Chainsaw Milling instead of Firewooding big rounds

hseII said:
This size.

50-75”.
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That will do.
 
hseII said:
A local Miller has a Kiln that is an option.

Dad & I have been planning a solar kiln for some time but I don’t believe this activity is the one for the Solar Kiln.


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A solar kiln would be great, but contracting out is fine too. Storage?
 
hseII said:
We have a Woodmizer LT-40HD but these trees are simply too big for it.

I too have done a small bit of milling but it was just for kicks.

Thank You for sharing your firsthand experience.

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Based on your original post, I misunderstood your situation and your experience. It seems you’re less curious about milling and more curious about the market. I’m still not sure if you want to supply the customer a finished product, or if you’re vision is more of supplying raw material to a builder or artist. My opinion is the closer you get to supplying a finished product (and the more complex that product is), the more you have to focus on doing that one thing, rather than a supplement.

In regard to your original questions…

Thickness:
When cut into cookies, the thicker they are, the less prone to checking and more stable the pieces will be, but the more difficult they will be to move around. I would think that a more permanent type of installation might be best. At a thickness light enough to move around, they’ll be highly prone to breaking, and would need reinforcement (adding weight and/or complexity back into the equation). That said, I did once mill a custom coffee table for a very interesting cat. He countersunk huge casters into the bottom face of a 28“H x 30”W x 72”L solid cant. It’s easy to roll around in his hot rod shop, but amazingly challenging to relocate. The overall character is well worth it. It appears to hover on the floor, as the casters are sunken deep enough that you cannot see them. Very cool.

Marketing:
Word of mouth has always been my best advocate, and you definitely will have a hard time aiming for a mass market. I would think local, and hands on. Perhaps you could make a finished piece, and offer it to display at a local art gallery (with a price tag, of course). This will certainly put your work in front of the right clientele. You could also make a Craigslist ad in an appropriate column or two. You could also make a piece for a local coffee shop. Similar to the art gallery, the right folks may see it or even use it and want to know more. You can also make an ad with a nice photo and hang it on a community board. Take something to the next farmer’s market. There’s also a thing called facespace, or friendbook, or something like that. Some people swear by it.

If you’re more into supplying the artist/builder, try finding people that create and tell them about your materials. Maybe find a local art school or university with a great art program. One of my best custom milling clients is a university art professor. Similar ads and posts as I wrote out in the prior paragraph may also be a good avenue for finding someone to buy your raw material, but this wont get you nearly as much return as supplying the end product.

Best of luck! And if you happen to build anything, please show us on this thread.
 
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I bought a 20' container Nyle kiln setup. Need to move and install it at my place... I don't have storage, which is concerning...
 
oceans said:
The idea of slabbing was very attractive to me in the beginning. Carry a saw out to the log, mill out some slabs, carry them out instead of firewood chunks. I sell a few here and there, or infrequently do some custom cutting for some folks.

In all honesty, based on my personal experience, a chainsaw mill is only good for infrequent or temporary use. I would far rather have a band mill. The act of CSM is murder on the powerhead, murder on your wrists, murder on maintenance, and murder on your time.

CSMing definitely has its place, but I would certainly explore your outlets for whatever value-added product you produce. If the demand is high enough, it may be worth all the hardship.
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I'm only chainsaw milling white pine. It goes much faster, easier on the saw and me. I use the slabs for my personal furniture/sculptural projects and commissions. When people ask me to sell them a slab I say no, go to one of the band saw mill operators, their prices are excellent, the variety of possible woods available is also excellent.

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-AJ
 
I do a little CSM for myself. Very little at this point but I've made a few items from green wood. Nothing that I've made so far was valuable enough to need to be dried properly.

I've pretty much given up on being able to turn all of my logs into a usable product by myself and so I've found someone local with a portable bandsaw mill. $100 to transport the mill/setup and $80/hr to mill. I haven't brought him out to my property yet but I intend to. Maybe an option for you? The only downside with my guy is that he's got a 30" max cut.


One of my projects, live edge siding on a chicken coop. I should have put a finish on it this summer but I didn't get to it, so it's getting an aged look to it.
 

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Jehinten said:
I do a little CSM for myself. Very little at this point but I've made a few items from green wood. Nothing that I've made so far was valuable enough to need to be dried properly.

I've pretty much given up on being able to turn all of my logs into a usable product by myself and so I've found someone local with a portable bandsaw mill. $100 to transport the mill/setup and $80/hr to mill. I haven't brought him out to my property yet but I intend to. Maybe an option for you? The only downside with my guy is that he's got a 30" max cut.


One of my projects, live edge siding on a chicken coop. I should have put a finish on it this summer but I didn't get to it, so it's getting an aged look to it.
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We have a Woodmizer, sounds like it’s similar to the mill your guy has. We can do 36” logs if we spend the time & rotate the log multiple times removing the bark as we go.

These sections are much larger.
7eae79a7bd0c88979b600fa2c6a157fa.jpg


I had to trim the butt cut section shown on the forks down to go into my truck: it was too wide.


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hseII said:
We have a Woodmizer, sounds like it’s similar to the mill your guy has. We can do 36” logs if we spend the time & rotate the log multiple times removing the bark as we go.

These sections are much larger.
7eae79a7bd0c88979b600fa2c6a157fa.jpg


I had to trim the butt cut section shown on the forks down to go into my truck: it was too wide.


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If you were to take 880 / 3120 and quarter a log such as this, would the lumber sawn from those quarters be quartersawn? That would allow you to mill it on a normal mill due to more manageable diameter, and yield a product that would have a higher value. (I have no experience in this but I have heard of it being done.)
 
Barc Buster said:
There’s plenty of info out there to pull this off with a DIY for much less than that. I thought if it was close in price I’d consider it but not at that price.
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I’ve got a connex picked out myself & was thinking if the components were reasonable just source from them but I’m now of the same mindset.


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