Continued with some red cedar milling this afternoon. Had a local furniture maker message me about the wood and he’s interested in it. Definitely a learn as I go game with the Granberg and my Stihl. Any recommendations for getting a smoother cut? I’m using an Oregon ripping chain. Right now I’m just playing around with the smaller diameter trees and it’s a pretty hack job operation. Biggest issue I’ve found is stabilizing the smaller tree sections. Suggestions there for an effective way to keep them stable? Their weight isn’t enough to keep them in place as I let the chainsaw work it’s way down. Boards are coming out ok but they’re really rough from the chain with noticeable cross cut lines. Is it a matter of slowing down? My best cuts are the first cuts with the ladder used to make the level cut. After that it seems like all is going smoothly but when I flip the boards over they’re a lot more rough than expected. Thanks for any thoughts or advice. I’m a newbie to chainsaw milling.
Hey woodsman softwoods are a little tougher to mill with a freehand chainsaw mill it looks like you are walking your cut side to side pushing one side foward then the other try to keep even while cutting and steady pressure its hard to do with a granberg in softwood as for stabilizing logs set logs on 6x6 and crib them with 2x4 blocks screwed to the 6x6 or just toe screw the log to the 6x6 hope this helps JB
In the cabinet shop, you expect to get a finished board 1/4 less than rough milled. So long as you can make clean 3/4" out of what you're selling rough milled as 4/4, you're good to go. Cup, twist, bow, checks, shakes, etc. are more of an issue than a rough surface from the mill. If I had rough milled boards with the surface in your photo delivered to me to build from, I wouldn't think twice about it so long as it was flat enough to get the dimension I needed out of it.
Love the Cedar boards. Looks like a lot of fun to make lumber from any log you choose. I have been pondering getting a Granberg for some time now. I think starting with the small stuff is a great way to learn. I would have no problem with the rough sawn finish as it will plane out just fine.
Thanks for the tips dingbat. That’s good to know. My boards are just fine then. Someone can definitely send them through a planer and they’d be beautiful.
