Belsaw M-14 steel allighment question

[jeep534]

A recently aquired Belsaw M-14 all Steel Appeares to have been jacked around with   My  main question is what is the distance from the inside of the blade to the  carrige directly above the mandrel  my guess is somewhere   around 2 inches  any help would be greatly appreciated

[Don P]

I'll try to remember to measure mine tomorrow but it is around 1/2" between carriage and blade. The stock setup allows you to advance the knees close enough to the saw to leave an 8/4 dog board but just about everyone puts a spacer against the knees to allow a 4/4 final board. Obviously you need carriage support under that last dog board. It's probably wise to stick to an 8/4 dog board until you've sawn enough to make sure everything is tight and most of the time that is what I take for the last board. You don't want to ever strike a dog.

[moodnacreek]

Don't understand your question but will say that the headblock base misses the saw teeth by 1/2". This is true with most sawmills. On a bell saw the carriage goes over the mandrel with out touching any thing. Often the cable will drag on the mandrel, even wearing a grove if the mill is run every day.

[Gearbox]

You need less than 1 inch from the carrige and the bunk . If you want to saw 1 inch on the last cut of the cant [ I do not recomend sawing less than 2 on the last cut ] . on 2 inch you need to have more than half of the width on the bunk 

[jeep534]

HMMMM let me put it another way i think the mandrel has moved or been moved away from the tractor

[Don P]

I found this old manual online but it calls for the same 1/2" from carriage to blade.
1050.pdf (vintagemachinery.org)

If it has been moved you can probably see the old bearing and feed sheave marks on the mandrel.

[moodnacreek]

The bunks on my Bellsaw had bars I welded on to cut down to an inch which I did all the time. I should add that I had 4 dogs also.