Timber Tuff TMW-56 Steel Lumber Cutting Guide Portable Sawmill Tool with Small Carry Size for Versatile Timber Cutting with Chainsaw

Works just fine

I absolutely love this tool. I started to buy a much more expensive setup, and thought I'd give this budget option a try first. I'm glad I went with this style of mill attachment tool as the pivoting guide offers flexibility in cutting options. For stability and ease of working alone, I like to leave the slab ends attached on the entire log until I'm done. The pivoting guide of this style tool allows you to plunge the bar in for your starting cut. It also allows me to set a depth so that I can plunge and cut a kerf at a give depth, while leaving the end intact. This was useful for hollowing out some trees to cover posts with.I was very much in love with this tool, until it broke, at what appears to be a common weak spot on this style of milling attachment: the U-clamp. With this tool you can either drill your bar and attach with through-bolts, or you can use set-screws to clamp the bar in the tool. If you are only cutting slabs, just set it as low on the bar as you can and use the through-bolts. If you need to adjust the depth for different trees and are using the set-screws, prepare for this to break.My U-bolt broke as I was attempting to clamp on for my fourth use. It broke in half as the pressure from the set-screws overwhelmed the very low quality steel of the U-bolt.Despite my Timber Tuff chainsaw mill breaking after only three uses, I still gave it four stars as it is a very useful tool that even in just three uses enabled me to cut some serious cedar slabs. I looked at the competition following the premature demise of my mill attachment and ended up buying two more Timber Tuff mill attachments. There is a USA made competitor, likely that this is copied from, but the tools appear so similar that I suspect the steel is likely sourced from the same overseas vendor. If I had confidence that a more expensive model was made with better steel, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Until then, I'll continue to use the Timber Tuff.Major notes:Don't use the set screws if you don't have to - drill your bar and the tool should last much, much longer.Wear a face mask and good eye protection - this thing will throw a ton of sawdust in your face (I like the mesh goggles as they don't fog up)Keep it level - The key to consistent boards/slabs is the angle of your blade. I found that a more squared edge 2x4 like the western red cedar available at many home stores is good for this. I placed two of them on top of a 16' long 2x6 for some nice long board cuts.Overall, I was pleased with my tool, I've ordered two more expecting a relatively short working life, but it really is a very useful tool.

I wasn't expecting that much from this, given the price, but since I frequently need to cut slabs from sizable logs for later resawing on a bandsaw, I figured I'd give it a try. The results were impressive - in comparison to my hand slabbing, the planks sawed using the Timber Tuff were much more planar and uniform in thickness, meaning I had to spend much less time truing up a face. I used a 2 x 6 as the guide, with a couple of 2 x 6 end pieces to support it, and it took very little time to set up. The guide board carries the weight of the chainsaw, so it reduces the fatigue of cutting by hand.Assembly is straightforward, though the included instructions are wanting, but it's fairly easy to figure out. One main modification I made was to drill my chainsaw bar so that it could be securely bolted to the jig - I wasn't about to trust the three Allen bolts to clamp the bar against the jig.One consideration is that the log needs to be elevated so that the chainsaw bar doesn't hit the ground when the saw is vertical, which can be a challenge for large diameter logs. I haven't tried using the jig with the guide board vertical, but that might be a way to avoid having to host the log up off the ground (but would only be effective for relatively short logs.)

5 stars for the price. I can't really complain about it in any way at this price. But even then, it's still a decent tool. There are some things that you have to take into consideration when you're using this, which aren't too difficult. The first being the quality of the wood that you're using as a guide. A wonky board, will generate a wonky cut, that will be amplified through the length of the bar on the saw. Also make sure you have enough overhang of the guide, to allow the saw to cut all the way through. Depending on the thickness of the log, you may not be able to turn your saw completely vertical, this will force you to have to cut further back. I experienced this a little on my first cuts with my 028 w/ a 14" bar, but this was definitely a factor on my subsequent cuts using my MS 661 with 28" bar. Understand that you'll get a $25 finish though. This tool is best for rough cuts, beams, 4x4s, etc. You could probably create slabs with it, but I would advise against it. I have a full video my YouTube channel and Facebook page, Clandestine Woodwork.

I'm able to get fairly clean, consistent boards from using the Timber Tuff jig. However, it took a number of changes to make it work well.First and foremost, the set screws on my guide were ineffective. The directions warn you not to overtighten the screws or it will crack the c-clamp. I tightened them until there was absolutely no movement, but 30 seconds into cutting my first board they slipped and dulled my chain. I don't think the slippage was dangerous, but I don't want to have to sharpen my chain after 30 seconds of cutting.I followed their other option and drilled two holes through my bar using a titanium nitride bit. The process was easy, especially since I used the c clamp as a vertical drill guide, with the set screws holding it in place.But that led to my last problem. There's only a tiny amount of clearance to put the nuts on the bolts through the bar. I ended up cutting off one end of the c-clamp with a hack saw and now it works great. But it took a significant amount of effort to get there.Also, please note, that while the jig itself is sturdy, the bar of the chainsaw still has some play. It doesn't have a major effect on the cut straightness but it is noticeable.