Most of us have heard of CAD, well, there is another not so well known affliction, CSMAD, that can be even more Dangerous (to the BUDGET
) You get all the symptoms of CAD, and then add a whole nother List of symptoms.
Why limit yourself to just ONE or TWO Mills?
Yes, I have a full blown incurable case of CSMAD, I have (all Granberg) a Mini mill for edging, a Small log mill ( the thrust end clamped only 24") a 36" , a 48" and then SeMoTony told me about using one of my 2, 5' Ez Rails sets to be able to assemble a 60" Mill, which I have acquired all the parts to do, but have not yet assembled. When I decided to try CSMing, I decided it was all or nothing, no just sticking a toe in the water, I did a Swan Dive, off the High Board at the deep end of the pool. Now my Knowledge and Skills need to play catch up with my tools.
Bear in mind that the "Rated Size" of a Mill, is NOT the size of log that you can mill with it, it is the overall length of the mill itself, not it's "Capacity"
Figure taking 4-6" OFF the size of the mill for it's Capacity, and ADDING about 6" of bar length longer than your Mill to GET that capacity, those are just rough guestimates, I haven't made measurements yet, to see how things work out, having 36", 48" and 60" Mills, being inexperienced as I was, and am still learning, I bought 36", 44" and 60" Bars.
Oregon lists my "36" bar as 36", but not counting the dogs, I measure IIRC 34.5" Nose to face of the saw, and I think with the dogs in place, my 36" mill has a Capacity of 26-27", which ended up biting me last Saturday, I sold 5 Cedar slabs, and the last one was 28.5" at the wide end, so I had to rebar and chain the 3120, and mount it into the 48' Mill with the 44" B&C for that last slab
, it was my first sale to order, and Damned if I didn't forget to get any pics
, we loaded the slabs up, they left, I went in to tell my Wife about the $250, that I made in less than an hour and a half, she said let's see the pics, I didn't think that you would be done that fast
Any how, the "36 inch" bar will go to firewood use, the 44" bar will go to the 36" Mill, I need to get a 50" bar for the 48" mill, which still won't quite max that mill, but I still have the 60" Bar and Mill, which again wont max that Mill either, but it should handle anything that I am likely to mill, my eventual goal, is to try building some Dining room and Coffee Tables, as an income hobby, but I am still learning a lot about the whole milling process yet myself.
CSM can be Fun and Addicting, be careful and I Hope that you Enjoy it as much as I have so far,
Doug