pics of your mill rails

[Red Good]

Having a hard time figuring out how to do the rails that the saw runs on , so if you guys could post some good pics of your mill rails it would be  apreciatted. Thanks ,Red 

[thecfarm]

I have a Thomas,made by a small machine shop here in Maine. They use,I think,3"X¼" angle iron.I know I'm right on the ¼ part. Mine is buried with snow right now. I have some more pictures in my gallery that I have posted over the years.



 

You can just see the wheel on the upper left.  That is 2"X4" rectangle tubing under it all. No movement with that track. 

[dgdrls]

 

  
Lucas Rails


  
WM LT-10 Rail


  



 

DGDrls

[Bill Gaiche]

 Just a sample of mine. Rails are 1/4" x 3" angle. bg



  

  

  

  

  

 

[shenandoahsawmill]

I am familiar with a couple of wheel and track combinations. I would not consider a cam follower wheel on a round guide rail as this will lead to a high point loading on the rail and lead to flattening of the rail in high travel areas. Especially on cantilevered saw heads. A round profile wheel (where the profile cut into the face of the wheel matches the rod dia) on a round rod will spread the load out and be a better option. The round profile wheels are not readily available so a better option might be a wheel with a vee shaped profile in it's face running on a piece of angle iron that is welded to a flat base plate. I would also use as deep (top to bottom) a structural steel as possible to keep from deflecting under the load especially with a portable trailer package. Also, I would not weld the guide rail to the supporting structural steel as this means preloading both parts to keep them straight after welding/cooling.  Some manufacturers bend the base tube up in the middle and weld the rod on then let the upward bend loose and pray the assembly is reasonably straight. I think if I were to fabricate a mill I would use a very deep piece of box tubing and a piece of angle iron on top of a piece of flat steel slightly wider than the angle iron.  The angle is tack welded to the flat plate and the flat plate is bolted to the top of the box tubing. This configuration will work for a cantileverd head if you go with wheels/rails top and bottom of the beam.

[bedway]

I think i have several pics of my frame, rails, and other construction in my gallery.

[hackberry jake]

 

 
Boardwalk uses round rod welded on 4" c-channel. The wheels are v-wheeles that can be had pretty cheap. Ihave looked at similar v-wheels at zoro tools to use for a kiln cart. The rod has 1" long welds every 18" or so. I assume this helps keep the frame straight since not much heat is induced.

[roghair]

Avoiding sawdust buildup on the track and wheels is crucial.

[StimW]

 Here are a couple pics of the trailer I just built with track extension. It's not road worthy, it's just to move it on my property.


  

 

[Red Good]

Man the more pics I see the more it becomes apparent that there is no one standard way to do this .Any other way to skin this cat ? Thanks ,Red

[redbeard]

 

  

 

[shinnlinger]

Not the best pic's but pretty easy ones to mimic as that is the intent of Turner mills.  Easy to make on your own.  Uneven leg angle iron with another smaller piece for the actual rail. 

 

[justallan1]

Here's what comes with my mill. It's made of 2"x3/16" angle and came in 4' sections. If building one from scratch I'd go bigger and heavier and definitely one solid piece length wise, just for ease of building and the fluidity of use and leveling.
Allan