CS Milling 101, Hints tips and tricks

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At least 6" of your bar is going to be lost mounting the mill frame so if you want to cut any more than about 17" you'll need a longer bar... That being the case I'd suggest skip or Granberg chain for your 372xp & possibly an aux oiler too
Wow, I didn't think I'd be losing 6". huh.

The larger trees I have are 20" or so. Looks like I'll have to go with a 28" bar then.

And when you say you'd suggest skip, you mean not bother?

And as for the auxiliary oiler, I was looking to do these in 10' lengths or so. The oiler necessary for something that short?
 
Wow, I didn't think I'd be losing 6". huh.

The larger trees I have are 20" or so. Looks like I'll have to go with a 28" bar then.

And when you say you'd suggest skip, you mean not bother?

And as for the auxiliary oiler, I was looking to do these in 10' lengths or so. The oiler necessary for something that short?
You definitely lose alot. I run a 36" bar so I started with a 24" mill. Due to logs bigger than I expected it didn't take me long to upsize to a 36" mill.
With that and removing my spikes puts my biggest cut at about 29.5"
I'm new here myself but from what I've read I believe you'll be ok without the aux oiler but it won't hurt nothing. Use a cheap pvc settup an you'll only be in it for a few bucks.
380d9dab0f1f75de90216772e3b3c5e6.jpg


Sent from my SM-A526U using Tapatalk
 
A tall/thin container can provide more flow that a short/squat container for an Aux oil tanks bu the advantage of short tanks is the flow doesn't change all that much as the height of oil changes.
I've used 4" PVC pipe and a couple of end caps but when I caught up with my BIL ally welder handy he knock this one up for me.
The clear PVC U-tube shows the level of the oil inside the tank.
Aux_oil1.jpg
 
Wow, I didn't think I'd be losing 6". huh.

The larger trees I have are 20" or so. Looks like I'll have to go with a 28" bar then.

And when you say you'd suggest skip, you mean not bother?

And as for the auxiliary oiler, I was looking to do these in 10' lengths or so. The oiler necessary for something that short?
Yeah... I'm running a 24" bar and have only 18.5" width availible to cut with. I only mill a little and it's ok but in bigger stuff like this oak I freehand cut the sides just enough to squeak by. Extra steps that I could avoid with a bigger set up but for the little bit I do it works out ok.

20220314_155053.jpg
 
Yeah... I'm running a 24" bar and have only 18.5" width availible to cut with. I only mill a little and it's ok but in bigger stuff like this oak I freehand cut the sides just enough to squeak by. Extra steps that I could avoid with a bigger set up but for the little bit I do it works out ok.

People get too hung up on keeping everything live edge and/or oversizing their rig so they can do crotches and flares in the wood. Unless you're doing massive single slab pieces for tables you want to be live edge, there's often no need to keep the slabs live edged. Have seen too many people running a foot or two of extra bar through a cut just so they have enough bar for some wide point. Requires extra saw power, way more teeth to sharpen, etc. Best is to keep it simple like you're doing. A bonus advantage to trimming the sides is you don't have as much dirty bark to saw through, which often is half of what dulls your chain.
 
Hi!
A smal question from a norwegian beginner! How do you cut logs with a skewed center to get the best boards? I have read that the best is to have the pit in one board.. That is not easy with a curved log..

The Granberg instructions says just measure the same height from the pit in the rear and in the front and cut parallell to that, but that dosn`t work on a log thats not straight..

When I lay the ladder level above the log (level side to side and front and back), the measurements from center pit to ladder at the bottom end and top of the log do not match.

Do you skip having the ladder level rear to front and rather just aim the cut at the same height from the center pit in the back and in the front of the log while making sure that the ladder is level from side to side? And hoping most of the pit goes in the midle board?

ps. Sorry for the bad english (3.rd grade english and google transelate)
 
By "pit" I assume you means teh centre of the log or "pith"
By skewed centre I assume you means curved log?
If so this is what I do.
If the curve on the top of the log is not too much I use the chainsaw to cut some of the curve away so the ladder can lay sort of flat - that's represented in the bottom drawing below
If its a long curve the I will pack each end with blocks of woods get the ladder to have the same distance between the top of the ladder and centre of the log. See the top drawing.

