New to the Forum and new to building a homemade saw mill

mikejp · December 01, 2009, 07:29:43 PM

Hello everyone. I just became a new member of this great forum and just wanted to introduce myself and tell you a little about me and how much I like this forum.I have been interested in sawmills for sometime now and stumbled upon this great place and just had to join. I bought a homemade mill/project a few years back and have finally decided to get it finished. Reading what some of the other members have done has inspired me to try and get it done. I think with all the knowledge here in this forum and with a little help and advice from some of these great members, I will surely be able to get it going.
I bought this mill as a pcakage deal with about 50 used blades,a catclaw charpener, setter, and roller. The previous owner had used this as a manual mill and got tired of it so he decided to automate it. That was good but he decided to do it all at the same time and tore the whole mill down and did not finish any of it. He ran this mill off of 3 phase electric. Thats how it was when I bought it. I always wanted my own mill and just could not afford and did not need the payment of a high dollar mill. This mill is 31' long not counting the tounge, 40" wide. I have already finished some of the mods and have done some of my own. Hope to get some pics up as soon as I can, so I can get some coments and advice to help get it finished. I don't want to make my first post to long so I will share more later. Can't wait to make some sawdust and lumber. Thanks for such a great place to learn from and make some new friends. Happy holidays. Mike

paul case · December 01, 2009, 07:43:02 PM

welcome mike,
sounds like your itching to get underway,so good luck.lots of good help here at FF. lookin foreward to your pics pc

fishpharmer · December 01, 2009, 07:57:46 PM

Happy Holidays to you Mike and welcome to the forum. This is truly a great place with great folks. I look forward to seeing your mill. I cannot emphasize how much the forum members have helped me along with my mill. I offer one bit of advice to a homemade mill builder, make sure you keep it in a dry lighted space until you have it complete. Rain and darkness have been a major obstacle in my already busy schedule.

tomsteve · December 01, 2009, 08:08:52 PM

newbie myself and aftert askin a few questions already and surfin the forums i would have to say nothin but great people here. tons of knowledge and wisdom,too. PLEASE get a photo gallery up for us( didnt wanna sound selfish and say for me!) so we can see what ya got. i am always lookin for ideas before i get buildin.

ljmathias · December 01, 2009, 08:10:29 PM

Welcome, also Mike, this is a great place, very forgiving of all our quirks. Mine is that I'd rather saw than build a sawmill, so I applaud those of you (like Phishfarmer) who build there own- I don't have the patience or engineering and welding skill to do that kind of close-tolerance work. Guess that's why I like making things out of wood- if you mess up, you just re-cut and make it a little smaller.

Now Fish, don't tell me you let little things like cold rain and not being able to see slow you down?

Happy Thanksgiving to all, belated!

Lj

James P. · December 01, 2009, 08:18:23 PM

welcome Mike, I am bandmill challenged but you can get all the help you need here. Look forward to hearing that your sawing one day soon. Just be patient and you'll get her back in running order. Rome wasn't built in a day. ;)

mikejp · December 01, 2009, 10:04:57 PM

Thank you everybody for the warm welcomes. I added pictures of my mill project to my gallery. I hope you enjoy and have good ideas for the project. When I uploaded the pics it made me keep them under 45k which is very tiny and hard to see. Maybe somebody can tell me how to over come this. Thanks again Mike

Oh Fish I keep it in the barn. It is a tight fit but no rain and plenty of light so no excuse huh.

James P. · December 01, 2009, 10:24:05 PM

mike they are hard to see. I let the java uploader do the work. I didn't have to resize them myself. Thank goodness. thanks for the pics . looks like you don't have far to go.

mikejp · December 01, 2009, 10:42:12 PM

I am already getting good help. You were right James. I redid the whole gallery and let it resize them for me and they are much better now. Here are some of them. Enjoy

fishpharmer · December 02, 2009, 12:00:56 AM

Mikejp, your almost there. Looks good. Nice place to work on it too.

