Chainsaw mills were introduced around 60 years ago, for personal use in remote regions like Alaskan wilderness. Till then they are considered as a safe and reliable component for both professionals and homeowners. Nowadays these self-operated mills are attracting more and more people due to their cost effectiveness and portable features.
What are chainsaw mills?
Chainsaws (or Chainsaw bars) are used for many purposes like cut off tree branches, felling trees, cutting firewood, removing stumps etc. For turning logs into lumbers these chainsaws are needed to be attached with a frame or engine to introduce a chainsaw mill for cutting wood.
Chainsaw mills are frameworks where, the chainsaw bar can be fixed at any position (typically horizontal) to saw the logs into slabs, lumbers or boards. In the simplest one, a steel guide bracket mounted to the chainsaw bar follows a straight edge. In the elaborate version, the chainsaw blade is controlled by an engine to do the work of milling. You only need to control the feeding of the wood through the rail or the moving of the saw on the rail in an efficient way. After milling the logs, you can detach the chainsaw from the mill and use it for other tasks.
Do you want to mill your own timber?
Are you the owner of trees or timbers and need to saw them into lumber? Then buying the best chainsaw mills can be the best decision for you. You don’t need to buy expensive ready-made boards. If your trees are at a remote region, then it will be expensive for you to send them to mill and then transporting back the finished lumber. The practical and affordable solution for this problem is to buy a chainsaw mill to make your own board at home. This chainsaw mill will mill through any timber, no matter how large or tough.
One more feature it will provide you is portability. Yes anywhere you want, you can pack it and take with you! You can transport it in trucks or even in a helicopter to such remote places that roads can’t reach.
How many logs do you need to saw?
The production capacity of the chainsaw mill is limited to some extent. You can’t mill piles of lumbers through this mill as a commercial wood-maker. It’s effective when you need to make some boards for your personal use.
Mind that, the production capacity of your chainsaw mill should be proportional to the price of the mill. If you have the best chainsaw for milling then it can reduce your cost & save your time. Obviously, less expensive mills will give you less production. So choose the chainsaw mill according to your need for production.
What will be the lumber shape and size?
Chainsaw mills are good for milling out wide slots from large trees. The sawed lumbers are smooth and plane. But you need to decide the log size you want to saw before you buy the mill. The chainsaw mills vary for different log sizes. If you buy a small mill and try to cut large logs, then it will be easily damaged. On the other hand, chainsaw mills designed for large logs can’t handle the small logs as the way you want. As the large mills are more expensive than small ones, it will be a waste for you if you don’t get proper lumber. So choose the chainsaw mill according to the log size.
The amount of wood lost to sawdust (kerf) milled by the chainsaw is around 3/8 of an inch (around .40 inches) and a lot of sawdust is produced. So you can’t optimize the number of produced slots. You need to consider the type of wood before choosing the chainsaw mill as the cost of sawdust increases with the price of wood.
What are the best chainsaw mills?
Chainsaw mills are getting popular day-by-day. There are a lot of brands manufacturing the components and accessories of chainsaw mills and also the whole mill. Chainsaw mills can be manual or hydraulic, mobile or stationary. The speed of milling can vary and there can be different kinds of log handling assistance. Choose the best one considering your budget, log size and need for production. You can buy the chainsaw mill or even buy the accessories and DIY the chainsaw mill by yourself!
Final Words
Chainsaw milling is the cheapest way to saw your logs into lumbers. The portability of the mills also makes your task easy as dried lumbers are easier to transport than bulky logs or trees.
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