What's it going to be? (Solved: sorting surge deck)

[Dave Shepard]

I'm starting another project. : I do finish them once in a while, but haven't lately. ;D

Let's play whatsit. I'll add pictures as I get pieces and parts. There's going to be a bunch of structural steel, and some rollers and a bunch of these:



I ordered some more bits from Surplus Center today, and will be putting in an order to MSC for the other fittings. Parker-Hannifin makes some neat stuff. ;)


Dave

[Jeff]

mill leveler

[Dave Shepard]

Nope, but it goes near the mill. That would be a cool way to level a portable mill though. Pull in to the job and a few quick puffs of air and ready to go. 8)


Dave

[Jeff]

Just wait until you see what burlkraft built. He'll show it when he gets it all prettied up.  :D


Does this have something to do with a log deck?

[beenthere]

He'll show it when he gets it all prettied up.

Or maybe when it gets covered in snow on Monday... :D :D :D

[Dave Shepard]

Just wait until you see what burlkraft built. He'll show it when he gets it all prettied up.  :D


Does this have something to do with a log deck?

No, the log deck is my "other other" project. The skidder being the "other" project. I was also working on my trommel screen project today too. Somedays I am surprised I have time to go to work. : This is going between the mill and edger. ADAMINMO knows about 1/3 of what I am building is. ;D

So Burls been inventing, has he? Can't wait.


Dave

[zopi]

Surge Deck.

[Woodchuck53]

Maybe a quick buncher for banding the bundles together? CV

[Dave Shepard]

Surge Deck.

That's half right.


Dave

[Woodchuck53]

Okay Dave which half? Maybe a kicker assembly to seperate the edger boards from the clean ones? CV

[beenthere]

Push the sawn board off the cant/log. : :

[Dave Shepard]

It's going to be a two, or maybe, a three way sorting surge deck. I am going to set up a conveyor near the mill to catch the boards and slabs and send them to the surge deck. The valve is a selector for slabs or boards/flitches. The slabs will get kicked into a rack, and the boards and flitches will get kicked onto a pair of arms in front of the edger. There will be a foot valve near the sawyers station to lower the arms as the flitches pile up. As I edge, I will be able to bring the arms back up, so I don't have to bend over for the last half. ;) I would like to have about  300-400 feet of surge capacity, but that may be too much. I thought about sorting the boards from edgings, but I don't see any advantage other than added surge capacity.

When the selector is in the "slabs" position, the slab kickers will be up. When the slab enters the surge table, it will go over a treadle plate that will lower the kickers. As soon as the slab  clears the treadle plate the kickers come up, hopefully with a good snap, and the slab goes into the rack. The same principle applies for flitches and boards.
My main goal is not to increase production, but to optimize band life. I really need to be able to fire up the mill and stay in the wood as long as possible without shutting down. Right now I have to stop the band every couple of cuts to pull slabs and boards. Greatly increased production will be a nice bonus. ;D


Dave

[Woodchuck53]

That  will be what I want. Mine's a one person show so all the mechanized I can get will allow me to saw a while before I have to shut down and sort. Will want plenty of pictures please. You did say air instead of hyd. right? CV

[zopi]

Surge Deck.

That's half right.


Dave

Some folks say i have an acid wit...some folks say it's half acid.

[ADAMINMO]

Don't you love it when a plan comes together. Be sure to post pics of the finished project. I would like to see it in action .... or atleast some pics of the action.

[Dave Shepard]

I'll post pics as I make progress, Adam. This is something you guys could make with a blindfold on though. :D


Dave

[Dave Shepard]

The valve I'm going to hook to my treadle plate arrived today. It works a little differently than I originally thought. I thought the cam was pushed in, but it flips left and right, or up and down in   the picture. It will activate two single action or one double acting cylinder. I don't know if I'll use the roller, or just take it off and put a linkage directly to the treadle plate. I have all of the airlines mapped out in my head, just waiting for the Prestolok fittings and airline, not cheap, but worth it. 




Dave

[bandmiller2]

Rube Goldburg devices are what make life worth living.Dave you got to show us some pictures when your done.Probibly most of us are lone rangers and a tireless worker that doesn't drink all your beer is welcome. Frank C.

