Saw up and running Photos

[akmcc]

Basic specs motor 15 HP, blade 660mm or 26" 8 insert teeth Lucas bolt pattern max cut depth 10.5"
Still needs Paint, guard on backside of blade and over wheels to keep chips off wheels.
I will attempt to answer any questions I can however my only experience sawing is what you see in the photos and a bunch of firewood, and my computer skills are significantly less.
thank you all for the information I have used from this site.

  

  

  

  

  

 

[hackberry jake]

That's some mighty fine fabricatin and a sawin. Good job

[Satamax]

Whoah!

I have so many questions that i don't know where to start.

How is the guiding against the posts done?
How much did it cost you? Specialy in wheels, pinions chains bearings and pillow blocks? 
What is the dimension of the frame?
Where did you find that round rack?
What is your angle iron doing above the push and control side?
The handle behind the controls, is it a brake?
How smooth is it to operate, up and down with the chains? And about the side travel?
Have you considered to make it direct drive at some point?

Anyway, it is lovely and seems very well done. Sorry for that batch of questions.

[submarinesailor]

One thing you may consider doing, is adding some type of a cleaning/clearing device(s) in front of and in back of the wheels.  Sawdust will build up on the tracks causing you all kinds of problems; hard to roll and changing the alignment of the blade by lifting the carriage.  Just a thought.

Bruce

[dgdrls]

Really good looking machine,  Nice fab work
How does she saw??

DGDrls,

[bandmiller2]

You have done a fine job on that mill and are no pilgrim when it comes to metalwork.I like the electric motor drive most don't care what position their in.How did you figure the pivot point so the cuts would intersect.?? Do you have three phase or generate it.?? Oh and welcome. Frank C.

[Magicman]

Whoa is right.    That is some machine, so congratulations are certainly in order.   

The only concerns that I saw have already been mentioned.

[thecfarm]

A very good build by the looks.

[MotorSeven]

Wow Ak...outstanding! The talent level here just increased quite a bit....nice work.

[Cypressstump]

Excellent work !   may I suggest painting it Timberking red ? ?  ;D ;D --aimed at my WM friends-- ;D

Only thing I see that may be a saftey consideration if not already determined, is relating to the main frame travel wheels/track. I would suggest some fashion of guide/braket positioned to where IF a wheel should happen to jump off the track, the rest of the framework does not follow it tipping it over. 4 seperate downward installed 'legs' of angle iron could be installed inside of the bottom of rails on the interior side of each wheel, extending down below the bottom of the roller frame tube steel.
You may be able to incorperate a track cleaning type of setup as mentioned by Submarinesailor along with a saftey leg.

That may prevent the complete framework from coming off the rails if an unexpected event happened.

I learned of such an issue with my rolling overhead hoist frame.  : :

[Leigh Family Farm]

Most impressed! Nice job!

[Thehardway]

Nice job!

How about some more specs on your parts and pieces?

RPM, voltage and brand of motor
max length/height of track/ carriage

That looks like a lot of fun cutting ahead.

[scrout]

Now we need video!!
Ditto on the round rack part.
I don't see any spring helpers, is the swing unit balanced?
Sheesh, I have parts in my shop for almost all of this, I really need to get started.

Any advise on your challenges with this design would be helpful.
Closeup pics of the tech stuff would be cool too, bearings, pivots, main shaft design.
Thanks for posting, looks awesome, post those vids!!

[scrout]

Wait, almost slipped by me:

"blade 660mm or 26" 8 insert teeth Lucas bolt pattern"

Where the heck did that blade come from?  How big a kerf?

[akmcc]

answers to some of the questions

How is the guiding against the posts done?
The posts are 2inch pipe and the guides are 21/2inch pipe not a super tight fit but seems to work ok.

How much did it cost you?
About 2500 -3000,  major expenses steel tubing 2x4 for the saw frame 2x6 for the track rails I bought enough for 50 feet of track about 1250. The blade about 600.

Specialy in wheels, pinions chains bearings and pillow blocks?
Most of the bearings, sprockets and chain came from Ebay  or my scrap pile the 6" wheels came from Ebay they cost 130. delivered for the set.

What is the dimension of the frame?
The frame the saw head rides on is 8'4" x 4' outside, the post are 7' apart I think if I am real careful I could saw a 60 " log.

Where did you find that round rack?
The round rack is the ring gear from a 4-53 jimmy the pinion from the starter drive.

What is your angle iron doing above the push and control side?
The angle iron serves a couple of uses  it is the rotor for the disc brake that holds the saw from shifting side ways, the top holds the scale for measuring the movement of the saw, and provides a place to push and pull the saw.

