Wooden Saw Mill

[lowpolyjoe]

Happy Holidays everybody!

Santa didn't bring me a Wood-Mizer or a TimberKing this year, but he did bring me a company mandated week and a half off from work (forced to use my own vacation time   >:()

My recent obsession with this forum and saw milling in general was *just* starting to decline a bit since i couldn't justify the purchase of a mill and my experience with the Beam Machine has been a frustrating afair.  Then last week a wind storm knocked over another one of my trees.  I couldn't let it go to waste so i started thinking about what i could build to help cut some boards with my chainsaw. 

I have no welding equipment or skills so a proper build was not an option.  What i did have was a ladder, a door hinge, some 2x4's and an old skateboard.   With a rough idea of what i wanted, I started building.  A few days later - to my astonishment - i had something that looked like it might actually work.    This video was my first ever attempt at running it through a small log. 

Althought it was a very slow process and there were some problems, the resulting cut was surprisingly smooth.   I'm sure this contraption will not hold up well over time, but hopefully i can cut up the logs i've got laying around the yard and get some reasonable boards out of them.

http://youtu.be/57ogwrcuNx4

Take Care,
Joe

[haywire woodlot]

 Where there is a will, there is a way!

[Dan_Shade]

I like it.  Nice job

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Where there is a will, there is a way!

Where there is a will, there is a mill.


I amazed Joe. I'll be the first to stand up and give you a big hand. You did a good job. 8)

[Chuck White]

Now that's imagination at work.

It really worked nice and you were ending up with some useful boards!

Great job Joe   

[Dan_Shade]

You can probably make some wood bunks to put between the rungs to keep the weight off of the ladder.  A big log may damage it

[Bibbyman]

Just got to see what's inside the log.  One thing about it, you'll never run out of trees to saw.  You've got the dust bug now. 

[Cutting Edge]

A set of wooden shims to act as toe boards might save some waste.  Great Job!!  Good use of the ole' noodle!!!

[hackberry jake]

I'm impressed. Nice tinkering!

[lowpolyjoe]

Thanks for the encouragment guys.  I'm still waiting for comments telling me i'm an idiot and how dangerous this thing is.  I'm sure they'll arrive shortly  :D

I'm hoping after a few little fixes this thing will be worth the time i spent building it (and the $20 i spent on materials  ;) )

That's a good idea Dan.  The logs i have to work with are pretty small so i don't think the ladder is at too much risk, but see my comment below.  This ladder was left at my house by the previous owners when we moved in.  It has been hung up on the wall of the garage for 5+ years now and this is the first time i've ever used it for anything.  I've got a 'Little Giant" ladder that i use for everything around the house - it's easier to carry around and has a wider, more stable base.

One related issue to your suggestion is that the saw bar won't get any lower than maybe 4 or 6 inches from the bottom of a log loaded onto the ladder.  This was poor design on my part (or should i say "no design").  As a result, i expect i will have to rig something up that raises the log a bit relative to the ladder rungs.   I had thought to run a few 2x4's down the length of the ladder and make something like a trough that the log would lay in and elevate it a few inches.  Supporting the logs from the ground instead of the ladder presents a problem with the ladder tipping over sideways under the weight of my ridiculous wooden carrier.  Guess i could weigh it down in other ways though.

<edit> I think rwthom picked up on my waste issue...  </edit>

Other problem with this first cut was that the saw was not held securely at the desired height and the depth of the cut got lower and lower as i pulled through... sad, as it wasted a fair bit of this log.  Next time i have to ensure the saw height is secure and the bar cutting parallel with the ladder/log.

I'll post some more videos or pics as progress continues with this experiment.

Thanks,
Joe

[captain_crunch]

Everything has to start somewhere :P :P Now you understand WD-40 = Water displacement 40th attempt ;D ;D
Is there any place local where you can get a good look at a grandburg Alaskan Sawmill. If not I can get you some pics. Their saw mounting system could be built without welding and fairly cheap. I belive anchoring end of bar is going to be nessary. But it appears you are on right track to makeing a worthwile mill. next thing will be collecting an assortment of board scraps to shim log to compensate for log taper. As far as saftey looks safer than beam machine to me lots less exposure to chain. Years back I built a wind mill out of the darndest bunch of junk ever assembled ;D ;D Must have redesinged it 20 times before it worked so don;t get discouraged. Got to admit skateboard Idea is one up on me ;)

[drobertson]

lowpolyjoe, not to shabby man, I have only seen a few chain saw mills run, and they look brutal. But still that is pretty cool stuff.  I can only imagine the sawdust that is being burned by some after looking at your design.  have a happy new year,  david

[clww]

That's some creative thinking! I love it! 8) 8) 8)

[steamsawyer]

Hey Joe,

I love it! ;D..They said it couldn't be done but you done it anyway.

That is pretty cool. I like the feed system, simple but functional. It looks like your $20 investment might pay off.

Let's see more videos. 8)

Alan

[samandothers]

Very creative!

[steamsawyer]

Thanks for the encouragment guys.  I'm still waiting for comments telling me i'm an idiot and how dangerous this thing is.  I'm sure they'll arrive shortly  :D

One thing about the FF... The members on here are apt to help with suggestions for improvement or safety. But unlike other forums, your friends here are way to civilized to resort to name calling... 8)

[pasbuild]

With the amount of effort put into your mill both building it and using it when you do get your manual band mill it will seam effortless 8)

[sealark37]

At least you are the sawyer from day one, and you didn't have to off-bear for months or years before you got to run the mill.  Good Luck, and Regards, Clark

[Tom L]

way to go Joe,

looks like it works pretty good

[Ga Mtn Man]

Now that's makin' it happen. 8) Way to go Joe!

I'm sure you already know this from being on the FF, but there are specialty chains available for ripping that might make it go a little faster.

[drobertson]

Well if no one else will say it then I will, this is the most ridiculous contraption I have ever seen, why would any normal person even try such a thing? Clearly it is obvious that one needs an old scafold set for the slabs to go in ;D and an old paint bucket to move the sawdust out of the way ;D   I found myself today trying my hand at rip sawing today with my 362 8)  Got to love a few days off to work off the carbs from the last few days :D

[Charles Barnes Sr]

Enjoyed watching the youtube post. Amazed at how simple the operation was. Keep up the good work!

[customsawyer]

That is what I call using your head for something other than holding a helmet.  :D
Very nice work. Every day a person spends milling is a opportunity to learn something.

[Peter Drouin]

NOW that a good job, keep it up

[shelbycharger400]

regrind your chain to a rip pattern,   get a throttle cable from an old lawn mower and make a throttle folcrum!  ditch the hand feed crank, and light feed it by hand.
Id make a few clamps to hold it steady and your feed rate will improve!
You will find that you will cut better by not running wide open throttle, usually only about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle.

Take a look at my photos in my gallery.  I built my csm.