Two Chainsaw Secrets | Turning a Tree into Perfect Boards

hello friends I'm Max Egorov and in this video I will share two simple secrets on how to saw a large log into the perfectly straight lumber with a chainsaw there will be no usage of sawmill attachments or any board cutting jigs using my method you will use two to three times less gas than when using your chainsaw in a sawmill setup like Logosol or Alaskan Mill the lumber cuts will be even smoother and just as straight most importantly you will do it much faster you won't need any additional chainsaw attachments and will be able to use a less powerful chainsaw for cutting the same size boards my log cutting method works well for both soft and hard woods I used it to saw lumber from oak beech aspen black elder northern pine and willow I've done it in the summer heat and in the winter frost and nevertheless my board cutting technique never failed me I admit it sounds too good to be true this is why I will show you how I arrived to this simple yet effective lumber cutting method in detail you'll be able to see other log cutting techniques in comparison as well I have tried many traditional lumber cutting techniques while building my log cabin at Ladoga lake for example this simple technique using a two-board-guide screwed to the log works well and you can cut boards as wide as you saw's guide bar if the side of your chainsaw isn't flat like mine you can fix a small piece of plywood to its side this method is preferable if you need to make a shallow horizontal cut to an already installed log for instance you could do this if you need to make a horizontal cut in a log for a window or a door I successfully used this method while building my log cabin and even though it is old I would recommend it to my friends however I decided to improve the method and build a chainsaw attachment similar to the Logosol mini sawmill if you own a welder and a side grinder you could make one from scrap metal in a couple of hours maybe a day there are many good videos on YouTube about how to make a sawmill similar to mine so I will show the process very briefly the geometry and design of its frame are not important I made one with the frame's end open to be able to saw extra thick logs from two sides as you're probably thinking already this sawmill's attachment works the same as the DIY guide made from two boards it's only real improvement is that once you make your first cut the board's freshly sawn flat surface can then be used as a guide for cutting the next board in other words you only need an additional guide to make the first cut this is pretty much the only advantage over the first method I was actually quite disappointed with the sawmill's performance and here's why when you use the whole length of the guide bar to saw a log each tooth that comes in contact with wood creates some resistance there are15-30 saw teeth or more in contact with wood at any given moment and even if you have a very powerful chainsaw they will each take only small shavings or even dust because the depth gauge is usually set to 0.025'' (0.7mm) and it is two to three times less in ripping chains designed for cutting parallel to wood grain you can see that my chainsaw is struggling and producing fine dust instead of long shavings because each tooth can't grab enough wood as a result your saw is burning a lot of gas the chain is dulling and your work is barely moving I hope I was able to clearly demonstrate the deficiencies of this method the good thing is there is a simple solution when I was sawing 18-inch (45 cm) boards for my log cabins door I tried to use my sawmill attached to a larger chain saw this came with poor results my new supposedly very powerful STIHL MS260 that I bought for this purpose kept stalling on such a wide cut I was forced to try my freehand lumber cutting technique again that day I came to a final conclusion that cutting lumber freehand with saw's tip is a lot faster the technique doesn't require any additional attachments and produces straight lumber with a clean cut so my first lumber sawing secret is I keep only two to three chains teeth in contact with the wood at any given moment using the saw's lower tip instead of the whole length of the guide bar which would be up to 30 or more teeth at once as a result each tooth produces thick and long shavings I'll repeat it use only the guide bars lower tip to saw a log into lumber I first tested the tip -cutting method when I needed to quickly cut twenty 26 feet (8 meter) skinny logs into two halves for my cabin's roof decking I only had one day to do the job and when you have such a tight schedule you need to come up with good techniques to save time now it is time to reveal my second secret of how to saw a log into straight lumber with even thickness along the whole length of the board I will explain the principle of the technique using an old log that I got from my friend at his farm first of all we need to prep the log for sawing we need to raise it above the