Screen Shot 2022-03-18 at 6.07.57 am.png

If you have a lot of curved logs then a supporting frame that holds each end of the ladder steady like this might be worth investing in.
Here you can see I have cut a flat to remove part of teh curve but the curve was so extreme I added a support frame..
The verticals are C-channel so yje cross support piece can be slid up and down and locked in place.
DSC00158.jpg
 
By "pit" I assume you means teh centre of the log or "pith"
By skewed centre I assume you means curved log?
Yes and yes:)
Thanks for reply and drawings!
Understand that one should aim to get the pith in one board, but what is the best solution when that is not possible? Is it then just as easy to cut the length of the log to get a smaller curve? Or am i overthinking the problem with a curved log (Which can also be quite likely).
 
Yes and yes:)
Thanks for reply and drawings!
Understand that one should aim to get the pith in one board, but what is the best solution when that is not possible? Is it then just as easy to cut the length of the log to get a smaller curve? Or am i overthinking the problem with a curved log (Which can also be quite likely).
I don't usually worry about the pith because the pith in most young Aussie logs is not that much of a problem.
If I get problematic pith in a board I tend to just cut it out.
 
A range of setups

Basic setup - sorry if I keep posting this one but it's the clearest picture I have.

Unistrut log rails
View attachment 325837

Another basic setup using a ladder as log rails.
View attachment 325838

Boomerang shaped log
View attachment 325839
View attachment 325840

Another tricky to start log
View attachment 325841

Small mill with Mac 10-10
View attachment 325842

Serious sloped milling - mill went down by itself!
View attachment 325843

16ft cedar
View attachment 325844

Enough?
When Using the uni strut instead of lapping strut to lengthen use a piece of 40 schedule 1" iron pipe shoved in the strut, you will be amazed how perfect it fits. A foot piece works better than a 4 inch piece.
 
Peculiar you posted this
Then come things like cutting your hands while filing, bug bites, splinters, chain breaking, kick back, shark attack and UFO deportation.
Pretty sure this happened to me. Created sever depression after the fact. I realized I was a misfit reject. But the good part is they sent me back (I guess). Sorry about the banter but haddta post it
I can't believe I have not read this "STUFF" before...Thanks everyone
 
When Using the uni strut instead of lapping strut to lengthen use a piece of 40 schedule 1" iron pipe shoved in the strut, you will be amazed how perfect it fits. A foot piece works better than a 4 inch piece.
Good idea. One issue I can forsee is it then can be too long on some logs. My two Unistruts are cut into 2 x 10' lengths. If I cut a 12' log and I join the pieces using 1" pipe the 20' will result in a 4' over hang on each end.
 
Good idea. One issue I can forsee is it then can be too long on some logs. My two Unistruts are cut into 2 x 10' lengths. If I cut a 12' log and I join the pieces using 1" pipe the 20' will result in a 4' over hang on each end.
I have 8' and 12' pieces ,, bought for scrap/salvage in the 90s' several tons but it is slowly disappearing.
Fits fairly nice inside of 11 ga. 2" square tube.
 
I have 8' and 12' pieces ,, bought for scrap/salvage in the 90s' several tons but it is slowly disappearing.
Fits fairly nice inside of 11 ga. 2" square tube.
Joining on the outside wouldn't work for me.

12'/8' is how I should have cut mine or maybe something like that. I cut quite a few logs that are ~8' long and 10' isn't quite long enough.

I bought mine at the height of the mining boom in 2007 when a 20' length cost US$75. There were some available at a salvage yard but they were too bent for my liking.
About 5 years later one of the tree jockeys ran over my rails with a truck and bent 2 of the half length beyond repair and had to go but another length which cost about US$90.
If you think that was expensive then today the same thing here costs US$121 per 20' length.
 
