home made edger?

krusty · June 04, 2012, 09:15:39 PM

Hey gang,

I have an LT15 and absolutely hate edging boards. I find the clamps when the boards are on edge to be

and need to do something better. Did I mention I hate edging boards!?

I am thinking of building a carriage that would ride on my LT 15 track. I could clamp a board laying down without issue and the carriage would just travel down the track and put two circ saw blades on it.

This would be for 1x lumber and I am sure 2" would be fine too. I have a 28' bed on my mill so it could sit at one end out of the way when needed or take it off. On top of the carriage I would mount a 6 HP gas powered motor. The weight of things would keep it in place and I do not see this as dangerous. Other thing would be a wood space under the board being cut so the blades dont hit the steel cross supports from the bed.

Blades would be adjusted on a threaded 5/8" driven shaft geared to the motor or chain drive would be easier. Pillow blocks would hold the shaft.

Thoughts?

I cut alot of board and battens or 8x8 timbers.

Krusty.

jimparamedic · June 04, 2012, 09:31:42 PM

What about a single blade edger like wood mizer has ? here is what I use.

shelbycharger400 · June 04, 2012, 09:33:45 PM

im workin on modifyin an old bumper jack, ill let ya know in a few weeks how it turns out for clampin the stock . it seems more promising than what i have done. im already on #3 style clamps.

seems like so your dealin with a factory mill, im dealin with my home built mill..
either the clamps dont hold and/ or are SLOOOOOW!

Delawhere Jack · June 04, 2012, 11:05:01 PM

Make sure that your blades spin in the right direction, like an inverted tablesaw, so that they don't rise out of the cut and propel the carriage down the board out of control.

A single blade design would be much less complex. If you really need two blades maybe you could find a long keyed shaft to use as an arbor. Use one blade fixed and the other could be adjusted in or out and then locked down. It would need to be a much larger shaft than 5/8" in that case. Maybe use a 1 1/4"-1 1/2" splined shaft to provide power with a parallel similarly sized shaft to carry movable trunnions with short shafts to hold the blades, and belts to draw power off of the drive shaf

A single blade system would be much easier.....

steamsawyer · June 05, 2012, 12:12:34 AM

Are you talking about edging just one board at a time? :-\ I am not that familiar with a band mill but with my circular mill I try to save up a stack of boards and edge them all at one time. 8)

Alan

hackberry jake · June 05, 2012, 03:02:28 AM

If you had notches in all your bed rails, that might just be slicker than greased owl poo. You would see where the blade was going to run by where the notches are. Most of my boards just need edged on one side, and if they do need both, just flip the board and do it again. You could just fix risers on all of your bunks, put an abrasive blade in the edger and cut out notches. I think you might be onto something.

bandmiller2 · June 05, 2012, 07:38:41 AM

Krusty,what you described is a mini circular sawmill.I think it would be easier to make a fixture [not supposed to use the term jig anymore] to hold the boards and use your band to trim.Mayby one where you lay them flat and tip the whole bunch upright. Frank C.

Too Big To Fail · June 05, 2012, 08:56:51 AM

I've been thinking about mounting a couple pipe clamps to the mill as a secondary set for edging. (the type that project 3 or 4 inches proud of the pipe with the thread on the adjustable part of the set) The problem I have is my dogs want to push my stack of boards out of square and it seems like a clamp would apply a more even pressure and be simpler to release and move etc then my dogs. But I'm with you, and would love to have an edger. Don't know anything about them though- how do they keep the board from shifting and binding between the blades?

Ron Wenrich · June 05, 2012, 05:49:23 PM

Quote from: jimparamedic on June 04, 2012, 09:31:42 PM
What about a single blade edger like wood mizer has ? here is what I use.

Industrial edgers have kickback fingers for a reason. I would also want something over top of the blade, just for safety reasons.

Stephen1 · June 05, 2012, 06:43:30 PM

I used to hate edging ,and still do but after watching a pro place a 4x4 behind the stack of boards and then clamping. It certainly kept them square.

Too Big To Fail · June 08, 2012, 07:07:57 PM

I tried the 4x4 trick today. Worked great, thanks for the tip! Makes the process a lot easier.

shelbycharger400 · June 09, 2012, 07:14:21 PM

i have also noticed, due to my under developed home mill, whereas my clamps go over square when edging,
if i use a 2x4 or so behind the clamps , clamp as high as i can go on the backside, and low clamp my front clamps with a 2x4, it stays close to square.
when milling, i run so the cut is putting the pressure against the backside that is clamped high

basically sandwitching the board high in back, low in front.

Stephen1 · June 29, 2012, 07:05:45 PM

Quote from: Too Big To Fail on June 08, 2012, 07:07:57 PM
I tried the 4x4 trick today. Worked great, thanks for the tip! Makes the process a lot easier.

Yes it works great doesn't it, There a lot of other tricks, just have to be around the pro's to find therm out.
I wish I go go to more demo's and sawmill shows. The shoot out showed me a few things. They really want to cut fast and accurate