milling thread

In Malloff's book, he has some diagrams of mills that you can build yourself. The basic mill he suggests for home made is out of wood. Some mills too for specialty cuts. For smaller wood, they seem like they wood work pretty reasonable. One design I recall off the top of my head (book at the shop), uses wooden blocks that you can put in and take out to give the slab thickness you desire. Pretty innovative thinker he is when it comes to milling. I think Will may have run into some hard times with a bad ticker. I know he was wanting to sell slab furniture that he got into making. I can't find anything current about him, sure hope he is ok. He milled a lot of material for a house that he built for himself on some island in BC, maybe all the wood? Some photos in his book. He is a former logger as well, with his own definite ideas about forest management. I think he said that he finds most current large scale practices detrimental, but I don't recall the exact context of his statement.
 
woodworkingboy said:
I think Will may have run into some hard times with a bad ticker. I know he was wanting to sell slab furniture that he got into making. I can't find anything current about him, sure hope he is ok.
Click to expand...
Like you said Jay that you once talked to him over the phone. I'm in the same boat, I used to phone up a couple of old friends who were field test engineers for Oregon and Windsor sawchain quite regularly years ago. But now years later I'm scared to call fearing the wife or kids will answer and say he's no longer around.
I hate awkward situations like that.
 
That's Alan Combs .In addition to the plans for the chainsaw mill take some time to read some of the things he talks about in a little blog he has .

I might add that the carriage design he uses for the chainsaw mill would work for a low horse power bandsaw mill as well .Fact I've seen some that use exactly the same with modifications using narrow bands and 8 HP engines .They actually didn't do bad on small logs .
 
That looks cool. I dislike however how he'll charge me as a fellow Canadian $40 more than you guys down south when last I heard our dollar was slightly higher?

I'm gonna assume he hasn't updated his prices orrrrrr something.

Anyone here try one of these?
 
All I did was look at the design which seemed like it would do the job .

Tell ya what ,here's a site to check out .http://www.diybandmill.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Look at the galley .There must be a zillion ideas for bandsaws,chainsaw mills ,circle mills .Some are crude as a fence post ,some are ingenious .

I opted for a bandsaw as I have no intentions of eating saw smoke making a foot a minute cutting up lumber with a chainsaw .Of course I'm still plugging away getting the damned thing built .
 
I'm with you Al on the band mill. The diybandmill site is great for many ideas. I picked this up not long ago to convert into my head rigView attachment 40094 it was made for cutting concrete, I plan to add some width between the wheels so I can use a more standard saw blade and make wider boards. I have a old shingle elevator I plan to set up for the feed then free wheel back, it is a variable rate of feed based on how hard you press the pedal. I came across some heavy rollers from electric gates that are greaseable. Not sure yet on portable or fixed but have all the makings when time allows.
One thing I saw on the DIY site that I liked was the use of tires and the ease of spindles and bearing replacement. Plenty of you tube vids on homemade setups but if I hit the little I am going with a swing blade (Peterson's) and will Alaskan mill any need for width. I used a electric Hudson and love the quiet so for now I plan to go that route
 
Electric has a definate advantage over gas or diesel .One it's a lot cheaper and two not much can go wrong with an electric motor except the bearings which last for decades .

To get any size though you about have to go with three phase which can be done using single with a phase converter .

I checked out a local pallet works that uses commercially built pallet disassmbly saws that use rubber tires .They've had no problem with them which convinced me to go that route rather than hard steel band wheels with belts .

For the moment it will be gasoline powered but if it proves profitable or something I want to further pursue most likely electric at that time .
 
Well I got an Alaskan mill yesterday and milled up a log with it today to try it out. It was easy peasy I thought. Just the right investment for the amount of milling I intend to do. It was a doug fir log and I just had normal chisel chain on and it milled it pretty damn quick and fairly smooth for a rough cut.
 
woodworkingboy said:
He is a former logger as well, with his own definite ideas about forest management. I think he said that he finds most current large scale practices detrimental, but I don't recall the exact context of his statement.
Click to expand...


Ha no kidding he does, because he sounds like a smart man. Logging nowadays is just another big business resource rip-off. I'm so sick and tired of hearing how wonderful the millzillionaires are because of all the jobs they provide.