[Dave Shepard]

I've got a few more pieces to my Rube Goldberg Auto Sorter Stacker. ;D I got some airline and fittings to do a mock up of my piping. Bought airbrake stuff, all I could find, won't make that mistake again.

Here's the valves and two cylinders. The air supply goes in the barb fitting on the blue valve. The blue valve gets attached to the treadle plate. When the treadle is "up", the selected cylinder bank will be up. As you can see in the pic, the lower cylinder is "up".  When the treadle is depressed by a board, the valve will exhaust the air in the cylinders and the kickers will drop to the "down" position. As soon as the board clears the treadle, the kickers come up and the board gets thrown onto the "surge" table. The black valve selects which set of kickers to be operated by the treadle valve. There will be a "slab" setting for slabs, shims and miscuts, and a "board" setting for flitches and boards. There will be a rack on the "slab" side that will hold the slabs to be bundled and forklifted away. There will be three kickers for each function, and three cylinders.

As you can see, I am a top finalist in the New England Cluttered Desk Competition, second behind Neslrite. :D You should have seen it last winter, you couldn't have slid a mouse in sideways.  : :D




I got a lead on some deadrolls at the scrapyard this afternoon. They were in good condition before noon, but didn't make out too well when the pushed everything into a pile. :( I was able to dig out two good units, and picked up about two dozen good rollers that fell out of the ones that got crushed. The ones I got are a little rusty, but there was a couple of really nice plated ones that got severely pretzeled. :( Not a bad haul for $64.50. ;) ;D ;D



ADAMINMO, did the kicker table that you sent the picture of sort to two different sides? I saw another picture in your ad in the Lumberman paper, and it looks like it has two sets, I had thought it only had one. Is it foot powered?


Dave

[tlooney]

(Parker-Hannafin makes some neat stuff.)

Thanks Dave I think we make some pretty neat stuff too. By the way I work for Parker Hannifin building custom cylinders.

[ADAMINMO]

Ours kicks off to both sides. It is foot operated , so if yours is air then you will be one up on me!! :D  :D We only have a sorting table on one side of the roller is standard but the other side can be added easily.

[Dave Shepard]

I've decided to cut down on my project list by combining two projects. :D I have a Steiner Roll-A-Mix that I was going to convert into a trommel screen. It's to the right of the truck in this pic:



I was building the trommel to screen a couple of hundred yards of compost that I have made from wood chips and cow manure. I've decided it would be better to rent a Read. Besides, the compost has been taken over by this:



I've heard that the velvet leaf seeds will last 50 years underground. I can't sell that in good conscience. I might be able to recompost it with new material, but it would then have to be kept seperate from that site.


I will use the main frame of the Roll-A-Mix as the base for my surge deck. This will free up a bunch of structural steel I was going to use. I haven't figured out how this is going to fit into the production line yet. I have the option of adding different stations along the roller track for further sorting, all controlled at the sawyers station, or also at an edgermans station. I guess it depends on what type of sawing I'm doing. A sort for pallet boards and cants would be great for a grade operation.

Waiting to get my Milwaukee bandsaw fixed, I don't like to fabricate without it. Then I'll get main parts welded up and get some more pictures up. It sure feels good to get that screener project finished. : :D There's lots of goodies on the mixer that will get reassimilated into other projects. There's a 7.5hp three phase motor that I need for my air compressor, and a couple of gear boxes and trinkets. Going to have to have to battle rusty bolts to get them though. I should pick a hobby with newer parts. :


Dave

[bandmiller2]

Dave, I always wanted one of those milwaukee hand held bandsaws are they much better than one of those 14"cutoff saws?? for a steel wrangler.I know it depends, but is the bandlife good enough to justify the band cost.On the lighter side mayby you could put a course tooth band on the saw and a pair of roller skates and have a truely portable bandmill.Frank C.

[Dave Shepard]

I have two floor model bandsaws, and I am waiting to get the portable one working before I start fabbing. ;) The bands seem to last a long time, unless you hit something really hard in the steel, which isn't too often.


Dave