# Chainsaw sawmilling



## woodtickgreg

The question of chainsaw sawmilling comes up often and I thought it would be a good spot to have a reference thread on this subject. So I'll get this conversation started. The question usually starts with I'm looking to get a csm any recommendations? Well it's really not that simple, theres a lot to know about it and quite a learning curve actually. So I'll try and explain it from start to finish here and hopefully others will join in on the discussion. I have a lot of experience chainsaw milling so I'll share what I have learned with my rig.
First let's talk about you and your physical abilities. Chainsaw milling is very physically demanding. I tell people it's like doing push ups only you go halfway down and then hold it in that position for 10 minutes per cut. So it requires some physical strength and stamina. And you have to move heavy wet green boards after you cut them, you'll move them several times to sticker and stack them for drying. Ok, so now we got that out of the way.
Now let's talk about the mill itself, I'll break it down into a few sections here. Power head, the milling attachment itself, and then chains and accesories.
The powerhead.......you absolutely want the biggest powerhead you can get! I'm talking large cc saws, 80cc's and up. Yes you can mill with a smaller saw but you'll probably kill it. Milling is very demanding on a saw, much more so that cutting trees down and bucking logs. You'll be running the saw at full throttle and under a heavy load for long periods of time and generating a tremendous amount of heat. Not to mention it just takes a lot of power to pull a 36" chain or more. The bad news here is these big powerheads are very expensive new. They can be found used if your patient and you know how to look for a used saw that isn't worn out. I recommend Huskvarna or Stihl brands, but I ran an old 100cc McCulloch for many years and thousands of board feet of lumber before I wore it out and the crank bearings let go and destroyed the motor. Like I said, chainsaw milling is the hardest most demanding thing you will do to your chainsaw
This was my original mill, all metal McCulloch 100cc saw, 4' bar. You can see the stacks of lumber behind me. I was in my 50's when this pic was taken. You have to have some physical strength just to carry the mill around



Then I found a sweet deal on this new never used Huskvarna 395xp saw! This will be th replacement for the worn out McCulloch. It's a higher rpm saw and a big boy.



Was kind of a joke that it came with a 20" bar and 3/8" chain.



I have since found a used 125cc Huskvarna powerhead that will be going on the mill. The 95cc will be used with a shorter bar set up that I have.

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## woodtickgreg

So now let's talk about the milling attachment itself. Theres a few different ones on the market, some are made by individuals, some come and go. I choose to run the Grandberg Alaskan mill for a few reasons. One is it works great. I can get parts for it as it wears or if I break something and that does happen when milling. It has a lot of aluminum parts so it's a little less weight to carry. I have a 36" mill and with my 4' double ended bar I can squeak out a 38" cut.
Here's my rig, the attachment is a 36", it's a 4' double ended bar with a helper handle and a roller sprocket in the handle, I also have an auxiliary oiler on the end of the bar. You want all the oil you can get on these long bars to help beat the heat from the friction generated. I also added an extra cross bar that is adjustable for support on different size logs. That helps keep the mill flat.



Here you can see my oiler set up a little better.



Here's my rig set up to make a first slabbing cut, once the first cut is made the 2x4 rails are pulled off and then the mill just follows the surface of the last cut made.



One of the big reasons I use Ganberg is for the customer support. I got all of the accessories from them, oiler and fittings, helper handle with roller bearing, extra cross bar, and some replacement parts that either broke or wore out from many hours of use. I have been very happy with the milling attachment.

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## woodtickgreg

Milling chains......a milling chain is very different from a normal chainsaw chain. It is ground at a different angle, some are skip tooth meaning theres a gap between cutters. That requires less horsepower to pull the chain through the log. Cutting with the grain or end grain requires a different grind angle on the chain that is less aggressive. Most milling chains are about 10 degrees, a normal chain is about 25 degrees. I have experimented with my chains angles because I have a chain grinder and that allowed me to do that. I like my chains ground to about a 16 degree angle, I can do this with my big powerhead. I find they cut a little faster and still leave a smooth surface. And they dont make as much fine dust. 
Chain pitch or size.........for smaller mills of about 20" to 24" you can run a standard 3/8" pitch chain, they are less expensive and make a slightly narrower kerf which means less sawdust and chips and less waste. On the larger mills like mine and even bigger I run a .404 pitch chain, it's a larger more robust chain. But it also makes a wider kerf, it's about a 1/4" kerf. So that means for every 4 boards I cut I loose a 1" board to sawdust. I used to buy milling chains. Now I just buy skip tooth chains and regrind them to 16 degrees to make my own custom chains. If you dont have a chain grinder you can use the standard milling chains.

