Stepping back to a chainsaw mill.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

This gnarly white oak is making some beautiful slabs. I ran out of steam this evening but can't wait to see what the next slab looks like through those knots.

[mad murdock]

Wow WS, you are "cranking" now!  Turning out a lot of real nice pieces!  8)

[cbla]

Nice Work!

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I took a couple of more cuts off of that big gnarly white oak. I sure am glad I did.

[Crossroads]

That's some pretty wood!

[tlbrooks]

do you think that oiler would work on a saw with a manual oiler or no oiler? would you need two for the bar one each end. 

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I would not use mine as a replacement for the saws oiler.
My auxiliary oiler drips on the bottom edge of the tip of the bar.

[RPF2509]

 I like how your oiler setup is vertical on the bar.  The Granberg bracket for their horizontal oiler will break at the weld over time.  I just let it drip enough oil to form a puddle at the tip and the chain takes what it needs.  No reason to drill a hole in the bar, it would just clog.  I'll have to try the crank setup too - looks like a real back saver.  15 minutes and a tank of gas is about right for hardwoods. Beautiful wood. Glad to see you have help for the slabs - they are heavy.

[richhiway]

Nice slabs.

[davetown12]

I've done a LOT of milling with the Alaskan mills and they are great for making those wide slabs. I like the crank idea! If you feel you are getting too much flex in the 3/8" rod try using 4140, it's a very durable tough alloy and wont flex nearly as much as mild steel. 
As for the oiler, try upgrading the saws oil pump to the high volume versions, makes a big difference.

[Savannahdan]

I picked up a small boat winch for my CSM and it installed just fine.  I pulled it off since I don't saw long logs and I wasn't using the winch.  Besides, it just adds too much weight.  I like the bent rod crank idea better.  Granberg has just released a cranker.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I was wondering when they were going to come out with one.
It makes milling much easier.

I'm happy with the Yellowhammer solution. ;D

[sawwood]

Weekend_sawyer I am too going to have a chainsaw mill in the 48 size. Tell me more about your oiler and what did you use to make it.
I will need one too and want to make ours.

Sawwood

[mike_belben]

It took a few tries but i got my winch located at the balance point so its a one handed carry handle for the entire rig.  I also much prefer the rope pulling from the sprocket end much more than from the center.  Its my silent partner always pushing exactly the right amount to keep cutting square to the grain.  I put a roller bearing on the handle and it turns nice and smooth, very convenient.  So much easier than pushing the whole rig.

[ToddsPoint]

Heavy duty crank looks good.  If you put a little pulley instead of the circle bolt at the end of your jig I'd bet it would pull even easier.  Gary

[Don P]

One more way to do feed, If your Dang/Deadheader trailer is at the end of the log and you have a long cable on the winch remote you can hook a rubber bungee from the winch cable to the crossbar and toggle the remote to keep rubber tension on the mill.

One other product that the CSM shines on is long timbers. We've been using my walkboard to ride on. That upside down U bracket is squared up and screwed to the log, indexing on the chalk line. When we get to it we just tick it on each side with the chain, unscrew, swing up one leg and feed it back around behind the bar, line up the tick mark with the kerf, rescrew and keep going. We have been shimming the center of the plank to the log to keep from bowing the plank down as we lean on it moving forward. On a long beam it can take several sets of the plank as you move down the timber.

[mike_belben]

Thats brilliant don.

Todd, i believe youre right, It would crank easier and help the rope, but then it unwinds easier too and kinda birds nests at the winch.  I actually rotated the eye bolt to make it bind the rope a little extra so when i take my hand off the winch for a second to push my glasses up or whatever, it doesnt freewheel out and let the saw back out of the cut.  It is a little tough on the rope but thats throwaway stuff.  It winds very easy, 2 fingers.


Biggest change i need is to make the tower posts triangular so that there are more screws at the base.  Its already loose from being torqued over so hard.  I didnt realize just how much force that thing would be generating, it does almost all the work.  I just keep the handle square to the grain with my trigger hand.

If you dont have a winch on your alaskan, build one right away.

[Ironmower]

Nice Jon! Can't wait til you get up this way. I have bin rounding up some really nice crotch pieces, of box elder, ambrosia maple, hickory and ash, to slab down. They're in the 50" range on the crotch end. Working on my home-brewed slabber now, 56" bar with a 16 hp twin cylinder briggs.

[123maxbars]

Good looking slabs you have there, enjoyed this post,

[Weekend_Sawyer]

Weekend_sawyer I am too going to have a chainsaw mill in the 48 size. Tell me more about your oiler and what did you use to make it.
I will need one too and want to make ours.

Sawwood

I made it out of 2" PVC with a cap on the bottom and a cleanout on the top. I put a 1/4 npt to barbed fitting in the bottom then a short pice of clear hose and then a 1/4 shutoff. I need to change that. The 1/4 npt to barbed fitting on the bottom is going to become a tee with the npt in the middle and barbed at either end. That will be moved to the lower side of the oil bottle, then I'll put a 1/4 90 at the top side directly above it with a clear hose between them. This way I can see how much oil is left in the bottle. Then move the output hose with shutoff over to the bottom of the tee and plug the hole in the bottom. The reason is that when I set the mill at 7 1/2" for my first slab it has to push the shutoff out of the way. It's just a little too close causing a pinch in the line restricting oiling.
Clear a mud right? I'll post pix when I get it done.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

We milled a triple crotch red oak yesterday. We were only able to get 4 slabs milled before it started raining.



 

I made an oil bottle with a clear sight tubi down it.

 

It works well and I get 4 cuts out of it before I have to refill.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I milled some nice walnut crotch last Sunday.
They are 2 1/2" thick, 40" wide and 36" long.
After the 3rd cut I had to sharpen my chain. Man that takes a while!
I think the 3rd pic looks like an elephant.
Jon



 

 

 

[caveman]

Juglans nigra var. pacadermis