Building my mill...

[Rougespear]

Hi Kbeitz, I agree with you, and I spoke with an electrical engineering and he echoed your sentiment that using one relay is no good.  (Apparently the best option is to do the polarity switch on the PWN board and use no relays but I couldn't find any on ebay).  I just ordered one of the PWM boards and a 60amp reversible drum switch.  We'll see how it all goes... that is when ebay gets the order to my shop in a months time haha!  12vdc head drive will only be temporary for me anyways as once I've figured speeds out I will buy an appropriate hyd motor to do the job. 

Thanks for the help and I'll be in touch.

[Kbeitz]

Here is another way thats cheap to do it....
The toggle switch will let it come to a stop when centered.



  

[Kbeitz]

I cut up some very nice white pine today. 53º today. Pretty good for Feburary.
I think this is the first live tree i cut. Everything else up to now has been dead standing timber.
Saw is working great. Still useing junkyard blades. I have yet to buy a new blade.




 



 



 



 



 



 

[windyacres207]

Gah so jealous!

Spent the weekend putting a new carrying beam in the ol farmhose...
I did walk by the sawmill project once...

[Ox]

That is certainly is a nice big ol' whitey inn'it?  Most white pine around this hill are atrocious looking gnarly things that aren't fit for even a bonfire.

[Kbeitz]

Ok... I found my limit... It was all my tractor coud do to get this log on the mill.
It's right around 26-27" dia.  You can see that I have no extra room.
I had to take a large slab off the top to start. My mill would not go up any higher.
I will recut the slab to get a few more boards out of it.



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

[Deese]

Yep, she's a good big'un  8) smiley_clapping smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_blue_bounce

[Kbeitz]

One one of my cuts today I seen a bit of a wave. So I sharpened my blade and
fixed my mistake. I then made a cut to fix my wave. I made a cut so small the
wood was almost clear when holding it up to the light. You could bend it around
into almost a full circle with out breaking it. It was a hard day.

[Ox]

Them big ones really take it out on a fella when there aren't hydraulics for handling.  How do you like your turner?  Any problems with it?  Anything you'd do different?  It seems like it would be easier than lumping logs with a cant hook.

[Kbeitz]

Them big ones really take it out on a fella when there aren't hydraulics for handling.  How do you like your turner?  Any problems with it?  Anything you'd do different?  It seems like it would be easier than lumping logs with a cant hook.

I would need a bigger cant hook for these logs.
My turner works great. The only inprovement I would do is an electric winch with a
remote and maybe two wheels on my log dogs to help with the roll...

[valley ranch]

Nice pictures, good to see!

[Tree Dan]

Congrats on the build...Nice Job!

[Ox]

An electric winch would be stellar.  I'm keen on trying out the wireless winches.  It sure would be handy if they work OK and if they're reliable.  They sell them every day so there must be something good there...

I like your way of thinking.  I really enjoy reading and seeing what you're up to and have done.

[bkaimwood]

Hey Kbeitz... Awhile back you had talked about actually BUYING blades...I've been wondering if you ever did, and how'd it work out? Maybe I missed the update, if you made one...

[Kbeitz]

I'm still using my junkyard blades. I have been running the saw every day and cutting everything
from oak to white pine. I do want to buy some new ones just to see if there is a difference from
what I'm using. My saw is working so well with what I have that I just haven't taking the time
to buy any. I bet I got enough to last me two years with all the blades I have and I'm betting
by that time more will show up at the junkyard. I can here the laughter form people reading
my post thinking how small time and cheap I must be. But with the little money it took me to
build my mill and the little money it's taking me to keep sawing I'm sure ending up with a lot
of lumber.So far the only new thing I've needed was 3 sets of belts and gas and oil.
I'm sure someday I will buy a new blade to try, but I'm just to busy now.

[york]

No,i am not laughing,just shaking my head-i know where most of the bands came from and if he shot them out,they are junk....You really need to bite the bullet and order a box of bands....Also,would love to see vid.of your mill milling a log???

[Magicman]

If junkyard blades will serve a person with minimal sawing, then I say good for him.  They would seriously fall by the wayside if doing any kind of production sawing.

[Ox]

Buddy, I'm certainly not laughing.  Look what you created with such little cash output.  It's a beautiful and amazing thing.  It deserves respect and I'm sure it and you gets that respect.  If anybody laughs at it, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to be friends with that person anyway!  Nobody has laughed at you to my knowledge.

The only thing I find truly amazing is how you get away with such little set in your blades.  I'll have to try this on one of my striked blades someday.  You may be on to something.  Because I set now to, say, .025 each side.  This is .025 from the outside of the blade, not from the center.  If the blade is .042, half of that is .021.  .021 plus .025 equals .046.  .046 plus .046 equals .092.  .092 kerf for a .042 blade?  Seems quite excessive.  If I was to set at .010 like you, this would be .021 plus .010 which equals .031.  .031 plus .031 equals .062.  .062 kerf for a .042 thick blade makes more sense.

Edit:  P.S.  I wonder what the amount of "sponginess" there is in the wood fibers.  I realize softwood will sponge more than hardwood which is why more set is recommended for softwood milling.  Seems like if you could get lucky enough to get the perfect set where the body of the blade is actually touching the wood slightly (without heating up enough to cause problems) after the teeth were done cutting, the wood would actually help stabilize the blade like a sandwich type blade guide system.  Just kinda wondering aloud...

[gww]

York
replie number 206 of this thread has a vidio of K's mill in action.  Hope this helps.
gww

[Kbeitz]

Here is the only video I made. It was my very first cut and I was running it very slow.
I had no idea what my mill could do. I really do need to make another vodeo to show
what it can really do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu7QwF3JjGw&index=2&list=PLPmdHS4aWQkarJdxyJX_pwpR0Rtv7vGV_

[landscraper]

I can here the laughter form people reading my post thinking how small time and cheap I must be.

The thing (well, one of the "things") about the Forestry Forum is that there is an extreme range of people here. They range from folks like you Kbeitz, who make a mill out of what is available to them and use it for fun and personal use, and there are people who run million dollar operations with the latest and greatest new equipment and technology.  I wouldn't expect them to see eye to eye.

So, I don't laugh at you one bit for using junkyard blades.  I'm a scrounger and a cobbler sometimes too.  Sometimes I buy the best that I can afford.  It all depends on which I have more of at the moment, time or money. 

I'm sure plenty of folks think trying to mill with second hand blades and dremel tool are a fools errand.  If it works for you I say go for it.  I'll stick with what works for me.

[valley ranch]

Nice, like your Bridgeport too. I think that's what I saw you using.

[Kbeitz]

Nice, like your Bridgeport too. I think that's what I saw you using.

Yea that an old J-head Bridgeport. I think that it will be in my basement until the day I die.
I took it apart in little peaces and carried it down my steps and put it back together again.
I found out some of the small parts wasn't so small.



 

Then it wasnt easy getting this into my basment eather...



 

[Peter Drouin]

Nice job, 8) 8) 8)

[Kbeitz]

Thank you! I appreciate the positive feedback. It keeps me going.
Sure is a great forum with a lot of great people.