good chain for ripping Maple with an Alaska mill?

[fly2mike]

Hi,

 I have an old Homelite Super XL with a 24" bar. I am ripping some Maple with an Alaska mill. I cut one nice plank so far, but the surface is quite rough, and the saw was working really hard. I was told I should be using a ripping chain? My neighbor referred to it as a skip tooth? Can anybody advise me as to what chain I should be using?

Thanks, Mike

[undee70ss]

loggerchain.com/72RD081G-Oregon-Ripping-chainsaw-chain-3-8-81-DL-050-gauge-72RD081G-72RD081.htm

[sweepleader]

I would think you might want to consider a skip tooth pattern to that ripping chain as it takes somewhat less horsepower to run. There are only half as many teeth in the wood at any one time.

[rarefish383]

The Super XL is small to mill. I milled with a Super 1050 for many years. Ran full comp 404 chain. I can get a better finish with out of the box Stihl chain than lots of guys running ripping chain. I don't recommend it. You can use regular chain to mill, but you really can't use milling chain for bucking. The biggest thing for a good smooth finish is technique. Use rails on every cut. DO NOT see-saw back and forth in the cut. Start your cut with the tip leading and keep it at that angle all the way through the cut.The log in this pic is one of four logs out of one tree. I milled one log when it was green with the bark on for a mantle piece. The other 3 logs I let sit for 3-4 years and made out door fire pit benches out of them. But, they are the same log as the pics of the mantle. It took 3 passes through my planer and they were ready for the finish.

[rarefish383]

A clarification on terms. Ripping chain has different angles on the cutters. True ripping chain has the top plate removed off every other set of teeth, with just the post left sticking up, and sharpened. The cutters are sharpened from 0-10 degrees. Standard chain is around 30 degrees. Skip chain has every other set of cutters replace by blank links, so you have less teeth cutting, less saw dust in the kerf to clear. I have used my little 30CC Echo 305 to mill. You just don't push on it hard enough to make it struggle. If the XL12 is having a hard time in the cut you are pushing too hard or it's dull. There is a huge learning curve to what is sharp bucking firewood versus what is sharp milling. I had used my dedicated milling saw on the weekend to buck some firewood and it was razor sharp. I always kept it on the truck as a back up. After work one day I slid it back on the mill and it was dull, wouldn't mill worth beans. I blamed the guys for using it and running it into the dirt. But, it didn't look like it hit dirt. Took it off the mill and bucked some firewood and it cut like gangbusters. That's when I learned that firewood sharp is not milling sharp. I can only get about 3, 8' slabs out of a chain before it needs to be touched up. I'm not criticizing your skill with a file. I've been hand sharpening chains for over 50 years. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. Some people have a hard time getting it. Take a brand new chain and try to copy the angles. Follow the guide mark on the tooth.