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Everett's Sawmill Build

Started by JEverettM, July 19, 2019, 03:51:14 PM

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Fergy

Quote from: Crusarius on September 10, 2019, 05:27:33 PM
If you can make the stop drop to 5/8" your last cut minimum board thickness could be 3/4" That is how I set mine up.
Just take the top off with the mill if its too high, I hear most on here have tried.
Too much gear and no idea

JEverettM

Crusarius, I might have to cut them down a bit... See if I wedge a portaband in there.

Well, after the shaft on the turntable on the microwave broke, a shelf in the refrigerator tore a chunk out of the door, and the washing machine burned up a belt, I somehow managed to *shatter* the connecting rod in the father-in-law's 36 year old tiller while prepping the fall garden...



 

But, after getting all that fixed and the garden tilled and planted, I finally spent some time on the mill this weekend. Finished welding out seven crossbunks:





Slower than I'd like, but making progress when I can.

charles mann

Iv got a steel max cold cut and love it, except for the price of the blades. I did have to buy an abrasive blade a couple months back. Them thk linear rails are super hard and my carbide metal blades wouldnt cut it. 

@Crusarius 
I use a a HF pneumatic needle gun, which is make for removing mill scale, rust, cleaning up casting after pouring, and works wonderful on welding slag. 
Temple, Tx
Fire Fighting and Heavy Lift Helicopter Mech
Helicopter and Fixed Wing Pilot

Crusarius

Charles I use the needle scaler to. But for welding slab and plasma slag I also use a 4" wide blade on my air hammer.

charles mann

Quote from: Crusarius on October 02, 2019, 02:12:58 PM
Charles I use the needle scaler to. But for welding slab and plasma slag I also use a 4" wide blade on my air hammer.
I just use a 4" grinder or a 1" rotary file. Its slower, but i would eventually have to use the grinder or file anyways. 
Temple, Tx
Fire Fighting and Heavy Lift Helicopter Mech
Helicopter and Fixed Wing Pilot

Crusarius

but the plasma slag is murder on grinding wheels.

charles mann

Quote from: Crusarius on October 02, 2019, 05:02:43 PM
but the plasma slag is murder on grinding wheels.
It is, and the same with oxy/acet slag. Even at the cut, its murder. I know its mild steel, but i think during the cutting process, as it cools, it does temper it slightly. 
I messed up the other day and forgot to swap my sanding wheel, to a grind rock and completely ruined a new sanding wheel. Im going to buy a sec 4" grinder, maybe 2 more and keep 1 set up for sanding, grinding and a cut off grinder. This swapping out takes up to much time during this build. A min per change during 1 small 5min job takes an additional 3 min to swap between the 3. 

Temple, Tx
Fire Fighting and Heavy Lift Helicopter Mech
Helicopter and Fixed Wing Pilot

JEverettM

Been a while and progress has been slower than I'd like, but over the holidays I took a page out of Matt Cremona's book and put the trailer on stands so that I could easily rotate it.

Everything shown in the pics is now fully welded out. Next I need to add mounting locations for jacks, axles, and drill a few holes. Then I'll put it back down on the ground and start assembling the carriage in place on top of the trailer.








 

RAYAR

It never seems to progress as fast as we originally anticipated, but many other things to contend with in our daily lives. There is progress though.
mobile manual mill (custom build) (mods & additions on-going)
Custom built auto band sharpener (currently under mods)
Husqvarna 50, 61, 254XP (and others)
96 Polaris Sportsman 500
2006 Ranger 4X2 w/cap, manual trans (430,000 Km)

JEverettM

Got all of the mounts for axles and jacks  welded out.  The trailer is back on the ground, up on the jacks. I have added tracks and tacked the carriage up. So it's rolling back and forth.

Having a rolling carriage on the trailer feels like a huge milestone for me!

Tonight I was able to test out the lift system for the saw head. I'm using roller chain and a manual crank for now. Looking to upgrade to motorized version sometime in the future. Thinking about using a tarp motor.

Here's a couple of videos of the progress so far:

Carriage rolling on the track:
Sawmill: Carriage on Track - YouTube

Roller chain lift:
Sawmill: Roller Chain Lift - YouTube

Close up of crank and ratchet/Pawl:
Sawmill: Lift Crank Ratchet and Pawl - YouTube

I've got a long way to go yet, but it's finally staying to look something like a mill!

Vautour

Pretty impressive... like the cranking system .. good solid frame, cant wait to see it finished.
the Gospel is WANTED by the people in 52 Countries but made illegal by their Government

Crusarius

I like that. whats the gear ratio? big gear tooth count and little gear tooth count. looks like it will work good. I do wonder if it will be a little crazy going down when the head is built.

May not be a bad idea to think about some type of shock absorber off a car or something just in case it gets away from you.

