A chainsaw is a universal tool for milling trees and making some really exceptional outcome out of it.
I have a friend living in New Mexico who does a wonderful job at making elegant pieces out of pine tree. Cutting logs into timber with a chainsaw and making it beautiful plus sturdy can give you an extra money-making path. With a chainsaw mill, things will become even more interesting.
If you don’t own one, no worries! There are various chainsaw mill models that come today in the market with excellent features. You can DIY your own handmade chainsaw mill guide rails, which is our today’s topic!
DIY Guide Rails!
It’s not anything complicated so don’t freak out. I’ll try to be as simple as possible about each step. Make sure you read till the end carefully. Here we go!
Know What Items You Need!
When I was into the topic of knowing more about making chainsaw mill rails, someone told me that ladders make an excellent one.
Yes, surprisingly a hardware shop ordinary ladder can give a good setup as guide rails. But a few might not want to spend more than a hundred on a ladder just to use it as rail setup.
So, one affordable option is getting power struts. You can easily find them in the oversized section of a hardware store.
You can grab the ten’ pieces, three of them will be enough. Simply slice one of them into six pieces measuring 1’ as crossbars and two 2’ cuts for end welding. Now the remaining two should be used for setup structure.
Bonding Up!
It’s time to create some bonding between the pieces you just cut. Get a welder for the job to go smooth.
You need to grind the cut edges as well. Attaching two steel sticks are not difficult but a bit tricky. Maybe you can take help of your welding buddy for this. Doing it yourself won’t be wrong too, but just in case.
You need to make cross braces so mark the holes. Make sure there are two inches of spacing between the holes. You should follow some pattern for welding the braces.
Also, get some ratchet or socket combination for attachment. You can also use a chainsaw tool for this.
Making Rail
You can simply use big bolts with the help of chainsaw and make rails. For attaching the rail and brace structs, use two chainsaw tools if possible.
Simply slip the tool into channel’s end. While squeezing it, you need to replace the bolts again. Make sure all your hardware is on the right place and then go for tightening. It will also help if you clamp slowly beforehand.
Give yourself some time to square one side for cross pieces. This will result in finishing the other side better and faster.
Almost Done!
You need to level and space the rails from one end to another. Use a mounting block and screw it. The one-inch block will be enough for spacing.
For the rail and brace attachment, I went for four half inches long screws. Adjust these screws carefully. They should not be piercing in your cutting plane. You need to check the surface for leveling again. Make sure all ends are pretty fixed.
Verdict
Once you have a DIY version of guide rails now all left to do is learn about how to use a chainsaw mill. These DIYs are really effortless to try for budget-conscious folk, but the professional versions will always serve better.
So, if money is not the only thing that matters to you, get good quality rails for your chainsaw milling chore. I hope you’ll have a lot of successful projects ahead, GOOD LUCK!
