# Worth milling with a chain saw?



## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

Some folks in the neighborhood have asked if I want to mill this stuff down and on the face of it it seems like an idea, but my experience with milling is limited to inside the shop with TS and planers, etc. It was described as being a bit wider than this, but it is what it is.
Is this worth the bother is the real question. Oak and some maple from what I've been told.
It seems to me that a chainsaw would chew up more wood than it might be worth, but I really don't know..
I'll probably go at least see what else is there..Plenty of firewood there as well.
More than plenty of big old yellow pines are cut down in the neighborhood every summer..There's several large logs right up the road from me laying in their front yard..


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Don't try that with a regular blade, they make a rip blade for a chainsaw. Still it's a lot of work plus the wood has to air dry for a year or more before it's usable. It would remove about 3/8" of wood making the cut. 

If you can make use of short pieces of wood you can do pretty good making boards with a log splitter. I did some a number of years ago and it split boards between 1" and 1 1/2".


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

Steve Neul said:


> Don't try that with a regular blade, they make a rip blade for a chainsaw. Still it's a lot of work plus the wood has to air dry for a year or more before it's usable. It would remove about 3/8" of wood making the cut.
> 
> If you can make use of short pieces of wood you can do pretty good making boards with a log splitter. I did some a number of years ago and it split boards between 1" and 1 1/2".


Thanks for reminding me of the ripping blade..as usual it didn't even occur to me..lol
As for drying I'm fine with waiting however long it takes since it's free except for the equipment expenses I may or may never recover.. Since I don't have a working fireplace I can't really see a great reason for a log splitter unless I decided to become the next coming of Charles Atlas overnight and use a froe ..I'm leaning towards passing on this..


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Myself, I'm thinking about getting one of those HF band mills. I've got an oak wilt disease going through my place and no telling how many thousands of board feet of lumber I could cut before it's over.


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

Steve Neul said:


> Myself, I'm thinking about getting one of those HF band mills. I've got an oak wilt disease going through my place and no telling how many thousands of board feet of lumber I could cut before it's over.


I keep thinking about one myself, but I am not going to be even one second younger no matter how many lies I tell about it. Things I used to be able to just toss around these days usually toss me around instead.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I think finding the time to saw the logs will be the hardest part. I've already been cutting and stacking logs. I've probably got about 20-8' logs and probably 10- 12' & 16' logs. The saw as it comes will only cut 8' logs but can be modified. I have one tree that is about 24" in diameter and it's probably 30' up before the first branch. It should make a lot of clear lumber. It's been dead two years and I hope it doesn't get spalted before I get the ability to mill it. I don't personally care for spalted wood.


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## Outpost22 (Nov 8, 2020)

allpurpose said:


> Some folks in the neighborhood have asked if I want to mill this stuff down and on the face of it it seems like an idea, but my experience with milling is limited to inside the shop with TS and planers, etc. It was described as being a bit wider than this, but it is what it is.
> Is this worth the bother is the real question. Oak and some maple from what I've been told.
> It seems to me that a chainsaw would chew up more wood than it might be worth, but I really don't know..
> I'll probably go at least see what else is there..Plenty of firewood there as well.
> More than plenty of big old yellow pines are cut down in the neighborhood every summer..There's several large logs right up the road from me laying in their front yard..


Maybe I'm answering a question that wasn't asked, but here goes:
After running an Alaskan Mill (chainsaw) and having a bandsaw mill, I might be able to compare them for you and see if you want to venture down this road.
The Alaskan chainsaw mill is cheap and does a decent job. You must be prepared to work fairly bent over and like noise and sawdust. There is a foreign mill that uses a chainsaw (Logosol) and is portable that may be worth a look that is easier on the back. The chain kerf cut eats up a lot of lumber, if that matters to you. Prepare to use a rather large saw (think Stihl 044 or larger. I used my Stihl 461) and bar for the job if the tree is worth milling. Small logs (less than 15" dia.) aren't worth the time for me as they don't make enough lumber for the effort. The portable style of the chainsaw mills makes it convenient to mill several sites.

With the bandsaw mill, there are portables and build in place types. Mine is fixed in place and has a 28' track on it. This type requires bringing the log to the mill (loading equipment) , not the other way around. The benefits over a chainsaw is numerous. Smaller kerf, easier to run, less work, etc. The downside is cost. I was lucky enough that my neighbor wanted to sell his at a real decent price so it was a no brainer to buy it. They are out there "used" for sale if you look. 
Milling is hard work no matter which way you go unless you spend an extra 25-40K for automation. The "love affair" with a chainsaw mill wore off for me rather quickly. But, it may work for you if you already own an appropriate size saw already and have the ambition and time.


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## Bernie_72 (Aug 9, 2020)

allpurpose said:


> Some folks in the neighborhood have asked if I want to mill this stuff down and on the face of it it seems like an idea, but my experience with milling is limited to inside the shop with TS and planers, etc. It was described as being a bit wider than this, but it is what it is.
> Is this worth the bother is the real question. Oak and some maple from what I've been told.
> It seems to me that a chainsaw would chew up more wood than it might be worth, but I really don't know..
> I'll probably go at least see what else is there..Plenty of firewood there as well.
> More than plenty of big old yellow pines are cut down in the neighborhood every summer..There's several large logs right up the road from me laying in their front yard..


Those are a bit on the small side but they are very straight so I think they'd be worth milling. I just finished cutting down two very large oak trees, an elm tree and several smaller maple trees around my house. My general rule of thumb is I'll keep any section of the tree that is at least 4' to 6' long while being very straight and at least 6" in diameter. For the smaller logs that are 6 to 10 inches in diameter I'll mill those on my normal bandsaw. I'll take off the bark, let them dry out for a year or so and then I'll flatten the bottom of the log on my jointer until I have a flat surface and then just run it through my bandsaw. Most of the Elm and Maple that I cut down this week will be milled that way.

The oak i cut down had recently lost the top and it was dying. This was the biggest white oak I've personally cut down. The base is 35" in diameter and I I have a perfectly straight section that is about 30 feet long. I counted 150 rings on the base of the tree. There is no way I can move that given it's size and location on the hill so I can't haul it to my band saw mill up at the cabin. I'll get all the bark off and let it sit for a year and I'll end up milling it into reasonable sizes with an alaskan mill. At that point I should be able to move it up to my cabin and mill it to the final dimension.

I don't like alaskan mills because of the amount of lumber they chew up but if you get a decent one and set it up correctly you can get very good boards out of it. I helped my uncle build a cabin out in a very remote place in Alaska and we did it with nothing but an Alaskan mill. 

One thing I'd recommend if you're going to mill it with your chainsaw...take as few cuts as possible to get it to the size where you're comfortable running it through your normal bandsaw. I'd also consider taking the bark off and letting it sit a year. You'll be amazed at how much lighter those logs get after some of the water dries up.


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## allpurpose (Mar 24, 2016)

I think I have to pass either way. It was a nice thought and if I had been born a few years later than I actually was it might be a different story, but heavy stuff and me just don't see eye to eye anymore. It wants to be a lot more heavier and I want to be a lot more weaker .. Such are the facts of life. Some things like saw milling and football are best left to the younger folks than old folks.. Too late we get smart enough for certain things my old man used to tell me. Now I know what he meant.


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## Ron_J (Sep 22, 2014)

I had about 1500bf milled for me last fall. The guy brought his bandsaw mill in so I didn't have to worry about transporting the logs. He charged me $370 as I recall.

I do burn some fire wood, but just couldn't bring myself to cut it all for firewood. Now I have a decent pile of boards that will be usable next winter.


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