Electric Chainsaw Mill

This is a small chainsaw mill I made recently. A big Thank You to Izzy Swan's Video on making a saw mill that I took a lot of ideas from and used only Material that I had on hand. This is for small projects that I need custom wood for.

Supplies

Electric chainsaw Had in shop

Aluminum ladder Had on hand

Rope and pulley Recycled from old flag pole

Scrap plywood and recycled 2x4's

1 1/2 Dowel from old umbrella post.

electric drill

Misc. nuts and bolts

1/4 20 threaded rod

1/4 20 wing nut

Step 1:

I started by cutting some 5/8 plywood a couple inches wider than the ladder and about 18 inches long. added a couple 1x1 1/2 to outside bottom edge so the sled can slide smoothly but not slide off or sloppy Built a rectangular 2x4 frame ans added a smaller box inside that will slide smoothly up and down. Drilled down from the top and used 1/4 20 all thread rod and a wing nut cut into the underside of the smaller box. Added a 1/4 inch drill for the up and down. Added a piece of plywood for the saw to rest on.

Step 2:

I used some aluminum flat bar to make a motor holder and a bolt with nuts and washers to keep the saw steady.

Step 3:

I needed a way to slide the saw down the ladder so I used a dowel and fashioned a small winch. Found an old flag pole so I used the rope and pulley.

Step 4:

Had to do a little adjusting to get the blade perfectly level with the ladder. Now it gets a nice straight cut.

Step 5:

Built log holders out of 2x4's I just screwed the log to the holder for now. I might build some log dogs later.

Step 6:

A few practice cuts and adjusting the height.

Step 7:

The rope goes from the winch down through a eye bolt to a pulley at the end of the ladder and back to the sled. Just crank the handle and it slides down the ladder.

Comments

[ToddW_00]

I've seen a couple and I like you don't have to dedicate the ladder to this one purpose. You should probably add an oil drip to lubricate the chain. Biggest problem with electric chainsaws, I've never seen one that oils automatically (does yours?,) they don't get enough oil unless the operator is very diligent about it.

[DDW_OR]

my 120v homelite is an auto oiler.
powerful and fast.

[ToddW_00]

Nice.

[Kdemon]

This is great, can you add a video of the saw moving up the z-axis with the drill, and the mill in operation? Keep up the great work!

[JerryL1206]

Agree!! My first thought as I followed along was “I hope there’s a video”.

[woodchipwilbur]

Do like it that you fashioned a small wench! Was she nice?

[rrahier]

I love the fact everything was scrap/scrounged/on hand! Great work!

[GDC]

Great instructable! I have one of the cheap bar mills and struggle to get straight level cuts. This looks like an significant improvement over what I have! One comment though, wench is a derogatory term for a female server. A winch is used to pull things.

[joen]

It's got to be nice to be able to start with a log and go through the entire process to end up with a finished piece of furniture, or whatever other project you have. Since you used whatever you had on hand, it must of cost you about $3.00! Love it!

[tytower]

Whoopsy .. looks like its not staying level. My chainsaw does this and I have not found a way to stop it yet . I suppose its the wrong chain . It should be chisel cut chain like resawing chain rather than cross cut chain . My alaskan chain saw mill has support for the outside end of the bar too.
Innovative!
Can't wait for version 2.