circular saw hammering

[bandmiller2]

Shannon, you have drug up an old post, Buzz has not been active here for about 10 years. Many of the folks in this post have moved on or are living with God. Setting up a new mill can be stressful  especially if a fella has not done it before. Years ago I considered learning the hammer. Problem is you need practice and repetition, a person with one saw is not going to get that. I would recommend at least the first time have a saw smith hammer you saw to your desired RPM, that will eliminate one big variable. Theirs a lot of reading on this forum, and feel free to ask. Frank C.

[moodnacreek]

How does the saw run in the air?  The bearing next to the saw must be cool when run for a while.  Those infrared  temperature takers are almost necessary setting up a mill. If the saw runs cool and flat until you feed the log, you must be touching the plate so that can be corrected.  I would try everything to prove the mill before sending the saw out for hammering.                        Finding a good hammer man is almost impossible.  It's about 2 days hard work to hammer a real bad saw if the man can and will do it.

[moodnacreek]

Found these books in my collection:  Miner's manual of saw hammering; J. H. Miner, Henry Diston & Sons : hand book for  lumberman ;Millmen and filers handy guide ; M. Cobel and the best : Hanchett saw and knife fitting manual

[Ron Wenrich]

If your saw is standing straight, but not cutting good, its probably either in the teeth, or its in the lead.  Other factors may include your track or your trucks.  If your track isn't straight and perpendicular to your saw, you'll have problems.  If your carriage has any side movement, you'll have problems.

But, it sounds like either your teeth aren't holding an edge very long.  I had a batch of Simonds that were terrible. They wouldn't hold an edge for very long.  I eventually went over to chrome to avoid the problem.  You may also need more lead or your saw guides aren't adjusted quite right.

You can get your saw hammered, but if the factors are outside the saw, then you'll be back at the same predicament and the saw will need hammered again.  Hammering isn't a cure all for other factors.

[moodnacreek]

Also Simonds made batches of distorted teeth that  no amount of filing will correct

[dgdrls]

Hello Buzz, this is Montana a Horse Logger. I have been putting together a circle mill for the last few years. I have aquire alot of info on setting up the mill. She doesn't seem to want to cut just right yet. It likes to cut green wood, pine or fir, better than dry wood. Although it consistently has problems of heating the eye of the saw. The only time it will cut is if the saw it is freshly sharpened or perfectly sharp. I am now to the point that I think it needs hammered and want to learn to hammer myself. I have herd so many horror stories of sending saws off to be hammered only to find that 99 % of the time the saw won't cut. Any suggestions of who could teach me how to hammer a saw. I can see you seem to have a really balanced attitude, alot of experience and common sence.

Thanks for any info
Shannon

Sources causing a heated eye,  bad collar, bad bearing, improper lead, dull teeth, saw too slow for its tensioned speed
Google Saw blade hammering and dig a little you'll find some good guides.

Often the blade is fine its other factors creating the issue.

How big is the blade Diameter and what speed is it running and what are you sawing?

best
D

[Don P]

When I read that sentence, I'd also start by looking over the setup. The first thing I do when I have mystery trouble is chuck up a new set of teeth. Then start looking at the track, is it straight and level, I had trouble a couple of weeks ago, the infeed end had sunk and I was getting heat at the eye of the saw as the carriage twisted on its way through the saw. Then check and play with the lead, that is my guess if this is a new setup and all else is good, you need to dial in the lead. Is the saw getting closer to or farther from the carriage during cut? Open the guides and measure under, from sawline on the log to carriage edge, front and back, that will tell you if the lead is off and which way you need to shift the mandrel.

This book should be in every circle sawmillers files, I should probably put mine in the "reading room" again;
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publications/specific_pub.php?posting_id=17763&header_id=p