Jen’s dad was kind enough to lend us a monstrously powerful Stihl 066 Magnum chainsaw.

We want to make some bed and bathroom shelves and racks from some of the wood on our property. Having cut down a cherry tree on October 4, the time is right to mill a few boards. The cherry tree was about 40 years old but was competing with the nearby white oaks and was losing. Interior rot had begun to set in and the tree was not happy, so we felled it.

While the usable parts of the tree were not very wide (6-10 inches), there is plenty of wood to be used for our little accessories.

To make the boards, we bought a chainsaw mill ($89 at the time) to mount onto the Stihl 066 Magnum. I learned that the most important part is the first cut, which must be straight and level. That requires a second jig (the first being the chainsaw mill itself), which I fashioned from some perforated angle iron. My first boards were sloppy but usable.

I was surprised at the effort that goes into pushing that chainsaw through the wood. It takes elbow grease. The saw chain is so wide that it knocks out a 3/8 kerf and, in so doing, churns out piles of sawdust. So, the chainsaw mill is not the best for large projects, or for maximizing wood utilization.