I’m sitting in the board of directors for a company selling woodworking tools – Sahanpuru. One of their coolest products is the Alaskan mill, a chainsaw accessory that allows you to mill your own lumber. So I decided to mill Finnish birch using an Alaskan mill.
Trying to be a cheapskate, I was thinking should I mill my own lumber to my tree house project. So I bought a mill from Sahanpuru and decided to give it a try.
The right time to fell a tree
Winter. Almost all species of trees benefit from being felled in the winter, as the water content is the lowest when the temperatures are below freezing. As an office worker who has a vacation during the summer, My only option was to fell the trees during the summer.
I chose this birch that was struck by lightning last spring and had died. It hadn’t started to rot yet, so I thought it would be the best practice tree to mill.
Initial setup
After felling, logging and debarking the tree, the first milling cut is done by installing two 2×4″ level towards the center of the tree. There are two options when milling the lumber,
- perpendicular with the surface of the log OR
- perpendicular to the center of the log.
Milling perpendicular to the center of the log provides with straighter lumber that won’t crack so easily when they’re drying.
However, milling perpendicular to the surface provides lumber that won’t warp. So I decided to try both, as this was supposed to be a practice run anyways.
Mill Finnish birch using an Alaskan mill
After the first cut is done, the top surface of the log will act as the level guide for the rest of the cuts.
The sawing is easy with the Alaskan mill. You just need a sufficiently powerful chainsaw and a dedicated chain meant for splitting logs and not cutting them. I spoke with the CEO of Sahanpuru, and he laghed at me when I was mentioning how much dust you get in your boots, pants and clothes overall. The only downside of the mill is that you need to “crawl” along the log when pushing the mill along it while constantly producing saw dust. At least you get an authentic feeling of getting something done.
Verdict
The Alaskan mill is a robust tool that does what it is supposed to do. I instantly got carrde away and started looking at the alternative products (namely field circular saws and field band saws) but their price is so much higher, that as an entry to making your own lumber, the Alaskan mill is a no-brainer acquisition. Combined with the ease of use and portability, this should on everybody’s tool selection who are interested in even trying out to make lumber.
The felling, drying, milling and continuous drying is a completely different topic. You could immerse yourself in the science behind it for weeks, and maybe I will in a future post.