How does the Eco Saw swing 180*?

lawyer_sawyer · November 10, 2005, 12:03:38 PM

I was doing some more research on swing blades last night and know I read something that said the Eco Saw could swing 180*. I read that and did not understand what was going on. I can see on a swing blade where you have a fixed position coming of the shaft and can use a gear box to allow the blade to go in a 90* but I am very lost on the 180*. any help in explaining how this is done would be much appreciated and if there are any pictures of this being done or diagrams of how it is done and what it looks like.

to not feel so stupid the only thing I could think of was the shaft from the engine on an Eco Saw going either to the front or the back on the cutting table. from this shaft you would have a gear box that permits you to shift all the way around the shaft in an arc. If this is done then how large is the arc and how much space is between the cuts if you were to do a vertical cut going one way and pivoting the head and coming back.

thanks for any help you can give me

Jeff · November 10, 2005, 12:14:34 PM

I'll send a heads up to Lindsay at doublecut. He'll have the answer, although I think he is away at a show but he also said he had is laptop with him. (ramble ramble :D )

BigTrev · November 10, 2005, 01:40:12 PM

I'm kinda curious as WHY the blade swings through 180 ? anyone see a benefit from this ? Like the sig says I'm a newbie :

Murf · November 10, 2005, 01:49:47 PM

I nebber seen one before, but being an Engineer, I like ta go through how stuff works just for S@#$ and Giggles. :P

If you drive a blade off the output shaft of a pivoting 90° gear box, and belt drive the input shaft, you could swivel the gearbox on the axis of the input shaft 180° because you would only be changing the position relative to the output, not the input.

A belt doesn't care if the load is to the left, right, or top or bottom of the driven pulley.

As for why? The only guess I can make is if you rotated the blade 180° you could cut in either direction and still have the blade going "forwards" into the wood.

Clear as mud now, huh?? :

woodbowl · November 10, 2005, 02:32:16 PM

Quote from: lawyer_sawyer on November 10, 2005, 12:03:38 PM

to not feel so stupid the only thing I could think of was the shaft from the engine on an Eco Saw going either to the front or the back on the cutting table.

lawer_sawyer, if that's a stupid question, I've got a pile more to go with it. I went to Moultrie and got to see the Eco saw. I was probably in the way with all my question asking and was tickled when asked if I would like to saw some boards with it. Here are a few pics.

Fla._Deadheader · November 10, 2005, 02:34:26 PM

That really e'splanes a lot, WB :

:

;) ;)

woodbowl · November 10, 2005, 02:38:26 PM

That's as good as I could get DH. He wouldn't let me take it apart. ;D

lawyer_sawyer · November 10, 2005, 03:51:12 PM

Thank you for the pics
sorry for any extra letters in this my son is trying to help me type.
By looking at the pictures it would appear that the ability might be possible due to a series of drive belts. I could be wrong.
An additional question to tack onto this is can it do 180* 100% of the time or do you need to shift the belts to oppositie sides of the shaft. it just seemed there were belts on only one side of the shaft.
I look forward to hearing from the manufacturers and thank you for your answers up till now.

woodbowl · November 10, 2005, 07:09:00 PM

lawyer_sawyer, theoretically the gear head, saw blade and all, if there was enough room could swivel 360 degrees! It would have to be off set from the engine, frame or anything else that would be in it's path of rotation. It would also need an extended shaft or the blade would cut the drive belts at top dead center. I'm not sure of the advantage for 180 degrees. Maybe for a special application. 90 degrees works mighty fine!

Furby · November 10, 2005, 09:37:02 PM

Doesn't the 180 allow you you to mill a larger log using the same frame?
I mean you would be able to get the blade closer to BOTH sides of the mill.

lawyer_sawyer · November 15, 2005, 06:08:11 AM

I am bumping this hoping to for a complete answer from the sponsors. Also to say thanks for the help.

Jeff · November 16, 2005, 12:43:03 PM

I am guessing Lindsay is still out on the road as I have had no contact with him yet. I am sure he will have a bunch for us on this as soon as he gets back to where he can check his mail.

D&L Doublecut is going full blast right now on thier mills and other new products as well as with thier new ecosaw line. Lindsay may have quite a bit of news for us at some point as well.

doublecut · November 16, 2005, 03:39:36 PM

Hey everyone .Sorry we haven't been in touch just haven't been home long enough to see my own face in the mirror it seems. I do have a lap top now so will be able to check in while I'm on the road
Thank you all very much for the interest and the posts on our products
To answer your questions
The 180 degree swing works to many different benefits. One it allows the operator to saw from either side of the log
The other is when cutting fom either side of the log most cases this is where one will want to doublecut to make a wider board than 8 ". So if you think about it you don't have to remove the head at all just move to the other side to start cutting. Also there is the safety factor. Does not mattter which side of the saw is being used there are guards to cover the side that is not being used at the time of sawing. The other noticable safety feature is the operator is not in the cut or in between the cutting rails
Any one that has a swinger right now could think about the options that being able to swing the blade up to the opposite side would open up to the sawyer. Just the doublecutting is one of the biggest with out removing the head.
Sawing left handed or right handed. Can work either way.
The saw is manufactured with stainless steel for a long life expectancy.
Adjustable legs for uneven terrain
Also when cutting with the 180deg swing this allows to break the log down from either side leaving a square cant in the middle of the log which is still attatched , then the slabber can be used to take off big cants or large table tops that are squared on 4 sides.
Thanks for the oportunity to answer the questions here. Please keep them coming
Doublecut

lawyer_sawyer · November 17, 2005, 06:45:38 AM

thanks Doublecut,
I do appreciate the information

If you could answer a couple more questions that would be great.
1. how large of a cant can you create by workin on each side. width and height.
2. Where is the sawyer located when running your saw?
3. how does the saw adjust up and down. It seems similar to a Lucas at least in the potential for needing to adjust from each end but I am not sure of that.

Looking forward to your answers.

doublecut · November 17, 2005, 10:53:27 AM

HEY LAWYER_SAWYER

1.) THE LARGEST CANT IS A 8X 16. That is doublecutting from either side of the log with no log turning.
Now if you wanted to do a larger cant a person could rip the log vertically 8" deep 24" a part and then use the slabber to rip off the 8x 24 cant or larger depending on the width a person made it.
2.) The operator is to the left or to the right of the carriage outside of the rails and to the side of the saw blade. So a person is not in the cutting path of the saw, a person is always to the outside.
3.) Yes the ends adjust independantly to each other. We have a robust gear box drive to lift each end so it is very easy to adjust to taper both horizontally and vertically as each end adjust seperate to each other working off the parrallelogram system .
I will try and up load the beam we cut in moultrie. All of you will have to help me with this as i haven't a clue on how to do it. But i will give it my best shot
doublecut