Reminiscence:: Tricks to Milling a Square Beam On an Entry-Level Mill and Chainsaw Milling

 

We’ve come a long way since our first plunge into milling beams back in 2013. Oh, how little we knew, our young and naïve past selves. We were still on Warren’s parents’ property dreaming of a humble 20’x20’ cabin up on a sunny little hill. Our first dip of our toes into the world of milling was with Warren’s dad’s old chainsaw mill. We drove down to Marysville and spent way too much money on a pile of reclaimed beams from a disassembled dock. 

Didn't look like much to start, didn't turn into much at the end either. 

This ended up being a complete pain and near utter waste of time as none of the resulting beams were usable for the house due to the poor quality of the wood. (Warren was able to salvage some of it to make a beautiful set of timber-framed sawhorses at least). However, at the time we were so very proud of our accomplishment.

So pleased with ourselves. So young. Along with our milling technique, our PPE has also improved immensely since then.

After that, I made friends with a local miller who lived on a tree farm nearby. I spent the summer of 2014 helping to haul windfalls to the mill and milling them into gorgeous beams (that and eating a lot of pie!) I learned much from my new friend. Ultimately, we didn’t end up using many of the beams we milled there due to poor storage on Warren’s and my part and subsequent rot. That and our house design changed drastically over the years; the longer we lived in our dusty little 12’x20’ foot hut in the woods on the property we purchased, the larger the design became. What began as a 20’x20’ cabin design slowly morphed into a 3-storied 24’x36’ house!

                            

                                 My very first sketches of our dream home.

Warren's current CAD model.

In hindsight, if we could start the project over again we’d buy our bandsaw mill first thing. We didn’t buy our own until the fall of 2017! I don’t know what we were thinking. What seems so obvious to us now was not at all obvious at the start. This purchase also allowed us to use trees from our own property and thus save a lot of money. We spent the following winter milling nearly every day after work and certainly every weekend. The scope of the project was way beyond chainsaw milling and buying beams from our local miller friend! 

Definitely a step up from chainsaw milling! This could be a Woodland Mills ad.

I've definitely kicked up my style since the chainsaw milling era. 

Through trial and tribulation, we learned many tricks about milling along the way. One thing we learned early on: don’t trust the dogs (the uprights on the mill) to get you a square beam! Starting with a square beam on the layout table is so much easier than first planing one square. Instead of using the dogs, square the first pass to the blade itself. The time it takes is so worth it in the end. Another tip is to shim the narrow end of your log for the first and second sides to minimize scrap wood and keep the heart centered. Here’s our step-by-step guide:

1. Measure from the blade to the heart at both ends of the log for the first and second sides.

2. Jack up the narrow end of the log until the measurement from the blade to the heart is approximately equal on both ends. Shim the narrow end of the log and remove the jack.

3. After you make your first cut and turn the log 90 degrees, square the vertical flat side to the blade. This may take some fine-tuning and is definitely easier with two people. 

4. Check for squareness! Voila!