Alaska Sawmill

[Todd Woodward]

Stu, is your saw a gear reduction saw, slowing the chain even more? Do you push very hard on it when milling? I'm trying to figure out if I am doing something wrong when I am milling with my current saw. I can't push very hard or it just bogs right down until the chain stops. It doesn't have a broad enough power band I think. I am going to have to get a better saw for milling I think. How do you attach your saw to the mill? I have some bolts that run through two holes that I drilled in my bar.

[Ian Abraham]

I can't push very hard or it just bogs right down until the chain stops. It doesn't have a broad enough power band I think.

Just not enough power to drive the number of cutters.

You could try going to a skip chain with only 1/2 the numbers of cutters, and talking to the guys at Peterson sawmills they actually use a sort of double skip chain with a couple of teeth every 8 inches or so. You have less cutters in use, but you can keep the pressure on the ones that are there and make them cut properly without bogging down the saw. If you have to ease up on the feed pressure the cutters are only just scraping away at the wood and not cutting efficiently.

The old gear driven saw probably has the torque to drive a full complement chain, the cutters will be going slower, but that saw wont bog down

Cheers

Ian

[Ted Christiansen]

Al,

I started in May 2005 doing what you are thinking about with a Logosol TimberJig and Husqvarna 385XP (85cc). It worked well, but was a lot of work. After about three hours of pushing the saw through the wood I was bushed. It was a good workout however, and gradually I could last longer. Five hours is about the limit. Since starting I have cut well over 1000bf of walnut, cherry, ash, oak, elm, maple. I have already used some in projects - you should invest in a moisture meter to be sure the wood is dry enough for your climate.

I have since upgraded to the Logosol Woodworkers Mill. It allows me to work longer because I dont have to push the saw through the wood, I can stand upright while milling and it requires less log handling. Making quartersawn boards with it is a breeze (compared to Alaskan type mills). Now I find the TimberJig and WWmill to be good combination. I can break up large logs into smaller pieces (quartering, thirds, etc) that can then be milled on the WWmill.

There is some good information here. There is even more on Arboristsite (Google it) in the milling forum.

Ted

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Todd, I agree with Ian, you need more saw!

My old Husky does not have a reduction gear, AFAIK, but the older saws have a longer stroke, giving them a slower chain speed and more torque.

The "Skip" type chain that Ian is talking about is what I had the most success with.

Taken from my "Notes" page..........

One of the things that I've heard a lot about is chains. I started with a regular cross cut chain, this worked just OK, it was a lot of work to cut the hard wood, and left a very rough surface.

Next I re-filed my chain to what is called a ripping chain by some, this is where the cutters are filed to a 5 degree angle on the cutters, but no cutters are removed. This was an improvement over the standard cross cut chain, and I think it would work well on softer wood, but on the hard wood I was cutting it was not so great.

I next got directed to the Granberg style of ripping chain, the Granberg style Ripping chain has a set of teeth that have had every other set (pair) of top plates removed. (A set meaning a tooth from each side when possible. See the picture below.) You would take 2 teeth next to each other, one on one side and one on the other, and grind off the top plates using a bench grinder, Dremel, or belt sander. You don't shorten the tooth at all but merely remove the top plate that sticks out to the side of the side plate. What's left on top is nothing wider than the thickness of the side plate.

The tooth with the top plate removed now goes through the wood with less resistance than pulling a top plate along with it and effectively severs the wood fibers. The next set of teeth to go through with the top plates, clean out all the severed fibers. This results in less heat buildup, faster chain speed, and smoother cuts with reduced clogging.

This set up was a great improvement, the saw worked so much better using this chain.

I could keep the saw hogging through logs all day long, the saw would run just below the "four stroking" you get when a saw hits it's rev limit, which is the peak of the saw's power band, right where you want your saw to be running.

This set up worked very well for me.

Like Ted says, this is hard work, but your body will get used to it, and as you are working for yourself, you don't have to work like a rented mule, you can pace yourself.

One other consideration, you need to think about noise. Running a chainsaw is not quiet, but running it on a mill is really loud, as the saw runs near flat out for extended periods of time, this can PO neighbours very soon.

Good luck!

[Nathan Talley]

I've had a alaskan mill for a few months now. I use it in hopes of supporting my woodworking habit, so that's my only production goal. I found an old Husqvarna 61 for a fraction of a new saw. It's not the fastest but it gets the job done. Every since I got it people keep giving me trees and logs that they want removed. Just last week I cleared 1/2 an acre for a former college professor and got several ashes, cedars, and oaks all for free. So just in these trees it would pay for my set up many times over.
Good luck

[Ted Christiansen]

Nathan,

Sweet. That is exactly my logic as well (milling setup is paid for rather quickly in the value of the lumber).

I too now have so many sources for logs that I have to choose which ones I want and let the others go (it's sad to know they will be chipped or burned). I have limited time and lumber storage space. I have cut so much in the last year, that I will have to build quite a few projects this winter to make space in the drying area (my basement). I plan to build a dehumidifier kiln to allow me to stack the wood unstickered, thus increasing storage capacity!! My wife says I am nuts.

Ted