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## woodtickgreg

Bars........buy high quality bars as they will be worked very hard and a lot of heat and friction will be generated which kills bars!
That's why I have done everything I can to reduce friction. I run the double ended bar to allow me to install an auxiliary roller bearing on the opposite end of the powerhead. My auxiliary oiler allows me to lube both sides of the bar as the mill is running. Very important in my opinion.

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## woodtickgreg

Sharpening.......I always have a few chain files with me in a tub I call my milling tackle box. I can touch up a chain in the field relatively quickly. But I also have a nice professional Oregon chain grinder. After I hand sharpen a chain 3 or 4 times I like to put it on the grinder to get all the cutting teeth set the same and to correct all the angles. The grinder also allows me to quickly custom grind a chain. I also use my grinder for my regular chainsaw chains so it was a good investment. I also use the grinder to knock down the rakers as the chain wears and the cutting teeth get shorter, I do this on all my chains. Not to much, just enough to keep them cutting but not be to agressive.

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## woodtickgreg

Slabbing brackets.........you will need some kind of slabbing bracket for the all important first cut. You want the first cut to be as flat and straight as possible because the next cut after that follows the first cut and so on. Some people like to use an aluminum ladder which works good, its ridged and relatively light weight to carry. I like to use plain old 2x4s as they can be replaced easy and I can run a screw through them if I need to or on a special set up on wierd shaped logs. I can even make my own in the shop with a jointer and planer.
In the pic you can see an aluminum bar on the end, it attaches to the 2x4 with carriage bolts and has holes drilled through it to attach the bracke to the end of the log with screws. I can put 2 or 3 screws in it to hold it in place securely so I can make the first cut.

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## woodtickgreg

Accesories........what about all the little things you will need to csm lumber? I have a plastic tub I call my milling tackle box that I keep all of my milling stuff in so it's always ready to go. It contains chain files, screws for attaching the slabbing brackets, a hatchet, various wrenches and tools that fit the saw and to adjust the milling bracket, knee pads because you will spend a great deal of time on your knees pushing the mill through logs. A square, maybe some plastic wedges, tape measures, spare parts for the mill, extra chains because logs have metal in them.
And what about kant hooks to roll and position heavy logs? Yup I have a few of them too.

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## woodtickgreg

Did I miss anything? If so just ask and I'll try and answer the questions. Others hopefully will chime in for their opinions of their chainsaw mills and how they do things. This is just how I do it but there is no one way to get the job done, there are many ways.

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## Karl_TN

I’ll only add two things. If you can raise one end of the log then let gravity help a little by cutting downhill. Lastly, you can get some really nice wood with a CSM, but don’t expect to get rich selling wood considering all the hard work.

As for me, it wasn’t long after getting my Alaskan Mill before I began wanting a bandsaw mill.

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## Ken Martin

@woodtickgreg thank you very much for sharing your experience and taking the time to put all this down for us. I learned a lot from it!

I’ve got a little bit of milling experience, but it’s of my own design. I have been freehanding vertically. I cut a railroad crosstie into unequal lengths and set them in the ground, one about 6” above ground and the other about 5 feet high. They are adjacent. What I do is stand the butt up on the short one and anchor it into the long one with a 3” or 4” screw at the top. Then I let gravity assist as I drop the saw to the bottom. The biggest problem is that the saw tends to wander a bit and I lose a lot of wood straightening it out. It works ok for slabbing bowl blanks and getting material for turkey calls, though.

I bought rip chains for my saw many years ago and a chain grinder a few years ago, so I already have some of the gear for smaller diameter wood. I was hoping to find a better way to mill some cherry, crepe Myrtle and a nice Chinaberry that I cut last Tuesday. It looks like I may have to find another way, though, since I had both knees replaced 2 years ago and spending any amount of time on them is out of the question.

here is a really bad pic or two of my crude setup:

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## 2feathers Creative Making

You can vertical mill on that setup. Just put your 2x4 rails on the outside of your log and away you go.


