# Home-made chainsaw mill -- from wood?



## grweldon

I'm certainly interested in cutting up some logs for personal use, I have 60 acres mostly with southern yellow pine growing on it. I'm also building a house and I sure could use some pine to mill into siding or battens for the interior. I know for that amount of cutting I should probably get a bandsaw mill, and I'm thinking about it.

In the meantime, I own a small Stihl 024 (42 cc - buying an 18" bar) and I'm designing a saw frame that I intend to build from hardwood, probably oak or maple. I've been extensively researching bandsaw and chainsaw mills for months and I've never seen anybody build one from wood. I imagine there is a reason for this, but maybe not. Wood is a good vibration isolator, probably stiff enough for the small logs (under 12" dia) that I want to cut, and I'm quite a good (precision) woodworker. I'm thinking that good joinery, glued and reinforced with long screws will be able to take the pounding that a mill frame would get, at least for some amount.

I'm all about trading effort for cost and I can build a frame for almost nothing. Opinions backed up with experience would be appreciated, but if you've never sawn wood with a chainsaw mill, your opinion would probably just be a guess, similar to my opinion...

What do y'all think?


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## woodnthings

*you're in the pole position...go for it*

Any opinions would be just that "opinions" and since you have the desire I would encourage you to make one. You can consider metal braces where pieces intersect or butt in which case the wood is just a member separating the the braces. Keep in mind triangles are self structural and rectangles and squares will collapse. Best of luck, :thumbsup: bill


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## PSDkevin

I have a granberg CSM and im sort of pissed i didnt see one up close before i bought. I would have made an attempt to build one. It not a bad mill but i am positive i could build one. I see no reason you couldnt build most, if not all of it, out of wood. Nothing too tricky. I second the go for it from before. Who knows maybe youll come up with the next big thing. Keep us posted.


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## grweldon

I appreciate the encouragement from you all! I was just wondering if anybody had heard of a CSM made from wood? This is basically what I've come up with for the moment. It will require the use of a 20" bar. The log in the picture is 12" in diameter, which will be about the capacity of the mill, based on my small chainsaw. The mill could easily be widened by changing only the length of the 4 horizontal pieces...


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## grweldon

I'm thinking about adding a platform on the opposite side from the chainsaw mounting so that I could add counterweights to balance the weight of the saw. It will make the device a bit more awkward to store and transport, but I think in operation it will make the sawmill easier to operate. The silver slab on top of the log is the guide for the first cut. It is a box outline of my aluminum extension ladder.

Any comments or suggestions for additions/modifications from someone who has a bit of time operating a CSM would be appreciated...


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## slabmaster

*csm*

I've been milling with a csm for the last 10 years. With that said, I think the saw you plan to use is way too small for milling. With the ethanol laced gas these days it's hard to get away with a big saw without burning it up. I use a 395 husky and many 066 saws for milling and have to re-ring them often.As far as the wood idea, I think you will have trouble clamping it to a bar with wood without slipping. I made my first one with square steel tubeing, but found it too heavy for my likeing, so i bought an alaskan csm mill for the light weight.


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