jig suggestions anyone?

[dan-l-b]

A nieghbor lady brought me some chunks of red oak over to saw into stepping "stones" wafers ???  I'm using a WM Lt40HD.  The chunks look just like blocks of firewood and as you can guess, she wants me to cut wafers off while the chunk is in the upright position.  Problem has been clamping.  29" between the bunk at the clamp and the chunks are 16 -18"diameter.  I spanned between the bunks with a piece of 3/16 steel- no problem.  I put a 2x4 on the saw head side to give the clamp something to push against.  This worked until I got down to the last cut for that chunk.  So I have this 4" wafer I am making a cut into and all of a sudden the wafer is sailing away and I have torn up a blade :( :(  I know this doesn't seem like it is worth the effort or the blades but I just hate to say I can't do it ;)

[Fla._Deadheader]

I'd say you were kinda lucky to get to 4". I would hide that one, off each piece. Up until then, you were doing OK ;)

[shopteacher]

Well shoot dan-l-b all you need is a big christmas tree stand. Bolt it to that plate and saw away.  I hear they have a big christmas tree in Wash. DC, now that christmas has passed maybe you could borrow it. Give them a call 1-800-whitehouse and tell them the shopteacher sent ya.

[Fla._Deadheader]

Just thought of sumpin.

  There's a guy that cuts Cypress slices for clocks and table blanks. He had a local welder guy make a plate that had a piece welded to the top, with teeth cut in it. There were 2 pieces welded , one on each side, as a slider track. There was a piece that would fit on top of the clamp (Woodmizer) that had teeth and would slide in the track made by the previously mentioned "slider" pieces. He could cut to the last piece of the slabs.      Wish I could get the "Do it with Don" feature to work on this puter >:( >:(  JEFF, HELP ??? ???

[dan-l-b]

Yea, I guess that is what I am leaning toward.  A plate, with bar clamps or something for hold down lengthwise with the mill and the mill clamp holding in the other direction.  I think there will be other uses for such a thing so I don't think it a waste of time.   ;D

[Bibbyman]

About three months ago a guy showed up with a section of hollow sycamore log about a foot long and a foot in diameter.  He had been trying to saw rings from in using a regular bandsaw with poor results.  A cabinet maker suggested he try us.  

The problem was,  it was dry and very brittle with the wall only being about 1.5" thick.  It was real difficult to clamp without crushing it like a grape and still get enough bite on it to hold.  We used some old shop rags to cushion the clamp jaws and I sawed  r e a l   s l o w.   It worked but the product was pretty fragile and was likely to split apart.

The rings were for some craft project his boss was working on.  She was making some shadow box picture frames.

I charged him a buck a cut and he was real happy and said he'd be bringing me more.  I told him I'd just as soon he didn't...

[Kevin]

I would be tempted to secure the log to a heavy board , clamp the board and make the cut..

[Fla._Deadheader]

Kevin, ya drawed the thing I was describin. It sits on the two bunks that the clamp runs between. The plate has the raised toothy part and the clamp grips with the other toothy part, instead of lags or screws like you drawed. ;) ;) ;D

[Larry]

Hey Bibby send that guy to me!  I'll be more than happy to take care of him. ;D ;D

My manual clamps aren't worth a darn clamping rounds so I had to improvise.  The bottom bar clamps to my bed rails and the angled plate is quick attach/detach to the bar.  The angle plate is about 45 degrees for clock faces and fish boards.  Got another flat plate for regular rounds but couldn't find it for a picture.  To attach the log? I run five 1-1/2" long 1/4" lag bolts through the holes in the plate with the cordless drill.  I start with a 3' long log but you have to steady the top till it gets about 2' long or so.  I do that with a slab with a "V" notch in the end.  Have to also saw slow and sometimes the blade will catch a slice and throw it a little ways.  My mill throws away from me so that's not a safety problem.  If I remember right when I was cutting a lot of clock faces I could easily saw 60/hour.  About all I saw with it now are fish boards.

