SPRING IS ALMOST HERE...
And this is exciting to me as I am waiting for drier, warmer weather to break ground on our homestead. So in the meantime, I am preparing for it. In order to build our Stone House on the ridge we are going to build a temporary house so we will not have to waste time(and money) travelling to and from the homestead. We will also be selling our house on town to eliminate those bills.
Another way we will be saving money is by using our trees for lumber to build instead of buying it. This also means I will need a way to mill the lumber into wood stock. Enter my chainsaw.....
First, I'd like to say that you should not attempt this at home. And it is probably not a "truly" safe way of milling wood...but I believe it will work, as I have seen similar set ups for sale on line...But they are much more elaborate (and expensive) and seem to be designed with a lot of safety in mind.(Probably to prevent law suits from dumb people.)
WHAT I NEED
- Chainsaw(have it)
- A ladder(have it)
- Two feet of all tread rod(need to get)
- Nuts, washers and lock washers(need to get)
- A 2x10 board 2 feet(.6m) long(need to get)
- 2 ten foot 2x4s(need to get)
- Wood screws(2.5 inches long)(have it)
- Drill and drill bits(have it)
- A few small pieces of scrap wood.(have it)
*Most of this stuff I have and will make this project a bit cheaper.
SAWMILL CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
First I will need two 3/8" holes drilled in the center of the chainsaw bar...one near the end and one near the base. This is where I will install the all thread rod later and will create the ability to cut perfectly straight along the logs.
First I mark the holes locations in the bar and begin drilling. I start with a small bit(1/8") and work my way up in size until it's 3/8". I use a sprayable white lithium grease as a lubricant, and also because it catched the metal shaving and makes for an easier cleanup. It also helps keep metal bits off the floor.
After drilling both holes I was pretty happy with how it looked. I did a good job centering them and I think their distances between them will work out great!
With this part done, it was time to move on to the "guide board." This is the part of the mill I will use to "float" the saw through the log on top of the guide. It simply needs two holes drilled in it that correspond with the holes I just made in the chainsaw bar. I will also be offsetting the holes in the board back and in a little. This will create a higher level of both safety and precision, as the end of the saw bar will be covered by the board, and it will also allow for better contact between the guide and the guide board. I simply used the saw bar to transfer my hole locations. I marked them and drilled them to 3/8" just like on the saw.
LINING THEM UP
Now, I was excited and wanted to see how well everything lined up so far. I don't have the threaded rod I need to finalize the mill, but using a couple of long bolts I was able to make sure everything lined up so far. I have to say, it looked pretty darn good to me. I passed the bolts through the holes I made in the saw and make sure they run true with the holes created in the board.
I then slide the board onto the bolts and take a look here. I'll be cutting true lumber in no time.
BUT NOT THIS WEEK
I am missing a couple things I need to complete the sawmill, and I don't have the money to get them now. But I will in a few days. Then I will finish this up and I'll do a post better showing exactly how this will work.(I'm sure it's probably a little unclear. But look up chainsaw sawmill online and you can see some of the commercial models I'm basing this on.)
As always thanks for coming along to see what we're up to. And of course we give all our thanks and love to those who continue to love and support us. A million thanks and a million hugs!!!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
*All photos are my own, taken with my Kyocera phone.