Belsaw planer for log cabin construction?

[sbin]

Found an old Belsaw tool the owner claims machines logs up to 24" for building log cabin type structures.He said machine planes two sides and cuts a notch for a spline with attachment to add a saw blade to cut a third side flat also.Is anyone familar with such a tool, how well it works and what kind of value it might have? 

[Fla._Deadheader]

Unless it has been SERIOUSLY Modified, it will only do one operation per pass. Capacity is 6" X 12¼" cant. Round logs, I don't see how. I have one exactly like that, with 1 Planer head and the straight line Rip saw add-on.

  Pop the hood and lets look inside.  ??? ???

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum...
sure need a better look at what you have there...sounds too good to be true. Must be some processing steps ahead of that machine...more pics (in your gallery...please    )

[sbin]

Thanks for the information  thought it looked like a 12" planer.I have only looked at a picture and thought what the owner was claiming sounded unlikely.He wasn't claiming it would round logs but plane the top and bottm and cut a spline.
For $500 I'll probably pass on that one.

[woodmills1]

Mine is just like that.  It is ok for planing and will mould fine but sounds like it is going to self destruct.  It will mold one face and wrap around the edges with the right cutters but doubt if that would extend to a log cabin log depth.  Mine has a baldor 220 5 horse power motor so take a look underneath.

[Ed]

The old Belsaws are still a good machines if they weren't totally abused. I've got one that was sold thru Sears as a "Craftsman".

They were the predessors of the current Woodmaster machines. The capabilities of the old ones are pretty close to the current ones, other than the drum sander attachments.

http://www.woodmastertools.com/

Ed

[Don P]

$500 that's a good deal if it isn't abused too bad. I don't think the bed could handle the weight for very long even if it could open wide enough. I do plane up to 6" thick timbers on a little 15" Delta DC380 with roller tables and a cast fixed bottom bed. It weighs in at about #300lbs I'd guess and I have tipped it and had it start to walk up timbers that were too bowed for good sense.

[DanG]

$500 ain't a bad deal at all, if it's in good shape and has a good motor.  I paid $250 for mine, but had to put new knives and rollers on it and it only has a 1hp motor.  I still feel like I got a good deal.  It won't do what the seller is implying, but it is still a good machine.

[Bibbyman]

There is a cedar milling company near us that has two such machines.  If I remember right – as I only seen them in passing and didn't get a detailed explanation – they just have one cutter bar on top just like any other Belsaw planer.  They may have two cutting profiles set on that one cutter bar.  A cant would be pushed in say to the left side for one profile and then passed through again on the right side for the other profile.   These were nowhere big enough to do 24" logs.  More like a 4x4.   

I think you could also pass something like a 2x4 through one side and just get the outside profile and make log cabin siding.

Here is a link to the Woodmaster web site where they have knives for log cabin siding.

WoodMaster - Molding knifes - Log Cabin Siding