First time with the mill.

Broke in the mill today on some cedar I need for some 4' country gates.



These trees have been down for a year.



First cut





Finished product

 

Nice looking cedars. Milling is fun to see what the inside of a tree looks like.

 

Here is what the cedar will end up looking like.

 

That will be some nice looking gates. Seems like we can't get a good cedar any more. All the hearts are small in them.

 

It is tough to find good cedar. But even the sap wood is pretty rot resistant. Those gates are stained green now and they should last 40+ years if they get taken care of.

I have some big cedar on my place but it all has fence wire in it.

 

Nice job and pretty wood! I've been watching a lot of vids on making an Alaskan mill - not to distant future project - would love to try milling. Cheers!

 

Thanks very kind of you.

The saw Mike sold me had good bones just needed a little attention. I have been thinking about this and preparing for awhile.

 

Been trying to work something up that I can mill on and place a log or two off the ground.

I have some power poles the coop gave me. And some used pressure treated posts. Just piddling around with it.

 

Put a little more slope in that if you can. It may be a little harder to start the cut but when you get your chain dialed in all you have to do is hold the trigger and put wedges in and catch it at the end.

 

Already decided I was going to swap in another 6x6 on the upper one. Everything is on a slight slope as well. I may move it over a little where there is a bit more. Need to get some good sized lag bolts.

 

That sounds good. It will make it easier.

 

Maybe just try cutting some angled notches into it to sort of wedge the log in place. I use a couple of large stump rounds that sit pretty level, and then I wedge the log as necessary. I've been thinking about cutting a couple of notches into mine - you lose a little clearance either way, so might as well have something dedicated.

 

You can't see it in the photo but the cedar log is sitting in the notches. Tried to keep them shallow and if I ever need extra support I can add wedges. Then the rest of the posts are free for jockeying the log onto the best side to start milling if need be. I have been to bandsaw mills and seen them flipping logs with their hydraulics looking for the best side to start a log so as to maximize yield.