Two Chainsaw Secrets | Turning a Tree into Perfect Boards

Hello friends, I'm Max Egorov and in this video I'll share two simple

secrets

on how to saw a large log into

perfect

ly straight wood with a

chainsaw

. No sawmill accessories or jigs will be used to cut

boards

using my method. use two to three times less gas than when you use your

chainsaw

at a sawmill like Logosol or Alaskan Mill, the wood cuts will be even smoother and just as straight, the most important thing is that you will do it much faster, you will not need any accessories of additional chainsaw and I will be able to use a less powerful chainsaw to cut

boards

of the same size.

My log cutting method works well for both soft and hard woods. I used it for sawing oak, beech, aspen, black elder, pine and northern willow wood. I've done it in the heat of summer and the frost of winter, and yet my board cutting technique has never failed me. I admit it sounds too good to be true. That's why I'm going to show you in detail how I came up with this simple but effective wood cutting method. to also see other log cutting techniques in comparison. I have tried many traditional wood cutting techniques while building my log cabin on Lake Ladoga, for example this simple technique using a two board guide screwed to the log works well and you can cut boards about as wide as the guide bar. the saw, if the side of your chainsaw is not 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 in an already installed log, for example, you could Do this if you need to make a horizontal cut in a log for a window or door.

I used this method successfully while building my log cabin and although 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 out of scrap metal in a couple of hours, maybe a day. There are many good videos on YouTube on how to make a sawmill similar to mine, so I will show the process very briefly, the geometry and design of your frame are not important. I made one with the end of the frame open so I could saw extra thick logs from two sides, as you're probably already thinking, the attachment on this sawmill works well.

Just like the DIY guide made with two boards, the only real improvement is that once you make the first cut, the freshly cut flat surface of the board can be used as a guide to cut the next board; In other words, you just need an extra guide to do. the first cut, this is practically the only advantage over the first method. I was actually quite disappointed with the performance of the sawmill and here's why when you use the full length of the guide bar to saw a log, each tooth that comes into contact with the wood creates some resistance, there are between 15 and 30 teeth of saw or more in contact with the wood at any given time and even if you have a very powerful chainsaw, each of them will only take small chips or even dust because the depth gauge is usually set at 0.025'' (0.7 mm ). ) and is two to three times less in cutting chains designed to cut parallel to the grain of the wood.

You can see that my chainsaw is struggling and producing fine dust instead of long chips because each tooth cannot grip enough wood, as a result your saw burns a lot of gas the chain becomes dull and your work barely moves I hope I was able to clearly demonstrate the deficiencies The good thing about this method is that there is a simple solution when I was cutting 18 inch (45 cm) boards for the door of my log cabin I tried using my sawmill attached to a larger chainsaw, this had poor results. My new, supposedly very powerful STIHL MS260, which I bought for this purpose, stopped in such a wide cut that I was forced to try to cut wood freehand. technique again that day I came to the final conclusion that cutting wood freehand with the tip of a saw is much faster, the technique requires no additional accessories and produces straight wood with a clean cut, so my first secret when sawing wood is that I only keep two to three teeth of chain in contact with the wood at any given time using the bottom tip of the saw instead of the entire length of the guide bar, which would be up to 30 or more teeth at a time, like As a result, each tooth produces thick, long chips. repeat use only the bottom tip of the guide bars to turn a log into lumber.

I first tried the point cutting method when I needed to quickly cut twenty 26-foot (8-meter) thin logs into two halves for the roof deck of my cabin. 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's time to reveal my second secret on how to saw a log into straight wood with a uniform thickness along the entire length. length. In the table I will explain the principle of the technique using an old log that my friend gave me on his farm.

First of all, we must prepare the log for sawing. We need to raise it off the ground to prevent the chain from becoming dull and stripped. The trunk with a shovel or rake I also cut the side of the trunk as it had some sand embedded in it. The next important step is to immobilize the log so that it stays in place until you cut the last slab you hammered. two stakes, one on each side and we screwed them to the trunk. Note here you can see that the trunk was cut into three parts but the central third is still hanging from the stakes.

If you have a

tree

that is still immobilized by its branches, don't do it. We 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 bungee cord as a guide, just stretch it between two nails and place a couple of staples or bent nails in the middle. I was using black cord in the video, which isn't the best. A brighter elastic cord with stripes is a better option, the only thing is that 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 should have sharp teeth worn evenly on both sides.

I usually file my cutting chains at a 5-10 degree angle, all depth gauges must be the same setting otherwise the saw will not be able to make a cut. Cut straight even if you use a guide or sawmill attachment, for example, if the left teeth are more worn than the right, your chainsaw will drift to the right. This is a bushcraft saw sharpening vise that you can make in a matter of minutes. I used a tall stump from a fallen birch tree to make the sharpening process efficient and easy. What you are seeing is not an ideal cut, but for a slab this size it is better than necessary because once the slab dries, the wood.

It will move and need to be joined together anyway, but let's go back to our oak log, so I wanted to make all the cuts on one plane. The plane is determined by vertical and horizontal layout lines and the saw's guide bar must cut a log lengthwise. both lines at once I noticed that if you make shallow cuts with the bottom tip of the bar while using a rocking motion, you automatically get

perfect

vertical cuts again. The second secret of the ideal cut is in the rocking movements. I know it's hard to trust the chainsaw. keep the plane vertical, but that's what you do: just let the saw cut the way you want while constantly rocking it back and forth holding this saw exactly the same way for each cut, letting the saw cut as you like without even Checking a vertical layout line is not easy psychologically, but with practice it is possible to make all cuts strictly parallel.

I have cut a lot of logs in the last year just to be able to say that, as is often the case, it takes years to acquire. a simple piece of wisdom now I have to repeat myself my balancing method works well only if your saw chain is sharpened correctly but this is a necessary condition for any wood cutting technique in conclusion I wanted to ask you for advice. I no longer trust my STIHL MS260. Because it gave me repetitive problems even if serviced by a dealer, I always meticulously filed STIHL manuals and procedures and used genuine STIHL products.

My 15 year old MS180 chainsaw was always refueled from the same container and is still going strong for the life of my MS260. only for two months of fairly light work that caused problems from the get-go, so what chainsaw of comparable size do you think would be a good choice for cutting logs using my method? PS Over the past four years I have been gaining experience in drying wood using different novel approaches. I am planning to organize and publish the results of my research here on Advoko MAKES soon. If you liked this video, maybe you can share it with your friends so people can see it well. videos this is Max Egorov street.

Saint Petersburg Russia P.P.S. I only produce one or two videos at most per month and if you don't want to miss new content like this, you can click the bell reminder to receive notifications. I hope to see you again at Advoko MAKES...