The handle behind the controls, is it a brake?
The vertical lever is the brake lever the brake caliper is a gocart type disc brake
How smooth is it to operate, up and down with the chains?
The carriage moves up and down very smoothly without any binding the right angle gear box is 40 to1 I used a garage door chain sprocket for input to raise and lower the head.

And about the side travel?
40 chain 2 idler sprockets and a small sprocket fixed to the shaft that is attached to the larger sprocket on the controls of the saw. This started out to have the drive wheel mounted to the shaft where the sprocket is now the chain drive moved the input wheel in to a more comfortable position and the reduction made the operation much smoother.

Have you considered to make it direct drive at some point?
NO the belt drive provides the reduction necessary to keep the blade at the right rpm, and the size of the motor would not allow much for depth of the cut or the weight of the motor further from the pivot point would be difficult to swing

RPM ?,
1750 RPM rim speed of the saw blade about10,000 feet per minute

Voltage?
240 3 Phase

brand of motor?
Not sure of the brand of the motor it is a totally enclosed fan cooled type

max length/
50 feet of track 42 log lengths max  60" diameter log saw is currently set up on 30 foot of track.

The saw is currently running off of the grid power but I have a genset for portable use.

Where the heck did that blade come from? How big a kerf
The blade was made B.H. Payne & Co they seem willing to make whatever you want and were real easy to deal with, the kerf depends on the width of the insert teeth you install in the blade I am currently using the steel teeth that came in the saw they are about 5/16 wide have a kerf of a little under 3/8, I also bought some !/4" carbide inserts I will try later.

[akmcc]

answers continued

Now we need video!!
I will see if I can find someone who would have a clue as to how to do this

I don't see any spring helpers, is the swing unit balanced?
No spring helpers the motor side of the swing is fairly heavy the rack and pinion make the movement easy and controlled and the weight of the motor makes the swing lock on the pinion arm not necessary as far as I can tell.

Sheesh, I have parts in my shop for almost all of this, I really need to get started.
that's how I got started.

Any advise on your challenges with this design would be helpful.
Pivoting the weight of the motor was one of the first things that caused some serious thinking, springs, air springs, pneumatic cylinders, long levers, counter weights, sprockets and at last gears.
The saw shaft was easy I had a shaft from a mighty might mill that had some damage to the flange  but cleaned up to the lucas dimensions, the shaft would have been straightforward to have built from bar stock the bearing on the top end is a      1 15/16 two bolt flange the bottom or saw end was a little bit more difficult I ended up making the housing for a spherical roller bearing insert, the factory housings would have reduced the depth of the saw cut on one or both sides of the pivot frame.

Closeup pics of the tech stuff would be cool too, bearings, pivots, main shaft design.
Now that I know what you want photos of I will get some this week end.

[logboy]

Do you have any problems with the blade pinching without a riving knife?

[Anderson]

Wow.....!   Super cool!

;D ;D ;D

[Satamax]

Thanks a lot Akmcc.

Well, there's one thing i just noticed, which surprises me, you don't have a link between front and back of the saw's chariot, other than the pivot? That's enough to keep the parallelism of the chariot? Or i might talk gibberish, there's a piece of angle iron above, to hold the guard?

Anyway, thanks a lot for sharing.

[customsawyer]

Wow! That is a neat set up.

[tjhammer]

good build akmcc like your swing handle,lots of degree change available,your carage brake is it a cam over or brake piston ??? you say you have a payne insert blade is the blade made on lucas 8'' bolt or 10'' bolt pattern I made my arbor on the 8'' pattern wonder if the 8in pattern would be safe with a10'' saw,I know payne will make anything you want or wonder if lucas just changed the pattern to keep people with 8'' saws  changing to a 10''
tj

[markd]

That's a work of art! Very interesting to look at, good job!

[akmcc]

TJ
I did not know there was more than one lucas pattern when I ordered the blade I just asked for the lucas bolt pattern then made the arbor fit the blade. the brake is a mechanical disk brake caliper with replaceable pucks I used a spring to put tension on the handle so the lever is pushed to release the brake.

SATAMAX
there is a tube that ties the front and rear together it is under the outside of the guard.

LOGBOY
So far no problems with blade pinching without a riving knife  but my experience is very limited.

[1woodguy]

you did a great job!!

If you decide to make afew more in different sizes  ..
Out of the kindness of my heart I could probably arrange to ahhh store one or two here in Oklahoma for you , no storage fees naturally but I may use one occasionally (maybe daily) :D    :D

[shelbycharger400]

I have ran my chain bar mill off the tracks once ... This is also partially the reason why I have an electric clutch to engauge the drive.

I want a picture of your brake setup !!