Inherited a Frick

[Don P]

That's a nice solution to the multi bearing problem... get them right and never touch that alignment again.

[moodnacreek]

That's a nice solution to the multi bearing problem... get them right and never touch that alignment again.

Thanks, Don.     It may not work for everyone. Any shaft running off the husk has to have a little movement. And when the set up was done things where very close to correct. The husk was long and pivoted on one bolt with the other 3 loose. It would go about 1/2" on the routed out holes and I had a screw adjustment set up on it. If the belts are not too tight you can give it more lead with this and the belts would pull back if you needed to go back. I considered this on the husk I just put in but it is a short 2 bearing so we will be conventional. Hope you are having a nice day, Doug

[Don P]

I was thinking about it last night some more. It would be sort of the same thing if all the bearings were aligned and bolted permanently to a plate or piece of channel. That could be mounted to the steel husk frame with a "kingpin" through the plate into the husk at the blade end and adjustment forward and back for the plate at the outboard end. Basically, its a 2 "bearing" setup as far as adjusting lead, the plate is keeping the multiple mandrel bearing setup correct and permanent.

Slewing the shaft, husk or something in between the two is all accomplishing the same thing. Figure out how to fine tune the angle of the blade in relation to the path of the carriage. For the first little while you'll be real intimate with whatever lead adjustment method you end up with.

Merry Christmas Everyone  

[arsascusa]

I really appreciate all the good info. Y'all are the best. 

Thanks Ron. I will consult the book before asking questions. 

Hey, so what are opinions / recommendations for sawmill placement? I have a couple of different places I can put it. One is flat, well within 6 inches and can be graded even more. 

The second place has a little slope to it. About 2 or 3 foot total. The rail part can be graded flat. And the erosion and water drainage can be taken care of. The ground in both places are very sandy. 

I am going to dig a concrete foundation just like the previous owner did. 

What about height of the rails? The current location seems like a lot of bending over but the higher I put the track the more concrete I need. The sloped area may be good for easier off loading and on loading. 

The intent of the mill is having fun on the weekend with friends making sawdust not a business. 

[Ron Wenrich]

The first mill I placed was on a flat area.  It gave us good access to all sides in the event you have to get into it with a loader.  I put in a 2 level floor.  Where the edger is should be lower than the where the sawyer stands.  You want about waist high on the edger side, and about mid thigh for the sawyer.  It gives more comfort for the workers.  Too high for the sawyer, and they have a hard time setting dogs, too low and its too hard for turning logs. 

For the logs, we made a log deck out of hickory poles.  We had them elevated a bit higher than the carriage head blocks.  We had some pretty big log ends that we put the poles on and our deck was about 20'. 

I've seen some mills where they were higher on one side than the other.  It made it better for logs, until you wanted to roll them in.  You don't want to work being bent over.  Logs are really heavy.  My system, the log deck was about waist high. 

Figure out what you are thinking about sawing, how many different sorts, and where you're going to put your slab pile.  You don't want to be carrying your heavy stuff.  It goes closest to the rolls or off the end.  Work smart, not hard.

[moodnacreek]

My first mill was parallel and into a bank, the logs rolled off the side of a truck and gravity down to the log deck. This is how I got my strong opinions about peaveys and cant hooks. Don't do this.   If you will be handling  logs with a machine, that is carrying them to the log deck, then the log end of the mill is not so important. You want a nice long flat yard on the lumber end where the hand work is done, lumber sorted, truck and or trailer loaded etc.  Trust Me, I've done this all wrong and still pay the price whenever i am running.

[Rigg]

That looks like a really nice all steel setup. You've got all the components you need at once.

I would try to unbolt the husk from the track and take as one piece and not mess around with the mandrel, but I can't tell from the photo how its attached.

The saw nut should be a normal thread. At least mine is.  I have a 00 Frick.

Do you know if that's a 00 Frick or a 0 Frick?  Looks like one or the other.

As far as where to put it, it seems like most handset mills around here are more on the top or side of a hill with the saw dust pit down hill.

[Don P]

Here's a friend using mine.  Not perfect but has worked ok for a hobby mill. It's cut into a bank sloping down to the left and down towards the outfeed end of the track. The roller table where I'm standing to offload is about waist high. When I dig out where Rick is standing there is a deck that puts the carriage around knee level. I can still lift the world to my waist but its all gone from there up so I wanted to have the cant hook very low when turning up.

Now that I have skidsteer and having dropped it into that pit, I need to redo all of that.





Maybe I have a skidsteer, off to try to fab and weld the front knuckles back on the arms, oops.

