Electric Chainsaw Mill Build

[Stu in Tokyo]

I have a chainsaw mill, works well, but well, it's a gas saw, of course. Even though I have put a motorcycle muffler on it, and it is very quiet compared to most chainsaws, it's still not something that I wish to run in my workshop. I don't really have the space to run it outside, and as I live in Tokyo Japan, what do I do? Well, I have this old heavy duty electric chainsaw, a Shindaiwa unit, it may not move the chain that fast, but the thing has some serious torque. With some ripping chain I've ordered, I think/hope it will do the job.

This is the third chainsaw mill that I've made, so I have learned a few things along the way, I hope to incorporate them into this unit.



 


 
Right now I've got the parts done that clamp onto the bar of the saw,



 
The nose has a built in guard, to keep me from hurting myself.



  

 
The pieces of square tubing with the nut welded to them and the T-handles will be the parts that are attached to the frame that will go along the guide board and that sets the thickness of the cut.

I hope to be done soon, but I understand the ripping chain I ordered from Baileys Online will not be in stock until the end of May  Dunno what's up with that.... ???

I'll be able to cut 42.5cm or about 16 3/4" wide, not the biggest chainsaw mill, but not bad either. If the saw will pull the ripping chain through the wood easily enough, I might try to find a longer bar, I don't think that Shindaiwa makes a longer bar, and bars from other makes don't fit, I think, so I might have to modify a bar to fit (had to do with how the tension adjuster works on this saw).

I'm also going to make some kind of a fixture to hold the log in, some kind of cradle, that I can use for various lengths and diameters of logs, got to think about that some more too. I'll be able to hoist any log up to put the carriage under it, and I want it with one end higher than the other, I find that having gravity help push the mill along is a good thing.

Cheers!

[Ianab]

Are the bars from the larger gas saws compatible? Shindiawa make gas saws of 70+cc, with 28" bars, but it's possible the bar mount is different?

Anyway, looks a pretty heavy duty unit. Sharp chain etc it should gnaw it's way through pretty much anything  :D

Ian

[bandmiller2]

Stu,good workmanship on that frame.I don't doubt you mill will cut but I don't think the electric motor on the saw will live long.If you  could possibly use a regular electric motor,preferably three phase I think you'd have a better lashup.Try it but go easy and let the motor cool when it gets hot to touch.What are you doing in nipon land.?? Frank C.

[Magicman]

I admire the gusto that you have.  It seems that when you get an idea, you hop to it.   ;D

[Stu in Tokyo]

I'm well aware that this may not work, if it doesn't them maybe I'll build a baby bandsaw mill  ;D



 
The Shindaiwa bar is on the top, a Husqvarna bar is on the bottom. This Shindaiwa does not your a hole in the bar that the tension adjustment screw hooks into, but a kind of ground out area that the side of the nut fits into, I don't know, but I don't think this is common. The Husqvarna bar shown is the old bar for my 185CD, I might just take a shot at modifying that bar to work on the Shindaiwa, as I do have two ripping chains that fit that bar. I've ordered a new sprocket nose slightly longer bar for the 185CD so I can make a slightly larger mill for that machine.

Cheers!

[Stu in Tokyo]

I admire the gusto that you have.  It seems that when you get an idea, you hop to it.   ;D

Thank you, no time like the present!

I think the main reason I can do a lot of this stuff is that I don't watch TV, Japanese TV is B-A-D!!!  :

[Hilltop366]

No need to wait for a ripping chain, just get out your file and make one with the chain you have!

A file guide with stop would help get things set up nice and with a short chain it would not take long. If you find a full chain has too much load on the saw motor you could remove some teeth and make a skip chain.

[justallan1]

Great work Stu. You have the same attitude as myself, if you don't have it, build it!
Allan

[Stu in Tokyo]

No need to wait for a ripping chain, just get out your file and make one with the chain you have!

A file guide with stop would help get things set up nice and with a short chain it would not take long. If you find a full chain has too much load on the saw motor you could remove some teeth and make a skip chain.

Yes I know I could convert this chain to a rip chain, I did that on my mill I run the 185CD on, but I only have this one chain for crosscutting, so I would like to leave it that way. I live in downtown Tokyo, there are no chainsaw shops nearby  :D The Big Box stores outside of Tokyo did not have the chain I needed last time I went, ordering online in Japanese is not easy, I usually get my wife to do that for me, but she is laid up in the hospital (she is fine, just had some surgery done) and can't do it for me, so I'll wait, not like I don't have a million other things to do  :
I'll give it a go with this chain, and then wait for the rip chain to get here, but thanks for the idea of making a skip chain, that could come in handy! ;D

[Stu in Tokyo]

Great work Stu. You have the same attitude as myself, if you don't have it, build it!
Allan

Thanks Allan!

Often here in Tokyo I don't have any other option but to make it myself.

Cheers!

[sawguy21]

You certainly are resourceful. What power is required to run that saw? Is your available service heavy enough to handle the current draw?

[Stu in Tokyo]

You certainly are resourceful. What power is required to run that saw? Is your available service heavy enough to handle the current draw?

Thanks, I have to be here in Tokyo.

Yes, the main panel for the building is in the same room that I'll run the mill. I actually have my choice of power, 100V/200V or 200V 3-phase, as we have an elevator in the building. I my workshop down in the basement, I run a number of tools from this 3-phase power.

Cheers!

