We are making more barn timbers out of one of the trees we had to drop, and I used a
Beam Machine from Bailey's Logging Supply, just to see how it would do on a big job. The Beam Machine uses a straight 2" X 4" as a guide, and you pull the saw through the log. A 2" x 4" is not a very big base, and the challenge you face is keeping you saw squarely oriented throughout the cut. You will have some roughness in the faces with this gadget, because you pull the saw back, rotate down, and repeat. It did pretty well, though, and the inexpensive price makes it a fair investment. In this photo the 2" x 4" rail and the Beam Machine have been removed to finish the cuts.
Finishing the cuts. You can see the Beam Machine on the left side of the photo. It attaches to the bar of the saw with two set screws, and is easy to install and remove.
I cut firewood sections out of the slabs while the top log was still attached, then cut the half finished cant from the butt log. We will finish this into a timber for use in our old barn, and have a few boards to boot. I plan to use our
Alaskan Mill to finish this job.
The Alaskan Mill will do a better job of making smooth cuts, but of course it costs more. These milling attachments are more versatile than the inexpensive Beam Machine, but they also require more muscle as you have to push the saw through the cuts. Read up on the various attachments that are available for your saw so you buy the right tool for the type of work you need to do.
You need to have a fair understanding of filing your teeth if you plan to use a chainsaw milling attachment. The teeth are filed differently for ripping, but you won't have any trouble if you already know how to file a chainsaw blade. Take a look at
Chainsaw Sharpening Tips for hints on filing. Ripping chains will have two teeth filed at about 25 degrees, and then two teeth filed at 0 to 10 degrees. Chains filed for cross-cutting will have all the teeth filed at 25 to 35 degrees. You can buy a chain already made for ripping, or file a crosscut chain to do the job.
Why the different angles?
ReplyDeleteI've run chainsaws that had one side duller than the other and all it wanted to do was cut a circle.
I'm not an expert, but when I have tried to rip with a chainsaw, I've never had a problem with the usual set of teeth.
A ripping chain makes a smoother cut and is easier on the operator. The decreased angles eat less power, and also make for less wear in the rivets holding the chain together. The sharper angles in crosscut chain give less support to the tips on the blade so you have to file more often, especially when you are ripping oak.
ReplyDeleteManufacturers have been decreasing the top angle on crosscut chains, which allows your saw to run faster. Everyone used to make that angle 35 degrees, and now you see recommendations from 25 to 35. I hear from loggers that the 25 degree chains will have trouble in cottonwood because they don't spread far enough in the cut to make a wide kerf. Cottonwood tends to 'grow' back into the cut,and pulls your saw down, so loggers will file to 35 degrees when they have cottonwoods to cut.
There are lots of opinions on filing tricks for chainsaws, and I always like to hear what loggers have to say. It is very satisfying to put your own touches into a chain and make it cut better than it did when it came out of the box.