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Belsaw build

Started by glendaler, May 30, 2018, 03:24:52 PM

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glendaler

I figure I've made enough headway on my build to start a thread if anyone cares to follow my progress. It's a Belsaw A14, 1940's-ish I think.

This was the way I bought the sawmill, I didn't even know it was there, only about a km from my shop.


 
That rotten old bed has since been cut up into tiny pieces to go to the wood scrap pile after stripping the important bits off.

This is what the carriage started out like:

 

 

It's since been completely disassembled:

 

Then every piece is getting sandblasted:

 

Then I make whatever repairs are necessary to each piece, and then they get painted:

 

Getting there: 


 
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

glendaler

I own and operate a diesel engine rebuilding business so I looked through my cores and selected a 3.152 Perkins diesel to rebuild and power the mill. The engine will be transplanted into my Cockshutt 540 tractor, which will run the mill off it's PTO.



 

The blade is a 44", 26 tooth, has #3 shanks. It seems to be in very good shape, probably worth more than I paid for the whole mill.

 
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

millwright

Looks like a fun project

glendaler

Thanks millright, i'm enjoying it. 

I'm building the bed to the original specs with locally rough sawn hemlock I'm planing myself. I've got 2 legs built so far:


 
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

TimGA

Nice, can't wait to see finished.
TK2000, Kubota L3130GST, grapple, pallet forks, 2640 Massey w/loader (The Beast) Husky saws Logrites One man operation some portable most stationary.

Don P

Looking good 8)
Are you going put any bracing in those? The mill takes some healthy lateral whacks when you roll on and turn logs.

ddcuning

Looks like you are doing a good job on the restoration. Keep the pictures coming so we can see how it is going.

Dave C
We're debt free!!! - Dave C, Nov 2015

hedgerow

+2 on kept the pictures coming. I love to see old equipment come back to life and not get junked.  

DMcCoy

Looks like mine when I bought it right down to the color of the paint.  Wow, brings back memories.

glendaler

Thanks guys, I'll keep the pictures coming. There will be some kind of bracing to the legs but i'm not sure what exactly yet.
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

Coolrunner

Great work so far.  A couple years ago, I put a Belsaw on a bus frame.  It works quite well and I've sawn some good lumber.  I built it to saw out big timbers for my barn repairs and recently sawed some black spruce 10" X 10" X 14' sills.  The biggest drawback is the short carriage.  When sawing the last boards, they tend to push or pull into the saw, depending on the internal stresses.  I really need a third dog to steady the cant at the tail end.  With larger squared timbers, there's no issue.  Great mill for 8 to 12' logs although I wouldn't want to try to make a living with it.  Keep up the progress postings and maybe I'll become inspired to do the same. 
Kubota M6800, IH434, IH500C, MF130, JDMT,
JD1010, JD410, FarmallA, Belsaw on busframe

bandmiller2

Runner, its possible to attach two Belsaw carriages together if you can find another. A fella with some metalworking skill should be able to extend his carriage and fabricate a headblock or two for the long timbers. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Flyingpig

Funny you say that Frank, my parts mill has a three knee carriage someone did exactly that with. We are thinking of adding one of the knees off of it to our runner for exactly the reason mentioned above.

glendaler

Once I'm up and running I'll have to see if a third dog would help. One of the big jobs I have in mind is turning a couple hundred poorly spaced spruce into boards. They barely average 10" diameter so I'm not sure if that will make them flimsy and prone to movement or not.

Progress has been boring lately, just more blasting and painting so no pics. I have a few repairs to make to a few pieces so i'll get some pics as I go. One of the next things to tackle is most of the axles for the carriage rollers are severely worn. My plan is to get some 9/16 drill rod, machine the grease holes and then harden before final installation. The bushings in the rollers seem good, the axles must be very soft. Planed the rest of my leg material but no other progress there yet. Pics and progress to come this week.
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

Flyingpig

We just rebuilt our carriage axles. We just used grade 8 bolts and made press fit bushings for the wheels, I think they are 1045 or something. Just a bit harder than the bolts anyways. That way you just replace the bolt. Fast and easy. Plus you are booting through the carriage rails which are mild too and they do pound out from chatter. I'd rather let the bolt wear. We had to poor man's line bore ours by welding some hardened washers to ours because a few of the holes were 1/2" out of round ha ha

glendaler

I'd like to be able to grease everything so I think I'll machine the axles rather than bolts.

The pawl for the ratchet wheel had quite a bit of wear and roundness so i was worried it might slip on the teeth:


 

So off to the welder to add some metal:



 

 

Then to the lathe to turn down the outside:  



 

Next comes the milling machine to do the flat:



 

Now we're back to nice keen edges on both sides, and the weld is probably a little more durable than the original metal





Seems like a lot of work but now is the time to do it if it's going to get done.  
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

glendaler

Someone couldn't get the setscrew out at some point so they had it pretty buggered trying to get it out. Too hard to drill so drill and tap a new hole:


 

 
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

Don P

That pawl is a wear item we should probably team up and have a run of them made. I have I think 3, the one on the mill is about ready to be welded and ground, If I hold my mouth just right it grabs most of the time, the other two have been welded once and then worn down again.

glendaler

It's not overly complicated of a piece, be a good project for someone's first cnc project at a trade school. That's the only cost effective way people get odd things made around here. In a way I'm glad yours doesn't grab all the time, now I know it was worth doing. :)
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

Flyingpig

We drilled the bolts and tapped for a 1/8 fitting. Only three lathe operations and they are ready for use.

That setworks pawl will give a bit of trouble if they are worn. We wound up trading ours out for the one off the parts mill too.

Looking good!

glendaler

Ah, I wrongly assumed you just threw a bolt in. Did you select a long bolt to get enough shank to go through the whole axle holder and cut off the extra thread?
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

Coolrunner

I need the pawl repair too.  Mine slips if I try to go too fast or if sawdust has collected in the teeth.  BTW, I have been looking for another mill for the carriage parts to extend mine.  Otherwise I may build one.  
Kubota M6800, IH434, IH500C, MF130, JDMT,
JD1010, JD410, FarmallA, Belsaw on busframe

Flyingpig

Ya we were looking for whatever would be the easiest to switch out down the road with the lowest downtime. We did use longer bolts and trimmed the threads back.

moodnacreek

When I had a Bellsaw I put the reach rod in a 't' tube so you could twist it and rigged up a toggle and lever to the pawl. This rig is still working to day. It was just a bunch of junk brazed together and the pawl lasted much longer.

glendaler

That's an interesting idea. What do you attribute the longer wear to? Were you turning the handle to disengage the pawl on the return strokes so it wasn't dragging on the ratchet wheel? Any pics?
Belsaw A10 circle mill,

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