Thinking about narrow and wide mill

[Crusarius]

So I have been looking at my sawframe a lot lately. I have also been seeing a lot of posts for ppl looking to have very large logs milled. I accidentally made my bed 50" wide. My sawframe is only 31" between the guides. I keep thinking about adding an extension to the sawframe and an adapter for the tensioner so I can widen out the mill. I don't think I want the mill to be that wide all the time so I would have 2 different length blades.

The reason I stayed the width I have is because I don't think I will ever have anything that big on the mill. But the ability to cut really wide may really come in handy sometimes.

I know handling the logs will become a major challenge. I am thinking for those jobs I may have to charge a premium and steal my buddies excavator I also know the cost of blades will go up quite a bit.

I wonder how the guys with the wide mills are dealing with all that?

Should I try to make the mill handle 2 widths? Or should I leave it alone and then modify later if I find myself needing more?

Here is a pic to make things easier to understand.

[Kbeitz]

Big bucks is in the BIG wood.  If I would do anything different on
building my mill it would be to make it wider. Keep in mind your
blade will cost more.

[Magicman]

There is a modified LT40 here that has two width positions.  Standard and W I D E.   :P

[WV Sawmiller]

   I know the bands would cost more to buy, sharpen and replace but I'd also think the longer blades would cut more wood with every revolution so I don't know how much the actual cost difference would be.

    I've never seen a sawyer yet who said "I wish I could only cut smaller logs" but I bet every one of us has said "I sure which I could cut a bigger log and a wider board/slab/cant."

[Crusarius]

WV that was my thought as well.

My other thought though was smooth cut. If I am cutting a 12" log with a very wide throat how much more likely would I be to get wavy cuts? I know I can build the guide to be more robust but I am still concerned about that.

Plus not sure I want to deal with stocking 2 blade lengths.

Maybe my real question is more for guys living in this area. Do you have the need to be wide?

[ronwood]

If I was building a bandsaw mill I would go wider.
Ron

[Southside]

There is a modified LT40 here that has two width positions.  Standard and W I D E.   :P

Magicman -

Who has that mill? 

[Magicman]

I was hoping that someone would remember better than me and provide a link to the topic.  We will find it.

[drobertson]

I would go wide, turned down too many I could not handle, but the handling is the real issue, not necessarily the sawing, after seeing this photo of your build, I would have tried to get both wheels outside the posts,

[Magicman]

OK, here it is:  I cut my sawmill in half

[Southside]

Thank you Sir!

[BigZ La]

From the looks of your design all I would do is buy another pulley and make another Idler side like you have but with longer tubing. Change idler side and blade and your ready to go.

[Crusarius]

I was actually thinking of just extending the frame so I can slide the wheels further. And also make an extension for my hydraulic tensioner. I would just need 2 sets of safety catches so when the band breaks the wheels don't launch. Would be really easy. the next thing I would have to figure out is what blade length. Be nice to have a stock length.

I think this has just been added to my todo list.

Wonder if it makes more sense to just make it wide and stick with that or dual width?

[starmac]

I think going wider would be great, but if mine would handle bigger logs, I would sure want the hydraulics to match it.

[Crusarius]

yea, hydraulics definitely be great. I am still trying to figure out how to run hydraulics without a second engine.

[Ljohnsaw]

I'd look at moving the idle side guide back a few inches and possibly the drive side a little more - you could gain a few more inches for a 8/4 or so slab.  Do you expect to make some bigger slabs than ~35"?

yea, hydraulics definitely be great. I am still trying to figure out how to run hydraulics without a second engine.

Electric over hydraulic - run an electric wire from your head (using the flexible track stuff or go overhead with a panto-graph setup) to your hydraulic pump to run whatever on the deck.

[Crusarius]

I was looking at moving the guide. BUt the more I thought of it I chose not to. I could get a little more width but if I am not paying attention I will hit the wheels. I could see that causing a lot of damage.

I was thinking electric over hydraulic but a slightly different setup than you described. That will have to come in the future since this is needing to stay under $6000 for the build.