http://www.selectsawmill.com/index.htm
If'n you havent seen it allready.. I like it ... I like it alot.... :D
Danny,
What would you do about blade maintenance, those swage tooth saws are not cheap to keep sharp?
Well when you win the lottery, blade maintenance is not a big issue..... now to win the lottery is!! :D
Yea, they would carry a higher maintenance cost for sure, I just like the theory behind it and the mill itself is a nice looking machine.
I just had a logging truck load sawed. The mill, about 40 miles from me, had a select sawmill. I was really impressed watching it. It sawed both directions. I went in the filing room and talked to the filer. With the right grinder and other tools It didn't look that complicated. Maybe not easy. I liked the idea of getting 50 to 100 or more sharpenings out of a blade.
With a blade well over $200, metal is a real problem as is rocks in the bark. At the least, the logs should be washed and checked for metal.
What type of guides do they use on the blades ? Cause if there is teeth on both sides of the blade how would they keep the blade on track .
They dont use any guides. The tension on the blade keeps the blade in place, I think the tension is something like 5000 lbs. Seems kinda weird with no guides but with a 4 to 6 inch wide band it works good. I seen one of these mills at the state fair a few yrs ago,had 2 guys off bearing and they were really sweating to keep up.
EZ
I've looked at those sawmills, Nice!
If I was going to operate on an 8 hr shift basis I'd have one. But I would say they aren't economical for operating in a portable mode with residential timber sources. As the cost to maintain the blades would render the saw a financial deficit in tramp metal and dirty wood.
A friend of mine has a peterson swing blade, One set of nails renderd $50 in retipping in one pass. Replacement blades tallying in at over $200. It was an eye opener at how economical a 1 1/2 band is in comparison when replacing damaged blades!
Eric