Those of you with Alaskan Mills

[t_andersen]

Hi D Martin,

I sent you a private message, don't know whether you got it. Any way that you could send some more detailed photos? I might copy your approach or mayby buy your stuff, kind of long transport though but might be possible, I'm in the US now and then.

Thanks for the posting the photo so far!

Regards
Tom

[twoodward15]

So you think I should just regrind my teeth to 0 degrees (between 0 and 10 anyway) and it will work well?  That'll save me some money, which is my ultimate goal (I'm cheap).  Anyone want to suggest the best (safest for the chain) way to grind these down?  File or grinder? So I sharpen the underside of the tooth, should I do anything to the side?  Make the gullet any bigger?  I am just waiting on a machinist to mill two slots down the top of my rail for a bar adjustment system, then I can put it completely together and drill the few remaining holes to bolt it all up.  I was going to have them weld it, but I wanted the option of putting some really long rails on it for a long bar.  It'll accomodate up to about 36 inches of bar now, maybe 40, but I wanted to be able to make some 5 or 6 footers if this sawmill thing pans out for me.  All in all it really didn't take very long.  I cut and filed every piece by hand.  laid out all of my metal and clamped everything up nice and square.  Drilled the majority of the aluminum that needed it (a few remain to be drilled on final assembly) and I have abouot 2.5 hours into it.  I don't know how much the aluminum would have cost or the machinist to weld my upside down "T's" for the adjustment system or the milling operations, but when it's all said and done I'll have two "U" bolts into it and that's it (along with my time).  I even got the chainsaw for free, but it needed a carb kit and spark plug.  I guess my grand total will be about $20 into it.  I'll be on vacation next week, so I hope to finsh it up the week after that.  I'll get some pictures posted ASAP!

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

You know how it is, sometimes making a livin' is just such a distraction!

Thats what I have been up to and a good bit more involved at the church.
In my prayers I have made a request that I get this time back in the here-after.
AFter all, doesn't the Good Book say something like...

"And if any one shall give up houses or lands or good logs and chainsaw
time, for My Name's sake, he shall be rewarded a hundred fold in the life to come."    close enough???   

Heaven =  a 60" Red Oak and the time, energy
and mix to see what God painted on the inside !!   [Maybe I better look that up agin!  Now what did Jesus really say, anyway?]

Phil L.

[D Martin]

hey tom, I e- maile'd you a pic and some procedures that I used , I hope you got it.If not let me know I could re send it. I know sometimes I delete good mail with as much  junk mail in my in box as there is it gets lost in the shuffle. I'll try and get some more detailed picks on my computer.    Good luck and let me know how it works out for you.

[Brucer]

So you think I should just regrind my teeth to 0 degrees (between 0 and 10 anyway) and it will work well?  That'll save me some money, which is my ultimate goal (I'm cheap).  Anyone want to suggest the best (safest for the chain) way to grind these down?  File or grinder? So I sharpen the underside of the tooth, should I do anything to the side?  Make the gullet any bigger?

I had the local saw shop do the initial grind with their wheel grinder. Taking a tooth from a 30 degree angle down to 0 takes an awful lot of filing . Also leaves you with a lot less useable tooth. That's why I was interested in Oregon's chain.

Once the chain was reground, I touched it up with a hand-held electric grinder with a round stone. I ground the teeth straight across, with the grinder level. I also adjusted the grinder's guide plate so the grinding stone sat down lower in the gullet -- this changes the hook angle to around 45 degrees.

Once I had the tooth profile I wanted, I set the rakers down to about 40 thou, instead of the usual 25 though. This worked great in Western Red Cedar, but it overloaded the engine in Douglas-fir and Birch. For those woods I'd set my rakers to 35 thou.

[twoodward15]

Excellent description and info Brucer.  Thanks.  I think I will go with that.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

For any others who want to make a do-it-yourselfer mill, here are some pics.

Brucer,  I guess I bought the Malloff book about the time you did. 
I finally got a mill and a brand new Stihl 090 about 20 years later.
These pics are of a mill that I used to literally drool over back when.
The only thing I would change is the round rails.  This is the "Sperber Tool Works" mill.
The company has been gone a long time.

Phil L.

                             



                                                     

                                                         

[Brucer]

Brucer,  I guess I bought the Malloff book about the time you did. 
I finally got a mill and a brand new Stihl 090 about 20 years later.

I already had a Granberg mini-mill and a 70 cc Jonsereds when that book was published. With all that great information and a sore back from the mini-mill, I was ready to jump right into it. I finally got a band-mill 20 years later  .

But you know, the thing I like about the Alaskan style mill is that once you have a face established, all the boards are a uniform thickness, no matter how much the log moves as the stresses are released. And using Malloff's methods, the finish on the boards beats a bandmill any day.

I'd like to see the bandmills come with an option that allows the head to "float" and follow the top of the previous cut. Either that, or have a means of pressing down on the cant as it is being sawed to keep it tight against the bed at both ends. I've seen a guy actually walking down the top of a cant (it wasn't me!!!) to keep it pressed against the bed as the sawyer slowly ran the carriage down the mill  .

The only reason I switched was the production rate. It's not just the cutting speed that's an issue with an Alaskan mill -- the setup time is a killer.

[Brucer]

Excellent description and info Brucer.  Thanks.  I think I will go with that.

I'm glad it was clear enough  . Pictures would be nice -- Malloff's book is full of them, but there's copyright issues there.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Go ahead Brucer, twist the knife.    

(What I'm really wanting is a swinger - 10" Peterson WPF.)



Do-it-yourselfers:
For more details on the Sperber, go to the Chainsaw Forum.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=13610.0


Phil L.

[DanG]

Hey Phil.  Any chance you'll make it to the Expo in Moultrie this year?  It's coming up in just a couple of months.  Lots of chances to see God's handiwork in some of His trees, there!   Better drink lots of water, though.  You could get dehydrated drooling over all them mills.

I'll be there, bouncing back and to from the Petersons to the Doublecuts, with a few side trips to Baker, Woodmizer and Lucas.  Sure would like ta get a look atya along the way.

[DonE911]

Hey DanG,  what are the dates for Moultrie this year..... 

I want to get it on the calander early... less chance of missing it again this year.

[DanG]

Oct 18-20.  Hope to see you there, too.  Great opportunity to see all the mills strutting their stuff.  We had quite a gaggle of ForestryForum folks there last year, and should be even more this time around.  Sure hope you can make it!

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Dan G

I have written that in my little book this time.

It never fails that I hear about somebody's trip to Moultrie,
JUST AFTER IT'S OVER.

Phil L.

[DanG]

Well, ya got no excuse this time, BUDDY BOY!