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Crusarius’ sawmill build - started with Linn Lumber basic kit

Started by Crusarius, September 18, 2017, 01:02:23 PM

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Crusarius

Next item on the list was cant clamps. While the backstops are still under construction I knew what I wanted for cant clamps and moved on to those.

This picture shows the fixed guide side clamp. The clamp was originally square. Since I made everything so tight I realized that the flange on the guide roller would not clear the square end. I ended up machining a 30 degree angle on the back side. That is a piece of 5/4 composite decking.

  
The spring loaded side I left square. Hopefully this is not going to be a problem. I machined the clamp to match the height of the other side. Right now the way everything is setup it looks like my last cut will be 7/8 to 1" thick.
 

 


Crusarius

After test running the mill without guards I decided I would never run it again without them. So here is the start of making the guards.
 

 
I had a couple sheets of 16 gauge stainless laying around that I have been moving for years. I finally decided to put them to good use.  I did not want to have to remove the guards to replace the blade so I setup a hinge from the engine mount. Still undecided if I like it or not. Time will tell.
 
Here is the start to the drive side. Long time ago a built a plate roller with the plans of building a ditching bucket for my friends excavator. The plate roller worked great to add the perfect curve to the stainless plates. It also smoothed out the dents from all the abuse they had seen.
 

 
Idle side
 

 
The cover is hinged from the engine mount and has a single bolt into the sawframe. Time will tell if I like this or not. It is a pain changing the blade since I can't quite open the cover far enough to stay open. I may end up adding a link arm to hold it while changing blades. This picture was taken as I was getting ready to setup for my first cuts. The weather was not cooperating with me so I decided to try the test cuts in the shop. The drive side was temporary just to cut down on the dust flying everywhere. 



Crusarius

The mill is not complete but I was able to make my first few cuts. Now I have a better understanding of what I need and want.
I found this perfect little test log in the firewood rack. I learned real quick why everyone hates short logs. I tried many things with my clamps to hold it but in the end I ended up having to screw it to a 2x6 and clamp it to the bed.
I do not have a youtube channel setup yet so the videos may take some time to upload but you can at least take a look at the pics.
 

 

 

 
 

 


Still need a little tweaking on the alignment of the blade but for my first cuts I am extremely happy.

Crusarius

In this picture you can see my 2x6 I finally used to keep the test subject under control. The last 2 cuts I made produced 1/4" thick slabs and a pig pile of sawdust I need to clean up. 



I am good with the cleanup, it feels real good to have made the first cuts.

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Crusarius

Thats not a bad idea. as long as I can find a way it won't rattle and annoy me.

Crusarius

during my testing I noticed that my clutch engage just off idle. I don't like this because when I have the engine at high idle the clutch i partially engaged. does anyone know how to adjust it? It is a Noram double V-groove pulley. I am hoping its as simple as a small adjustment and not have to change out springs and weights.

Ljohnsaw

Attach a spring to the left of the hinge point on your engine mount and the other end down on the cover.  When closed, the spring holds it closed.  When you open it, the spring travels over center of the hinge point and will hold it open.  Hope that makes sense.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

Crusarius

That makes perfect sense. I do have a few springs I could try.

waynorthmountie

Great build especially the awesome trailer system

Just have one question. 

Why do you have the pulleys inside the frame and not outside to give you maximum width. Is this due to the blades provided with the kit or is this due to design. I was looking at using one of these kits for my build in the future but would like to have it so anything that fits between the engine frame i can cut. 




Crusarius

you mean the carriage wheels? They are wider than my guide roller locations. I mounted the 3/8" plate on the outside of the main rail. the wheels are slightly off center so my carriage wheel is about 1/2" offset to the outside of the frame. I wanted the wheels to be in double shear which is why I made the carriage the way I did. I was also worried about the carriage being to wide and interfering with the stabilizer jacks.



Ok. I reread your post and now I am thinking you meant bandwheels. The reason they ended up where they are is the length of the band. I wanted a standard length and that is what the kit I purchased was setup for. 

I screwed up making the trailer and accidentally ended up 2" wider than I was planning. So far I am happy I made that mistake.

I am still toying with the idea of making the mill dual width capable. Currently I have 31" between the guides. if I go to a 176" blade I will have roughly 41". I am pretty sure the 176 blade is a decent amount more cost than the 158. I don't really need the wider cut right now but If I choose in the future it is very easy to extend the sawframe and use the longer band.

waynorthmountie

That is exactly what I meant by the distance between the bandmill wheels.

The idea of a dual width mill is something I had not thought of before.

Would be the best of both worlds. Cheap blades for most of your cutting and when you need to stuff a big one through you just move the Free wheel farther out.

Also the extra room on the bunks would make handling medium size logs easier and allow for more hydraulics down the road. 

Kbeitz

I made my mill so it would take anything between a 145" to a 170" band.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

starmac

One member reconfigured his woodmizer to be able to change band lengths, I have not seen anything on it since he dit it, Kind of makes me wonder how well it worked for him.

I would think it would be fairly easy to do on a 2 or 4 post mill, especially if designed to in the original build.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Darrel

As I recall, it turned out well. Check it out in this video. My internet connection is to slow to watch YouTube but I think this is the video in which he saws some wide walnut. 

Cutting a sawmill in half - Part 2 - YouTube
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

starmac

Thanks for the video, it sure looks like it works well.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Crusarius

So I checked the speed on the raise lower last night. 0.3" per second. Was getting a little slow towards the top. Not sure if it was binding or running out of power. Need to take a closer look at it.

It was pretty easy to get it to a set height.

Magicman

Wire in a digital voltmeter directly across your battery so that you will always know.  This one was less than $10 from eBay.



 A fully charged 12 volt battery is 12.7 volts.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Crusarius

that may be a good idea since I only have electric start. Wonder if I can get one of those that also reads amperage draw?

Magicman

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Crusarius

I finally got around to youtube'n.

https://youtu.be/-Xc-7qA-OP4

https://youtu.be/ASVsdLclpTA

MVI 7280 - YouTube

Now I guess I need to learn how to post video's. But here are the links to at least get started.

Crusarius


Hilltop366


starmac

I need to mail you a longer log, you are going to run short of firewood.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Ljohnsaw

Nice!  Little dicey starting and stopping it, tho.  Hope you have a good leaf blower to clean out your shop :D
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

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