Starting Chainsaw milling

[Lutty440]

New member here, and this is the first thread I read ... Kudos to Goncalo for asking the initial question, and to everyone for your insightful comments !! Incredible amount of knowledge and experience!! I’ve not yet acquired my sawmill, but have lots of raw materials to cut ... I’m hoping to get started in the next few months, so again thanks to everyone on this thread.

Some Pics of my cabin milled with alaskan and timberjig. Got the timberjig first then a friend gave me a homemade alskan mill which I like better because it's mostly easier to make parallel cuts. However using two saws and two mills can be benefcial. One for chunking big slabs off big trees in the woods and taking them home, one mill stationary at home to make final cuts from the big slabs. Or two set ups so that one saw can cool between cuts while you cut on the other set up. I actually got to the point where I was tilting my logs and balancing the weight of the powerhead with a small tire, and starting the cut then stopping the saw, clamping the throttle, start the saw and let it go hands free so i could oil manually, then stop the saw just before the end, take the tire off and finish the cut normally. better than pushing. The fun part is when you see how much you can get done in a day then, see if you can beat yourself the next time, gotta start somewhere, then gain knowledge through failures, then get fed up with wasting time to get efficient. nice when you know you can make your own wood too. Anyway, if you have any questions shoot. I'll try to get some more pictures if my phone camera starts to cooperate again.

 

[MarkInCentralTx]

Thanks Lutty440... Right now, I’m looking at only occasional milling... I suppose like any/every thing else, it won’t stop there ... more toys ya know ... I’ve seen videos on YouTube and do like the Alaskan (and a few other homemade versions), for the portability, and recently heard of/saw the Norwood PortaMill 14..... Nice piece of equipment, but the initial costs a bit more... and may have to wait till after the holidays ...

 

[Lutty440]

Thanks Lutty440... Right now, I’m looking at only occasional milling... I suppose like any/every thing else, it won’t stop there ... more toys ya know ... I’ve seen videos on YouTube and do like the Alaskan (and a few other homemade versions), for the portability, and recently heard of/saw the Norwood PortaMill 14..... Nice piece of equipment, but the initial costs a bit more... and may have to wait till after the holidays ...

Just buy an old used 066, or 85cc plus saw, get a small engine guy to get it running good, tune it a few hundred RPM rich, file your chains down to 10 or 15 degrees, get a used alaskan mill and get in some wood. you won't regret it

 

[Lutty440]

Thanks Lutty440... Right now, I’m looking at only occasional milling... I suppose like any/every thing else, it won’t stop there ... more toys ya know ... I’ve seen videos on YouTube and do like the Alaskan (and a few other homemade versions), for the portability, and recently heard of/saw the Norwood PortaMill 14..... Nice piece of equipment, but the initial costs a bit more... and may have to wait till after the holidays ...

 

[Lutty440]

Here ya go...

 

[csmillingnoob]

You might also connsider a water drip system for the bar. Keeping bar and chain cool will make them last longer.

Hmmm. Might start packing my auxiliary oiler with crushed ice and canola oil in the Summer.

Throw in some flavoring and have slushies while I work!.