Bandsawing logs into lumber

You need a pretty beefy chainsaw to make it pay you.

Anything under 24” and 50 cc’s is not going to make you too happy.
You can google the net for a jig called the “Alaskan Mill” for example.

As for a sled, this may help you get started.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

There are plans in magazines for a log sled. I think American Woodworker. Bob is right, your gonna need a beefy chainsaw for a mill attatchment.

-- Pat, Colorado

Hmmmm . .. I need to go to the basement to see how big my chainsaws are. Good point. I haven’t used them in a while but as I recall both are fairly sizable. Thanks!

And I’ll go the the woodworking magazine websites to see what I can find in some of the back issues of their magazines. Unfortunately I don’t have any back copies of any of my woodworking magazines. Its a long story that I won’t get into.

Rufus

-- Always remember half of the people in this country are below average.

I use a Granberg Alaskan “Small Mill” (I think it sells for about $135) with my Poulan 295 (I think it’s 46cc) a 20” bar and a ripping chain (available from Oregon chain dealers). I get good results from it. I surface them with a 3” electric hand plane and then manual handplanes, drawknife and spokeshave. So, I think you’ve got a much more efficient setup than I do for dimensioning the rough cut stock.

You (and your tools) will be better off if you let the wood dry after milling before attempting to surface it.

Two rules of thumb: when chainsaw milling, allow an extra 1/2” between your milling and final thinkness, i.e. if you want 1” thick board, mill 1 1/2” thick slabs (yes, there’s a lot of waste). And, allow about a year for each 1” thickness of a slab when air drying (patience is a virtue…)

Dan in WV

You might also call woodmizer and ask them if they have anyone in your area that does custom sawing. It might be cheaper that what you are thinking.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

norwood is a supplier that makes a unit like woodmizer, buy for only $1200 and up.

-- Joey, Magee, Ms http://woodnwaresms.com

Hello Rufus;

I have not went the band saw route….so no-experience there, but I can offer some advice on chainsaw milling from experience. I might also mention that one of the reasons I chainsaw mill is for wide slabs….36’’ plus and that I work in wood with the ‘live edge’....

I have also posted some blog stories Glamdring and Hard-Rock Sugar Maple and Glamdring and The Chainsaw Milling of Pine plus others on chainsaw milling wide slabs in the ‘free-form’ and with a GB Griffiths & Beerens Lumber Mill (36’’-44’’ wide and up to 3-1/2’’ thick). The saw (powerhead) I use is a Husqvarna 395XP, rated at 93.6cc or 7.1hp and just this afternoon I was looking at a used 3120 powerhead which comes in at 118.8cc or 8.4hp. My chain bar length is 60’’ so you might understand a little bit of the danger and need for safety when you convert that 60’’ into 120’’//10’ of chain I’m slinging around the bar.

Having said all that, chainsaw milling is going to cost you some money:

1.) ....you’ll need to buy ripping chain and learn how to join and sharpen your own chain….

2.) ....you’ll need to be on top of your machine and able to do up to date maintenance….

3.) .....chain saws were not meant to run full throttle for the length of time you’ll be in the cut….so expect to have extra parts….

4.) ....expect to spend some time, one year or many years depending on thickness ( 1’’ a year, although one can do things that will speed this process up) getting the wood dried….

....and these above are just for starters.

Now let me mention safety, not only is chain saw milling back-breaking work….and yes, it is….it is also very dangerous work, so unless one knows chain saws and prepares for what can happen, I strongly discourage any from doing this. Just take ‘chainsaw tensioning’ and what can go wrong in that area. Well lets talk safety....chaps, face mask or safety glasses, ear muffs, gloves and if your working with spalted woods you also might want wear a dust mask//respirator….and remember, ’’if your not planning for safety, then your planning on an accident!’‘

I do understand that you are probably not going to mill the width that I do and that you are probably looking at a smaller width, but when it comes to the cc’s, 50cc is the very minimum and I would suggest at least 70cc.

I have looked at the Alaskan mills and in my opinion they will not stand up to a GB Lumber Mill….and one reason is the way the chain saw attaches. With Alaskan mills, one attaches the chain saw to the mill by the ‘chain bar’ which from what I have seen over time weakens….plus the vibrations. The GB Lumber Mill uses a set-up where the powerhead is attached directly to the mill and in my experience this is the better way to go.

You should also understand that when you are using the saw as a mill, it works best if that saw is a designated chain saw for that mill and since you are using it that way….keep it separated from other forms of chain sawing, logging etc.

Hope this helps some and if you have any questions just ask away and I will do my best to answer. Now after all this one might ask, ’’why do you Frank do this?’’ and to which I can only say, I love it!

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

$1,200 is out of my league (I’m retired and spending money isn’t like it used to be) but $135.00 is doable. And thanks for the words of advice Frank. I don’t see this as something I would do often, just occasionally to get a few slabs of nice wood. I am contemplating contacting some of the local tree cutters that take out trees from people’s yards, particularly after storms. I don’t need large slabs as most of my projects are relatively small. I would be looking for some nice walnut, beech, maple, etc., not something I could get at Home Depot. I have a hobby, not a business. I know I could go to Atlanta Hardwoods here in Atlanta and buy most of what I want including rare hardwoods from all over the world, but turning wood and thick slabs are still hard to find.

Rufus

-- Always remember half of the people in this country are below average.

If you a have small mill nearby you might talk to them about milling on the half. This mean that the sawyer gets half of the lumber from the log. Some do mills some don’t. But it is option that is worth researching.

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

”but $135.00 is doable” here at my sawmill that would get you about 400 bft professionally sawn. I don’t knock any do it yourselfer, I am one of them myself…but some things are just easier to hire done (and cheaper in the big picture) You have been given some good advice. Like sIKE said some mills cut on shares, I do, then you are out $0.
I quoted your $135 just as a starting point of reference. Frank mentioned some of the additional costs, your normal honeowner saw is just not made for ripping lumber. Gas and oil alone on 400 bft milled with a chainsaw will be 1/2 that $ I quoted on top of the afore mentioned (?)
Plus it’s just A LOT of labor. If a guy is looking for a noisy/dirty workout then that is no problem I guess.
If you are looking for smaller pieces not slabs…you will be eating as much with the chainsaw bar/chain as making.
For small stuff I would try the shop bandsaw sleds mentioned. For real lumber try to find a local mill to do it for you. That is just my $.02.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

As luck would have it I have been able to locate four small sawmills within 100 miles of me, one specializes in wood for us LumberJock types and seems to have a good supply. I think I will take the advise of some of you and see what I can purchase from them before I get involved with trying to do it myself. Thanks everyone for the great responses.

Rufus

-- Always remember half of the people in this country are below average.

Planeman,

A wise decision, the ‘glamore’ portion of being one with the wood is far over-rated and very short lived.

As Frank, Daren and others have mentioned, the opposite is true regarding the ‘hands on’ portion.

Darens words nail it “If a guy is looking for a noisy/dirty workout ”.

-- I can so I wood but why are my learning curves always circles

a couple of years ago a storm broke off one of my chinese chestnut trees, the tree was about 8 inches in diameter. i cut the tree into 3 foot lengths, run it over the jointer to get a flat side. then i set the flat side aginst the fence on the jointer and flattened the second side. with two sides flat and square i ran it though my 14 inch bandsaw and sawed 1 inch thick boards. it took a while to do all that but it sure made some nice lumber. i have more time than money.

-- jerryw-wva.

You could hire a mobile sawmill or get a price to cut it up to suit your needs.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python