Building my mill...

[Kbeitz]

A few more mods I made.



 



 



 



 

[Hilltop366]

Way cool, it is great to see that it worked out!

One thing I noticed on your mill that is the same as on the one I had made is the "T" handle on the log dog, I was thinking of changing mine to a "L" shape to make it easier and faster to thread it in or out but then I sold the mill. Not a big difference but when you add up the number of times that the dog is turned in and out when cutting one log it well add up.

Congrats on the success!

[Kbeitz]

Way cool, it is great to see that it worked out!

One thing I noticed on your mill that is the same as on the one I had made is the "T" handle on the log dog, I was thinking of changing mine to a "L" shape to make it easier and faster to thread it in or out but then I sold the mill. Not a big difference but when you add up the number of times that the dog is turned in and out when cutting one log it well add up.

Congrats on the success!
I had the L ..... I did not like it at all.... I did not think it was doing the job.
It was like nothing was there...
But I'm also not happy with what I got....
I think I will go with hydraulic.

[justallan1]

Congrats on getting it done up to this point. I'm betting your make more mods yet,  8)
Sounds like you've definitely got it pretty close to dialed in right off the bat.
Great build.

[Ox]

Where did you get your sawmill scale from?  I'm thinking I want a quarter scale because all the numbers on the inch stick keep getting jumbled up in my stupid head.  : :-\  I'm tired of making mistakes.  Me and numbers have never gotten along very well and it's getting worse.

[Kbeitz]

Where did you get your sawmill scale from?  I'm thinking I want a quarter scale because all the numbers on the inch stick keep getting jumbled up in my stupid head.  : :-\  I'm tired of making mistakes.  Me and numbers have never gotten along very well and it's getting worse.

Cooks...

[Kbeitz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu7QwF3JjGw

I have no idea how to insert a video....

Hope this works...

[Ox]

Looks like she's cutting good for you - awesome!  Feels good to be milling, doesn't it?

[gww]

Your hair looks a little lighter then the last picture of yourself that you posted.  What happened there :laugh:.

Seriously, your mill looks great.
gww

[Ox]

Too much thinking and building mills, I reckon.  :D

Seriously though, you've built yourself a fine mill.  You should be proud.

[Kbeitz]

Thanks everyone...
Building things is really what I like to do.
Next project will be a log arch....
I think thats what they are called.
Lifts the log and carries it to the mill ?

[Ox]

Yep, I've heard them called that.  There's another term I've heard too, not as often.  A fetcher maybe?  Log fetcher?  ???

[Kbeitz]

I got in around 8 hours run time on the mill today...
I'm going real slow learning as I go.
Around the third board that I was cutting my mill started diving really bad.
Then I see that I had the throttle sat at 2/3 full.
I opened it up and what a difference a couple hundred RPM makes.
It started cutting striate as a dive the rest of the day.
Right at the end of the day I started hearing a clicking sound at the top of the blade
under the cover. I stopped the saw a few time and tried to find the source.
I could find nothing. My last cut I stood two boards on end to cut 1" of bark off the top.
About half way through BANG... My blade broke. So I think the sound that I was hearing
was my blade cracking. After I put on a different blade I heard nothing. Question....
Would sawdust buildup on the two band wheels make enough pressure to break a blade ?

 

 



 

[gww]

K

Would sawdust buildup on the two band wheels make enough pressure to break a blade ?

I don't think so.  I have broke two blades so far.  One I was cutting without guide and some one said this causes cupping of the blade and causes them to break.  The other one I had cut quite a bit and had only sharpend the points.  Some one said if the gullet isn't taken down every so often you get hair line cracks.  Cooks, I believe says if the back of the blade is running against the guides it will cause cracking in the back of the blade.  If the blade is dull it will ride the back of the guide harder.  As you can tell this is just a collection of things I have read and not things I know.

How much wood did you cut with just one blade.  Most say change at two hours of cutting.

I really don't know but thought I would throw this stuff out and hope it helps more then hurts.
good luck
gww

[justallan1]

Kevin, nice job indded.

[Kbeitz]

K

Would sawdust buildup on the two band wheels make enough pressure to break a blade ?

I don't think so.  I have broke two blades so far.  One I was cutting without guide and some one said this causes cupping of the blade and causes them to break.  The other one I had cut quite a bit and had only sharpend the points.  Some one said if the gullet isn't taken down every so often you get hair line cracks.  Cooks, I believe says if the back of the blade is running against the guides it will cause cracking in the back of the blade.  If the blade is dull it will ride the back of the guide harder.  As you can tell this is just a collection of things I have read and not things I know.

