Milling chain

[Douglas Ostrander]

What do you set the rakers at for a ripping chain. Using 27RX 404. Just seen a comment on Lucas page. Said rakers are not really needed for ripping chain. Take them way down. Not so sure about that.

The log in the picture cut really so. First half of log was ok but the second half was very slow. 12 minutes was longest cut. 13.5 ft long.

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[Wonkydonkey]

I can see all the ridges, what angle is on the top plate ? 5/10* is better for a smoother cut I remember the bigger the angle on the top plate the more the chain is pulled sideways . I have set the rakers to about 30tho, if its cutting slow, and it’s kicking out fine saw dust you can take them down a bit more, your looking for bran type stuff not flour

Cheers

 

[Douglas Ostrander]

OEM top plate is 10 degrees with 10 degree tilt. I think the ridges are normal for this hyper skip chain. 10 drive links between cutter pairs.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

This was done with a normal 404 on an 880 5*

Till it hit the nail x2

Edited to add pics as I hit post to soon

 

[Douglas Ostrander]

Ouch!

I am using this with 35 hp brigs.


Just lowered my rakers from 030 to 040. See what it looks like in a few weeks. Thunder storms now.

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[Time's Standing Stihl]

Ouch!

I am using this with 35 hp brigs.


Just lowered my rakers from 030 to 040. See what it looks like in a few weeks. Thunder storms now.

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Where is this at Doug?

 

[Douglas Ostrander]

South of New Virgina Iowa. Replied to a post on Forestry Forum looking for slabber in central Iowa.

Just found a post saying to run rakers at 050 for Lucas type slabbing mill. Even go down to 5 degrees top plate for smoother surface. Fast cutting use 15 degrees but is more of a wash board finish.

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[Semotony]

What do you set the rakers at for a ripping chain. Using 27RX 404. Just seen a comment on Lucas page. Said rakers are not really needed for ripping chain. Take them way down. Not so sure about that.

The log in the picture cut really so. First half of log was ok but the second half was very slow. 12 minutes was longest cut. 13.5 ft long.

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With the cutters so far apart on the Lucas chain design that may apply. A long time miller in Perth Australia sets depth with an angle finder. His thought is that the angle from the cutting edge is a more accurate measure as the angle is less with half the cutter length sharpened away @ .025" depth. New chain is about 6* IIRC. The recomendation he makes is find the angle that works best with the combination of powerhead, cut width, chain and so on to allow best cut without bogging saw. If the saw starts to bog touch up the cutters to lessen the angle and vice a versa

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Was visiting a Lucas Mill owner yesterday who was slabbing for the first time. The log was about 1-1.2m wide, over 5m long. I guess that's about 4' wide x 18' long. Each slab was taking about 30 minutes to an hour to cut. I'm not convinced the set-up as sold to him is anywhere near optimal. In my opinion the RX chain needed the rakers dropped considerably. The timber was soft so I felt the hook angle was about right. The chain speed is hopelessly slow (his model is the 10/30 model mill, so the drive RPM's are already the lowest in the range). It was also good to see he hadn't set the mid-span support stay and brace up - so I got to see how much lateral movement the rails make without that brace in there - there is serious bounce without that brace so I would assume he really should be using the brace and then try .404 with more cutters. I mean, with a 30Hp engine there is more than enough torque for more cutters, deeper rakers, if the flex in the rails can be adequately braced against. Chip clearance was certainly not an issue the way his chain was set-up (as it comes from factory).

I didn't get the chance to see if he could have fitted a higher pin-count rim sprocket on the slabber to increase chain speed.

 

[Douglas Ostrander]

Got my 16 pin rim the other day. Currently using 14 pin rim. May need to add a drive link or two. 16 pin rim is $40 cheaper. Must be more common. Still took 8 weeks to get.

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[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Got my 16 pin rim the other day. Currently using 14 pin rim. May need to add a drive link or two. 16 pin rim is $40 cheaper. Must be more common. Still took 8 weeks to get.

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Will be very keen to see how that works out for you. What RPM's is the sprocket doing?

 

[Douglas Ostrander]

Will be very keen to see how that works out for you. What RPM's is the sprocket doing?

Sproket is running 2100 ish rpm.

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[Semotony]

Hi everyone hopefully this topic hasn't been Beat to Death too bad. I've got a small Alaskan Mill I'll be running a 661 with a 36-inch bar on it for Milling. My question is to all you guys do you have a preferred chain type? Is it worth it to spend the money on so-called Milling chain? Just looking for this information I appreciate any and all help thanks Joe

Whatever chain you use learn how to make the cutters sharper than how they came from the seller. I'm still learning how to make my square chisel skip sharper than it was after the last time I placed a file on them. Lotta pics with more advice on making these things efficient users of the power available from driving sprocket.
My use of skip came from using a 70cc range saw to pull chain around a 60" bar. Now I have a 72" bar for the 661-c with a ported cylinder. For that use I have a semi-skip Stihl square chisel to compare with the square chisel skip Oregon to see which is preferred if/when I need that size of slice again.
Experimenting with a few selections of the same length with the powerhead you're using will be a better teacher than what I've picked up from my use with logs from my locale. I'm actually learning to sharpen square chisel, which many find to be a challenge.
Enjoy safely

 

[AlfA01]

Not real hard to file if you do it right at the nose.

Any recommended file guides? I'm pretty handy with a round file, but square is take some practice for me.

 

[Time's Standing Stihl]

Any recommended file guides?

practice

You pretty much answered your own question. Practice and practice more

 

[mdavlee]

Any recommended file guides? I'm pretty handy with a round file, but square is take some practice for me.

Never tried a guide for square so I have no idea

 

[Semotony]

Any recommended file guides? I'm pretty handy with a round file, but square is take some practice for me.

Simmington showed me how inconsistent I had gotten with a file on square. This is the last of a reel of LGX I have made loops from for two years now. One more long with some replacement pieces for the "found that horseshoe!" sections. A retired teacher in Perth alleges the feed consistency and steady angle of the bar to the direction of travel are second only to sharpness (including depth guage angle) . IME comparing comp ripping with skip chisel ten or twelve days later there was no real visable difference.
Your mileage may vary!
Now that I can make a chain equal around touching up in the field will work out fine. I feel for the angle & try to match that while watching the files corner relation to the chisel outside corner. Works two or three times inna row before it's less help than the first time. That may just be me.....
The arm of the grinder is high so that the tooth leans for a more blunt angle behind the edge. A sharp angle will cut fast and lose the edge fast also.
Enjoy milling safely

 

[Douglas Ostrander]

Finally got to try the RX chain with rakers taken way down. Wow. 2 min 30 sec to cut a slab from 8 min with regular rakers. Will be moding the rest of my 196 dl chains.

Cherry!

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[RI Chevy]

Any photos of the cutters?

 

[Douglas Ostrander]

This is 27RX milling chain with raker taken down to 0.058. Stock chain is measuring 0.025. Should be 0.030. Didnt measure it till today. Just winged it to see if it makes a difference.

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