Have been running new homebuilt sawmill for a week.

[davey duck]

new  home built mill ,I am running the saw with a 7.5hp 1725rpm motor ,waiting for the new 14hp 3450rpm to get here this week.It is just a little slow cutting with the 7.5.the 3hp hydraulic power unit runs the saw head just fine.just need to get the hydraulic clamps and the log turner built and installed.most of the logs I have cut are 30-36 inches in dia. and 16 feet long .and seem to end up 50% over the log scale.

 

[Woodchuck53]

Nice machine Davey. What size iron do you have under it? Looks like you built plenty of strenght in it. Have fun, stay safe.

[barbender]

That's a nice looking mill, nice heavy frame under it too.

[davey duck]

the frame is made of 6x12" I beams that weigh 1200 lbs. each they were 40 feet long cut them down to 30 feet and used the 6 39" peices for the sub frame.it seems that most of the logs weigh well over a ton each.the mill is still a work in progress.

[customsawyer]

Nice looking mill. I bet it will handle them logs just fine.

[mometal77]

Looks like you have over come all the hurdles now everything is down hill.  Great looking mill.

[Chuck White]

Nice looking mill you've got there Dave.  8)

[morgoon]

That's amazing!

I'd love to see more pictures of the hyd set up

Great work

[fishpharmer]

Very well done. 8)

[bandmiller2]

Good job on the mill Ducky,are you running on single or three phase,I know a 14hp single is a rare bird.Just rechecked the name tag, my band runs on a 1750 Baldore three phase,enough power to run the band and a hydraulic pump for band head lift and carriage travel.Have a seperate 2hp motor driving A pump in the base for turning and clamping.Your right about the weight of logs many builders try to cheap out on the steel,not a good idea,you can't build a mill too strong and heavy duty. Frank C.

[Magicman]

That is a hunka sawmill for sure and log weight will not be a problem for that frame.  Congratulations.   

[thecfarm]

What kind of logs you sawing that big?   8)  Almost looks like hemlock. What's all the lumber going to be used for?

[davey duck]

 

  

  the logs are poplar most of the trees I have cut havehad 3 or 4 17foot logs in then.also a few more photos.

[Al_Smith]

Wow that frame is a stout one for sure .Looks like about mile of hydraulic hose too .

[davey duck]

the motor is 1 phase and the same on the new motor coming next week,the hydraulic hoses are 48' feet long x4,  the backstop has 2 -12foot hoses plus all the one on the power unit.I am looking for a hydraulic chain turner and clamp like on a Woodmizer or just start building one thanks for all the nice comments.I started building the sawhead over a year ago,it has been a real adventure finding all the parts on ebay and at auctions.I had a Turner Mill ,just sold it this week,a demo . on my new mill sold the old one,just to prove the power of sawdust. David.

[york]

David,good to see the beams being used,looking good.....

Did you say,you had a hose crimp machine???

albert

[Al_Smith]

With few exceptions a 10 HP is usually as large of a single phase motor as  you can find .They of course make larger but in over 40 years of being an electrician I've only seen a few .They were oldies and huge .

Geeze I'll bet that larger motor will be a heavy rascal . I've got an old 5 HP single ,1125 RPM that must weigh 200 pounds itself .

[bandmiller2]

Davey,I ment to say I have a 15hp three phase on my bandmill and its plenty to run the band and and hydraulic pump.Al at one time I had a 50 hp single phase motor it ran an old cider mill,I got rid of that sucker when I read how many reddy kilowatts it would draw,had to move it with a loader. Frank C.

[davey duck]

I bought the motor as a ten hp on ebay he said it would produce 14hp,but I am only counting on it doing 10hp it draws around 50 amps under load,it is a 3450rpm Im guessing it will use 25-30 amps with no load ,it is a 1 phase,sometime down the road we may change the electric service to 3 phase for the barn ,that might save money,the motor weighs 175pounds and it is new .

[Al_Smith]

It's a light frame motor then if it only tips the scales at 175 .Don't get me wrong because it will work no problem .

When they say "will produce " what they are refering to is it will run in an overloaded condition .It's most likely a 1.35 service rating .

Getting a tad off the subject but I've seen really really old motors that were rated for only maybe 3 hp but weighed about 4-500 pounds .Big old low speed motors from probabley the 1920's or 30's .

[bandmiller2]

Davey,that motor will do the deed.If possible I would have a seperate motor to run any hydraulics to save all the power for the band,and start each seperatly to lower starting demand.Some of those old motors Al mentioned have some real torque and a healthy duty cycle, got an old one on my lathe with a choke cable to move the brush holder for reverse.Frank C.

[redlaker1]

just from looking at the pics I was wondering if you have any trouble with sawdust building up on top of those beams.   I cant see if you have a rail on there or some sort of track sweepers.   

a few weeks ago I was using my friends norwood and had to take the little track sweepers off because they were jamming up in the rollers,  and I was surprised at how much sawdust could build up on that little 1/4" rail and the rollers

looks like a sturdy mill for sure,  always enjoy seeing the homebuilt stuff as I am a home fabricator tinkerer of sorts as well

[Al_Smith]

Out of curiosity I looked up single phase motors in the Grainger book today at work.

Under the listing of air handler motors they list some with a rating of from 10 to 14 HP .Evidently then because they listed the operating voltages from 200 to 230 that's where they get the ratings .The listing was on a motor with a 1.0 service rating.

Now I don't know but presume it's a multi tapped motor which some are .

Frank that old brush motor is probabley a repulsion induction and if it is that motor is old as the hills .

Most of those you get the thing started by which way the brushes are pointed then once it starts it shorts the brushes and runs like a regular induction motor .Rare old birds in this day and age .I think I've seen three of those in my life time .

[davey duck]

the sawdust and bark do sit on the rails have not made the scrapers yet .I have cut a trailer load of 2x8 and 2x10x16 s out of 5 logs a lot of lumber (90 pc) I need a edger real bad too many big slabs to load back on the saw,plus taking alot longer to process ,24 inch logs go a lot faster. the motor is a grain dryer motor that is why its rated at those hp s ,it only cost $299.00 the shipping is almost that much.