How much wood did you cut with just one blade.  Most say change at two hours of cutting.

I really don't know but thought I would throw this stuff out and hope it helps more then hurts.
good luck
gww

No idea on how many hours is on the blade.
I got them from the junkyard. I cut up three 18 foot logs with it before it broke.
No big loss. I'm using the junkyard blades for my learning experience.
When I broke I seen a ring of sawdust on both wheels.
I guess I need to make scrapers.

[Ox]

Sawdust buildup could break a band, I suppose.  If you're maxed out on the tension already it wouldn't take much buildup to push the blade past its breaking point.  This is where a spring tensioner is better.  I've never had more than just a coating on my wheels but I watch the pressure gauge like a hawk anyway.  I'm always giving a tweak here and there.  It changes as much as 400 lbs sometimes between cuts.  The sun hitting the pump, sawdust buildup, blade heating, etc. all affect tension.  More than likely the bands are old and rusty, right?  I've had bad luck with old rusty bands.  One was a WM .055, 1 1/2" wide, 10° that only had about 2 hours on it.  It was pretty rusty, I sharpened and set it and it didn't last a half hour.  Heard the ticking then bang.  Same thing with a 1 1/4" blade.  This isn't to say a rusty blade won't last, just hasn't with me yet.
If you got three logs on a junkyard blade, you're in the green!  Like you said, you get your practice with them before getting new expensive ones.

[Kbeitz]

I have no way of knowing how tight to make my blade because I have no indicators.
The blades only have a very light coat of surface rust that comes off almost right away.
So... If I here ticking it's a good chance the the blades ready to go ???
I will know what to look for if I here ticking again.
Maybe I can silver solder it before it snaps all the way off.
First picture is the way I tighten my blade for tension.
Second picture is my blade rust.



 



 

[Ox]

Those blades are in much better shape than the rusty ones I tried.
And yes, most times the ticking means you'll have a busted blade right quick.  It's quite different than a ticking wheel bearing or similar bearings going bad.  You've heard it and you'll always remember it!
There's a way to clamp a caliper on the blade and tension it to read the amount of stretch or tension being put on the blade.  I can't remember what the reading needs to be.   I think most blades of the same size are quite similar to the tension they require.
Try a search here for checking tension or homemade tension checker or something like that.  There was pics if I remember right.
Mills with your style of tensioner usually count the number of turns after the blade gets just snug enough to take shape where it looks like it should.
I wish I was of more help, but this is the best I can do.  Hopefully it sparks some ideas or gets you going in a better direction? 

[justallan1]

On the Hudson HFE-21 that I had was the same basic tensioner set-up and it called for 35 inch pounds with a torque wrench. You might check with them or download their mill specs for a comparable mill to yours and see if there is any difference, I don't see why there would be.
I actually ran with closer to 28-30 lbs and it stayed straight as an arrow.
Hope this helps.

[gww]

Justallen
I knew I had seen what you posted and I searched the net yesterday to try and find it so I could post a link.  I was afraid I had just dreamed it though I have mentioned it before in a differrent thread.  I didn't post cause I thought I might have made it up.  Thanks for posting cause now I know I am not crazy.
gww

[Bruno of NH]

I run 28-30 ft lbs of torq on my thomas mill with 1 1/2  .55 /.50 bands if this helps any
Jim/Bruno

[justallan1]

gww, no problem. BTW, your last sentence there you make it sound as if being crazy is a bad thing, what's up with that? :D

[Kbeitz]

On the Hudson HFE-21 that I had was the same basic tensioner set-up and it called for 35 inch pounds with a torque wrench. You might check with them or download their mill specs for a comparable mill to yours and see if there is any difference, I don't see why there would be.
I actually ran with closer to 28-30 lbs and it stayed straight as an arrow.
Hope this helps.

There would be so many factors that would make that different. Course thread verses fine thread. Oiled or not...
Guess what I need is one of these.



 

[Kbeitz]

Well my first job and my mill is not big enough.
I can only cut up to 18 feet long and I need 19-20 feet.
So I'm making a 10 foot extension.
The job I got is to fix the pavilion made out of White birch trees.
Don't make anything out of White Birch.
It's only 4 years old and the wood is rotten.
I'm building a sub frame under the building to hold it up.
It will still have the nice white Birch look but all the weight will be on my new frame.
Got the logs cut and ready to be sawed.
Got the C-channel out and ready for cutting and welding.