Belsaw sawmill

[rpg52]

I've been working on this circle sawmill for a couple years - still have years to go to finish, but it's nearly ready to cut the first stick.  Had I known what was involved, I likely wouldn't have started.  Still, looking foreward to using it a bit.
Ray

[thurlow]

An M-14?  Have had one a little better than 20 years.  They're a light-duty/farmer type/one-man mill (actually, they do much better with 3 or 4 people) , but will make a lot of boards lumber.............and sawdust.   Looks like you've got a pretty good "kink" in your drive shaft;  it'll definitely work, but I'd keep an eye on my u-joints/bearings.  Mine has been trouble free/bullet-proof...............after I figured out that I needed to keep sharp teeth in it.  It came with some inserts not much harder than my fingernail;  I eventually went to hard chrome and then carbide-tipped.  If you will stay out of the dirt/sand/metal, the carbide ones will last a long time.

[Sprucegum]

Nice looking setup.

How big is your blade? How much horsepower ya got there?

[rpg52]

Hi,
Not knowing what I was doing, I put more comments in the archive, which don't show up in the post.  Sprucegum, it's a 40" blade, B pattern, it came with the saw.  Also have a 48" 3 pattern.  ~80 horsepower, I don't have an actual rating, which depends on rpm.  I followed the rule of thumb, 3 hp/tooth on the sawblade.

Thurlow - regarding the driveshaft, I think I'm going to raise the differential ~8", on some 8" channel iron I have, should reduce the "kink" quite a bit.  It is within the limits, but a bit more than I want.

Here are the captions to the photos.

Photo 1:   Overview, showing foundation, driveline, etc.

Photo 2:  Had I realized how much work would be involved, I likely would have bought a bandsaw. Learned a lot though, but haven't yet sawed a stick and have been at it for a couple years+. At extreme left is an Indian-built 6 hp "Listeroid" diesel engine belted to a 5 kW generator. Much quieter electrical power than the Detroit.

Photo 3:  Elderly DD 3-71, built in 1946. When I bought it I didn't realize how loud and oily it was. Attached by driveline to Ford 9" differential w/3.25:1 gearing. Reduces engine at 1800 rpm to ~580 rpm at the mandrel. Pulley on engine also runs 12 kW generator head for electrical power.

Photo 4:   Looking down the track, log deck to the left

[beenthere]

Good pics.
Go back to your original post, and you will see a place (modify button) to click so you can make your comments between the images posted (before or after the brackets[] ). It's a way to edit what you have posted.
Also, click the "preview" button before the Post button, to review what your post will look like. Then when satisfied, click the Post button.
(and it's nice to have the comments with your pics in the gallery, for those who see a pic of yours and wonder what it's all about). 

Welcome to the forum. You will enjoy it, and we already enjoy hearing about your mill and seeing your pics.

[pasbuild]

thats just like my first mill, I welded mine on to a mobile home frame and mounted the engine overhead and had a mobile circular saw 8)   Yours is looking real good, give us an update when ya cut yer first boards.