Sawmill Build - Chain Slabber & 90deg Circle on the same tracks

[TJB]

Never fails to happen to me!

[metalspinner]

That stinks!

I was getting excited scolling down your post.  I thought we were going to see the chips starting to fly.

[pitotshock]

I guess it is better to break now, while the mill is still sitting in the garage, than breaking when it is all setup in the bush beside a pile of logs with two helpers standing there looking at me...

[pitotshock]

    IT LIVES!!!!!  _earmuff smiley_safety_glasses

[pitotshock]

OK, took the e-clutch off and tested the coil, everything was in good shape, just needed the air gap adjusted so the magnet could hold the plates together. Re-assembled and fired it up.

Put a piece of hardwood maple firewood in and did a test run to open it up. Had to adjust the tension of the chain a couple of times to tighten it up, but all went well.

First cut




8)


Surface finish with the standard cross cut harvester chain

[Jeff]

If you used the java uploader to upload and let it resize your pictures, they would be twice as big.

[fishpharmer]

Thanks Jeff for the java uploader it's the best.    8)  Bigger pics would be better for my eyes.

Pitotshock, Great Work!!!!  But it looks like you went through alot of trouble to cut firewood ;) ;D

Seriously, you did some nice work on your mill.  You will have a stack of lumber before you know it.   8) 8)

[Hilltop366]

Congrats on the first cut!

You won't believe the difference when you recut the chain to 10 to 0 deg. it will be way smoother, When you do you will need to take the rakers down the right amount    (a little at a time) to match your power output and gearing also type and size of wood . I'm guessing in the 40 to 50 thou range but you might want to start with a little less (it's hard to put some back on).

Also wondering what you ended up using for a oil pump, keep a close eye on the bar there should be enough oil that you see some sawdust sticking to the end of the bar.
8)

[pitotshock]

OK here is a bigger pic, thanks for the tip Jeff! Although I don't seem to be able to select any directories deeper than 2 levels. Any reason?





ahhhh, much better

[TJB]

Glad to see it making dust, I have been enjoying reading this thread. Here's a pic of a board I cut with a 0 degree angle chain.

[pitotshock]

It has begun!

Phase 2 Circular Dimension saw is now in progress




I'm pretty psyched about this build, as it is a departure from what any other homebuilder has really done, lots of little parts to fabricate, multiple sliding mechanisms, making my own blades etc...

Winter is ending and time is short to get this done now, so I will be burning some midnight oil to get this one in on time; as usual. This whole sawmill idea popped into my head in late October, research and design in November and construction start in mid December through to spring.

[pitotshock]

I've been working hard on the mill and have finished the translating frames, main blade shaft and I have started to machine the main blade saw plate.

Here are some pics of the main shaft made out of a rear wheel drive axle shaft. Let me tell you that this took a lot of work on the lathe as this material is VERY hard. C6 carbide cutters and very small cuts... I have drilled the blade mounting holes (not in pic) with a brazed carbide concrete drill bit. Regular HSS drill bits just melted away.







Oh, I found a commercial sawmill builder in British Columbia, D&L Timber Technologies, who has something very similar to my design. See their site http://www.dltimbertech.com/sawmill-models/dl-twin-saw-models/ Granted, theirs is a little fancier than my completely manual mill...

[scrout]

Pitotshock,
Nice looking work.
On your fixed blade design, is your intention to be able to position the vertical blade  horizontally clear out to your carriage tracks?  Which would mean the the motor would likely stick outside your main carriage uprights?
I am trying to figure out a similar setup, I have a bandmill with about 42 inches track to track width, but want another carriage with a swingmill.  Since my motor would be offset, I would have to roll it clear outside my carriage track on one side.   I am thinking I will have to counterweight as well.

[pitotshock]

More updates

Scrout: Yes, my engine is going to be hanging out on the open end of the frame when sawing at the extreme edge of the tracks. My tracks are only 32" wide and I am attempting to be able to cut a 30" diameter log (efficient use of space!). My track rollers are set up like a roller coaster, so forces in the up/down and left/right directions can be transmitted to the track. I have no fear of a tip over as the track weighs in at 350lb and the motor is only 75lb and over hung by 6 inches or so...

More pics for all you visual chaps.

Main blade shaft in place with pillow block bearings and double groove sheave. Note the blade side bearing is 1 7/16" dia and the opposite bearing is 1 1/4" dia. Both have the same casting size so the axis of the shaft is parallel to the frame. You can see the slots cut into the rectangular tubing to allow the main blade to move so the belt drive can be tensioned (also to adjust the lead angle in the main blade)



Cutting down the concrete saw plate on the mill with a rotary table to remove the diamond edge



Final trim of the outer diameter



Mock up of the engine, shaft and blade in the frame

[Hilltop366]

Looks good!

When I made my csm I hade some trouble when trying to tighten bolts through tubing enough without squishing the tubing as a result the bolts would not stay tight and I ended up using a piece of small pipe inside the tubing to put the bolt through.  I was also wondering if you were planning on putting some adjuster bolts to hold the pillows in place while adjusting the shaft. The machineing look real nice, I picked up a small lathe a while back but haven't had a chance to use it yet.

cheers and keep up the good work.
Hilltop

[pitotshock]

Do you have any provisions for toeboards to compensate for log taper??

