Building my mill...

[valley ranch]

Iwawoodwork greetings, Just followed Magicman here, Let me give you welcome also. Be sure to post pictures, while working on that saw you mentioned.

Thanks Richard

[Kbeitz]

Ok... Need some help....
I'm going to brake down and order some new blades. I got some real nice logs to cut and I want to do it right.
I think I want to buy Kasco blades. Thats the ones that most people are bragging about.
What I need is a 149" or 150" blade and that not a standard size.
So I need to order 15 custom blades .
What I want to order is 149" or 150" x 1.25 .045  1tpi.  but my hook angle is what I want help with.
I'm powering with a Honda 13hp engine. Should I go with 7 deg or 10 deg hook angle ?
Is 7 deg to much for 13 hp ?

[bkaimwood]

Between the two, I think I would go with a 10

[Bruno of NH]

I have a 13hp honda
I like the 7 s for all milling hard and soft
Jim/Bruno

[Ox]

I also have a 13hp and I've got the sharpener set at 7°.  I've tried 4°, and 10° is how the blades come.  The 13hp seems to not care much about tooth angles.  This is where manual mills excel because you can feel if you're cutting well or not as you push the head through the log.  I plan on doing a lot more milling with 4° this next summer.  I've heard slower but flatter.  It was slower and flatter for me.  Might be worth it just to eliminate as much wavy lumber as possible.  I have a lot of red pine to mill up.

I think you'll be just fine with 7° judging from my experience with them.   

[Bruno of NH]

Kasco will make them any length you need .
They did that for my mill .
Jim/Bruno

[DMcCoy]

Kbietz,

How do you like your carriage drive.  Specifically the cable system you use.  Any slipping, binding, abnormal wear?

[Kbeitz]

Kbietz,

How do you like your carriage drive.  Specifically the cable system you use.  Any slipping, binding, abnormal wear?

I don't have anything to compare it with. This is the only mill I ever had.
But to me it works just fine. I tried using the rubber covered cable but the rubber coating fell off.
But it kept working fine. Does it slip ? yes and I'm glad it does.
It only slips when i do something dumb like putting a log dog to high or leaving a tool on the track.
If it did not slip I'm sure it would blow a fuse or brake something.
I keep watching for cable wear but so far none. To day is the first problem I had with it.
After I cut my board I send the carriage home with out me watching it.
When I went to cut another board it would not move.
I tracked the problem down to a bad relay. It was burned up. The problem was
that I have spring loaded safety stop switches at each end. A chunk of bark got under
one of my track wheels and was sliding along with the carriage. It slowed it down enough
that when it got to the safety stop switch it was not pushing it hard enough.
So it was cycling the switch on and off many times a second burning the relay up.

[gww]

Break downs suck but I am sure you like your system better then you would like pushing mine.
When you get your new blades to compare to the old, I hope for a report.  I find the brand new blades cut a bit better then the ones I am milking but it doesn't seem to last that long before needing touched.  The ones I have been touching seem to get to a point were touching isn't near as effective.  I still try to milk the old ones when I have time and only use the new when I am on a project and need stuff done fast.  I lose a lot of boards when milking old blades that I might not have lost if using new.  Even so, I mostly keep some new for emergencys.

Just throwing my ideals out there, not saying they are good ideals.
Cheers
gww

[DMcCoy]

Thank you for the feed back.  I think I will skip the idea of dual cables and stick with a single. 
Little pieces of stuff can cause more problems.

[Kbeitz]

You could also use roller chain and sprockets...

[Ga Mtn Man]

I was wondering why you didn't use a chain and sprocket since cable systems seem to be somewhat problematic.  Cost?

[Kbeitz]

I was wondering why you didn't use a chain and sprocket since cable systems seem to be somewhat problematic.  Cost?

I knew nothing when I built this mill. It's all new to me.
But I'm happy with the cable setup. Like I said I like the slip when the carrage head hits
something and it comes to a stop. I guess a slip clutch could be used with roller chain.
So far the only thing I would change on my mill is that I would have made it bigger.

[Ox]

 :D  Bigger and more power are the two things a lot of mill owners wish for.  Me included, sometimes.

[DMcCoy]

You could also use roller chain and sprockets...

Yabut - I have cable, can sit on a nickle and swing my legs...

[Kbeitz]

Added another rule to my mill...
I allready had the rule in the first picture for sizeing my boards but I added the rule in the second
picture to tell me what I got left in the log from the carrage up.



 



 



 

It sure make it so much easyer when edging. I take a tape measure and check the lowest spot on the
board to be edged and then set the mill head to the same with this new rule

[dean herring]

Kbeitz I like your measuring system, are they magnetic and where did you get them?

[Kbeitz]

Kbeitz I like your measuring system, are they magnetic and where did you get them?

E-bay for the stick on small one and Cooks for the magnetic large one

[dean herring]

Thanks kbeitz .

[dean herring]

I like the idea of the numbers starting at the top, seems like it would be easier to figure next cut. Adding is a lot easier than subtracting for me. My tk 1600 has the numbers starting at the bottom and  it takes to long to make next cut and  get it right. Does timberking have a magnetic log scale with numbers starting at the top marked off in 1/8" increments.

[Remle]

Okay, first an old saying, every time I questioned WHY, my father said, It's not for you to question WHY, but to do or die. :D  ??? So WHY do people still go to the extreme of figuring out the next cut by adding in their head or consulting a cheat sheet when their are QUARTER scales with 4/4,5/4,6/4 and 8/8  scales to be had for cheap. IMHO just add one of the QUARTER decals such a WM part # S11774 to your mill and free your mind to think about the rest of the sawing operation, like not running the blade into the back stop.  ??? ???

[Kbeitz]

Here is is the 10th of January and it was 40f in Pa.
So I thought I would like to run the mill and cut up some hemlock.
About half way through the second log the clouds cut loose.
Man did I get wet...

[valley ranch]

Here on the western mountains, we have a lot of snow and it's cold. I was working with the drill press today but after a couple hours I headed in.

[Kbeitz]

Here on the western mountains, we have a lot of snow and it's cold. I was working with the drill press today but after a couple hours I headed in.

It just seems that the snow and cold doesnt mix with the word desert.
How do you do it ?

[gww]

K
How would I know which pully clutch I might buy for my mill?  Also if a guy was looking for one from salvage, what types of machines would be using them?  1 inch shaft on the motor.
Thanks
gww