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View Full Version : Chainsaw mill and other questions



willy young
03-27-2016, 12:55 AM
Its been a while since I posted,life gets in the way. With that said in the last few years since I posted I have bought a few items. I was building a bandsaw mill but I got a chainsaw mill and a new sthil saw. I also got one of the sawmill attachments that you can screw a 2x4 to the log and split it. A couple of years ago I made some oak boards using the chainsaw mill with the sthil. I was pleased with everything but one issue. It took about half an hour to cut one board 8 to 12 inches wide. Is this average?

I have a cedar log I cut a while back. It is a huge log,somewhere between 25 and 40 inches wide. I am thinking of splitting it down the middle using the 2x4 cutting attachment into quarters then using the Alaskian sawmill attachment to get it into roughly 8 inch beams I can store.

With that said is there anyway to speed up cutting? Can I get a different chain to cut faster. This Sthil cuts really fast as far as firewood or bringing down a tree but slow for boards. The main thing is I do not want to damage the chainsaw due to cutting boards.

Gerry Grzadzinski
03-27-2016, 8:27 AM
Do you have a ripping chain?

willy young
03-27-2016, 1:58 PM
I have a couple of chains that were cut at the angle for firewood. I do have a electric chain sharpener that I cut one at a ripping angle or at least from a description I found on the web. Would I be better to buy one cut for ripping? I wouldn't mind getting one if it would help.

Scott T Smith
03-27-2016, 10:39 PM
Its been a while since I posted,life gets in the way. With that said in the last few years since I posted I have bought a few items. I was building a bandsaw mill but I got a chainsaw mill and a new sthil saw. I also got one of the sawmill attachments that you can screw a 2x4 to the log and split it. A couple of years ago I made some oak boards using the chainsaw mill with the sthil. I was pleased with everything but one issue. It took about half an hour to cut one board 8 to 12 inches wide. Is this average?

I have a cedar log I cut a while back. It is a huge log,somewhere between 25 and 40 inches wide. I am thinking of splitting it down the middle using the 2x4 cutting attachment into quarters then using the Alaskian sawmill attachment to get it into roughly 8 inch beams I can store.

With that said is there anyway to speed up cutting? Can I get a different chain to cut faster. This Sthil cuts really fast as far as firewood or bringing down a tree but slow for boards. The main thing is I do not want to damage the chainsaw due to cutting boards.

Willy, if you use a ripping chain you will have better results. Typically the top plate angle on a ripping chain is 10 degrees, as compared with 35 degrees for a standard chain.

Chainsaw mills are slow, so depending upon the size of your powerhead it can easily take 30 minutes in oak.

If you split the log into quarters, try to mill your beams so that the grain is centered in them, and remove the pith wood that is present along one edge. Centering the grain in the beam will help to keep them straight as they dry.

John TenEyck
03-29-2016, 7:44 PM
Ripping chain will cut more smoothly, but it won't cut any faster than a normal chain. Ripping chain also severs the fibers and makes sawdust, while normal chain creates spaghetti that will snot up your clutch. A half hour seems unreasonably long to make one cut, but you didn't say how long the boards were you were cutting. If I'm milling a freshly cut oak into 12" wide boards, I think I probably average around 2.5 ft/min with my 85 cc saw and ripping chain.

John