Information on building a band mill

[sabre_tooth]

hi every one new to forum very interesting site. building saw mill but hung up on a few things wondering if any one can help. using 19 inch bandwheels similar to ones used on baker and enercraft mills.have been doing some research been told to tip top of bandwheels back a little.will this not make blade tip up on bottom or is this what you want it to do. what would everyone suggest for guides.have looked at carter and roller guides .does baker enercraft set bandwheels back a little or are they set level.any info would be greatly appreciated.thanks

[Tom]

Welcome Sabre Tooth.

I've heard of tilting the band wheels to obtain a true running blade but I don't understand the theory.

Both Band wheels should have adjustments such that they can be moved in any direction.   Usualy they are at the four cardinal points North, East, South and West relative to the axle.

All manufacturers I am familiar with suggest that the wheels be co-planer and in line.  That means, to me, that tilting a wheel is the wrong thing to do.  The straighter the wheels are, the less effort it will take to turn the blade and the less stress there will be on the blade.   I guess the adjustments will allow tweeking a little to get the blade to ride centered on the wheel but, as a rule, they should be used to line the wheels one with the other.

If your wheels are not machined such that they control the position of the blade then roller guides are the way to go. Roller guides will allow you to control the horizontal plane of the blade relative to the bed of the mill.  

There are several manufacturers of roller guides.  Woodmizer, Cooks Saw and Mfg, Suffolk and I think Hudson make their own. Cooks sells their mill parts to anyone whether you have their mill or not. I'm not sure of the others.

[D._Frederick]

Sabre_tooth,
As Tom stated, the band wheels should be adjustable so that they can be aligned  perpendicular to the track. As I understand it, the wheels are tilted back a small amount so that when the blade is aligned with the guides to be parallel to the track, that the tooth edge of the blade will have more force against the guide.( I have not tried this on my mill since I switched over to a friction guide on the moveable guide)

 I would look at the Cooks Saw roller guide that has the support under the roller, this prevents the blade from deviating from the cut line.

If you can afford it, I would buy bigger wheels than 19 inch in diameter. You blades will last longer on bigger wheels, there is less flexing.

[shopteacher]

The bandsaws in the shop have an adjustment to tension and align the blade to the wheel. The alignment adjustment tilts the wheel in or out to the degree it takes to keep the band tracking on the wheels.  My woodmizer has the same. A hydraulic tensioner and an alignment lever to tilt the wheel for tracking.  I don't think you would want you wheel to have a permanent tilt to them.

[jwood]

afternoon tooth...linn lumber has a viedo about the set up and adjustment of one of their mills..it gives measurments sizes
an such of parts an pieces..its worth the money to see one put together , how things work and how band wheels are adjusted. the viedo is free if you buy something..i've built 2 mills based on linns design ..both work fine..linn uses 1 5/16 or 1 7/16 shafts for the wheels while i used 1 " ..theres a post on here about shaft failure of a 1" shaft and i think the mill is built on the rake design ck. it out..i use the cooks band guides about  $110 each , they are fully adjustable. good luck with the building of your mill..