How to Freehand Chainsaw Mill with a Stihl - 9 Useful Tips 

thanks for the informative video. I first saw this method in The Gambia, West Africa and subsequently saw Advoko's video and it really is revolutionary, and I have bought a property with 1 ha of woods, so plenty of material for sawmilling. Together with a friend I milled logs on a traditional stationary chainsaw sawmill with the bar running perpendicular to the log. It was very slow and consumed a lot of fuel, so never going back to this.

They made their tanks the same way in WWII. Beautiful engineering but highly delicate and prone to breaking if you didn´t use them just the right way. Glad you got it sorted!

And then there was the time I was driving a friend's car (and he was in it) and put windshield washer fluid in the antifreeze tube! Fortunately, we got it sorted, drove through a snowstorm, and still made it to our meeting on time (for which we were being paid!) Thanks for allowing us to follow your journey of discovery and wonder.

Like you I saw Advoko Makes and have been using his system for freehand saw milling. I do NOT sharpen my saw at 10 degrees as per ripping chains. Alexi also states that you do NOT have to modify your chain, but it does have to be sharpened evenly More than sharpened evenly is that the rakers are correctly set. A worn tooth and a new tooth properly sharp and with their rakers set will take about the same bite from the wood. The cutting cross-section of the tooth does not change significantly as the tooth is worn down - they look funny because there is not a lot of tooth left behind the edge, but it is the edge which does the work. GULLETS - as you sharpen your saw be sure to take a pass or 2 in the gullets, this is where the chip / shaving evacuation goes. The Shavings - the ones you showed in the vid actually seem a little long to me - I get them about half that length. When they are coming out about half the length of yours, the cut is happening faster and there is zero clogging up at the drive sprocket housing on the saw body. You regulate this with the angle of the cutting ... where those 3-5 teeth are hitting the wood. You want the last 1 - 3 inches of the bar and the bottom 90 degrees of the sprocket tip to be the cutting zone, CAUTION needs to be employed, you are working right on the edge of the kickback zone, as soon as you hit the tooth that is just above that midline on the sprocket tip and enter the TOP 900 degrees you are in Kickback zone - keep your top hand firmly on the handle....but not locked up, this hand has the greatest impact on the finish and evenness of your cut as this hand controls the rotation of the bar relative to horizontal while providing part of the pivot for the swinging the cutting plane. You need to hold enough to prevent unwanted movement and protection against kickback, but at the same time allow necessary movement in the plane of the cut ("swinging the bar" as Alexi calls it) Duty Cycle - As you indicated these saws, even the professional lines from Stihl and Husqvarna and others, are not intended to run at full throttle for an entire tank full of gas. A few minutes at most and then a cool down. I've been running the same saws for, in some cases, 40 years and for the most part they all run as if they were still new (I'm sure compression is off a little on the older ones, but they still fire up and run/cut like new) Fuel - If you are using the premixed fuel it should be spot on, if you are mixing you own use the highest octane you have at the pump ( I generally use the 93 or 94 Octane ) - the back of the 2 cycle oil mix states a lower octane than I use, but the higher the octane the more protection you have against detonation / knock and other undesirable side effects of high(er) compression and heat and high load. A higher octane can give you a little more difficulty starting a cold saw on a cold day so if you are in very cold climates, you might want to run the 89 once you start heading below 0 degrees F. If you are even unsure while mixing your fuel / oil err on the side of slightly more oil to fuel ... NEVER LESS oil to fuel. A slightly oil rich mix may smoke a little more but it will not cause the problems of ring scoring or overheating (due to running lean). If you have an older saw which still has the manual mixture (L and H jets on the side that you need a very small screwdriver to adjust) you want to run on the rich side of exactly right as opposed to the lean side - this adjustment is as much art as it is science (just right is 13:1 fuel to air stoichiometric (sp) ratio if I recall correctly, ideally you want to be say 16:1 - if you were adjusting this in an airplane you would have an exhaust gas temp gauge and you would adjust to 15 degrees F cooler than max to the rich side of the balance for power ... and we want power here .. so you find that max RPM on the Low speed jet and then back out just a little bit more as the RPM will come down just a little bit - again, it's an art as much as a science, what that best point sounds and feels like is different for every saw I've ever used For the high speed jet you are adjusting how it wants to run both as you squeeze the throttle to max - should advance smoothly, and how it runs at max RPM ... tricky as you do not generally want to run at max RPM unless you are in a cut so that you don't overspeed the saw or otherwise cause it damage ... but for just a second...spin it up and then let it down - don't hold it wide open throttle unloaded !!! ... you want it to get there and run smoothly, not smoke, or JUST a little smoke, but no skipping, popping, ugly drowning in its own fuel sounds etc ... then you take it to a log and make a cut and see how it runs at max rpm while under load and fine tune your adj....more art than science once again) If you have a newer saw with the automatic carburetors, or the really fancy fuel injected units !!, this is all an archaic practice used by us old guys. Good Luck! ps, I've used a Husqvarna electric saw to do this on a small log - it works, but same as a gas saw, you don't want to just squeeze it and go, it WILL heat up and shut itself down for thermal overload protection and the battery will not last as long on a charge - they too are not designed for a steady continuous high rate discharge ....but the professional battery saws will do the job and as they improve those, they will work on larger and larger logs.

