mill track and wheels?

[valley ranch]

Have a look at this.

 


The mill carriage had been riding on the inverted angle that is on the flat part of the angel.

I widened the track so the mill could run on the upright portion of the angle. It runs poorly, drags. You can notice the wheel has a slot, little less than 1/4" wide. So the top of the angle will have to be very straight and true.
Are most wheels like these or did I just blunder getting them.

Does your mill have one side where the wheels run on track and the other on flat or both on track?
Thanks Richard

[DDW_OR]

here is a Timberking-2000


 
on top of the box steel tube bed, from left to right, round bar, then chain.
the saw carriage roles on the round bar and pulled forward/backward by the chain by a hydraulic motor.
the two chains loop through each side of the carriage inside the box steel.
chain path: front of carriage > under sprocket>up inside of front carriage frame>over sprocket>across inside top frame>over sprocket shaft that connects the two chains(hydraulic motor is connected by a separate chain to this shaft)>then down the back of carriage>under last sprocket>then chain bolted to back of saw bed.


 

[valley ranch]

Looking at the picture I posted, I can see it's not very clear what I've done and what I'm asking.


Not sure whether to abandon the idea of having the carriage, wheels, on the upright angle of the 3 1/2" angle iron and go back to what I had or try to make it work, even if it means buying new wheels.

[Ljohnsaw]

Could you put the wheels you have on a lathe and cut the groove wider with a slightly rounded profile?  That way it could "absorb" any irregularities in your upright angle iron.

If you don't have access to a lathe, you could meet me at my cabin property and I could machine them for you in a day or two back at my house.  I'm going to be up there (Yuba Gap exit on I-80) on Monday.

[Kbeitz]

Bought these off of E-bay...



 

[DMcCoy]

I built mine with 1 track as a guide track the other is flat.  My old Belsaw was set up this way so I continued.  Also my Belsaw had its tracks on top of a piece of 2x so I could shim my track flat and I liked that ability.
Track wipers - looks like you have saw dust built up on the wheel in the picture, mine did that too and I fought that until I built track wipers.   


 


    

[Ox]

You could take a grinding wheel on edge and carefully and slowly widen that groove in the wheel...  If you're careful and take your time you could get them all the same.  Stop going deeper when you just barely see the bottom of the groove being touched.  Get a bolt and clamp it in a vise with the wheel so you can turn it might be easiest.
Of course the better way is to turn it on a lathe, that way the bottom of the groove will be the exact same on all four corners.

My first mill did this too, same type of wheels.  I would feel where it was dragging and grind the sides of the track at that point.  Fixed it up good and smooth after about 1/2 hour.  Both sides of both tracks were ground wherever it was dragging.

[valley ranch]

Hi guys, Thanks for the pictures and thoughts of solutions.

Ljohn, I'm in a Calif, valley south of Lake Tahoe, I'll see if I can figure I-80 is north of the lake, let me see where Yuba gap is, thanks that might work.~Well, just talked to wifey~ it's a bit of a tussle to pull that off, thank you very much, but that won't work~~~~~The idea how ever is a good one, I'm thinking I might be able to do that with a small hand held grinder. With the wheels off I might be able to grind them not too sloppily, maybe clamp the grinder and hand hold the wheels still on the axles and rotate them so they don't spin freely~or make a wooden jig to hold them~have to think about it. ljohn, I really appreciate.

[Ljohnsaw]

My house is actually down in Granite Bay, not too far from Folsom off highway 50, if you ever happen down that way...

[valley ranch]

ljohn, Thanks, that'd be great, i feel welcome, thank you. I may see what I can do with those wheels tomorrow, I'll post what comes of it. Right now a large brandy is in order.

Richard

[valley ranch]

 

 

Hand made in the Caucasian Mountains this is ARARAT BRANDY labelled as was sold in the Soviet when there was a Soviet. Winston Churchills favorite

[valley ranch]

Thanks guy for the suggestions and offer to help. I did get the groove in the wheels widened. Couldn't find this thread or would have posted that here first.

Richard

  

[larrydown60]

Looks like the wheels you have are to be run on 1x1 angle up side down

[Rougespear]

I have the exact same wheels... I agree with Larrydown60: I run them on top of 1x1x3/16" angle (looks like a "^" when viewed from the end).  It works perfect!  No drag or anything (mind you, I was very fussy and careful to get the angle on both sides of the track on the same plane as eachother (in x, y, and z planes).  So try 1x1 upside down angle.

[grouch]

Be careful about reshaping that groove if you're going to run on one leg of the angle. The HF wheels, which run on the short leg of an unequal leg angle track, have a groove that has a rounded bottom and it's just right to pack the sawdust. Kinda like a narrow backhoe bucket in red clay, it packs until all space is filled and nothing comes back out on its own.

For some reason, HF cut the edge that the wheels ride on. The top is flat and the corners are square. The wheels have a deep groove with parallel sides and a round bottom. Bad combination: the track doesn't shed sawdust because it has a flat top, the grooves don't let the sawdust escape, and the round bottom makes certain the sawdust has a place to start getting packed.

It would have been better if they'd left the rounded edge on the angle that comes from the hot roll process at the steel mill.

I'm gonna have to add track wipers like DMcCoy, as well as brushes on the wheels.

[Ox]

I bet some of those pliable plastic spreaders for use with Bondo or other putties would work well as wipers.  Cheap, flexible, easy to work and effective all at the same time!  Thing of beauty...

It's weird that I haven't had any problems with packing sawdust with my mill yet.  It's rollers riding on the edge of large 5/16" angle iron, the same as in this thread.  Only thing is they're the ones from Linn Lumber, made special for his mills.  The wheels have sealed bearings, are quite a bit smaller than these v groove wheels in this thread and they have a wider flat face that rides the steel. 

In my mind's eye, I see angle iron that's flipped over in an upside down "v" catching and holding more sawdust than the top of a single leg of an angle iron.  Anyone have experience here?

[DMcCoy]

grouch - my track wipers also keep the wheels clean by rubbing on them.  The round guide track is opposite the discharge and sawdust build up hadn't been an issue but little chunks of bark was. There is a 1/4-1/2" gap between the wood blocks, no need for tight tolerances.

I tried pieces of flat belt - you can see the bolt hole in the frame.  I had difficulty in adjustment.  The wood block wipers are self adjusting for wear.