I recently got access to 9 (qty) of 10 foot logs. Two are SYP and one is poplar. Each is about 12 inches at the small end and up to 18 inches at the bole not including the flare which can get me close to 20 plus inches. So I milled three of them on Saturday and all went well but it was a really long day as this wood was pretty dense especially the pine. I am using my MS460 with a 32 inch bar and a brand new skip tooth chain.
Everything seemed to be going fine and it was but I got to reading some more posts on this site and I got a bit nervous about what I'm doing. For starters I milled the 30 feet with two brand new skip chains - I didn't sharpen as I figured I would likely make them worse in the end. And the reality was they cut pretty well the whole time. So what my concerns are are as follows:
1) I'm assuming the chain is going to tell me when it needs sharpening - I'm pretty good with sharpening edge tools and as a handtool (Galoot) woodworker not a complete idiot about what sharp is vs dull, I just haven't figured out all this hoopla about rakers and the angles on the teeth etc. So I figured get the chain sharpened at the shop and use two or three fresh on the logs. But I am wondering if you all have some sort of expected number of square feet you think you should see in harder woods.
I did have an aux oiler - it was a last minute concept as the one I designed wasn't going to work - DAMHIKT. My buddy stood safely away from the blade and used a garden weed pump sprayer to spray anywhere between fast drops and a slow stream of canola oil right on the blade teeth/bar as it entered the wood. We didn't spare the oil.
2) I am running my gas/oil at 50:1 like Stihl tells me but I'm seeing recommendations of 40:1. Should I be using 40:1? or some other ratio? It's Stihl synth oil.
3) I let the saw run after each cut for at least a minute but I'm seeing that it should be 3-5 minutes? Really? On some of the smaller diameter cuts (as log cylinder had smaller cross section) I immediately started the next cut without letting the saw cool. We ran out of gas once while we were milling on the big pine - I found that I needed a full tank for each cut or pretty near-abouts. The bar oil and gas dropped about equally so I have my oiler maxed. But should I really let the saw go for another 3-5?
4) I'm really confused on the rich/lean issue. I understand that lean means too much oxygen and rich means it's getting more gas (and I understand that when one goes up the other goes down) but how do I adjust this and know that I have it right? Haven't seen too much written about that.
I bought this saw for about a grand a few years back and finally got into milling this year - I don't want to fry this baby because that means I'm paying $30-$40 a board foot. So what about the DETAILS am I missing and should I immediately change? I have 6 more logs to go, some pear after that, (a big pine log in the driveway I posted about earlier but haven't cut yet) and some serious downfall white oak in the Fall - sorry for the rambling just don't want to wake up some morning with a Dear John letter from my saw http://www.arboristsite.com/images/smilies/msp_scared.gif
Thanks
Scott
Everything seemed to be going fine and it was but I got to reading some more posts on this site and I got a bit nervous about what I'm doing. For starters I milled the 30 feet with two brand new skip chains - I didn't sharpen as I figured I would likely make them worse in the end. And the reality was they cut pretty well the whole time. So what my concerns are are as follows:
1) I'm assuming the chain is going to tell me when it needs sharpening - I'm pretty good with sharpening edge tools and as a handtool (Galoot) woodworker not a complete idiot about what sharp is vs dull, I just haven't figured out all this hoopla about rakers and the angles on the teeth etc. So I figured get the chain sharpened at the shop and use two or three fresh on the logs. But I am wondering if you all have some sort of expected number of square feet you think you should see in harder woods.
I did have an aux oiler - it was a last minute concept as the one I designed wasn't going to work - DAMHIKT. My buddy stood safely away from the blade and used a garden weed pump sprayer to spray anywhere between fast drops and a slow stream of canola oil right on the blade teeth/bar as it entered the wood. We didn't spare the oil.
2) I am running my gas/oil at 50:1 like Stihl tells me but I'm seeing recommendations of 40:1. Should I be using 40:1? or some other ratio? It's Stihl synth oil.
3) I let the saw run after each cut for at least a minute but I'm seeing that it should be 3-5 minutes? Really? On some of the smaller diameter cuts (as log cylinder had smaller cross section) I immediately started the next cut without letting the saw cool. We ran out of gas once while we were milling on the big pine - I found that I needed a full tank for each cut or pretty near-abouts. The bar oil and gas dropped about equally so I have my oiler maxed. But should I really let the saw go for another 3-5?
4) I'm really confused on the rich/lean issue. I understand that lean means too much oxygen and rich means it's getting more gas (and I understand that when one goes up the other goes down) but how do I adjust this and know that I have it right? Haven't seen too much written about that.
I bought this saw for about a grand a few years back and finally got into milling this year - I don't want to fry this baby because that means I'm paying $30-$40 a board foot. So what about the DETAILS am I missing and should I immediately change? I have 6 more logs to go, some pear after that, (a big pine log in the driveway I posted about earlier but haven't cut yet) and some serious downfall white oak in the Fall - sorry for the rambling just don't want to wake up some morning with a Dear John letter from my saw http://www.arboristsite.com/images/smilies/msp_scared.gif
Thanks
Scott
