Chain saw milling station

[Steven Urback]

I purchased an electric chain saw and decided to build a safe and comfortable stand to use it. I saw David Ellsworth use one that he designed, in a video not long ago, and I saw another one on YouTube. I used elements of both and made a few changes of my own. I have only used it on a few logs so far, but it is working well for me. I extended 3 of the legs to create a tripod effect for more stability on uneven ground. I made the angled supports 30 degrees instead of 45 degrees to accommodate larger diameter logs and perhaps have less pinching of the chain at the end of the cut. I put the horizontal support parallel and at the same height as the cradle so longer pieces can be supported while cutting the ends off. One suggestion when making your own is to match your chainsaw bar length with the cradle length, so you can use the teeth on the saw body for leverage when slicing the log. If you haven't seen the YouTube video, the idea is to use a bar clamp to hold the halved logs over the end to cut the corners off to create the bowl blank. The station is 3' long, made of all 2x4s except the cradle uses 2x10s. I used dowels to anchor the cradle pieces, all the other fasteners are #10 wood screws or deck screws.

 

[hockenbery]

Nice work.

Mine is more rustic

Low lift - hand truck height - for heavy pieces
3 minutes to build. No metal parts
Works well for crotches and straight logs

 

[GRJensen]

Mine is similar to the one David Ellsworth uses ... it was built from plans developed by the Minnesota Woodturners Assn several years ago. I didn't built the extension due to space limitations in my storage room. When I use it, I drag it out into the back yard.

 

[Steven Urback]

A more refined version. Great idea to use as storage as well.

 

[Gary Norton]

Mine is similar to the one David Ellsworth uses ... it was built from plans developed by the Minnesota Woodturners Assn several years ago. I didn't built the extension due to space limitations in my storage room. When I use it, I drag it out into the back yard.
View attachment 42787

I like this version, probably my next project. I have a much larger one but it ends up as legs for a table in my garden area and I have to dig it out every time I want to use it.

 

[Randy Anderson]

Nice work. It needs a lot of chainsaw marks and dings to make it look right . Mine is very similar but I like your idea of less angle on the sides to help with saw pinch. I use mine often. Looking at your extension I know that it would be short lived on mine. I'd cut through it the first time my saw exited the log and I wasn't paying very close attention. Mine has lots of nicks and cuts in it now from my less than precise chainsaw skills. I made the angled flats narrower so that I could slice off one side of a log to create a flat to then bring in to the bandsaw to process further. They don't have to be very wide to still hold the log, as you can tell from hockenbery's stump version - clever idea.

 

[Gary Norton]

My version of the Chainsaw Sawbuck is done.

 

[dwasson]

I made the folding sawbuck that Sam Angelo did on YouTube. I don’t think it was original to him. The folding aspect is very nice for saving space. It is a bit hefty, probably because I over engineered at it. But it works very well.

 

[dwasson]

I didn’t realize I had a photo of this in action.

 

[Gary Morgan]

Low tech, joined two old saw horses.

 

[Paul Hackworth]

Nice work.

Mine is more rustic

Low lift - hand truck height - for heavy pieces
3 minutes to build. No metal parts
Works well for crotches and straight logs

View attachment 42785 View attachment 42784

After looking through all the suggested designs, I went with this one too. Works perfectly and the cost was unbeatable.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Every truck load of logs comes with a free log stand, the first log off the truck is usually the log stand after you cut a Vee on top.

 

[Dennis Cameron]

Very nice job......looks pretty solid