Got a question.

[Troublermaker]

I all ways work at circular sawmill so I don't know much about a band mill except what I read and see on here.
Why are the blades on a band mill horizon. It look to me if it was vertical like a vertical resaw or a circular sawmill it would  be a lot lest work moving the slabs and lumber with a couple of sets of rollers.

[woodmills1]

its kinda nice not having that heavy slab fall

we just kinda slide them off the top





or with a drag back they are half way home

[Bibbyman]

There are a lot of bandmills that have the blade run up and down.  Most all are big production mills.  Wood-Mizer makes a big head rig mill that is set at something like 15.  I think the old Woodland mills had a head that was vertical or almost vertical.





AWMV Wood-Mizer 4250.

I think the biggest reason is that with a vertical head, it seems logical for the log to run past the head and blade on a carriage.  Where with the typical portable narrow band bandmill runs the head up and down the track and the log stays where it is.  This allows a bandmill to saw a log about as long as the total unit.  A mill with a stationary head and a carriage has to have a track twice as long as the longest log they expect to saw plus the width of the saw.

[Jeff]

Think about simplicity of design.  On a portable band mill the log stays stationary and the band moves the length of the log. How would you accomplish that easily if the band was vertical?

[Ianab]

Think about simplicity of design.  On a portable band mill the log stays stationary and the band moves the length of the log. How would you accomplish that easily if the band was vertical?

Well you still could, but you would need a separate rail for the mill head to run on, instead of using the mill bed that is also supporting the log. So like you say, it's simpler to mount the band horizontal above the log, and use the one support bed for everything.

Ian

[Dave Shepard]

I think that big mill Bibby posted a picture of is able to have a semi-vertical band for two reasons. First, that mill has a 50 HP electric motor, so it is cutting very fast. Second, the 17° (I think that's what it was) allows for just enough friction to hold the board or slab on the cant so it does not break off before the cut is finished.