Alaskan style slabbing mill

[Ed]

Alaskan style slabbing mill.

Got a couple of Silky Oak logs which I wanted to slice and dice into lumber to make a table. This timber will form a frame and will hold a 20mm slab of granite for the top. Didn't have any way of slicing up the logs so made an Alaskan style slabbing mill to hold my chainsaw.

Pic 1. Rectangular sliding top frame out of 40mm x 2.5mm Galvanized SHS This will slide on top of the rails.
Pic 2. Corner joint
Pic 3. Adjustable chain bar arm.
Pic 4. Bottom of the chain bar clamp to give clearance for the cutting teeth on the chain.
Pic 5. Bar clamp. These will be drilled and a M10 bolt screwed to clamp on both sides of the chainsaw bar to hold it place.

[Ed]

Pic 6. 16mm steel rod bent into shape and welded to top of the liding frame, this will help me push the frame with the chainsaw as the other hand is on the chainsaw throttle.
Pic 7. Chainsaw Tip clamped to arm which slides up and down the tube to adjust height and is screwed tight to lock it,
Pic 8. The arm is connected to a movable cross piece which is able to move forward and backward inside the top sliding frame to adjust for the various different sizes of chain bars, Minimum of 20" and max of 30" chain bar.
Pic 9. Slabbing mill is setup to make the first slice of the top to remove the bark for the first slab. I mounted the mill on a temporary frame of 100mm x 50mm x 4mm RHS, which sat on logs and leveled, cross beams were attached by clamps to hold them in place. This was a temporary solution as I didn't have any suitable and light RHS. eventually I will make a proper dedicated frame so that the mill can slide along it, and will be adjustable in height as well, in the mean time this will do.
Pic 10. The log has had the bark removed on the top of the log and now ready to start slabbing.

[Ed]

Pic 11. My first slab of Silky Oak
Pic 12. Close up of the grain, The vertical marks are just from the chainsaw, I made these slabs about 45mm thick so that I can trim and thickness them down to size when the wood has dried out.

Cheers

Ed.

[kbalch]

Thanks Ed.! I've added your Slabbing Mill to our Metalworking category, as well as to your builder page: Ed.'s Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Slabbing Mill by Ed.

tags: chainsaw, welding, logging