Hello again rarefish383 thanks for posting those pictures those shelves came out nice. I really like the live edge back splash it's pretty slick and that wood seams beautiful. That table in your cabin came out beautiful as well but I really like the ax hanger. Everything I've milled so far has been long dead so the bark just falls off, do you have to do anything to keep it on there while drying out like pin nails or anything?
For my milling I bought the grandberg easy rail system which has just been a delight to use and really eliminated a lot of the learning curve on set up for me, its so user friendly. I wont ask you about learning to keep the screws out of the cut, there's generally two ways to get those kinds of lessons,,to do, or to watch,, for me I watched a wranglestar video using the easy rail system and watched him saw through one of the dogs.
I like the idea of using a board with the secondary cuts as that can only help control my consistency. It totally makes sense that running the mill directly on a surface with chatter would amplify itself through out the rest of the log. Now it always seams near impossible to find a nice board at home depot. Would a pressure treated board be less likely to bow around after I buy one and does it have to be perfectly flat or would the saw running on it push it down a little? Lastly it looks in your picture after the first cut you use the 1x1 attached to the front end only with two screws going into the log horizontally, do you use any short screws going down into the log from the top at the far ends of the log that you would then trim off?
As for my bar i'm going to file down all the burs, clean it up and try the board method. I do use a easy aux oiler perhaps i need to turn it up and let it get messy. I would then have to assume with using a board and if i use a new chain if the problem returns its time for anew bar and that one will be for stumps and fire wood. Which leads me to my next question if my bar is messed up can i mess up the chain by running it on there and then by that groove up a new bar by moving that chain over?
You said above rarefish that you hope I enjoy milling,,I cant even tell you how much,, everything about it, from the setup, to the labor of it all, the smells, and the maintenance,, Every cut is a treasure hunt to see the next grain or color change or natural deformations unfold. I could go on and on. Then to top it off I get to be in the woods which is where my heart has always been. I had spent 23 years working 65-85 hours a week as a chef stuck in a small kitchen with no windows,,your alive but your not living,,,,One thing I did learn about is carving,, give me a fruit or vegetable and I can make you about anything that would look slick at a wedding. That being said I picked up 170 last year and put a carving bar on it. I haven't had much time to practice much as I have three kids three and under and the wife still wants another and my spare time has gone into milling boards for the house, but as for now my head can't stop thinking about it and looking forward to it. Any how thanks again for all your continued support in all this!! Unfortunity It might be almost a month before ill be able to get some time to mill again. My grandberg file guide showed up today so I'll be able to get my regular and skip chains cleaned up and perfectly even with that. Another thing that has been confusing that I have read a lot was that the chain teeth only have to be the same size on each side where I though you had to find the smallest tooth on the whole chain and match them all to that.