I'm going to try and find one of his books, sounds like a good read.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #262
I use an extension ladder to hang my AK mill from, makes it easy to set up
 
To set-up your outside cuts? That's a good idea I'm thinking, what do you use to secure it if anything?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #265
Yeah, for your first cut. If you have taper to deal with you can put a 2x4 or some such under the small end. If you have a fat kid around to sit on it that works good otherwise some tie down straps that you just have to move when you get to them
 
Well I only made one board and one decent sized cant, but I tell ya I'm sure looking at my pile of logs differently now!
 
Cool Willie do you just make your 1st cut and than start sawing your preferred board thickness down? If so how do you edge them afterwards?


I'm greeeeeen at this still so I may have an annoying number of questions over the next few weeks.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #269
If your making cants you don't need to edge. I don't do boards with the AK but you could do it like my mill guy. Put the best edge down (maybe on one ladder and hang saw from another ladder on blocks) and several boards together, when you make a good edge, flip the good boards so you can cut the other edge. Pull out the boards that have been cleaned on both sides as you go
 
To edge it just chaulk line it and free hand it through a table saw .It takes a little practice but you'll get the hang of it .I suppose you could use a straight edge and a hand power saw and get the same results .
 
I also use an extension ladder. I made some large blocks that I can attach to the rungs with some clips, and the part of the block that touches the log has a concave curve to it. I have holes in the blocks and I use some long lag screws to attach the blocks and ladder to the logs. The curve won't exactly fit the log outside face, but some wooden wedges or shims can stabilize and the screws pull it up tight. Yeah, you only need the ladder for the first cut, unless you screwed up somewhere and need a flat surface to work off of again, or some defect showed up to change your progression. You know that you will want to be angling that ladder to compensate for log taper, cutting parallel to the pith in most cases, or working around holes or the pith being off center, is the case a lot of the time.

Is there any real point in edging the slabs before you will be using them, since warp will not have anything be square? If you are talking about taking off the bark, that is different.

Will Malloff's book is called 'Chainsaw Lumbermaking'. I obtained his phoine number, I'm going to call him up and see how he is doing. Hope the number still works.
 
Ok cool info. I think in the paperwork that comes with the mill they refer to making your first cut(with whatever system it is you use) and than they describe to either 'live saw' it I think(the paperwork is out in the shop) which is where you would just cut your preferred board thickness down through the log always working off your last cut or they describe the process to make a cant(which is what I did today) as making your first cut with the guide rails, than extending the mill down for your second cut which is done off of your 1st so no extra rails or anything and then rotating the log 90 degrees and using slabbing rails again squared up to your 1st and 2nd cut to make your third cut and than you have a 3sided can't you can work off of or you can drop the mill again to make the last side of the cant. Does any of my description make sense I hope?

What is your guys preferred method for sawing and does it vary?

I see what you mean Jay about not worrying about edging it until it's going to be used.

Al, that is how I was thinking of edging boards if I wasn't cutting them off of a cant.
 
Yes, it makes sense. I haven't sawn many cants, but handling a wide mill on a narrow edge seems like it could be a bit tricky. There is a smaller specialty mill that can be rigged up to saw the edges, it holds the saw vertically. It's in the book, I'm pretty sure. Probably good to have if you are doing a lot of cants. The setting up and getting everything dialed in can take up some time with a mill. I think sawing cants is a good idea for initial drying, then you can resaw later with added stability in the wood.
 
Ok, cool.

Jay, that book is available through amazon up here but is priced between $180-$245 +shipping! Damn.:(
 
That is high. I could loan you my copy, if you promise to send it back not all slobbered up by your pets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Altissimus
Ash to China !
Replies
19
Views
982
Al Smith
Al Smith
Treeaddict
395xp screw
Replies
10
Views
906
davidwyby
davidwyby
Page
Sawmill chatter
Replies
5
Views
962
lumberjack
lumberjack
Page
Gantry crane
Replies
1
Views
619
Bart
B
lxskllr
Why Are Laminated Bars Less Durable?
Replies
11
Views
950
lxskllr
lxskllr
Back
Top