If you are using a ripping chain and only have a few teeth engaged at a time, then there will be relatively low resistance on the chain and having the throttle wide open will result in very high revs. It would be like taking your car on the motorway and sitting in second gear. You'd be redlining the whole time. Take it a little slower and sit at part throttle so that you're in a sustainable rev range.

Just started learning about freehand chainsaw milling and I first learned it from the guy you were talking about. But I needed more information and I appreciate your two tutorials. And yes I did learn stuff by watching somebody else learn. Also the tips and tricks helped tremendously. Thank you so much

The hand milled planks are so lovely and rustic … great your friend was so generous by giving you all that wood …further projects ahead … that’ll keep you busy Luke 😀 🙏☘️😘

2 stroke engines, arghhhhh. Bane of our lives when we did scooter repairs. The planks you mill are stunning. Can't wait to see the house you must be building with them!!!

Great video. Sorry to hear you have had some troubles. thanks for sharing your lessons.

Great video! I also tried freehand chainsaw milling after watching Advoco Makes on RU-vid! Pretty cool stuff! We wound up using out first freehand log to use as a guide for a little clip on milling guide. I found cutting the cross piece from every second tooth really did help with the cutting speed while using a smaller saw as well...

great explanation! i even watched the other video you mentioned a while ago, but adding your own points was really useful, great watch! thank you alot!

Thanks for your help i learn something new i chainsaw for 10years now and i had always dust coming out.😇💟💟💟 love you

Great looking planks there, thanks for all the tips too. Could be a business there in selling live edge slabs. I struggle to find really pretty wood for DIY projects...

Before RU-vid I was free hand cutting boards and timbers. After cooking my old wood boss from the 80's I learned that it needs some no load run and needs a few idle minutes. Fist I tried one pass to rip a board out. Made a dozen boards at 3" X 5" 16 footers. The saw seized up 400.00 later I started only sticking the tip in. Many boards later I still have my 3rd ever saw still running. Oh my first ever saw was Husqvarna and it would never start two days later I got my money back and bought that wood boss 21" bar from stihl never going to use another name brand.

now i know what you meant. My grandfather allwas told me to first read the manual when i get new things and i still tend to do that when i get a new toy. safed me some money th elong run. Glad your sorted again. See you next year ;-)

Here I am revisiting this video again. Just like it alot.

Appreciate your tips! We should learn from each other!

Nice video and editing.

Boards look great! Nice job! Your changing your method to letting off the throttle after running at higher rpm will make your saw last much longer. Milling is very rough on saws. (I recall that Advoko said he burned up his Stihl as well while milling. He even asked for chainsaw recommendations. Stihl, Husqvarna, Dolmar all make excellent saws. However, as you know, all saws require a break in period (10 tanks or so) and even after break in, “shouldn’t” be run wide open for longer than 10-15 seconds. Generally bigger models (100 or so cc like 3120xp, ms880 etc...) run at lower rpms, and are therefore recommended for milling. But are very expensive. Large Chinese saws are cheap, so sacrificing them to mill, and saving your good saws, is an option.)

Advoko Rocks 😊

you planks looks very nice :D sucks with the dead chainsaw, hope you got it fixed without being too expensive.

