Hi All,
I promised in another thread a while ago that I'd report back on a CSM re-build project I was undertaking....It's taken a lot longer than I'd hoped (day-job, kids, bushfires, pandemics etc), but I finished it a few weeks ago and so below are a few pics of the build.
I had been struggling with a cheap Alaskan mill for a while before I realised some aluminium castings were out of square, making it frustratingly difficult to clamp the bar flat. Hence the rebuild. For this build I replaced everything except the main 't-slot' aluminium rails and the handle. It's a lot easier to set-up and adjust than the cheap-original and feels a lot more solid. It's also slightly heavier.
Features of note include:
Finally, a nod of acknowledgement to BobL, whose mill builds gave me some ideas for my own.
Drilling the bar
(I broke about 5 bits drilling the sprocket bearing, including a rather expensive solid carbide end mill - in the end a relatively cheap tungsten-carbide-tipped multi-purpose bit did the job)
Building the thickness adjustment/bar-mount/roller guide assemblies
Finished Mill
(testing on a little eucalyptus log I had lying around)
I promised in another thread a while ago that I'd report back on a CSM re-build project I was undertaking....It's taken a lot longer than I'd hoped (day-job, kids, bushfires, pandemics etc), but I finished it a few weeks ago and so below are a few pics of the build.
I had been struggling with a cheap Alaskan mill for a while before I realised some aluminium castings were out of square, making it frustratingly difficult to clamp the bar flat. Hence the rebuild. For this build I replaced everything except the main 't-slot' aluminium rails and the handle. It's a lot easier to set-up and adjust than the cheap-original and feels a lot more solid. It's also slightly heavier.
Features of note include:
- MS660 clone power head
- 50" 3/8 GB 'Extra Long' bar
- Carlton skip-tooth semi-chisel 0.63 ripping chain (10 degree top plate filing angle and progressive raker-angle filing)
- 1170mm max cut capacity
- 350mm max slab depth
- Heavy-duty T-slot aluminium thickness adjustment carriages
- Steel thickness adjustment risers (bolted to T-slot ali carriages)
- Through-bar bolted mounting (2 x 6mm bolts at power-head end 1 x 6mm bolt through sprocket bearing centre)
- UHMW strips under the rails for low friction sliding
- Tach and Cylinder-head temperature gauges
- Simple auxiliary oiler with 1/4 turn valve
- Adjustable nylon roller guides (can be positioned above or below the bar and also adjustable relative angle)
Finally, a nod of acknowledgement to BobL, whose mill builds gave me some ideas for my own.
Drilling the bar
(I broke about 5 bits drilling the sprocket bearing, including a rather expensive solid carbide end mill - in the end a relatively cheap tungsten-carbide-tipped multi-purpose bit did the job)
Building the thickness adjustment/bar-mount/roller guide assemblies
Finished Mill
(testing on a little eucalyptus log I had lying around)
