Really really wide bandsaw mill build

[JohnnytheFish]

I bumped into a friend today who has built a bandsaw mill with a 10 foot wide throat. He has managed to cut a 32 ton log that is 43 foot long and 8 foot wide with it. He built it by modifying an old vertical bandsaw mill. I haven't seen it yet but it has 6 foot diameter band wheels. The blade is about 6 inches wide in diameter. 

I am now very curious about a bandsaw that can make very wide cuts. 

So a few questions to anyone whose might be able to shed some light...

1) could one make a very wide mill with much smaller band wheels? 

2) does the blade need to be 6" wide or would one of the more modern 1 1/2 inch blades work? 

[Ljohnsaw]

The issue with wide cuts is "beam strength" of the blade.  You need a very strong blade to not deflect (bow down in the  middle) as you push it through the log.  To get the beam strength, you need a wide and thick band and a LOT of tension on the band.  The thicker the band, the bigger you want the wheels as bending over smaller wheels fatigues the metal and will cause it to break sooner.

[thecfarm]

10 foot wide!!!!!  

[Brad_bb]

10 feet wide?  This must be in New Zealand?

I take it YOU don't want to go 10 feet.  Matt Cremona has plans you can buy for the wide mill he designed and built.  It cuts like 5 or 6 feet wide. Just google Matt Cremona bandsaw.  He has a lot of youtube videos of him building and using it.

[Magicman]

 


You could use blades like this. 

[longtime lurker]

You'd do better to spend your time installing the vertical saw vertically instead of turning it into a horizontal saw.
* no sag in the band due gravity
*easy sawdust removal
* logs can be positioned and/or turned on the carriage using purpose built equipment which probably comes with the mill
* slab removal is gravity assisted
* carriage headblocks are purpose built to size. Sizing by raising and lowering 72" wheels would be a pain
* probably another half dozen reasons not to re-invent the wheel as well.

If you want to go really big build a single sash.... used to be single sash headsaws with a 12' throat around here.... you can really torque the bands up to get them stiff, and they last a lot longer ( no flex) and are much shorter if they arent going around in circles.

[mike_belben]

Why not save yourself a massive amount of time and labor by just sending your monster logs to the guy who already built one?  How many enormous trees can even be available and how long before theyre gone?  A saw that big comes with a lot of downsides.

[Satamax]

If you want to go really big build a single sash.... used to be single sash headsaws with a 12' throat around here.... you can really torque the bands up to get them stiff, and they last a lot longer ( no flex) and are much shorter if they arent going around in circles.

There is the problem of the length of the piece of land, in that case. But that's trivial to most. 

The good thing about sash, or may be horizontal alternative saws (i don't know if they are also called sash) , is you can do something else while these cut. Put a bell or a switch and electric buzzer at the end of the rail, which tells you the cut is finished. And you go back to the workshop doing other things. 

There is a big horizontal one in the north east of france, 

https://www.leboncoin.fr/materiel_agricole/1813992812.htm/

I won't buy it. But if i was given one, i'd be happy (if i had the land for it!) I love the sound of those. Zing, zing, zing. It's relaxing. I have the same fondness for metal shapers.:D