Milling chain

[Marshy]

I got my hands on a large maple today and I plan to mill it up. I'll be using my 394 and should have the mill about maxed out with a 34" cut. I'll be using a skip and a semi skip full chisel chain. I'm sharpening my chains with a Foley Bellsaw chain grinder with a top plate angle of 5*. What head angle tilt should I be considering? I set it to grinde a side plate angle of 45*.

 

[Semotony]

So we have the 48" mill need the aux oiler- Here comes the Question

[1]Are better off using 42" inch Oregon Powermatch bar and chain combo (very inexpensive- like ridiculously inexpensive) however we will only be able to slab 36" max width between brackets because you lose 5-6" after saw is mounted properly?

or

[2] should we consider a Cannon bar (for almost 3 times the price) in the 50" configuration and buy a spool of Rt skip chain and leave excess bar tip hanging out in space (after fashioning a new tip guard) to maximize slabbing width 42" on the 48" mill?
While I have a 50" cannon most of my milling uses the 42" powermatch. Each have had the sprocket drilled for a 1/4" bolt to go thru into an aluminum bar that is the outboard post. I enjoyed the 50" (when needed) a 60" was bought. For anything longer there is a Forester 72" bar that I was surprised at it's stiffness. I run square chisel in semi or full skip depending on the log.

Note the extra foot of length in the guide bars, for 6 foot. This is the 1st cut that wasn't stopped by resistance (maybe metal) PITA.
Expecting- unsure of more metal didn't sharp up as well as I could. Wasn't as careful about holding steady feed consistantly angle. Obvious where the dark angle was rocked and where I didn't ease into a restart of cut at medium speed. Another couple loops have been made . Archer skip and Stihl semi skip. Now that I think about it the stretch in the archer first use makes a messy finish, so the Stihl gets put on bar because it is "pre-stretched" according to Stihl.
Enjoy safe milling

 

[Semotony]

I got my hands on a large maple today and I plan to mill it up. I'll be using my 394 and should have the mill about maxed out with a 34" cut. I'll be using a skip and a semi skip full chisel chain. I'm sharpening my chains with a Foley Bellsaw chain grinder with a top plate angle of 5*. What head angle tilt should I be considering? I set it to grinde a side plate angle of 45*.
View attachment 179350

45° should help hold the edge thru maple for quite a while. The above is a 60" bar thru a multi sapling grown together trunk. I wasn't that picky about a 40-45° leading edge for this wood. In white oak and old dry logs that is more important to me. The maple is recently down and seems a bit soft compared with other logs of less diameter that have been milled with a 42" bar. Also the branches , that gave 18" wide mantles, seem to dry rapidly compared with other slabs. I say that due to the speed the slabs lose weight. Hard maple may vary.

 

[junkman]

Some douglas fir pics from 2014 ,think this was a ripping chain ,Ripping chain has less kerf than regular chain ,did not oil well though .050 gauge ,since i went to .404 no need for extra oiler even with a 41 inch bar .
Cedar comes out pretty smooth

 

[riverrat2]

All of them depending on bar length and what I’ve got for them. Most of the 28” is semi skip and the 34” is full skip now.

Thanks, Will be using a 32 and a 36 on my 395 XP!!!!

 

[riverrat2]

Some douglas fir pics from 2014 ,think this was a ripping chain ,Ripping chain has less kerf than regular chain ,did not oil well though .050 gauge ,since i went to .404 no need for extra oiler even with a 41 inch bar .

LOL!!!! I bet that 066 has been stuffed plum full of bananas!!!

 

[Lightning Performance]

LOL!!!! I bet that 066 has been stuffed plum full of bananas!!!

Mine is a stock 660 and pulls 83dl full comp chisel in cross cuts and H full skip semi chisel on the mill. All 404 28" sprocket nose or 40"old GB internal roller nose 404. The 60" will be a challenge with one 660. Still going to start with new regular 404 skip Oregon chisel came with the bar. It's regular round off the roll but getting filed to square 15* over time. Twenty some drivers seems like too many in the wood. Might need a double skip chain fixed up. Sprocket nose bar so changes can be made.

I am currently looking for worn down 404 to retooff