ground to prevent the chain from dulling and debark the log with a shovel or a draw shave I also cut the side of the log as it had some embedded sand on it the next important step is to immobilize the log in such a way that it stays put till you cut the last slab I hammered two stakes one on each side and screwed them to the log note here you can see that the log was cut into three parts but the central third is still hanging of the stakes if you have a tree that is still immobilized by its branches you don't have to use holding stakes next we need to lay out the cuts I will use a falling birch cherry tree as an example you can use a rope or a bungee cord as a guide just stretch it between two nailes and put a couple of staples or bent nails in between I was using a black cord in the video which is not the best a brighter bungee cord with stripes is a better choice the only thing is you have to be careful not to run into a staple as a properly sharpened chain is very important for a straight cut the chain has to have evenly worn sharp teeth on both sides I usually file my ripping chains to 5-10 degrees angle all of the depth gauges should have the same setting otherwise the saw won't be able to make a straight cut even if you use a guide or a saw mill attachment for example if the left teeth are more worn than the right ones your chainsaw will veer to the right this is a bushcraft saw sharpening vise that you can make in a matter of minutes I used a tall stump of a fallen birch tree for the purpose it makes the sharpening process efficient and easy what you're looking at is not an ideal cut but for a slab of this size it is better than needed because once the slab dries the wood will move and it will need to be jointed anyway but let's get back to our oak log so I wanted to make all of the cuts in one plane the plane is determined by vertical and horizontal layout lines and the saw's guide bar should cut a log along both lines at once I noticed if you make shallow cuts with the bars bottom tip while using a swinging motion you automatically get perfect vertical cuts again the second secret of the ideal cut is in the swinging motions I know it is hard to trust the chainsaw to keep the vertical plane but that's what you need to do you just let the saw cut the way it wants to cut while constantly swinging it back and forth holding this saw exactly the same way for each cut letting the saw cut the way it wants without even checking for a vertical layout line is not easy psychologically but with practice it is possible all of the cuts will be strictly parallel I have cut many many logs in the last year's just to be able to say that as it often happens it takes years to acquire a simple wisdom now I have to repeat myself my swinging method works well only if your saw's chain is sharpened properly but this is a necessary condition for any lumber cutting technique in conclusion I wanted to ask you guys for advice I no longer trust my STIHL MS260 as it gave me repetitive problems even if it was repaired by a dealer I always meticulously filed STIHL's manuals and procedures and used original STIHL products my 15 year old MS180 chainsaw was always refueled from the same canister and it is still going strong while my MS260 lasted only for two months of a fairly light duty giving troubles right out of the box so what chain saw of comparable size do you think would be a good choice for cutting logs into lumber using my method? P.S. during the last four years I was gaining experience in lumber drying using different novel approaches I'm planning to organize and publish my research results here on Advoko MAKES soon if you liked this video perhaps you could share it with your friends that could people watch good videos this is Max Egorov st. Petersburg Russia P.P.S. I only produce one or two videos max a month and if you don't want to miss new content like this you can click on the bell reminder for notifications I hope to see you back on Advoko MAKES...

Channel: Advoko MAKES

Views: 5,849,053

Rating: 4.9045272 out of 5

Keywords: cutting logs into lumber, cutting logs into lumber with a chainsaw, how to cut logs into boards with a chainsaw, how to cut logs into lumber, milling lumber with a chainsaw, how to make chainsaw mill, turning a tree into lumber, chainsaw mill homemade, how to make boards from logs, making boards from logs, milling slabs with chainsaw, slab cutting, how to cut slabs from a log, how to cut lumber from logs, lumber from logs, lumber from trees, advoko makes, max egorov

Id: 8qz64ELkxdA

Length: 12min 18sec (738 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 15 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/maybenosey]

I have not done any milling, but my understanding is that you want a 90cc+ saw for it, even for modest width boards, so it is no surprise that a (50cc) MS261 did not really work for him.

What is interesting is that he has developed a technique that seems like it would work quite well for even lower powered saws.