[woodmills1]

I regularly cut stuff from firewood or small logs.  I use any old scrap to raise it over the slanting brace just below the arm the hydraulic clamp slides on.  Every time I cut this stuff the customer is there so i just have him/her hold it square while I run the clamp up slow.  Wait ill you cut a piece parallel to the log, you will then know what excelcisor(sp) was or maybe even is. :D

[dan-l-b]

I looks like lagging it may be the way to go.  Will lag screws hold the horizontal force.  Thats the one giving the biggest headache >:( :D 8)  Thanks for all your input and Happy New Year  Dan

[Jim_Rogers]

I made a flat jig out of a piece of plywood, years ago.
Here is a shot of it on the mill, cutting some 4x4's to 22.5° for a porch railing:



You can see in the middle of the jig a slot for the clamp to slide back and forth in.
We'd use this to do short stuff, and the jig is held down to the table with large c-shaped clamps on the log side of the mill.
This type of jig could be used to do all sorts of different length stuff.
Just an idea.
Jim Rogers

[dan-l-b]

Hey Jim, I like that table.  Been wondering how to bevel cut on the mill. 8) 8)  DAn

[Jim_Rogers]

Dan:
It's not hard to bevel cut on a mill. The hard part is clamping it so you can.
We cut a slot near the clamp hole in the wooden fence added to the plywood deck. Then we slid a sticker (1"x2"x?) into the slot to stand upright and hold taller pieces of stock. As you make the bevel cut or any cut, you cut this sticker off, and then just replace it with another one for the next cut. You can see the slot in the photo. I didn't use one for this job as the 4x4 was firm against the fence.
To get the bevel I needed I cut a wedge on a miter saw and slid it under the 4x4 to hold it at the correct angle.You can see the wedge in the photo under the end of the beam. I usually draw a line across the end of the piece for the blade to line up on in order to make sure I'm cutting in the correct spot as well as the correct angle.
You can only cut so short and then you'll saw into your fence, so you have to be careful. We had a set of bolts hooked to the plywood and then to another block of wood under the bed rails, tightened with a wrench, all were shorter than one inch. But for the above quick job, I used c-clamps because I knew I didn't have to cut that low to the table.
Not shown in the photo is a smaller attachment I had a welder make for my sliding clamp. It's just like the standard 3" attachment that came with the sawmill, but it's only 2" tall so we can cut shorter pieces. As I mentioned the hard part is clamping the piece strong enough for the cut.
It's fun trying to do these different things.
Jim Rogers

[dan-l-b]

Success at last.  Punched some holes in the existing plate I was using and lagged a chunk down. 8) I interchanged the stationary clamp with one a little taller and added a few teeth.  I do clamp down the plate at operators end for additional safety 8) 8)

[dan-l-b]

I cut these cedar cutoffs with the jig
And here is a pic of the jig
Thanks for the help Jeff, must of had a braincloud :D :D :D

[Jeff]

Its easy now aint it?

[cut2size]

I just have a question, no answers, Are you going to use a regular ripping band or purchase a crosscut band to do this job?  It looks like you will need more teeth per inch with a shallow gullet to saw wafers.  I know that the ripping blade on my tablesaw does great when ripping but not when crosscutting.
Inquiring minds want to know.
David

[Fla._Deadheader]

"Cut", we use the same blade we saw the logs up with. Go a little slower, just in case the chunk moves a little. It doesn't matter to the blade which way we cut the logs : ;D :D

[Minnesota_boy]

I use a standard blade to cut the logs "on the bias" too, and get some neat ovals.  I've found that ovals are best out of softwoods or basswood, as all the hardwood ovals cracked from edge to center.

[ARKANSAWYER]

  I just drop them in front of the clamp and pull the lever.  I saw ovals and rounds all the time.  Some split and others cup but the ones that make it sell fast.  I use what ever blade is on the mill.
ARKANSAWYER

[woodmills1]

Just like ARKANSAWYER says just pull the lever and the mizer clamp will hold almost anything.  Sometimes I use a small piece to raise the bottem off the clamp slide bar so the angle doesnt make the piece tilt or pop up.