Label Sheet-Good Offcuts
Writing dimensions, thickness and material on plywood and melamine offcuts at the saw, so the storage rack can be read instead of unpacked.
Cut Straight With a Chainsaw Freehand: Let the Kerf Guide the Bar
Mark a plumb line, start the cut with the bar tip an inch deep, and the slot the chain creates becomes the guide — the bar rides its own kerf and it's harder to wander off line than to stay on. For milling, only ever cut with the first two inches of the chain.
cut boards from a log, slabbing a log, chainsaw cutting crooked, rip a log lengthwise
Warning: This technique uses the front portion of the chainsaw bar, near the zone that causes kickback, and freehand milling has none of a chainsaw mill's guides or guards. It's for experienced saw users with full PPE — chaps, face protection, proper footing — and a sharp, correctly tensioned chain. If you haven't put real hours on a saw, this is not the place to start.
The Problem
A chainsaw wants to follow its own weight and the wood's grain, which is why freehand cuts wander — and why milling lumber is assumed to require a rail mill or an Alaskan mill bolted to the bar. But the saw will cut dead straight freehand once you understand what actually steers it: the slot it has already cut.
The Technique
- Mark your line — a level makes a true plumb or horizontal line on the end of the log or post.
- Start the cut by lining up the side of the bar with the marked line and entering the tip, about an inch to an inch and a half deep, so the bottom of the chain is cutting.
- The chain's first pass creates a slot — a kerf. The flat of the bar now sits in that slot, and the slot steers it. Once established, it's genuinely harder to leave the track than to stay in it. Keep advancing the tip and let the few inches of bar behind the tip ride the groove.
- For long milling cuts down a log, work in a drop-and-ramp rhythm: let the nose drop and cut with only the first two inches of chain, then push back up the ramp, let it drop again, and repeat down the length.
- That two-inch rule is the whole discipline. The moment more of the chain is engaged, the saw starts hacking into the faces of your boards; keep the cutting up front and the rest of the bar follows its groove.
Done right, the same motion shaves accurate bevels and can take a couple of millimeters off a post — freehand.
Pro tip: This works because a chainsaw kerf is barely wider than the bar. The bar-in-slot is doing the same job as a track saw's rail — you're just cutting the rail as you go.
Safety note: Keep both hands on the saw, thumb wrapped, and stand to the side of the cut line, never behind the bar. Tip work demands a firm grip and full attention to the bar nose — if the upper quadrant of the nose contacts wood, the saw kicks toward you. Sharp chain, correct tension, wedges in long cuts so the kerf can't pinch, and stop cutting when you're tired.
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