Powered saw options.

[tombear]

On occasions I have large amounts ( well more than I can handle, not that large compared to what most of you deal with if your burning wood ) of green wood I want to process into say turning blanks or small planks. Now there's not so much that I can get away with splitting, not with my lack of experience, so I need to do relatively neat cuts. This is fine if the woods under say 10 inch wide/ diameter as I can get blades for my reciprocating saw that big and when there's not much to do there's the big two handed saw I did up. Unfortunately I am usually on my own and short of time so hours of manly sawing by hand really isn't a runner. So what are my options short of getting a full sized petrol chain saw ( and the training to use one properly etc )?

i mainly work inside, in fact it can all be done inside, with mains supply on hand. It needs to be handheld as I can't fit in another free standing machine ( or afford one to be honest ) especially if it will be used only a few times a year.

ideally it would be something that can cut relatively precise, thin cuts up to 18 inches wide, mains powered and has a capacity to be rigged up to a dust extractor. Reliability is important as I won't be able to replace it easily.

Anybody have something they can recommend?

atb

Tom

 

[mrcharly]

Have you priced up getting a sawmill to do the cutting for you? Might be cheaper than buying machinery.

 

[British Red]

That size Tom, a large estate saw with a 3' circular blade could cope. Beyond that you are into a variety of bandsaw in the "powered" stakes. What about a small one man crosscut?

 

[tombear]

The only one local to me not what you call helpful in the past when I've only wanted small stuff of very precise, non standard sizes. I don't drive so I'm dependent on herself ferrying me about with odd loads of things so want to do the processing here on site to minimalising the messing her about factor.

ive just been looking at the higher end electric chainsaws and home chainsaw mills. 16 inch seams to be the top end of what they think they can handle before moving up to petrol, which I could live with. It's not something any of my cronies have that I can borrow but then again it would get more use as theres lots of jobs I could do with it for the group as a whole, simple stuff like processing fire wood not the stuff you actually need training in like tree surgery I mean. I heartily regret not going on the chainsaw course when I was working for the old Newcastle under Lyme Countryside Project or what ever it was called, it's been so long I've forgotten what it was!

I rather like the Makita UC 4051A, from the reviews I've found and with Xmas coming and the influx of cash I can just about afford one, especially if their are offers on.

Sorry Red, didn't see your post until I hit save, We've a band saw which can handle up to 6 inch Wide and 10 wide so it's really something that can rough bigger stuff down to that quickly.

Yeah one of the big farm saws you'd run off a power take off you see at steam fairs would be great!

ATB

TOM

 

[twyforge]

Something that would spring to mind would be a handheld bandsaw, although I understand that they are often more expensive than a normal bandsaw.

 

[tombear]

Cheers, I had not thought of one of those, I'll google some on the topic.

atb

Tom

 

[Jared]

Sword saw? Couple of variants, some like a modified chainsaw, others bladed like this...

http://www.ee-eibenstock.de/index_engl.asp?katid=21&bodystart=1&seite=21500011

 

[tombear]

Ta! I'd not seen either of those before, the ones I've found prices for are too rich for my blood but very interesting never the less.

atb

tom

 

[sunndog]

Stihl ms170 maybe?

 

[Robson Valley]

A hand-held bandsaw smells like an electric chainsaw. I use a 16" Remington elec. c/s for roughing out large wood carvings.
It's messy, there's more sawdust going more places than you ever imagined. So, it's reserved for the occassional sprint outdoors to hack at something.

Up until the c/s arrived, I have 3 different bow saws, 18", 24" and 36" with fine and coarse blades.
Even to crosscut 4" dry applewood logs, they are just fine.

Large timber constructions with precise dimensions (roof beams, logging bridge decks, etc), we do have power miter saws with 18" and 20" diameter blades.

 

[Dave Budd]

if you are planning to mill timber then you will want the biggest chainsaw you can afford.

I ran an alaskan mill on my Husqvana 340 and on an 18" bar I could cut 15" width if I only had one end of the mill attached, or 12" if both ends on. It would take a full tank of fuel and a fair amount of time ad effort to mill a 12" wide plank of oak about 3m long. I used that little set up to mill some planks when I first built my workshop and then only for levelling posts to build onto; t was far too slow and inefficient to use for milling more than the odd bit of wood. Earlier this year I bought Stihl MS880 and attached the mill to a 30" bar. It is MUCH better and I can now sensibly mill planks with it, but I did have to drop over a grand on a saw to do it!

If you don't intend to take the saw to the wood, which is the whole point of a chainsaw mill like that, then a decent sized bandsaw will mill anything that you can pick up and run through it. I have done this to logs of upto about 8" as that is all that I can get through my bandsaw and due to the fact that they have been long (bow stave material) and the logs weren't all flat and true as a plank being resawn would be, I have knackered the guides on it. I know somebody who uses a bandsaw for the same puropse successfully, but he has a BIG bandsaw by domestic standards (stands 6' tall, weighs a couple of hundred kilos and has a 3hp motor!)

If you are resawing planks then a 12" or so table saw or bandsaw will work very well. I also use a 12" handheld circular saw that will cut 4" planks, it is much better that a chainsaw mill or one of those electric sword saw versions due to the kerf. With a chainsaw you lose 1cm with each cut (give or take). Also, I have used my MS180 to resaw a 2" plank of oak and I really should've just fired up the circular saw for the time and effort involved.

All that said. I have sawn the odd log into bowl blanks freehand using my husky. Just ripped a bunch of 2-4" thick slices down the first foot or so of a log/trunk. That worked very well but is of course reliant on the user being stable and good enough with the sawn to avoid lots of wastage


edit to add: Saw mills (as in the places) won't entertain anything less that a lorry load of wood normally, so I'm not surprised they weren't very helpful. Have a loo around to see if any of the arborists etc in you area have a mobile sawmill that they rent out. Most of the mobile millers around my way charge a couple of hundred quid (might've been 500 thinking about it?) for a solid day of milling, that would get a LOT of wood milled, so unless you have several cubic meters to do that might not be viable. BUT, if they and their customer of the day are happy to do it, you might be able to go along and take a car load of wood with you when they are milling in the area and it might only cost a small amount for good will and sharpening of the blades

 

[tombear]

Cheers for the input folk, plenty to think about until the funds come in.

The sort of planks I need for the projects I've plans for are very small by most folks standard , two or three feet long, six or so inches wide so once the woods roughed out I'll be able to feed it through the Charnwood band saw we have already. Something I need to sort is a way of supporting the wood so it can be quarter sewn, I know it's wasteful but I'll be trying to replicate period pieces and from peering at originals, especially those done in oak, and the grain patterns obviously the result of that sort of milling.

From what's been said I think a mill is a non runner. Lots to ponder although those around me are remarkably keen on me getting a chain saw to do all these little jobs they have. Strange, that...

atb

Tom

 

[British Red]

To be honest Tom you are going to drop £1k on a good saw and safety gear. An Alaskan mini isn't going to add much to that