Mini Mill in progress...

[MikeInParadise]

Made some progress this week on the mini mill that I want to take up the hill in the wood lot.

Lots of trial and error on the slides and they still need some work. I started off with wheels and gave up and went to plastic type of slide.

My big item left to do is the remote throttle for the handle bars. Not much response to my earlier post on this..I tried to find a bicycle brake handle grip and cable and all the close stores don't have any. I need to find a specialty shop but have to make a special trip for this.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=56823

I also still have to reinforce the L bracket holding the saw to the raising and lowering mechanism.

I also have to put some side supports on the wood support brackets so the they will form an L so that I can cut the top and then flip the top to the side to I can get a square cant.

This is designed to work up to 16 x 16 inch log.

I am planing on using the 20 inch bar on the MS660

In order to hold logs on I am going to try using Bungees on each support that I put on and off as I pass them with the saw. Not sure how practical this will be but time will tell.

But today that Strange Golden Orb that on occasion makes its appearance in our skies is here and the Boss and I are going to goof off so no work on this today...

 

[MikeInParadise]

Oh and another question...

Those of you that have or have seen logosol type mills working I have a question.

Do they cut both up the cant and back down the cant????

 

[Adkpk]

Hey, Mike how is the saw attached to the slide. Looks like you've been busy.

 

[dustytools]

I believe that the simplest idea so far for the remote throttle was the idea that Aggiewoodbutcher had using the zip-tie. Im gonna try it myself next time I do some milling.

 

[MikeInParadise]

Hey, Mike how is the saw attached to the slide. Looks like you've been busy.

Kinda like this...

Since this picture was taken I cut the mount off the height adjuster and lowered it down and flipped the mount so I can add the reinforcing on the bottom..

But it is attached with two M8 coupling nuts...

See this thread...

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=56731

 

[MikeInParadise]

I believe that the simplest idea so far for the remote throttle was the idea that Aggiewoodbutcher had using the zip-tie. Im gonna try it myself next time I do some milling.

That would work for testing but I would be uncomfortable having the saw throttle held wide open without my hands near it to turn it off if something breaks.

I don't think I would be good at chainsaw juggling.:greenchainsaw:


Actually I just got back from a drive out around the bay and found a hardware store that had a bicycle brake grip and cable so I just need to make the rest of the remote throttle.

 

[roy clarke]

Oh and another question...

Those of you that have or have seen logosol type mills working I have a question.

Do they cut both up the cant and back down the cant????

They cut in one direction only, so the chain pulls the wood to the guide rail. There is nothing to take the reaction if you try to cut in the other direction.

 

[BobL]

That would work for testing but I would be uncomfortable having the saw throttle held wide open without my hands near it to turn it off if something breaks.
SNIP
Actually I just got back from a drive out around the bay and found a hardware store that had a bicycle brake grip and cable so I just need to make the rest of the remote throttle.

Once you are deep into a cut a cable tie would be fine but like you, if necessary, I want to be able to deactivate it asap without fiddling.

Something else I noticed yesterday was I readjusted the hand throttle cable so that it had zero slack. The result was that when I picked up the powerhead and mill, a tiny flex of the mill was sufficient to pull on enough throttle to activate the clutch and move the chain. This can be a safety issue so make sure your hand throttle has a bit of slack at the start.

Pity you had to buy the bike brake stuff. I have a heap of this stuff in my shed scavenged from bulk garbage pickup days where there are many bicycles placed on the street verge. I watch out for bikes with alloy parts which I collect and strip.

 

[poleframer]

I leave my throttle tied WOT all the time. I just hit the kill switch at the end of the cut, roll the saw back, and fire it when I'm ready to go again. You might try it, if it works for you, all you need to do is wire a switch on your handle.

 

[BobL]

I like the idea of a kill switch near the hand throttle from a safety perspective.
However, I'm not all that comfortable about routinely going direct from WOT to a killed motor.

It depends how big a log I'm slabbing but when I get to the end of a big slab I hook the mill and saw to the rail (otherwise it would slide down and off the downward sloping rails) and let the engine idle for a minute or thereabouts. I leave the aux oiler running and blip occasionally so the chain gets a good oil coating. Then I kill the motor and take the mill off the rails.

Cheers

 

[poleframer]

I wonder if its hard on the engine for any reason. The 090 runs quite a bit slower than newer saws- 8k rpms I think. My mill is like a procut, at the end of a cut I pull the slab,roll the saw back, lower the saw, gas&oil, switch on, yank & turn on the winch. Away she goes again.

 

[BobL]

I wonder if its hard on the engine for any reason. The 090 runs quite a bit slower than newer saws- 8k rpms I think. My mill is like a procut, at the end of a cut I pull the slab,roll the saw back, lower the saw, gas&oil, switch on, yank & turn on the winch. Away she goes again.

I can understand that the 090 is probably not puffing too hard but I was following the stihl instruction manual (my wife would not be happy if she hear about this because I rarely any other instructions!)

It makes some physical sense that the heat stored in the engine is gonna create bigger temp differentials if you switch off from WOT rather than idle. What actual damage temp diffs do is increase long term wear and tear. I guess it depends on how tough one is on the saw in other ways as to whether it will clearly manifest itself.

Cheer