JEverettM

@Crusarius Ratio is 72:10. If I did my math right, it will take about 15lbs of force to turn the crank once everything is mounted. If I need further reduction, i can make the crank wheel a little bigger, or else add a jack shaft for a second stage of sprockets.

I definitely wouldn't intend to let it free fall once it's loaded, and I should theoretically able to stop it with the pawl... but i think you're right... worst case scenario I should put something on the bottom to soften the blow. In one of their videos, I saw that Cook's has a kind of friction brake on one of their mills. Just a spring loaded arm that pushes against the edge of the crank wheel. That might be an option as well, just to make it easier to control.

Eventually, I'd like to put motor on it. I was looking at tarp motors with an output of about 44ft-lbs of torque. I'm assuming the gearbox has a worm drive in it, which should prevent overhauling/backdriving.

The drawback is that it would prevent manual cranking, which I'm not sure I want to give up. It seems like I might want to be able to crank manually for more precise control of cut depth, and to be able to manipulate the head when it's not under power.

Does anyone have any experience putting something like that together? Is it really as straightforward as just mounting a motor and controller? Is there an easy way to have both motor and manual control?

JRWoodchuck

I know in wheelchair motors they have a release so you can put them in neutral. I would imagine a tarp motor is similar. 
Home built bandsaw mill still trying find the owners manual!

Ljohnsaw

Quote from: JEverettM on January 18, 2020, 12:05:49 PMJust a spring loaded arm that pushes against the edge of the crank wheel.

How about a flywheel clutch mounted to that shaft.  Fix the drum to the frame.  Then, as the crank speeds up (on free-fall), it automatically brakes acting as a speed limiter.  Just have to put weaker springs on the clutch.
Quote from: JEverettM on January 18, 2020, 12:05:49 PMIt seems like I might want to be able to crank manually for more precise control of cut depth,

I thought that with mine.  What I do is (when dropping for a cut) drop below my cut by about 1/2" and then jog it back up to take out any backlash or sag in my lift mechanism.  One tap of the power button is less than 1/16".
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

Crusarius

my wheelchair motor is easily overpowered with the crank. I found that it was the perfect speed and ratio to hit my target its very rare I overshoot. But I could still just crank it if I wanted to which I only ever did that when the mechanism would jam.

charles mann

You mentioned something about a 2 stage to help with a slower sink rate. Instead of a different size gear to slow you down, (unless the tarp motor is slight faster that you want) you use a 2 stage (18 wheeler landing gear/jack box) and when you push in, it engages the electric, pull out, hand crank. 
Temple, Tx
Fire Fighting and Heavy Lift Helicopter Mech
Helicopter and Fixed Wing Pilot

JEverettM

I had some issues with binding on my sliding sleeves attached to the saw beam. I could make them work, but they were somewhat touchy. Rather than fiddle with them for the life of the saw, I decided to avoid perpetual frustration and go for a redesign.

Here's a few pics of (what I hope will be) the final iteration of the new design. The rollers are relatively inexpensive skateboard wheels. While I'm not sure that it was necessary, I springloaded the inner set to account for slight variation in the parallelism of the uprights and/or the track.



 





 

 



 











 

Crusarius

Excellent!. Why didn't I think of something that simple? I kept using bearings or cam followers. the paint did not last long.

JEverettM

Well... It's been a while since I posted, but the mill is out of the shop and running.



 

Brought it down to a truck scale and it weighs in at 3200lbs. A little heavier than I expected!

I cut a few short, half rotten logs I had behind the shop that had been down a year or so. Everything seemed to work pretty well for the most part.

However, I already decided the roller guide has to change. It was too fiddly to set, and part of it hangs too low. Working on a new set this week.

After that, I've got a line on two oak trees, a cedar, a pear, and a few pines to cut up. All stuff that people just want removed from the property. Looking forward to getting some hours under my belt, and starting to build some lumber stacks!

VooDooChikin04

This looks like an awesome build!   I recognized that hand crank system being somewhat familiar to another build, I think he used a belt braking system around the hand wheel so it cannot free spin.

Excellent job!!

JEverettM

Thanks @VooDooChikin04 . I believe you might be thinking of Cook's Saw. They use roller chain and have a pulley with belt for braking. On mine, I opted for a ratchet and pawl setup on the crank handle.


Here's a breakdown on the new roller guide assembly.

















JoshNZ

Looks like you've put plenty of thought into it. Why is the rose joint and the block holding the roller guide seperate pieces?

thecfarm

Heavy is not a bad thing. I have a Thomas, no idea on the weight, but had it since '07,never had to relevel the mill. 
Have fun sawing.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

ktm250rider

very nice!  Im looking at upgrading my lift mechanism.  currently using a boat winch and while it works, im not happy with it.  I may have to "borrow" some of your ideas! 

Is there going to be a break to slow the down speed once you have all the weight on it?

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