Norwood PortaMill Chainsaw Sawmill - Model Number PM14

works perfectly and easily-i use an electric chainsaw 18" in my shed so no fumes-had to make wood holder for saw to attach to mill-no big deal-really love the millregards Dan

I was very excited about the prospect of this sawmill, I did purchase it here on amazon, with allegedly “free shipping” but was charged shipping by the seller regardlessThere were lots of positive aspects about the saw, but this review is going to focus on the less than great features for the purposes of sharing experience.It did take me about two evenings to assemble the mill, and I’m pretty mechanically inclined. I didn’t have any issues with the “low quality bolts” other reviewers mentioned shearing off, but then I didn’t reef on them either...The most realistic application for this mill is mulling in a remote setting where you need to be able to pack the saw in where vehicles can’t get to. Since no single component is over 50lb it would be very suitable for such a job. For instance building a cabin In the woods. HOWEVER. The need for fuel negates it’s benefits of remote use. With a stihl ms311 saw I was going through a tank of gas on average every 2-3 cuts. (Foot note; The specs say that a saw of that size would be sufficient, but a larger saw does the work much more efficiently.)The manufacturer also suggests using a ladder as a track, this does work to some extent, and I purchased the longest ladder I could find to be able to cut long Logs. In retrospect a couple pieces of steel “C” channel would be better (and cheaper) as the welded rungs protruding inside the ladder “track” will sometimes catch the wheels.I did notice due to the vibration, many fasteners tend to come loose. Especially the set screws that adjust the pitch and angle of the saw on the carriage. This was simply remedied by adding Teflon tape to them, and inspecting them regularly. When I lost the first set of set screws in the pile of sawdust. I replaced them with 1” long ones from Home Depot. These were much easier to find when they fall out, inspect, and seemed to hold better as there were more threads meshing once adjusted to the angle desired.I didn’t bother with the log dogs after the first cut, as my projects didn’t require precision. (Cutting rough 3.5”x14” planks for a rustic looking creek crossing.) I simply rolled the log up next to the track and chocked it to keep it from rolling away. On a flat work surface I theorize this would be more than enough.DO ABSOLUTELY get the “optional” bar Oiler kit. Honestly this should be standard equipment included in the kit. If one is creative enough it would not be difficult at all to cobble together your own version for about 10% of what the official Norwood kit costs. I thinned my bar oil with cheap vegetable oil to make it flow better in cold weather. It’s amazing the difference the Oiler made. Also, get a high quality steel drilling bit for drilling through the chain bar to mount the Oiler, the bar is ridiculously tough steel, with old/cheap bits you’ll be there for an hour trying to drill the hole( experience talking)Final summary: I had my mill for almost two years in kit form before I actually put it to use, once I did I used it for about a week and sold it for 65% of what I paid in the interest of buying a larger bandsaw mill.If you don’t need the portablity aspect, save your funds and go with a bandsaw. But if you are using it remotely, this is the tool for you.

I had very high hopes for this product. It seemed like a very innovative take on the chainsaw mill and a wonderful portable tool. My disappointment started as soon as I opened the box. In examining the parts many of them were only partially painted or paint was already chipping off. This seems very important considering that this tool will be used out doors in all weather. On assembly the disappointments kept on coming. The majority of the hardware that came with the mill was low quality and a few of the bolts sheared off when tightened. I decided to go back and replace all the hardware I could with better grades of bolts. The initially poor quality of the hardware has made me suspect of the actual quality of the rest of the product. Once I had the mill assembled and tried to run it I ran into more problems. The first being the chan saw throttle lever attachment. It would attach to my saw but loosened easily with vibration. The return spring on the lever was not adequate to reliably release tension on the throttle so the saw would never go down to an idle. Again with a little re-engineering it seemed to be fine. My final frustration was that I wanted to buy additional log supports and have found they are very hard to find...so if I plan on milling a log bigger than 12ft I will probably need to build something myself. As I said I was really hoping that this mill would be a great little product but so far not so much. I was considering buying one of Norwoods bigger mills but the quality of this product has caused me to question their other products as well.

Easy to use, cut logs into board feet like 2by fours, 4x4s and so on

Shipping was very slow but received a good product. Thanks Norwood for making it right.

We did not buy this item on Amazon, but straight from Norwood about 6 months ago. The mill carriage is made from a poor quality metal that is rather flimsy. I decided to bolt down the mill to a concert slab, to give it some more stability. Once leveled, I thought I was good. I was dead wrong. The carriage vibrates violently, the dogs will not hold the log tight. When I put I square to a board or bean, they are off every time. As of today bolts broke and is now unusable. I used the recommended size saw and stayed within recommended log size. I have ran mills and saws of all sizes and this worse quality I have seen.

No lo recomiendo

Missing essential parts to build the sawmill. Instructions and packaging of small parts was a jigsaw puzzle. Some parts were even bent and already rusty, seems used. Customer service is terrible. Couldn't complete my entire order. Losing business doesn't seem like a big deal to them. So I doubt they'll stand behind their products either. I'd recommend another brand over Norwood Sawmills. #rip-off #worst #badbusiness