chain because even though my cuts come out rougher I'm going to plane it anyway.

 

[AUSSIE1]

Im only relatively new to milling myself.

I used a standard crosscut chain to start with and have slowly brought the angle around to 10*. To be truthful i dont think it matters too much. What does need to be done for slabbing is the rakers need to be filed down heaps otherwise youll just make dust.

The 372 is a little on the small side. Give it a break every few minutes. My 395 spends as much time having a breather as it is cutting, but then im cutting some decent hardwood.

 

[buttercup]

Pine and Spruce you have plenty with a 20" up to 24" cut with a 70cc, if you feel you don't you're doing something wrong.
A rip chain cuts a little more effectively, as far as "a nice cut surface" it doesn't matter. By the time that wood has dried properly it will have twisted and curled.
Need to get it through a planer/thicknesser when fully dried if you want proper straight and flat materials in the end anyway.

 

[djones]

For occasional use a normal chain is fine, especially if you plan on planing anyways. Just keep the teeth sharp and the chain snug and the cut will be fine.
This log below was finished with a regular chain @ 25° and it's not much different from using a ripping chain as in above.

 

[rarefish383]

What size of saw are you using? Are you using a ripping chain? Skip tooth?
Thanks
Dale

Dale, just try your saw with out of the box Stihl RS chain. Ripping chain is over rated if you use good technique. I mill with a 100CC Homelite and what ever a Stihl 660 is, some thing like 93-97 CC. Use a guide board or rails on ever cut. If you only use the guide on the first cut, it broadcasts the imperfection through ever cut afterwards. When you start your cut get the tip a little in front and hold that angle. DO NOT rock the bar forward and back, see saw. That’s what makes big grooves in the wood. I’ve been in commercial tree work for over 50 years. When I got into milling the biggest learning curve I had to over come was a sharp saw cutting firewood is not a sharp saw milling. I could cut firewood or logs for several days, eight hours a day between touch ups, If I Kept The Saw Out Of THE DIRT. When I milled my first log and after 3-4 cuts on an eight foot log, it was getting hard to push, I learned that you have to touch up the saw a lot. Before spending a lot of money on different chains, get a brand new standard chain and try it. Get the log off the ground. If there is any dirt on the log chop the bark off. I’ve done a few mantles with the bark on and I scrubbed them with a soft bristle brush.

 

[Moparmyway]

Dale, just try your saw with out of the box Stihl RS chain. Ripping chain is over rated if you use good technique. I mill with a 100CC Homelite and what ever a Stihl 660 is, some thing like 93-97 CC. Use a guide board or rails on ever cut. If you only use the guide on the first cut, it broadcasts the imperfection through ever cut afterwards. When you start your cut get the tip a little in front and hold that angle. DO NOT rock the bar forward and back, see saw. That’s what makes big grooves in the wood. I’ve been in commercial tree work for over 50 years. When I got into milling the biggest learning curve I had to over come was a sharp saw cutting firewood is not a sharp saw milling. I could cut firewood or logs for several days, eight hours a day between touch ups, If I Kept The Saw Out Of THE DIRT. When I milled my first log and after 3-4 cuts on an eight foot log, it was getting hard to push, I learned that you have to touch up the saw a lot. Before spending a lot of money on different chains, get a brand new standard chain and try it. Get the log off the ground. If there is any dirt on the log chop the bark off. I’ve done a few mantles with the bark on and I scrubbed them with a soft bristle brush.

Nice post
I’d just like to add that removing the bark, whether you see dirt or not, keeps the chain sharper longer

 

[Dale M]

Hi Guys
I tried my Mill with a husqvarna 372 with a sharp 24 inch chain. It was on just a spruce that fell down about a month ago. It worked really well, I didn’t use a ripping chain, my buddie just gave me an old husky 380s from 1978 it’s a beast so will have to try it on the mill. There is only pine, spruce and poplar are here so I think it will do an Alright job. Here’s some pictures of the 6 pieces I milled 1inch thick and about 4 feet long. These were done with the 372.
Thanks to everyone who helped me out
With this.
Dale

 

[Eric Vogus]

Hi Guys I’m totally new to the milling part of saws.
I bought a little 24 inch Mill from a guy. I have a husky 372 xp with a 24 inch bar and chain.
It’s just a normal chain Not a ripping chain.
Question is can I just grind down every second tooth with my Oregon electric sharpener and use that chain.?
I’m only playing around and I know I’m going to be limited to about 18inch logs and that’s fine, I just want to slice a few boards to about 1” thick slabs and they only need to be about 4 feet long. The trees are all
Pine and spruce and are green.

It’s been a year or so since I have posted or milled for that matter. Getting ready to start a massive milling project this weekend and more than happy about it. Anyways when I built my mill I use a standard milling chain and cut about 1.2 inches a second. I took a old chisel chain that got damaged. I cut every other tooth and narrowed them to half the width and sharpened them to 25 degrees and the whole width teeth to 8 degrees and the rakers down to about 35 thousandths. Same log cut at 3.2 inch a second. For a small project run what you brung. For a big one get equipped.

 

[Dale M]

Hi Guys
I bought a Husqvarna 390 xpg yesterday. It’s a 2017 model and I got it
Cheap so that will be my milling saw.
Only soft wood around here and it’s just a 24 inch mill so it should be great. If the 372 worked then this should work better. Looking forward to trying it out.
Thanks
Dale

 

[csmillingnoob]

Hi Guys
I bought a Husqvarna 390 xpg yesterday. It’s a 2017 model and I got it
Cheap so that will be my milling saw.
Only soft wood around here and it’s just a 24 inch mill so it should be great. If the 372 worked then this should work better. Looking forward to trying it out.
Thanks
Dale

You will cut softwoods like butter.

I use a 390xp on hardwood (pecan) in the 28'-36" range. I struggle some, and now deciding between a 3120xp and an ms880. The 32" chain is fine on the 390, the 36" is okay but the 42" is pushing it more than I am comfortable with. No problem with similarly sized red oak, but the pecan is too much with 42". (Nose oiler always)

I have cut one 24 inch cedar, and that was butter.