Thank you for this. Ive' been ripping boards this way for about a year and the results have been promising. I don't modify my chains and they seem to work best when slightly broken in, not with the hyper-sharpness for the usual cross-cutting. I use moderate speeds with fluctuations, lots of even footwork for a shallow pass running the full length of the cut, with a back and forth movement as I slide from the trunk side outward. Following the grain produces better results. When cutting long shingles, thinnest boards, clapboards etc, I like to follow the contour of the log if necessary, for a stronger result. The rip-with-the-tip method allows for curved planks, angle cuts and unusual options not feasible with traditional milling. The convenience of it allows any person to create the best quality, most interesting lumber at a truly minimal cost. I will echo the video maker in thanking Advoko Makes for sharing his awesome chainsaw secrets.

Thanks for the great demonstration and talk through. I'm thinking of trying it on hardwood at my place - apart from it being a lot slower do you have any thoughts on that? I'm using a Stihl as well. (With ripping chain I got from Stihl here in Australia).

If your saw is turned up hot , (lean) , and a dull chain , and a light load , and ran wide open is the worst on any saw , besides , forgetting fuel oil , ... Imo . Great video .

Stihl does make ripping chain now, (they didn't when this was filmed) its RMX if your looking for it. But most dealers probably wouldn't carry it, they would have to order it for you. ( make sure you know your chains pitch, gauge and drive links.) Or bring in one of your old chains.

Thank you, your videos are inspiring am a beginner. What brand would you recommend for Ripping chains?

Oh yeah sometime we learn the hard way I like more oil in the gas that way it’s help keeps it cooler make sure you clean the air filter👍👍👍🧊🧊🧊🍻🍻

Need to buy you a stihl weed eater next 👍👍👍

I bet it wasn't an oil issue. I had a cheap saw, it ran lovely for years. Lent is to someone who screamed the motor and it was dead within an hour.

Educational video .what stihl.model.is this ?

I think my electric stihl msa220c will do nicely for this kind of stuff. You can keep it full throttle.

Thanks for the video. Very helpful. Do I know you from ages ago in London? Mike

Ok❤

Lightest pro saw for firewood and milling?

So, what do you with the milled timber?

Poor Caroline... But now at least you know how to take care of her 😜

easy

👍💐

Free hands cutting

After teaching log home building for 15+ years - one thing that jumped out at me was the way you were sharpening in the intro... never start filing from the pointed side of the tooth, rather the other way. Keeping the chain sharp is the priority.

Is this Luke? From Luke, Sarah and Molly, sorry kitty I forgot your name.??? Enjoyed the video regardless.

Your chainsaw can handle running the throttle while your milling. You don't necessarily have to let it off to "let it breathe" mate. Your engine is always breathing. Or it wouldn't be running period. Whenever you intend to load the chain, full throttle all the way is recommended. The quality of the power head deals tremendously. I run a MS 261C. 20" Bar, and I work in my backyard with lumber that is left in burn piles throughout the community. Black Walnut, tons of Black Walnut.

What length bar?

Popular misconception about two-stroke oil and gas mix. Adding "extra oil to increase lubrication" seems common sense at first. However you are replacing fuel with oil by increasing the amount of oil in the mix. This means that for every molecule of liquid that gets sucked into the combustion chamber, less of it is actually fuel. What this means is that you are in effect changing the AIR/FUEL ratio. You are decreasing the amount of FUEL for the same volume of AIR. Just like using an oxy/acetylene torch, when you increase the oxygen(air) in the mixture, it increases the temperature - so that you can melt steel. You do NOT want to increase the temperature in your combustion chamber by displacing fuel with extra oil. The modern oils of today provide plenty of lubrication, some of them are even run at fuel-oil ratios of 100:1 in high performance engines. Many oils have been capable of this for 50+ years, but it has taken a long time to get over the old "just richen the oil mixture" mentality of WWI era 2 stroke engines that were made of cast iron. If you have a saw that cooks it's engine, it's probably a 9 times out of 10 that the engine was simply running too lean of an air-fuel mixture for the conditions or for too long. Don't forget you can also richen your air/fuel mixture to the safe side of the range by adjusting the high speed mixture screw. See saw manual for that one. Many saws have a "winter mode" which blocks off cooling channels for cold weather, make sure you're not in winter mode! If you have a fancy new fuel injected saw, you are at the mercy of the binary code gods...

I’ll give you six months of milling lumber you can build Sarah a new house 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

You used it very lightly so it used less fuel, less air and less oil. If there was a load on it then it would have sucked in more fuel, more air and more oil. Just an idea.

Watching again. It didn't show I watched the whole thing. (Red line at the bottom)