Die springs

[Grower]

Gidday again, I have been told I need die springs to get the right tension on the blade, does anyone know the specifications of such springs? What we need to know is the width and thickness of the material. Tanx :-)

[Tom]

Of the two best ways to tighten the band, Baker has used a Spring and Wood Mizer has used hydraulics.

I think the spring is the simplest, but you need to know the required tension.  I'll bet that Baker will be of help if you ask.

[bandmiller2]

Welcome mate,quite a few of us here have built our own bandmills.For tension on the band I used two springs one inside the outher,I take up the tension on the longer one and when i hit the heavy inner one count the number of turns.Alot of farm implements have heavy springs about the right tension.Make everything adjustable wile your building the mill it really helps to have a mill to look at and take measurements.Make a hydraulic log turner your back[and outher parts] will thank you.V wheels mounted on angle iron for track hyd.motor with a drum for cable feed are hard to beat.To raise and lower the head I used a hyd. cylinder and steel cables controled with a simple spool valve.Keep us posted on your progress ask anything. Frank C.

[Ed]

Contact Danly and get a printed catalog.
Most companies that sell/mfg die springs have online data, but it's hard to figure out if you don't know exactly what you need.

http://www.danly.com/

Ed

[Grower]

How many PSI do the springs normally run at?

[ladylake]

My B20 has a yellow sping, just tighten it untill it's 1-7/8" long the the tension is good.   Steve

[Grower]

Tanx, I have to get the 'spings' made up locally and at 60 bananas a pop they have to be right.

[bandmiller2]

Grower,I have found that the tension on the band is not critical and can be varied within a range.If you can find anouther bandmill just look and/or measure the spring.Any farm machinery dealership will have springs laying around.The two springs on the three point hitch top rod on a disc harrow come to mind.Frank C.

[1938farmall]

grower, i agree with bandmiller that blade tension is not that critical, but using a very heavy duty agricultural spring might be such overkill that it would be like using no spring at all.  i would suggest a spring that would show about 50% compression when loaded with 600-800 pounds.  it would be easy to pick such a spring with the tools at the danly.com site suggested earlier, but if you need to scrounge a spring find a way to load it with the above weight as see if you get the deflection.  for safety, you should always keep the spring under control with a stationary rod thru the inside.  if a spring squirts sideways under load it could kill you !  al

[D._Frederick]

You will need a spring that takes about 2000lbs to 2400lbs to compress when using a band saw blade that is 1 1/4 x 0.042.  This will give a tension on the blade of 1000lbs.   

[Grower]

The spring that I am going to use was on a Hesston 5800 round baler, the feed roller compression spring, each baler has 2, one on each side we have 2 balers and plenty of spares. The length is 12" uncompressed and 8" compressed, 3" in diameter so it will fit snugly inside the 3 1/2" RHS I am using, even going to use the end plugs, this will force the 2 lengths of RHS against each other, its all internal. I have some pics and diagrams here but I have stuffed my photo page up and cant upload to show anyone, the administrator may have to fix it before I can post them. Mine is a bit different to most other mills and with the diesel motor on it things are a bit beefier. Shes flying together! :D