Nothing in there yet, but I want to start out simple and expand as time goes on. My plan was just to have some 2x6's handy to adjust for taper if required. I do have a little 2 ton bottle jack sittin around though...

OK, tonight was the "build the toeboard jack" night and I really like how it came out. Just a basic bottle jack with a set of scissors to hold the top plate parallel to the bottom plate. It is made out of some 1.5" square tubing, 1.5" flat stock, two bearings, 1" cold roll bar and the bottom is some channel.

[pitotshock]

Hilltop

Yeah I am not bolting all the way through the tubing. the bolts are welded to a carrier inserted into the middle of the tube. When the tightening force of the bolt is applied it will only be on one wall of the tube, so I should be good there.

I picked up a small lathe a while back but haven't had a chance to use it yet.

Every tool is just another capability to do something a little better. My wife asked me "what are you ever going to use that thing for?" when we bought the milling machine. I couldn't believe my ears  :D Now I don't know how I could live without it.

[Hilltop366]

Yeah I am not bolting all the way through the tubing. the bolts are welded to a carrier inserted into the middle of the tube. When the tightening force of the bolt is applied it will only be on one wall of the tube, so I should be good there.

That should take care of it. I could't tell by the pics but I would have felt bad if I didn't say something and it caused you problems.

[pitotshock]

OK, here is the first real big day for the chainsaw mill

I needed six posts for an outdoor horse shelter I am building in a few weeks, so its time to fire up the chainsaw mill. Wake up Saturday morning, get everything packed and head out on the road to the in-laws place. Got there at about 9 am; the mill was setup by about 10:30; headed out to the bush around 11 am, and bring some eastern white cedar back to the yard by about 1pm. Lunch and saw until about 5:00. Boy, what a day! Just need a couple more and I will have what I need.

Have-sawmill-will-travel.



Everything setup just inside the machine shed



Monster log for the first try - 16ft long and about 10" at the top



One of the 12' 6x6's just completed



Truck loaded and ready for home




Hmmm, guess who made the custom roof rack...

[pitotshock]

but I would have felt bad if I didn't say something and it caused you problems.

This is exactly why I love this place!

You are very right about bolting through the tube and yes I thought of that too, but someone else who is reading this and going to build something for themselves might read this thread and take something away that helps them. This is exactly the kind of feedback I am looking for, thanks again Hilltop, you have been extremely helpful to me.

[fishpharmer]

Nice roof rack. 8)   Were you able to load the sawmill by hand?  Or did you use a loader?

It looks like it worked just as planned.  8) 8)

[pitotshock]

Yes some mechanical help is required to load that frame onto the truck rack, as it is about 350 lbs. So, maybe I should put 'portable' in quotations...

[pitotshock]

OK some general comments about the first job sawing boards with the chainsaw mill.

Basic stats:
Total actual cutting time through a log was something like 20-25 minutes over the two days.
Time standing and working at the mill would be around 5 hours.
It cut four 16' 6x6s and three 12' 6x6s.
Total linear cuts add up to 400' between 6" and 15" wide.
Chain is still the standard cross cut .404 harvester chain.
None of the logs were very straight, so it gave me a chance to 'see' the cant inside the log

Pro's:
Cut pretty fast through the cedar, 16'= 45 seconds
Cut in both directions, so I didn't have to return the carriage to the start
Got the job done!
Toeboard jack worked great to level out the pith
Log dogs were pretty good at holding down log

Con's
Not enough bar oil - I attempted to use gravity feed for the oil at about 2' head height between the oil tank and bar. This would fling oil all over the place when running without load. Once cutting into a log, I need a fair bit more oil to keep the chain happy. A pump is in order

Too much power for a single B series belt - The belt on this is a Dayco BP series and after all of this cutting it is cracked 90% through in one spot and shows a lot of heat wear. When I was pushing the saw through the log, I kept enough forward force to keep the engine on the edge of stalling out. i.e. developing max power (From a 16hp Briggs). Way too much demand on the belt and the small pulley would get too hot to touch after 45 seconds of use! Going to have to take it a little slower from now on

Traversing the sawblade upwards takes too much effort - cause: when the whole frame was finished welded the tubes that hold the nylon blocks and nylon ACME nuts rotated slightly, pinching the screws and increasing friction.

You have to be vigilant with the wedges when the cut is deep enough to make a thick slab. The pinching weight on the bar resists forward travel

[TJB]

pitotshock
Just so I'm clear, how long did it take to make a cut? I saw where you wrote

Total actual cutting time through a log was something like 20-25 minutes over the two days.

Cut pretty fast through the cedar, 16'= 45 seconds

I hate to sound dumb but I'm not quite sure what you meant. I saw where you wrote (Time standing and working at the mill would be around 5 hours.
It cut four 16' 6x6s and three 12' 6x6s) and that seems like a long time for seven 6x6s so I thought I must be misunderstanding something

TJ

[DanG]

I don't know, TJ.  Sounds pretty reasonable to me, considering that it was the first outing for a brand new design/build.  It's pretty impressive to me that he made lumber that wasn't pointed at one end. ;) 8) 8) 8)