My swingmill build and quick intro

[hedspase]

Hello All,

I've been reading the forum for a couple of months now, and am interested in getting into milling.  I have 30 acres of red oak and pine, and would like to make dimensional lumber, and possibly get into post frame building.

I have been working on a swing mill design based around the 546mm Lucas blade as it seems to be the most common.  I see that there are some cheaper copies of the Lucas blades out there for substantially less $.  Has anyone used these blades with success?  I think the brand name is "Popular Tools".

I'll probably get some "you get what you pay for" replies, but I've found that's not always the case.  If I do need to pony up the $250 for the Lucas blade, I will, but it seems there is a lot of markup there for brand name and importing.

Another alternative would be to base the design on a different blade that is readily available, so any input would be appreciated.  I haven't found any other swingmill blades online.

Anyway, thanks for all the great info I've gotten from the site, and hope to be able to contribute in the future.

Cheers, Al

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.

And yes, you likely will get what you pay for.  ;D ;D

Have you tried our other sponsor Menominee Saw for the blade you are looking for?

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, hedspase.   

[hedspase]

Have you tried our other sponsor Menominee Saw for the blade you are looking for?

I just sent them an info request.  I would guess that companies are a little leary about selling to people building their own equipment, and rightly so.

[bandmiller2]

Welcome Al,they make edger saws with standard bits and shanks like the ones used in circular head rigs.There are outhers here that know much more than I on this subject. Frank C.

[sgschwend]

There is an outfit in the Portland Oregon Area that sells swing blade saw.    You can find threads about them on this forum.
http://www.simondsinternational.com/

You might also try some of the North America swing blade sawmill manufactures.  There is at least two I know of Brand-X and D&L.  They purchase in volume so you may find a better price that way.  As you found Bailey's is a good source for all kinds of Forestry products they also carry re-tipping materials for the DIY.

[terrifictimbersllc]

You might try Sharp Tool Co, Hudson, MA, and BH Payne, Georgia.     But I don't think you'll beat the Bailey's lucas price by too much, which by the way seems not too far off from a bargain to me.

[hedspase]

Thanks for the input.  I'm going to order the blade from Bailey's.  It's probably best to design around the actual Lucas blade to ensure everything is sized correctly, then maybe try some of the cheaper blades as backups in the future.  I hope to also design a fixture that I could mount a sharpener on as well as position new carbide tips for brazing, so it would be good to measure up the angles on the new Lucas blade for that purpose.

I spoke with a guy from Curtis gearbox yesterday, and they are going to quote a gearbox for me with the spiral bevel gears.  I asked him about the RA211 gearbox on surpluscenter.com, and he said it had straight gears, and would not be suitable for this application, even with a forced lube system.

I am planning to use a Subaru EH72 25hp v twin with a 1:1 gearbox so I can vary the speed of the blade from 3600 on down.  I haven't found a definitive recommended speed on the 546mm blade yet.  In the Q&A section on the bailey's listing for the blade, it says 3200-3600 is recommended, and 3600 is optimum.