I think I see electric up and down of saw head and the beginnings of hydraulics. Besides blade guards and a few other minor details It looks nearly finished. What blade speed are you shooting for in FPM? Have you attempted to cut anything yet? Will it cut with manual operation?

keep up the good work. 8) 8)

fodenwagon · December 02, 2009, 04:23:26 AM

Welcome, i am also a newbie here, and have found this forum a great source of info and the advice is fantastic!

Cheers Duncan

mikejp · December 02, 2009, 06:49:26 AM

No I have never tried it. I am going to start out using it manual. I have got to finish wiring the engine, I have to get my blade tensioner worked out, have to install gas tank, and most important I have to get all of my guards made and installed before any dust is made. My wife wants me in one piece. Oh and as far as speed of the band or wheels I have no idea. I am not shooting for anything at this point but lumber made on that mill. Mike

Lud · December 02, 2009, 07:05:27 AM

Welcome aboard, Mike. looks good!

Pssst.......paint it any color you want with some good oil based implement paint.

bandmiller2 · December 02, 2009, 07:14:08 AM

Welcome Mike you have a good start on it,make everything adjustable and just substitute single phase motors for the three.Its good form to make the front of the blade guard out of plywood it will save the teeth if the band comes off the wheels.Frank C.

fishpharmer · December 02, 2009, 07:44:56 AM

Okay Mike, sounds good. To me it was a bit overwhelming to think about all the little stuff that I needed to do to get my mill cutting well. I had a round with wiring my engine. Turned out easier than I first imagined. Tell us what you have for an engine. I can't tell in the picture. Good chance someone here has experience with that type. Take some close ups.

How many wires are hanging off the engine. I think mine had 3. The main hot wire to the starter, a ground, and the alternator wire. I just needed a solenoid and a starter button. Oh yea, the battery helped too.

Maybe you have all that already. Is that blue spray can starter fluid?

Here is link to band speed calculator..
https://forestryforum.com/members/donp/CalculatorIndex.htm

Magicman · December 02, 2009, 12:07:04 PM

Quote from: mikejp on December 02, 2009, 06:49:26 AM
My wife wants me in one piece.

Being from "Romance", wouldn't she rather have "two" of you....... :D One could saw, and the other could "romance".... ;)

mikejp · December 03, 2009, 11:24:33 PM

Thanks everybody for all the ideas and the warm welcome. What size of plywood bandmiller2 would you use and would you use it on all sides or just the front?

Fish my mill is a sears craftsman brand. In one of my pics you can see the mower that gave its life so I could fullfill my dream of cutting wood. My neighbor gave me the whole mower ( don't suppose he need some wood do you?). It is a 18hp briggs stratton vert shaft engine. I took the whole wiring harness and made a sheetmetal box and installed it inside with the key switch and the clutch switch mounted in the door and the engine wires running out of the back. I will post some pics this weekend. All I have left to do is lengthen some wires so they will reach th engine and it should be good to go. Oh that blue can is walmart wd40. A must on a old project.

Also for the record the mill is already not causing alot of romance in romance and cutting me into two would probally make things even worse haha

coastlogger · December 04, 2009, 01:48:26 AM

Looks like a great project. How please tell me, did you get the vert shaft engine to work as horiz shaft? In my blissful ignorance Id never considered that as a possibility.
clgr

fishpharmer · December 04, 2009, 05:20:59 AM

Mike, you won't be the first to scavange mower parts for a sawmill. I thought that's what old mowers were made for. ;D Briggs is good, thats very similar to my engine, except I have a horizontal shaft design. Have you started the engine since moving it from vertical to horizontal configuration? Someone with more experience on small engines can tell you how that will work out. The electric clutch seems like a definite plus. The sheetmetal control box is a good idea. Have you considered your battery mount?

