sawmill for cutting joint

[Alexis]

For those of you who have sawmill,

do you use them for cutting joint? It seems that you could easily make a nice tenon with a bandsaw mill, even with something like an alaskan mill if you "ride" on your reference face...

Alexis

[Raphael]

Closest I've come is use my Logosol Timberjig for bladed scarfs, not really worth the setup for most tenons.
Otherwise I've just used the sawmill for the usual things, pentagonal ridge beams, tapered rafters, octagons etc.

[Dave Shepard]

I've cut a couple of long bladed scarfs on the mill. I don't think it saves any time at all really. Even if you had all the pieces lined up and went through them at one time, there is still all of the finish work left afterwards. If you are rip sawing the tenons, I can see that the mill might be appealing, but I split out the waste with the chisel or axe, which is pretty fast.

[shinnlinger]

I have contemplated it, but to me it only makes sense if you do it right as you work the log down to your beam, so you would have to have a way to accurately square the ends of your timber right on the mill.

[Raphael]

I have contemplated it, but to me it only makes sense if you do it right as you work the log down to your beam, so you would have to have a way to accurately square the ends of your timber right on the mill.

Theres an idea you could modify your mill with that Logosol planer and add something like a radial arm to carry other power heads (a saw for shoulders, router for housings and a chain morticer) then you could process from tree to a finished timber on a single work station.

[shad]

hey I just set up my procut chainsaw mill today to cut tenons. I'm working with post oak and everytime i try to split off the waste with an axe or chisel, it runs into my tenon too deep. I guess post oak grain is alot more wavy than white oak.

[Jim_Rogers]

When chopping or chiseling off extra wood you need to learn to "read the grain" and see which way it is going.
And sometimes to only take a little off at a time until you "read" it and see. Then you can adjust your methods based on what you see.

[ARKANSAWYER]

  I cut them on the mill all the time.  As a matter of fact I do alot of rough work with the timbers on the mill.  It is a sturdy work table and I can clamp it down if needed.  I saw off the ends with my 16 inch Mikita saw and then with my 7 inch saw I cut all around the timber then take my hand saw and cut to the line.  Then I take the mill and cut in for the tenons.  As long as the timbers are less then 20 ft I can raise them on the clamp and spin them to work on the other end.  Makes a nice $20 grand work bench.

[Larry]

 

[Matt Trav]

I saved a lot of time by using my Alaskan chain saw mill to rough out rafter tails.  The reduced portion of these rafter tails were two feet long.  I decided to use the Alaskan saw mill because it took me quite a bit of time to smooth the rough surface that the relief cut and hatchet method left behind.  After using the saw mill I went straight to a hand plane.  I would caution against over cutting both in width (I left about 3/16) and in length (stop well before the shoulder cut) as it would be easy to over cut.  I also learned that the saw can wander before the back guide of the mill rests on the beam and having a helper is a good idea.  I think using this for a standard tenon would be too awkward.

Hope this helps.