Hey everybody, another newbie to milling here. My folks had a nearly dead chestnut oak (I think) tree taken down today. I scored four 8ft logs, nice and straight, 28” diameter. Finally I have some logs in a spot where I will have some time to get at them! Anyway, I placed an order for a 36” granberg mill , a new 32 “bar (to complement my 20” and my 28”) and some ripping chain. I’m wondering if I should have gone with the 30” mill as I only have a 462 to cut with at the moment. I realize its a bit undersized for this task but I’m just planning to take it slow and keep my chain as sharp as possible. While I wait for the mill I’m trying to plan for simple rack/foundation for stacking the slabs… any simple suggestions for that? Also any recommendations for good sticker if material?
any support for your slabs should be no more than 2 ft apart the first slab should be at least 8-10 inches off the ground ,your stickers should line up with your bottom supports a lot of times everybody uses stickers made of the same wood as you are stacking less chance of sticker stain but any wood can be used as long as it is dry I mostly use poplar stickers . On the subject of stickers on larger slabs I use 2 x2 stickers to allow for more airflow . Chainsaw milling is tough on your saw run your mix at 25:1 Good luck JB
Thanks for the advice JB. I don’t have access to any dry hardwood sticker material. I suppose I could buy a few poplar boards and rip them down but it would be a pretty expensive way to go and they would prob need to be doubled up for thickness. Can I sacrifice an oak slab to make stickers for this project or would the green wood stickers cause staining?
I have always ended up using green wood for stickers you get some stain in the summer with high heat and humid weather but cool weather seem to slow it down if you have a lumber store near you sometimes they have culled 1x4 and2x4 cheap that you could rip for stickers but you have to get there before the good lumber buyers for Lowes or Home Despot get there because what good lumber stores will throw out they will sell as premium lumber I have also used 1x2 furring strips for stickers Hope this helps you out JB
Some primo logs for milling. I love the smell of fresh cut chestnut oak. Cant wait to see the boards they make. I never really saw the value of logs for milling until buzz-saw got his band saw mill. Now i want to mill everything!
If you want double live edge slabs from the center of the logs, a 30” mill wouldn’t have done it on a 28” log, and your 32” bar may not be enough either. My 36” Granberg mill measures 33.5 “ between the inside faces of the bar clamps. The “Listed Size” of a CSM is the length of the frame rails, NOT, it’s Capacity. You also need 4-6” more bar length than the mill’s listed size, to get the full capacity of the mill. You might be close with your 32” bar, if you remove the Dawgs from your saw. Remember the nose sprocket and it’s bearings, when you clamp the nose end of your bar, don’t crush them. If you’re wanting dimensional lumber, or single live edge, a Granberg G555B edging mill, would be an excellent companion tool for your CSM. Stay SAFE, and have Fun, don’t forget the pics of your results, both as Lumber and Finished Projects Doug
Milling is tough work. Those are some decent size logs for that saw. A good tip I can give is, after a long wide open cut, leave the saw sit at idle for a few minutes so the flywheel can cool things off. If you just shut it down right away the heat doesn’t dissipate as quick (can really soak those seals w heat). Try to prevent running out of gas too. I’ve milled at 40/1 with good oil for quite a bit with great success. I’ve heard some of the newer auto-tuning saws don’t like really oil rich mix ratios. Can’t wait to see the pics when you are done.
Wow, I'd like to throw that Oak up on my mill. Gorgeous!! I'm running my ported 572 on a 24:1 mix and haven't really noticed a big difference in performance. I may try a 32:1, but won't go any leaner than that
Thanks for the advice! I did order g555b as well so I can trim off the sides after I make my top cut. Still researching how to best set up the g555 while I wait on delivery of ripping chain and 32” bar. Once those come in I’m pretty set to go!
Sounds good, I am definitely considering ripping down some kiln dried 2x4’s to make my stickers. Hoping they will produce a decent result.
You’re Welcome, I found the G555B, to be a Handy and well built tool for a reasonable price. To me it was money well spent. It will allow you to mill larger logs with your G776, if you are milling dimensional lumber, rather than live edge slabs Have Fun, and stay SAFE Doug
Any recommendations out there for a set up to mill some 4x4 posts along with the flat sawn slabs from these logs? I was planning to cut most slabs at 2in thickness to end up with 1.5in thick boards after a drying and flattening… will 2 in be enough or should I go 2.25in? For the posts I could do one 4in thick slab then rotate 90 deg and rip down to 4x4 posts. Any advice would be appreciated.
Finally got started today. Mounted the 32” bar on the saw with some ripping chain. By the second slab I didn’t have enough length. I didn’t want to take the time to set up the mini mill (nor did I want to drive nails though the nice top slab) so I rotated the log 90 deg to take off some width and got 2 more slabs cut before it got dark. After 5 passes the brand new chain definitely needs sharpening. The wider slabs I got so far are about 25” in wide. Got them stacked for the time being on my folk’s deck until I have time to make a proper drying rack.
Update. I have been chipping away at this project with very limited time but I’m slowly making progress… 7 slabs cut and I have cut 2, 4x4’s and have another two to go and one more 2in slab. That will be it for log number 1! I’m having tons of fun and I’m learning a lot which to me is what this endeavor is all about. the 4x4’s were cut from that thick vertical slab seen above. I have not broken out the vertical mill yet as I am yet to figure out a way to secure it without leaving nail holes in the wood so I have just been rotating the log or slabs 90deg when necessary. So far im happy with the performance of my 462 with the 32” bar but an 90 cc saw would way better for sure. The next log is a little bigger and I had to go our out and get a 36” bar for that. Picked up a ripping chain and a full comp/full skip chain for that bar. Getting better at hand filing the 10deg ripping chain with each attempt (every other slab).
Nice looking Log I could not help noticing that look on your face in the picture That disturbed look I NEED MORE WOOD TO MAKE SAWDUST AND BOARDS !!!! look my poor wife understands it well nice job Enjoy JB
Some of those slabs are looking heavy! And beautiful! You have some very nice oak there. I see lots of rays on the pic with the slab leaning on the log. Keep the pics coming. EDIT: now that I have a phone app, I took a pic of the leaves in your first pic and it says swamp white oak.
So a chain can't be both full comp and full skip. Full compliment describes that there are the max amount of cutters in the chain, shown as "standard" on this pic. Did you mean full chisel? That's what I mill with. Full chisel, full skip on my long bar and full chisel, full comp on the shorter bars.
