Crusarius’ sawmill build - started with Linn Lumber basic kit

[Crusarius]

You lay down some nice beads.   

Thanks Magicman. Finally getting back into the groove.

[Crusarius]

So I was looking on ebay for electric motors last night. I found tarp motors with 40:1 or 50:1 reduction and 40 to 70 rpm's. I have no clue what I should be looking for. If I calculated right the 70 rpm model will move my 38" travel head from bottom to top in 2.5 minutes. The wheelchair motor I found has a freewheel function so I can get it close with the motor then fine tune with the crank.

Help. I dunno what I want. I definitely know I want something. Cranking this beast up and down is already old.

On a side not I have a lift chair just given to me. I think it has a 24 volt linear actuator in it. Thinking that may work for a toe board?

[Kbeitz]

You can make that do... You can adjust your speed with sprockets and a controller.
If it goes to slow you will be wasting time. If it goes to fast then you will be
overshooting your mark. The speed of the gearmotor needs to match whatever you have
for your winch. My winch is a wormgear winch. If your ever take your gearmotor out of
gear you better have a wormgear winch or your handle will smack you to death. It's
best not to have the handle on it at all. My sprockets was 3 to 1. My winch cable pulls
on both sides. It goes up and over the top to pull up as the winch pulls down.



 

[Crusarius]

I have acme threaded rod. Right now the crank is on top of the carriage. I have to stand on a ladder to turn it and I am not even on the axle yet.

[Kbeitz]

Cheap on E-bay....



 

[William1961]

I just bought one of these to try out.
$21 and 60 amps for the wheelchair motor.

 
Probably 3 weeks to see it.
Will use it for variable speed control for raising and lowering.
My wheelchair motors will be capable of going 0 rpm to 135 rpm.
Whatever rpm works I can dial it in.
It will be able to reverse the rotation also.
And if it works then buy another for pulling the saw down the track and back.

[William1961]

 Combination hand crank and wheelchair motor on a linn saw.

 

[Kbeitz]

That looks good... This is the board that I used...
I had to add the F/R relay.



 

[Crusarius]

Those controllers look nice. I really like the way that crank and motor look together.

[William1961]

Crusarius I found out where I got that picture of a wheelchair motor on a Linn build.
I searched the posts here and found a member named is  iffy
Check out his gallery.
Lots of good ideas there.

[Crusarius]

I thought it looked familiar. I think I was reading his thread.

Thanks.

[Crusarius]

So I was just given a lift chair. It has a 29 volt 12" linear actuator in it. Not sure how well it will work but thinking I might try to make it work for an adjustable toe board.

I will run it on 12 volt. will play with it tonight.

[Crusarius]

Ok. so I did not play with the linear actuator yet. But I did fire up the mill and spin it using the engine. That is the last time I will do that without a proper fuel tank and blade guards. Talk about scary.

I kept getting these really nasty noises when it was spinning about half throttle. I finally decided that was enough and shut it down. Later as I started tearing it apart for paint I realized the axle on the drive side shifted. Apparently I forgot to tighten all of the set screws. Thank god I quit when I did. I only had about 1/8" before total devastation.

So I finished the carriage and the engine mount over the weekend. Everything is now torn apart. Hopefully will get to painting this week.

Working on the bed right now. Making slow progress but I think I am over that hump. The backstop design is the hardest thing to figure out right now.

Pictures will come later as I forgot to get them off the camera.

[btulloh]

I can't wait to see what color you picked. You promised it would be dramatic.  Or vivid.  Or something like that. Hot Lambo Pink?  8)

[btulloh]

Curious about that linear actuator too. I haven't seen one with enough power to lift one end of one ton log,but I suppose they're out there. 29 volt?  Was that a typo?

[btulloh]

For backstops, you could weld on some 2 1/2 in square tubing vertically about 4" long and use 2" square tube inside it. Quick.  It'll get you going until you get around to making the fancy back stops. All depends on your timeline. My little manual mill has backstops done that way and they work fine. Emphasis on "manual" .

Just a thought

[Crusarius]

29 volt is not a typo. I don't expect the actuator to be able to straight lift a log but if the geometry is right it may be able to lift it. We will see. I will need to experiment with it.

I was thinking about doing the backstops like that for quick and easy but I don't want to have to have the stops all the way up to clear some of the offroad terrain I am expecting to be dragging this thing on. 24' trailer needs a lot of ground clearance.

I also want to connect them all together so they go up and down at the same time. It will cost quite a bit more to do that with straight up and down vs rotating.

[btulloh]

I was just thinking of that approach as temporary.

[Crusarius]

I learned a looooooong time ago. There is no such thing as temporary

Last temporary fix I did on my jeep to get me off the trail lasted until it failed on a different trail quite a few years later

[btulloh]

That is so true.

[Crusarius]

I may be a little slow but I can learn eventually...

[Crusarius]

Bed is starting to take shape. My main log bunks are 2x6x.188 spaced at 36" on center. The secondary log bunks are 2x2x.188 spaced at the same 36" on center. They are offset from the main bunks 12" which gives me a main log bunk then a 24" space to the secondary log bunk then a 12" space to the next main bunk. You can kinda see the pattern in the picture.


This is the connection for the rear bumper on the bed. I have the top of the bumper matching the height of the log bunks. I will be angling the bottom of the frame to mate to the rear bumper. I am doing this because I know I will be dragging it from time to time.

Space is getting tight in the shop with a 24' trailer. Ignore the tractor parked over the frame 



Here is a picture looking down on the bed showing my corner brace on one of the bunks. I have 3 bunks with this brace. Hopefully it will be enough to control any racking.



The secondary log bunk is going to have my spring loaded log clamps. The angle will be welded to the main frame rail and bolted to the bottom of the bunk. This will give me the ability to change it out if / when I damage it. Or to change the design if I am not happy.



This next picture is a little clearer image of the acme threaded rod support for raising and lowering the head. This will get full welded when I am sure I have the timing perfect.





Here is the linear actuator I am hoping to use for the toe board. I don't know if it will work. We will see. And yes, it is 29 volts.




Here is a sneak peak of the hinge system for my backstops.

[Hilltop366]

Nice looking build!, on the actuator I take it you are planing to bypass the power supply to use 12v DC.

[Crusarius]

yes. Hoping it will work. I don't want to have to deal with 2 batteries so I am trying to keep it all 12 volt. still need to get raise lower motor.

[Hilltop366]

I guess the best option would be to run some 12 v to the motor and see what it does, no point in spending much time thinking or fabricating if it is way too slow or weak. I will be interesting to see how it works.