Some recent milling… lessons learned.

[Eduardo K]

This was the first with my new 48” mill, ms660 clone, using a 36” bar, and woodland pro ripping chain. It was a mid teens diameter red oak.


Lesson learned, inspect the ends of the log before milling so your not disappointed. I was so excited to use the new saw and setup I failed to see the rot in the far end. I pushed a plastic wedge to show the soft spot. As I cut closer to the center of the log, the center showed more rot, the “quarter” sawn boards will just not be as wide.


A week or so later, I took a shot at a wider log. My setup maxed at 29” wide cuts, the log was ~32” wide so I had to hew one side to get the mill to fit.

I milled these 8/4 and at 9’ long, they were heavy.

 

[Eduardo K]

This was a smallish maple I took down in my yard. We have a lot of trees close to the house, my wife wants the smaller ones taken down before they get too big. I had to take this one down in order to have a place to fall some tall skinny hickories. That big saw boogied through it and I was pleased with the wood.



The pile of dust is a reminder of the ~3/8 kerf. It’s fun and relatively low cost, but chainsaw milling does have some waste. I netted four decent 6/4 boards from that log.

 

[davidwyby]

Pretty stuff!

mhmm…milling with .325 NK….?

 

[Eduardo K]

Nah, regular 3/8.
I have nk .325 on a 550 and love it. I’ve seen some folks talk about loading smaller chain on a bigger saw causing potential issues. Not knowing much, that is whether or not that’s something to really worry about, I’ve stayed with 3/8 and .063 ga chain.

 

[davidwyby]

.325 NK seems to leave a smoother finish, and would be a few thousandths less waste. I might try it.

 

[Eduardo K]

That’s good to know. I thought the 3/8 woodland pro cut smooth just as long as I kept the saw perpendicular to the length of the material and revving at the right “tone”.
If anything looks right, it’s beginners luck and thanks to knowledge shared on this site.