Just a word on the NOT romance part in regards to a homemade sawmill............ an often overlooked yet very important aspect to consider when building a mill. And don't ask how I know. ;) It's often like the old saying " you can't see the forest for the trees". Some spouses can be like that. A homemade mill can be a misunderstood contraption in the eyes of the beholder. What looks like the brother of a (insert name of your favorite manufactured mill) can be seen only as a pile of scrap that takes a considerable amount of your time and money.
Well there is hope.....
Some folks just need the WHY you saw lumber with a homemade mill. They can't appreciate how its done or how you (or me) are gonna get your masterpiece (thats scrap metal to them) to make lumber for a masterpiece for them. From what I have observed on this forum some spouses have that vision to see a jewelry box, table, shed, barn, house, income (from custom sawing or selling lumber) or any number of other positive results from sawmill ownership. Some spouses like Bibbymans wife, Prosawyer Mary, take to the sawmill benefits like a fish in water (from what I read).
Others do not, they need education. It may be time well spent to show the other half some results directly linked to a small sawmill. I think it can be as easy as sawing your first red cedar baords and letting them see and smell how nice the lumber can be (doesn't hurt to mention cedar chests and closets during that discussion). Or possibly a visit to a nearby FF member that has a mill in the yard, with lumber, buildings and other products too see. Seeing logs, sawmill and end products all in one location helps a spouse to have your vision. ;D 8) Well my apologies for getting so long winded. This advice is bound to be worth what you paid for it ;)

solidwoods · December 04, 2009, 06:07:11 AM

Welcome Mike
Looks like your mill is coming along and possibly built sturdy/heavy. That really helps to build it strong.
I'd say you will need some sort of track wipers. Chips will get on the flat track and cause the wheel to chock/stop or rise up if it goes over the chip.
A tube holding a piece of wood works fine, it could be lightly spring loaded to pull the wood strip down against the track. If you can, I'd go with all 4 wheels with wipers.
Hopefully you have had a chance to see a band mill work. If not go watch one and you may pick up some design ideas.
Looks like blade guides will be a hurdle soon. I'd vote for the fully adjustable set from Cooks. Also mount it very strong. Sometimes you will hit the log with it so you don't want it to bend and get out of adjustment.
Also if you sharpen blades for a couple local bandmillers you can get good advice and log sources.
jim

mikejp · December 04, 2009, 06:45:03 AM

Please excuse my miss typed word. My brain was trying to say horiz shafte engine but my fingers typed vert. Sorry but for everybody whose hopes I had up its horiz. I don't know it you could mount a vert engine horiz or not. Sorry

bandmiller2 · December 04, 2009, 06:51:51 AM

Mike, I don't think you can take a verticle shaft engine and turn it 90 degrees oil sump and carb issues.You could probibly make the turn with belts.Every bandmill should have a blade guard.Easiest is a strip of metal say 6" wide run around boath bandwheels from 6 o'clock around the top to the outher wheel.The plywood 1/2 to 3/4"thick to cover over the wheels on the front,easily removeable to change bands.The bandmill I built I swiped the two cyl. Wisconsin engine off my old hay baler.Frank C.

bandmiller2 · December 04, 2009, 07:13:57 AM

Good Mike I see you have a horizontal shaft engine.You have a power lift for your cutting head thats good alot of work cranking that weight up and down all day.To gauge your cuts the simplest is a aluminum yard stick and pointer I don't know the reduction ratio on the lift gearbox but you need to make fine adjustments for board thickness.You could install a small hyd. pump belted to the engine,with a hyd. motor for up and down.Anouther hyd. motor with a drum could be installed for power feed with a cable.With a Piney woods clamp/turner you'd be crusin the interstate[see past posts].Frank C.

mikejp · December 04, 2009, 09:56:24 PM

Thanks so much Frank for that reply about the clamp/turner. Thanks also to piney woods for your detailed plans for a great addition to my mill. I try and search alot in the past forums but you have to get your search words just right and there is more than one name for some things. If anybody else knows any good links to some mods that will help my mill I would be greatfull.

I read in one post fish was asking about using a trolling motor for power feed. Will this work ? I have one and was wondering if anybody has ever tried it.
Oh I bought me a metal yard stick as suggested for my scale and I have a pointer. My gear reduction should be close. It moves pretty slow and steady. It will have to work fow now. I want to get it up and cutting asap and then try and fix/modify one thing at a time till I get it just right. Then we will slap a coat of paint on it and call it done.
Thanks for the help everybody. Mike

oh I will post updated pics this weekend.