Alaskan Chain Saw Mill

Does anybody here use one of these? I've got some trees coming down soon & am thinking of getting one. It would be great to do some building starting with boards you took straight out of the tree!

http://granberg.com/content/video-clips-english

I own three Granberg mills, the Mini-Mill II for vertical cuts, the small log mill for easy horizontal cuts, and the Alaskan MK-III Mill 24" for more accurate horizontal cuts.

These things work pretty well, but you should have a pretty good chainsaw, at least 55cc. However, don't expect high production, and it can be quite a bit of work.

Here's a link to one of my projects where I used my mill, and it inadvertently inspired me to buy a custom ukulele!

http://timberdream.blogspot.com/2010/04/sinker-log.html

I cut slabs with an Alaska mill many years ago. You lose a lot to the saw kerf, so you're best off cutting good sized slabs, planing the wood flat, and then using a good resaw to get out your bookmatched pieces.

I've used them a fair bit too. Good for turning trees into timbre, but like Rick says, leave them big and use something more suited for resawing. And it's slow, hard work if you've got a lot to do

Fantastic!

I'm picking up a chainsaw when I get home from work so i'll make sure to get one that is big enough. Then I've got 4 pine trees in the yard that are coming down. I've been planning on building a pine tool chest ala Anarchists Toolbox, so I thought it would be great to start with wood I've harvested myself.

Are you supposed to mill the logs as soon as they are cut or is it better to let them dry first?

Doug, which model would you recommend? I won't be doing any large scale production work. And great post about that sinker log!

S.

I've found that the Mini-Mill II is sufficient for making 8x8" (or larger) timbers, and once you get good at it, you can get really straight cuts. You could probably cut your 8x8s in half with this as well. The small log mill is good for cutting slabs nearly the width of your chain saw bar, but I've found they often end up being thicker on one side. The MK-III mills are quite a bit more expensive, and you need a pretty big one to get decent size slabs.

Wood seems to cut easier when it's green. I often paint the ends with a latex sealant to help prevent checking as the boards dry.

Good luck with your project, sounds like fun. No point wasting good trees!