DIY Chainsaw Sawmill – Harvest and Process Your Own Wood

Harvesting and processing the wood that grows on your property is the dream of many homesteaders. The dream can be expensive (around $5k) because you need a sawmill in order to rip the wood and remove the bark.

Instead of spending years saving up, you can spend less by building your own saw mill out of a chainsaw!

You will need some basic tools – the chainsaw, a drill, bolts, and some 2x4s. The drill will be used to create holes on the chainsaw so you can bolt it to a guide made of 2x4s.

Next, you’ll use 2x4s to build a feeder tray for the wood. Once you have the channel made for the wood to rest in (or jig as it is called), you will use the chainsaw and guide to make your cut.

A thorough tutorial is in this video:

A few notes of interest:

1. Chainsaws come standard with cutting chain, you will want ripping chain, designed to cut WITH the grain.
2. The chainsaw will have to do more work than required with usual chainsaw use, so make sure to give it a rest if it is reaching a point of overheating.
3. Keep extra chains on hand.
4. Keep extra gas and oil on hand.
5. As always, Safety First!