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## woodtickgreg

I once built a platform out of a heavy duty pallet and some 6x6 ramps. I rolled the log up the ramps and then I could stand up and mill and that got me off my knees. But this was at a place where I could move the logs to the platform instead of moving the mill to the log. If you have a dedicated place to mill logs this is a good option.

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## Ken Martin

Yeah, I’m not trying to make a business out of milling logs. I just want to cut them straighter. I usually cut them into lengths I can manhandle them into position anyway. I’ll have to look into building that ramp or try @2feathers Creative Making idea.


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## Gonzalodqa

Chainsaw milling is quite interesting and a great way to save some money on lumber. However, in some parts of the world, it is an illegal practice.

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## woodtickgreg

Gonzalodqa said:


> Chainsaw milling is quite interesting and a great way to save some money on lumber. However, in some parts of the world, it is an illegal practice.


I'm glad that hasn't happened here yet. My chainsaw mill has allowed me to do woodworking that I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to do because of the cost of hardwood lumber.

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## Ken Martin

Why would it be outlawed?


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## woodtickgreg

Karl_TN said:


> I’ll only add two things. If you can raise one end of the log then let gravity help a little by cutting downhill. Lastly, you can get some really nice wood with a CSM, but don’t expect to get rich selling wood considering all the hard work.
> 
> As for me, it wasn’t long after getting my Alaskan Mill before I began wanting a bandsaw mill.


Karl those are both good points, I do try and raise one end of the log so can use gravity as a helper so I dont have to push as hard to get the mill through the log. My mill has provided me with a lot of lumber and in thicknesses and widths you dont see at your common lumber retailers. I dont usually sell my lumber but may dabble in that at some point. 
Lastly I would love a bandmill but I dont have a place to store one, or the cash to buy one as they are quite expensive for a quality unit. I got into csm relatively cheap when I started out, I already had a large powerhead so all I had to do was purchase the milling attachment, double bar, roller handle, and oiler and a few chains. I think my initial investment was around $600 to $800, but this was a good 15+ years ago. But the mill paid for itself after the first couple of logs. The cool thing about storage of my mill is it just hangs from a hook in my garage from the rafters, it takes up very little space.

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## woodtickgreg

Ken Martin said:


> Why would it be outlawed?


Communism?


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## djg

woodtickgreg said:


> I'm glad that hasn't happened here yet. My chainsaw mill has allowed me to do woodworking that I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to do because of the cost of hardwood lumber.


Do you have a kiln or just air dry your lumber before using it?


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## Gonzalodqa

I worked for some years in the tropical rain forest, more specifically in Peru, and there it is outlawed because of illegal logging. The whole process has to be accounted for, from management to final milling

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## Karl_TN

@woodtickgreg, Someday I hope to get a s Super Jolly Grinder with hydraulics (they make the Oregon grinders but are slightly cheaper). Just wondering how do you grind the rakers down to a consistent height because I despise filing them by hand? Have you tried CBN or diamond grinding wheels on your chainsaw grinder yet?

Also, do you let everything air dry or do you own a kiln to speed up the drying process so you don’t have wood piles taking up room drying for years with those thicker boards? (Edit: just noticed Dan beat me to this question).

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## woodtickgreg

djg said:


> Do you have a kiln or just air dry your lumber before using it?


I air dry all of my lumber, no room for a kiln living in the city. I sticker and stack lumber in my garage for drying, fans when I first stack it to dry the surface of the wood, then just time and the heat of the garage does the rest.

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## woodtickgreg

Karl_TN said:


> @woodtickgreg, Someday I hope to get a s Super Jolly Grinder with hydraulics (they make the Oregon grinders but are slightly cheaper). Just wondering how do you grind the rakers down to a consistent height because I despise filing them by hand? Have you tried CBN or diamond grinding wheels on your chainsaw grinder yet?
> 
> Also, do you let everything air dry or do you own a kiln to speed up the drying process so you don’t have wood piles taking up room drying for years with those thicker boards? (Edit: just noticed Dan beat me to this question).


I use a raker depth gage to set the grinder stop up to the correct height. I did a thread on this somewhere here a long time ago. I'll see if I can find it and post a link. I have not stepped up o CB or diamond wheels yet as I stil have several of the standard pink grinding wheels that I use. They work fine for me and I like that I can dress them to whatever shape I want.