[Tree Feller]

Version 003 of the Tokyo Log Hog!  I like it and always get a kick out of seeing what you fabricate in the dungeon.   8)

[Stu in Tokyo]

I've got the mill attachment done......


 
Welding the last bit up using spacer blocks to keep everything square and level.



 
Another look



 


 
All welded up and I added a push handle.



 
I think this will work OK.

Now I have to figure out some sort of track to put on the ground that will hold the log in place.....?

Cheers!

[VictorH]

looking good Stu!!!

[Nomad]

     Stu, you do pretty work 8)

[HaroldSiefke]

Nice job on the chain saw mill.I
own a chainsaw mill and when I put my clamp on the bar that close to the end it makes my tip smoke. Good luck Hal..

[Stu in Tokyo]

Well I got the first cut done today, a small chunk of VERY dry Doug Fir that I got from a house, I have about five 6' long pieces that I'm going to  slab up, this was just the short end piece (long story about how I got these). This is the small end, maybe 10" in diameter, the large end is about 20" in diameter, so I should get some nice big slabs out of it at some point.



 
I just put it on my workmate knock off, this really did not work well, as you can imagine the mill is heavy on the power head end, and the log wanted to roll to that side. The log also wanted to slide along the top of the workmate, but for one quick cut it worked. I built a guide for the first cut out of some plywood, it is like an I-beam, simple and straight forward, you can see the top part of the log still attached to the I-beam standing up against the wall to the right.

The Bad

• sawdust everywhere
  
• Log not secure, it rolled
  
• Log slide along the workmate
  
• Jig's minimum cut it too large
  
• T-handle to secure cut depth in the way
  

The Good

• Even with the crosscut chain the cutting speed was faster than I had hoped.
  
• The motor did not really warm up at all during the cut
  
• Using the manual oiler I was able to keep oil on the bar
  
• The cord did not warm up during the cut.
  

First up I need to make some sort of fixture to hold a log. I have a couple of ideas, first up is kind of a ladder or train track looking idea, this would have the log sit on it, and had one end of the ladder with a stop on it for the end of the log to go against, and then the other end would have some kind of a clamp that would grab on to that end of the lot, basically squeezing the log between the two ends of the ladder, if that make sense.

I'd sure like to see any ideas or examples any of you have!



 
I need to do two small mods on the mill, one is move the T-handle on the side nearest the power head  up on the tube, it will get in the way of the big black knob when I do the second mod, which is to make the min cut thickness less. I think I'll cut an 1 1/2" off those tubes to give me a thinner min cut. The log holder will also be off the ground a bit, not need to be on my knees on a concrete floor. I'll also make the starting end higher by say a foot to let Mr. Gravity help out.

Lastly I'm going to hook up some kind of a hose to the saw, to where the majority of the sawdust comes out, I figure I could direct it into a garbage can or something, save on the clean up some.

Wish me luck!

Cheers!

[Stu in Tokyo]

     Stu, you do pretty work 8)

Thanks, at least something about me is pretty  ;D

[Stu in Tokyo]

Nice job on the chain saw mill.I
own a chainsaw mill and when I put my clamp on the bar that close to the end it makes my tip smoke. Good luck Hal..

No smoke yet, but then again the chain is not moving so fast on this saw, and I've only started to do this, so I'll keep an eye open for smoke 

[customsawyer]

Nice looking work on the build. I find that the cross cutting chain cuts faster when ripping then ripping chain does. The ripping chain will be a bit smoother.

[John Bartley]

I hope to be done soon, but I understand the ripping chain I ordered from Baileys Online will not be in stock until the end of May  Dunno what's up with that.... ???

I'll be able to cut 42.5cm or about 16 3/4" wide, not the biggest chainsaw mill, but not bad either. If the saw will pull the ripping chain through the wood easily enough, I might try to find a longer bar, I don't think that Shindaiwa makes a longer bar, and bars from other makes don't fit, I think, so I might have to modify a bar to fit (had to do with how the tension adjuster works on this saw).

Hey Stu,

Good to see you still slaving away in your dungeon!  Not having a rip chain in stock is a bit odd for a saw dealer, but it does happen. If you know the pitch, guage and number of drive links, almost any chainsaw shop should be able to make one for you. I keep a reel of 3/8"LP rip chain here in my shop all the time and make chains regularly for the locals - if you get frustrated finding a chain give me a shout and maybe I can help.

As far as bars go, there's no mystery there either. Just pick the length you want, as long as it is the correct pitch on the nose sprocket and the correct gauge in the groove, then drill the adjuster pin and oil feed holes where you want them.   If you can't find the correct nose sprocket pitch on the length of bar you want, then order the closest bar in the correct groove gauge and also order a replacement nose sprocket and rivet it in yourself, but I think you already know this don't you

cheers

John

[mad murdock]

Good job on the electrified version of the mill. You could hook a shop vac to the tube on your "exhaust" and really pull the chips off!

[Magicman]

I am glad to hear that your trial run was successful.  Doing your own R&D can be challenging, but you seem up to the task.   

[isawlogs]

 Nice!!!
I like seeing a project go well, to clamp your logs on your ­rail you might be able to use a pipe clamp put along the side of the log to act as a log stop and a log holder. Pipe clamp would need be clamped to your rail system and the log would butt to the pipe, stopping the roll keeping it from moving away from the saw.
A pipe clamp would also let you have different length of logs and of different diameter.