mini mill vs beam machine

[Alexis]

hello, I'm interested in buying one of these two attachement. I'm interested in sawing a few logs into timber. I know it will be slow and long but... wich one of these two would give the most precise cut? I'm wondering if the beam machine as enough room to wiggle a bit and it seems to me that the v rail in the mini mill would be better but I've never even seen in real life one of these...

thanks

Alexis

[Kevin]

I have the mini mill and it works good.
It isn't as true in a long cut as the Alaskan but I use it for edging and I made a jig for cutting timbers on an angle.
I would choose it over the beam machine.

[fuzzybear]

 I agree with Kevin. 
  The beam machine runs on a 2x4 track. The problem is all commercial 2x4s are 3 1/2 " and the guide is 3 5/8".  It takes a lot of time to set up on the bar so that it is square and takes a lot longer to cut as you are constantly trying to account for the 1/8" gap on the guide. 
   They are ok for taking one face off of a log in the bush. For more "accurate" cuts I would use the mini mill or better yet an Alaskan.
FB

[jander3]

I have both, once I purchased the mini-mill, I've never pulled out the beam machine for anything other than cutting windows in a log cabin.


By far, the mini-mill works much better.

[boatman]

I ordered a Beam Machine and when I put it on the saw it was about 5 degrees off.  Cut a foot or so and then the blade jammed.  They are sending a replacement free of charge.  The seller mentioned he had heard of this problem before. 

If it works well it would be great for making the first cut.

[jander3]

Mini-mill in use







Beam machine in use
http://peelinglogs.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post_19.html

[John S]

I have used the mini-mill (in conjunction with the Alaskan mill) after the first slabbing cut to square off the log to make a cant.  It works pretty well, wear a large brimmed hat for the sawdust shower.
John

[Brucer]

I have used the mini-mill (in conjunction with the Alaskan mill) after the first slabbing cut to square off the log to make a cant.  It works pretty well, wear a large brimmed hat for the sawdust shower.
John

No kidding. I fastened a cloth under the headband of my hard hat so it would hang down over my collar.

I did my first milling with a mini-mill. One of my early jobs was to cut up a large white pine, making some 12x12 timbers which I then quartered to make 6x6's. I used them to build my woodshed.

The guide rail system works well -- the chain pulls the saw down firmly onto the rails so there is little chance of it wandering.

It is slow.

After a while it can get expensive.
- First the mini mill.
- Next an Alaskan mill.
- Then a manual Wood-Mizer  (LT40).
- Then a hydraulic Wood-Mizer (LT40).
- When I used the mini mill and the Alaskan mill, I only had 1 chainsaw. Now I have two.