[luap]

I have moved my mill an americn#1) at least three times. The track is steel in two sections bolted together A pair of house trailer axles are mounted under the husk. I rolled the carriage on to the far section and chained it down and slid it on a car hauler trailer. The first section was unbolted and also slid on a trailer. It al worked out well The powerunit (671 detroit is the heaviest piece and was winched onto a trailer The carridiage is a rack and pinion drive so there is no drum and cable. any modifications you make should keep the future in mind.

































i

[moodnacreek]

I have moved my mill an americn#1) at least three times. The track is steel in two sections bolted together A pair of house trailer axles are mounted under the husk. I rolled the carriage on to the far section and chained it down and slid it on a car hauler trailer. The first section was unbolted and also slid on a trailer. It al worked out well The powerunit (671 detroit is the heaviest piece and was winched onto a trailer The carridiage is a rack and pinion drive so there is no drum and cable. any modifications you make should keep the future in mind.

































i

Never seen an American with a rack feed, that must be an oldie.

[arsascusa]

Great time working on the mill. Taking more of it apart. Thank you all so much for helping me with measurements and shortcuts.

The lead measured 1/16 of an inch.

Took the mandrel off completely. Not just loosened the adjustment screws, took the bolt off from the bottom and took the whole thing off. It is heavier than I expected. Used straps to ratchet it up. Will wait for the tractor to move it. It seemed easier to do it that way then remove the adjustment screws on one side. The studs on the bottom may require copious amounts of lube to get them back in. We will see.

Built the blade board. Thanks for that.

Took track apart. It was coupled together so I had to remove it from one end to the other.

The edger tables have been taken off and moved.

Picked out the place to install it. Will be doing the post foundation. Would prefer a concrete one, but to get it to the height I want costs too much right now.  

 

 

  

[moodnacreek]

Really glad to see your progress. To have it set up and roofed over is great piece of mind and the sooner the better. Keep oil or grease on those collars, in fact the whole spindle area. Keep us posted, Happy new year.

[Southside]

@Don P  What happened? 

[Don P]

On the skidsteer? I put some pics of the repair over on the daily carnage thread this morning. It looks pretty but it hasn't brought home any bacon yet  :D.

[arsascusa]

 

 

 

 

 

 Big move day on the 26th. 3 trucks and trailers and a tractor. I have great family and friends. 

Working on the foundation and getting it ready. The plan is to move the husk and place it on the foundation. Then move the carriage and place it on the track in front of the husk. Taking the Detroit diesel 4-71 and dropping it off with another friend to get running. 

The foundation may not be optimal but it's what I can afford at this point. It will be well braced. The husk and the outlying pulley will be all secured to a single 4x6 from the end of the pulley to the other end of the track. 

[beenthere]

Good to see your progress, and look forward to hearing about your move. 

[moodnacreek]

Don't stop now.

[customsawyer]

Got a call yesterday that they have 2 two Fricks. If anyone is interested I can get more details.

[arsascusa]

Move day was successful. 3 trailers, a mahindra tractor and lots of friends. 


Y'all told me measure everything. I thought i did. 

Important measurements are:

Height of the offloading end. 
Height of the husk. 
That will help with the height of the posts or what ever you used for the foundation. 

I used a laser to measure to cut the posts off once I found that measurement. 

The tracks are 15' long. That doesn't mean you just sink posts every 15' foot. 

The drum that runs the cable has to be attached and that will determine where the track begins and end. I am 6 inches off. 

I was able to move the 2x10 that was under the husk and reattached the husk and outlying pulley into the exact same holes. That helped with alignment. 

On the outlying pulley, you can see another oops. That corner post is exactly where the belts to the motor go. 

Lots of challenges and I love it. 

 

 

 

 

     

[Ron Wenrich]

Are those posts in the ground or just sitting on top?

[arsascusa]

The posts are buried at least 2.5 feet in the ground. 

I am concerned that they are not thick enough. Wood posts have become so expensive and I have had to do something now because of timeframe. There will be a ton of cross bracing secured with carriage bolts to minimize racking. 

My plan is to make a concrete pillar made from filled blocks with rebar in the corner by the outlying pulley. I will also make concrete walls for the foundation in the areas that the track doesn't meet. That will be better than trying to shove another post in there. 

[Ron Wenrich]

If you're not down below frost line, you might get some heave in the cold weather.

Did you dig a sawdust pit?  Best to do that before you get to far along.

[moodnacreek]

If that center section that supports the husk ever moves and you are having problems sawing it will be very confusing. I realize you need to get set up but having done my first mill all wrong I have to be a little negative here. Concrete footings here and where the log gets turned is especially important. Not saying treated wood posts won't work but what's under them?

[arsascusa]

I will gladly accept criticism from your experience. 

Frost line is 8 inches. 

It is very sandy. I wonder if the posts will sink into the ground. 

And you are right. Sawdust pit will be a pain. But it's very easy digging. 

[Don P]

I jack and shim mine regularly. Its in posts cut off at ground level with 6x6 runners on top of those and then the steel legs and tracks. The ground is soft, the logs are heavy and it pounds down at the infeed end. You need a big snowshoe of concrete.