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Our SCA parts washer wasn’t cutting the mustard off for my rebuild, lashed out on a cheapo SCA Toolpro sandblaster, works good enough for my current needs, maybe a bigger volume compressor would be nice though
Intend to do some slabbing and will be getting a 36" bar and skip tooth chain. Interested to hear from anyone that can suggest any chainsaw milling attachments known that are up to the job. Have a some hardwood logs (up to 30" dia) and do some pine planks into boards.
Beauty John Mate
Most of our hillbilly milling these days is done on the yard bandsaw but little tips below from what little experience on our homemade Alaskan mill Stihl 660.
*30” diameter milling off your saw will require additional lubrication, preferably at the opposite end via drip bottle or Vicky standing safely at a distance with a squirter bottle.
* Especially with your softwood pine plans don’t fall for the Youtubey videos of diesel/bar oil mixes as your secondary/distance lubrication. It stains too deep into the timber and will require additional thickness/plane work to remove. 25% detergent/75% water we’ve found works a treat if applied to the long bar end and allowed to disappear before re-entering the saw.
*Skip tooth for sure especially on gnarly hardwoods to clear but consider say 10 degree chisel angle for a smoother finish cut (albeit harder to push through/along) but a lot less work after you’re done.
Nice one John, I made a home made Alaskan jobbie to suit 30" and upwards and works well as long as you've got plenty of time and a bit of muscle to slog your way through. . With a 30" bar cranked the oiler right up but any bigger will need some extra lube as discussed. . Also as discussed skip tooth and 10 degree chain and make sure bar is dressed really well if not will wander and be a real PITA. . Have been an offsider on a Lucusmill a few times and they are an awesome bit of kit bit priced accordingly. .
Alaskan style are petty cheap on ebay or Jono & Jono but here's a few pics of home made jobbie. .
Also made made some first cut rails but can use a ladder or timbers would work as well. .
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Last edited by Rossco; 26th July 2022 at 08:39 PM.
Thanks @MB and @Rossco for good advice/tips and will retain for future milling reference for sure. Certainly have entertained the idea of a bandsaw and Lucusmill, both proven having great potential but yep, constraint is my lack of heavy lift capability machinery and their cost.
So milling attachment hauled to lumber on place will be the go, but rightly said need to be able push with manageable strength reserve for a while. Had a look at jono&johno mills etc and was last night checking out the Granberg Alaskan Mill MKIII (around $500) and looks reasonable quality.
"
Looking at 32 & 36" bars so thinking to get the 36" with the skip tooth ripping chain 10 deg, Think the 36" be choice as guess would loose 6" of bar with clamping in mill frame.
Most likely be buying mill and rails as many jobs to do and little time.
Have only a few saw logs up around 30" (mainly red stringy bark) and those smaller widths that will run thru thicknesser. Many pine of good size that would make good wall boards for bush chook type shelter and other ideas as they come to mind and makes good firewood (dry) for stove cooking.
If push get tough going, can always fit second handle maybe and Vicki can push also when having a rest from oil squirter bottle haha
This is the secondary oiler/lubricant gravity fed bottle on the end:
Problem we found with using bar oil 100% on the gravity feed was getting constant regulated flow.
Many Youtubey videos from USA recommended a 50/50 bar oil / diesel mix but this stains the timber deeply and costs a lot of money in oil/diesel.
We changed to detergent/water mix tests and found it to be cheap and more effective in cleaning sap during cutting too.
Hand throttle is a great addition:
You’re welcome to borrow our little snig trailer anytime for hauling the long logs back to your shed for block & tackle hoisting up to a decent working platform height:
Vicky will also need to follow behind you whilst cutting with wedges to keep the weight off your bar