Home based Chainsaw mill questions

[Sharpclifton]

I am considering building a simple chainsaw mill at my house . First question; is there a way to have timber cut from personal wood stock at a saw mill and how expensive is this? Second is there an ideal size for chainsaw blade length? Or is it made to use.

 

[DanR]

I would look at the sawyers near you on this page and ask them:

North Carolina Woodworker North Carolina Sawyers


I don't know this person, but I know he charges by the hour ($60 an hour):

Popes Custom Sawing | Pine Oak Cedar Poplar | Bahama NC

 

[scsmith42]

Sharp, many millers will saw lumber from customer logs. Depending upon the quantity, they can come to you or you can transport your logs to them. Their biggest concern will be if the trees are "yard trees", as these have a higher liklihood of having metal in them.

Millers typically fall into two categories - grade sawyers and yield sawyers. Most low cost millers saw for maximum yield, but for furniture grade lumber it is usually better to sacrifice some of the yield in order to improve the overall lumber grade and individual board quality (which a grade sawyer will do).

Expect to pay either by the hour or by the board foot (depends on the miller - most grade millers charge by the hour; and yield millers charge by the bd. ft), with you providing labor for off-bearing from the sawmill.

Additional charges will be incurred if the miller has to provide an off-bearer, if the miller has to sticker your lumber, and if any metal strikes occur. There may also be a mobilization charge if the miller comes to you.

There are two excellent millers that are not too far from you. Ivey Pridgen is located in Burgaw, and Jack Murdoch is located in Rolesville. Jack mills both portable as well as at his yard; Ivey only mills at his farm.

Both can be located in the sawyers link that Dan posted.

Chainsaw bar length is determined by the size of your powerhead, and the width of the logs that you want to mill. The bar needs to be at least 8" longer than the diameter of the tree. Many chainsaw millers use a 42" bar, and a powerhead such as a Stihl 084 or equivalent.

 

[Sharpclifton]

Thank you both for the info. I need to do some thinking..... The home based mill sounds great but looking at the prices of just the power head you suggested Scott... i may need to see a sawyer for a while. I do not intend on starting a milling business at this time and thats a large investment for a hobby, (I think the wife would put a halt on hobbies that required such a large one time investment!) Howerver, I will say the knowledge of the size bar and powerhead is very usefull for my thought process. I need to stick with log sizes that i can manhandle alone and anything requiring a 42" bar might be more than little ole me can do alone. I will digest this and get back to you both if I have any further questions! thank you again. One Question what is the power to length, or number of teeth ratio on a chainsaw. Also, I read another site that mentioned the teeth are sharpened at a ten degree angle verses a thirty because of cuting along the grain, do you find this to be true?

 

[scsmith42]

Sharp, you might want to send Gofor (Mark) a PM. He is based in Goldsboro (not that far from you) and owns a chainsaw mill. You might want to hook up with him one weekend when he is milling to see how his setup works, and to discuss power versus speed/capacity.

David Nelson in Raleigh also has a chainsaw mill and can offer sage advice.

Granberg International makes a special ripping chain for chainsaw mills; some folks swear by it and others just use normal full chisel chain.

 

[Roy G]

Will Malloff wrote a book called Chainsaw Lumbermaking. He goes into great detail about how to set it up, operate it and tips to get the best boards out of the log. He set up a winch to pull the mill through the log, so he could get some distance from the noise and exhaust. If you read this book, you may decide it is better to let somebody else cut the boards for you. Of course, he would carry his rig into the woods and cut boards out-couldn't do that with a stationary sawmill.

Roy G

 

[Gofor]

Sharp:

I have a couple of approx 30" x 6' logs awaiting cutting now (red oak), however, they belong to my neighbor, so will await a time when he can help cut them. Hopefully it will be within the next month or two. You are welcome to come by when we are slabbing them out to get a feel for what it all entails.

I have a 36" Granberg Alaskan mill (as to type). If you aren't planning on too large of logs, you may also want to look at the Logosol type. More expensive, but simpler to operate once set up, and also a lot better for quarter sawing.

As for moving the logs around, I normally do okay by myself using a couple of cant hooks. Northern tools sells some off-shore ones, but I like the Dixie brand myself.

PM me if you are interested in coming over. I actually live in Patetown if you are looking the location on a map.

Go

 

[caryncbreeef]

I dont know if you have considered a small sawmill - I owned a woodmizer I think it was the LT 28, with all the bells and whistles, that was in another life. Now I have a lumbersmith, it is like a large bandsaw on tripod wheels. it runs on a track (I use 3" angle iron) they run real nice and compared to most of the other mills are a bargain/\. you can cut a 1/4" sheet with it. takes standard blades, etc. If you want to see mine in action let me know. I have cut with a chain saw as well and thought it was more work than it was worth, and there was a lot of waste. just my two cents. you can google lumbersmith and see the details as well. thanks, Cary Brief