Cutting stand

[joe marra]

Just got a chainsaw, any good designs for preparing wood for turning. Thanks

[Joe Bradshaw]

Joe, i use short lengths of 4 x 4 (15-16"). I drilled holes in each end of each piece large enough for a piece of 1/2" pvc pipe. I put the pipe in 2 of the pieces and stack the rest log cabin style. It works a treat. You could probably drive around to construction sites and get all the materials for free. I used 8 pieces for mine. It is easy to roll short logs on and it keeps my saw chain out of the dirt. It is also a comfortable working height for me. Good luck.

[Kathy Marshall]

I love my little chainsaw stand. Not available everywhere, but if you can get one they work very well.
My tree trimmers do a lot of palm tree maintenance, so I asked them to save me a big bottom section the next time they took one down. What I ended up with was about a 30" diameter log that was about 3' long. Their crew loaded it on my trailer for me (fresh cut, it weighed about 600+ lbs).
When I got the trailer home, I positioned the back end where I wanted the stand to end up. I unhitched the trailer, blocked the wheels, then drove the truck around and looped a tow strap around the log. I slowly pulled the log towards the back of the trailer and once more than 1/2 of the weight moved beyond the axles, the trailer slowly tipped down and the log slid to the ground and stood upright.
Palm is very soft and stringy (think of a tightly compressed bundle grass). I cut a V in the top to stabilize whatever I'm cutting and there's no worries about cutting through logs into the palm since the palm is so soft. When the top gets too mangled from cutting into it, I just turn the chainsaw sideways and take a little off the top.

[James W Engle]

I have two 12 inch diameter logs laying on the ground parallel to each other which makes a nice holder for the log I am cutting which I place in the groove. the pieces are about 30 inches long. Save some of the trimmings from cutting up a log for a blank and use them to act as wedges to hold various pieces if needed. No cost, works great.

[Josh Bowman]

Joe,
A neat way to cut blanks is to use an old "Workmate". Just open the jaws enough to cradle the log. You can also split the log doing the same. Learned this tip from Lyle Jamieson. You can watch a U-Tube video of him doing this here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytk-OLomUSU).

[Robert Henrickson]

Joe,
A neat way to cut blanks is to use an old "Workmate". Just open the jaws enough to cradle the log. You can also split the log doing the same. Learned this tip from Lyle Jamieson. You can watch a U-Tube video of him doing this here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytk-OLomUSU).

My solution as well.

[Pete Jordan]

http://www.laymar-crafts.co.uk/tip33.htm

[robert baccus]

Bring home a 20" log section, stand on end and cut a v notch in the endgrain.

[Adam Blanton]

I looked around at a few different designs, ended up with this setup below when I found some freewood in the neighborhood to make it. It works fairly well, could use some pegs or a strap to help hold down the wood for some cuts. If I wanted, I could flip it and slide the lower beams closer together.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/9000257077_da37f5d4d9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamallstar/9000257077/)
Chainsaw horse (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamallstar/9000257077/)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3695/9001440284_1fbc6f4852.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamallstar/9001440284/)
Chainsaw horse (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamallstar/9001440284/)

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Nice simple design! Love it!

I have a suggestion. Cross cut chainsaw marks at 6 inch intervals. That is a really handy (rough) measuring tool to cut blanks. Of course, you could make them 4 or 5 or whatever you choose. 6 works really well I think.

[Thom Sturgill]

There was a thread a while back about a club making such items and they had a nice design. Used 2 12' 2x6s if I recall. As a safety issue, raising the cutting height to one where you are not bent over is a big plus and your back will thank you.

I can't find the thread, but the stand was four vertical boards cut on an angle to form 2 parallel Vs about 30" high. A board a right angles extended out with a leg to support the end. This was used to bungie cord half sections face down so that you can clip the corners to round the blank. The board also provided for a support for a long piece being cut to length and laid in the Vs. Work from the side for that and from the end to split a round (the Vs should have a gap between the boards.)

[Michael Gibson]

I only use the straight trunk of the Pear tree for my turnings, above that it branches off in multiple smaller trunks, this part l use on end and it can secure different size logs. Michael.