After having replaced or sharpened nearly every cutting edge in my wood shop in the past week, I'm reminded more than ever how much more I need to keep on top of my sharpening. Everything is fairly effortless with sharp edges. Everything is a struggle without them. BobL, I know you've stressed how easy it is to dull edges in a heartbeat in dirty wood and steps to avoid it, but it really sunk in during my last round of mesquite milling. With all my types of wood cutting/planing, I've had a bad habit of going by "amount of use" to gauge when it's time to sharpen an edge, rather than admit that the edge needs sharpening if the machine is struggling to make a good cut, even if I just sharpened it yesterday. Mesquite has such dirty thick bark that you're guaranteed to dull chains quickly unless you debark it, as much of a pain in the ass as it can be to do so. Also, mesquite tends to contain a lot of dead spots of rotten wood that will dull the chain quickly and you never know where you'll find them. I checked out all the opinions on winches out of curiosity, which would certainly come in handy when I'm pushing hard with a dull chain, but even in a really hard wood like mesquite, I've found with freshly sharpened chain on my 880, it just wants to eat it up and I only lightly guide it, I don't have to push it. That's kind of a standard I think I've learned for when to sharpen. If I'm having to push, sharpen the chain.
I was also reading this whole thread and others for thoughts on rails/ladders on every cut or just the first cut. I've gone back and forth, but have much preferred the results using them on every cut. When I don't use rails, I struggle solo with my 880 at keeping the mill level as I first initiate the cut and end up with unevenness in the first six inches, and tend to get the same at the other end finishing the cut.
I had some terrible washboarding issues when my son helped me one day who has no familiarity with milling, and he tried to attribute it to the chain loosening up. I've almost never had washboarding issues on my own. I was thinking it mostly had to do with him pushing too hard on his side - every time I've ever had a novice help me I've had to tell them to stop pushing so much - and also him cantilevering his push by holding the vertical post up high and pushing. But even more so, I think it was him knocking in wedges behind the cut way too far and lifting the wood too much so that it was tilting the mill from the back end and always pushing it to dig in. I had not even been putting wedges in behind me with mesquite most of the time because it didn't really sag and close up at all. When I went back to milling on my own, I had smooth results again. I haven't really seen it warned about or mentioned that in milling you only put in wedges to keep the cut open to the width of the cut. Some people treat wedges like they do when felling and drive them in and open the cut way too much and tilt the angle of attack of the mill.
What should be a bit of a game changer for keeping myself working more steadily is that I got my two old 87cc Stihls back from my place in Mexico, only one of which I ever expected to work. But I did the ignition fix on the 045 successfully and now I have three big saws to choose from, and can start milling with 3/8" chain some on smaller hardwoods. I remember you saying, BobL, that you didn't see much of a difference between a 660 with 3/8 and 880 w/ .404 in narrower hardwoods, but you also mentioned my 045 and 056 Supers were considerably lower revs than the 660, if only marginally less powerful, so I won't get the higher chain speed benefit so much from them that I would from the 660. Even still, it will be interesting to do some direct comparisons of the two setups.
Does the 660 run an 8T rim. That is where the 056 Magnum II catches up on chain speed on some other newer saws.
 
Joining on the outside wouldn't work for me.

12'/8' is how I should have cut mine or maybe something like that. I cut quite a few logs that are ~8' long and 10' isn't quite long enough.

I bought mine at the height of the mining boom in 2007 when a 20' length cost US$75. There were some available at a salvage yard but they were too bent for my liking.
About 5 years later one of the tree jockeys ran over my rails with a truck and bent 2 of the half length beyond repair and had to go but another length which cost about US$90.
If you think that was expensive then today the same thing here costs US$121 per 20' length.
I guess I am fortunate to be a junk packrat. Most of what I paid in those days was around 30 to 50 $ a ton and the Kansas City junkers were happy to get double the money salvage yards were paying
 
Joining on the outside wouldn't work for me.

12'/8' is how I should have cut mine or maybe something like that. I cut quite a few logs that are ~8' long and 10' isn't quite long enough.

I bought mine at the height of the mining boom in 2007 when a 20' length cost US$75. There were some available at a salvage yard but they were too bent for my liking.
About 5 years later one of the tree jockeys ran over my rails with a truck and bent 2 of the half length beyond repair and had to go but another length which cost about US$90.
If you think that was expensive then today the same thing here costs US$121 per 20' length.
I wasn't suggesting you join on the outside ,, merely bringing the way it fits to attention.
 
I have read Through these 14 pages (More than once) and don't remember any discussion on using safety chain. I did see that @BobL starts out with crosscut and methodically converts?files them to 10 deg. top plate angle. My thought is I have some full chisel full comp 3/8" - .063 oregon LP and husqvarna H45 chain I don't care for when bore cutting (Grade) logs. These have the slanting ramp preceding the raker/drag , and sides alongside of the raker/drag as it rolls off of the bar nose. short of trial by fire I was hoping for a bit of advice from some with experience. I should read through some other threads but I am getting lazee after the 14 page read I have some Carlton in the mail and will use it to start off with. I have a few modifications on your boomerang log to post when I can get some Patience. (Getting Restless) I like this thread....
 
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