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## woodtickgreg

Here's a link to the granberg website. Prices have gone up some over the years and that is to be expected. I also see they have made some improvements to some of their brackets. I still think they offer the most bang for the buck.








Alaskan® Mills | Shop Alaskan® Mills | Granberg International







granberg.com

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## woodtickgreg

Here's a link for a thread I did on sharpening and setting the rakers.




__





Chain rakers and how to set them.


Chainsaw chain sharpening and rakers and how to set them has come up here before. The rakers control how deep a cut each tooth can take and having them properly set is important. As you sharpen chains the teeth get smaller and shorter in height as well, then they take less of a cut, then the...



woodbarter.com

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## djg

woodtickgreg said:


> I air dry all of my lumber, no room for a kiln living in the city. I sticker and stack lumber in my garage for drying, fans when I first stack it to dry the surface of the wood, then just time and the heat of the garage does the rest.


So you don't get your lumber down to the recommended 8-10% MC before using it, but only to the 12-15% MC Air drying can achieve? My numbers may be off, but I think you get my idea. The reason I ask is I have several shelves of AD lumber in the basement waiting for me to get off my butt and build a kiln. Can't use it that wet?


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## woodtickgreg

djg said:


> So you don't get your lumber down to the recommended 8-10% MC before using it, but only to the 12-15% MC Air drying can achieve? My numbers may be off, but I think you get my idea. The reason I ask is I have several shelves of AD lumber in the basement waiting for me to get off my butt and build a kiln. Can't use it that wet?


Honestly I think people get to hung up on moisture percentage numbers. My lumber is air dried to the relative humidity of my area and very stable. I have never had any problems using my lumber for indoor furniture. Remember lumber is hydroscopic, meaning it is constantly absorbing and releasing moister. You can kiln it and get it as dry as you want, lower than the humidity of your area, but once it's out of the kiln it's going to absorb moisture from the air and the percentage point is going to go up. When people have a failure of a project they have built it's usually because they did not allow for the movement that naturally occurs in all wood from season changes in humidity. Not because the wood wasnt dried to the magic 10% or whatever number. I cut my lumber thick because it will shrink as it dries, and it will also loose weight as the moisture is released. I also think air dried lumber is easier to work with, not as brittle or splintery.
Now one good thing about a kiln is being able to get the temps of the wood up and hot enough to kill bugs, but I've never really ha a big issue with that either. If the log is really buggie I pass on it and move on to better logs.

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## Karl_TN

For those following this thread, here’s a link to a place with Super Jolly hydraulic grinder for $330:

https://maverickmowersupply.com/700010-chain-grinder-super-jolly-w-hydraulic-clamp

Exactly the same as the high end Oregon 620 grinder (both made by Tecomec), but $125 cheaper.

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## djg

Karl_TN said:


> For those following this thread, here’s a link to a place with Super Jolly hydraulic grinder for $330:
> 
> https://maverickmowersupply.com/700010-chain-grinder-super-jolly-w-hydraulic-clamp
> 
> Exactly the same as the high end Oregon 620 grinder (both made by Tecomec), but $125 cheaper.


Wow, that's still a little too pricey for a weekend warrior like me. I know it's been covered before, so I'll just do a search, but I would like to get a reliable low end sharpener some day.


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## woodtickgreg

djg said:


> Wow, that's still a little too pricey for a weekend warrior like me. I know it's been covered before, so I'll just do a search, but I would like to get a reliable low end sharpener some day.


I have a more basic Oregon grinder, still professional, way cheaper, and what a lot of small engine shops still use to sharpen chains for their customers. Just stay away from the harbor freight grinders in my opinion.

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## woodtickgreg

This is a good quality grinder, all anyone really needs.


https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-410-120-Bench-Mounted-Grinder/dp/B00Y0S88Y8/ref=asc_df_B00Y0S88Y8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198076851563&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13502613898259418769&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016789&hvtargid=pla-320836411855&psc=1

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## vegas urban lumber

woodtickgreg said:


> This is a good quality grinder, all anyone really needs.
> 
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-410-120-Bench-Mounted-Grinder/dp/B00Y0S88Y8/ref=asc_df_B00Y0S88Y8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198076851563&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13502613898259418769&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016789&hvtargid=pla-320836411855&psc=1


i have one of those and it works really well. i could never get a sharp chain by hand, but with that grinder resharpened chains cut better than when fresh out of the package

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