Chainsaw Mill

I'm not a big fan of gas chain saws, but your typical electric, whether corded or cordless, doesn't have the power for heavy work. Oh, I have gotten a lot of use breaking down branches for firewood with my little DeWalt, but I'd never consider it if I had to do any real wood cutting to stock up for winter like you some of guys do.

I do have a few pieces after the last time I trimmed the big mesquites I'd like to turn into project boards. Mesquite is considered to hard and brittle for utility projects, but its very pretty if you seal when fresh cut before it has a chance to oxidize. Its not as hard as iron wood, but its very durable as knife scales and makes beautiful tchotchke boxes.

The pieces are a bit to big to wield around on the band saw, if I even still had my bigger bandsaw, and there isn't enough to justify a real saw mill. Even a home made one like Jim's. I was thinking maybe a chainsaw saw mill. There are some designs I think I could build pretty darn cheap not counting the chain saw. Here is the problem. I hate gas power tools if they won't get used much. At a minimum it seems I have to rebuild the carb every time I want to use it, and as already mentioned the electrics just don't have the Clydesdales to do the job. Mesquite is pretty tough once it starts to dry. Green its cuttable, but dry it gets pretty hard.

Now a blade and a chain is pretty cheap... and I do have a couple 5 HP electric motors that aren't dogeared for any project. So how about a cheap 42" blade (nothing is really cheap anymore) plywood beam back bone electric chainsaw mill. Maybe long enough to manage 4-6 foot sections.

I have a BS-0 indexer. Also a CNC mill or two or three or four currently under power, and a couple more in project stages. If I can draw a profile I can cut it.

Yeah, a chain oiler could be an issue, but I might be able to do something hack job with a spray mister.

When I looked for a longer bar to slab a big log I found that saws more powerful than my 350 use 3/8" instead of 0.325" pitch chain, with a sprocket whose oiler drive is different.

The word on ripping chains seems to be that they cut smoother but not as fast. I use the chain the store has and get a decent finish when slabbing. The wood will shrink and warp while drying and then pass through the planer.

If carefully adjusted the HF chain grinder works well.

You have the choice of moving the log or the blade and motor. I chose to move the blade and 6.5HP gas engine over a stationary log because the track is light enough to carry and store, 3" channel iron in 8' sections. The carriage assembly weighs less than 150 Lbs while I've cut 2 ton green oak logs on separate height adjustable supports. This local lumber yard moves the logs:

Good luck with it. Mine wasn't that difficult to make on a 10" lathe and mill with a 24" table, it mainly required cutting and welding the surplus 3" channel and mostly easy lathe work for the rotating parts.

Uneven sharpening or damaged teeth have been the root of my curved cut problems ... it curves toward the longer/sharper tooth , which causes uneven wear on the bar . Uneven wear opens the groove letting the chain tilt and wear the edge out of square so if/when I see the chain cutting a curve I swap it out immediately . I always take more than one saw and a couple of spare chains for each .

Oregon has a HUGE catalog with a lot of good info. Will give you part numbers to search for not commonly found at most dealers.

Also you might want to look at their "HARVESTER CHAINS AND GUIDE BARS".

Uneven sharpening or damaged teeth have been the root of my curved cut problems ... it curves toward the longer/sharper tooth , which causes uneven wear on the bar . Uneven wear opens the groove letting the chain tilt and wear the edge out of square so if/when I see the chain cutting a curve I swap it out immediately . I always take more than one saw and a couple of spare chains for each .

-- Snag I appreciated foreign cultures more when they stayed foreign ...

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When the saw wants to curve I check both, maybe uneven cutting causes uneven bar wear, which a square easily reveals, as does the crosswise belt sanding scratching. I stone the scratches off after they cover both rails. If I can't fix the chain by filing I use the HF grinder which sacrifices any extra tooth length on one side but usually cleans up the chain.

Two used hacksaw blades make an 0.050" gauge and shim to hammer the slot back to width.

I was cutting firewood across the street for which a backup saw wasn't essential, unless the tree pinched the bar of the main one.

I'm actually using an Oregon blade and chain on the 20V DeWalt saw. It was an easy affordable way to run a blade a little longer than the stock blade, without going to a more expensive saw. I do have to let the saw do the work, but its a cordless after all. Probably wouldn't have been of much utility if I hadn't invested in the 8AH XR batteries. The 4 AH batteries were what gave me the clue since they worked on other power hungry tools better than the 2 ah batteries most of them come with if they even come with a battery.

I'm actually using an Oregon blade and chain on the 20V DeWalt saw. It was an easy affordable way to run a blade a little longer than the stock blade, without going to a more expensive saw. I do have to let the saw do the work, but its a cordless after all. Probably wouldn't have been of much utility if I hadn't invested in the 8AH XR batteries. The 4 AH batteries were what gave me the clue since they worked on other power hungry tools better than the 2 ah batteries most of them come with if they even come with a battery. Bob La Londe

--------------------------------- Here's some technical discussion of DeWalt battery innards, though it doesn't mention impedance. If they increase capacity by adding parallel stacks of the same cells more stacks will reduce the internal impedance and voltage loss.

The batteries recorded their use. Those left in a hot ambulance in Arizona could lose capacity in less than a year.

That's a fundamental law of nature. Arizona kills batteries.

A buddy of mine is a retired fire captain. (Mostly drove ambulance.) I might ask him what sort of portable battery tools and equipment they carried and how they held up. I seem to recall all (most?) of their fire stations have indoor parking for both ambulances and firetrucks. Maybe that might throw off the results. Shade makes a huge difference in cabin temperature.