Ever build your own edger?

J Beyer · August 08, 2002, 09:53:51 PM

Has anyone built their own edger? It would be kind of neat to see a homebuilt edger with two saws. A single blade edger is easy enough (just model a table saw). Anyone have clues to plans? feel free to email me on this one.

JB

Bro. Noble · August 09, 2002, 07:23:29 AM

I don't understand why more people don't use old edgers from production mills.

We use a 3-saw corley, it's old but well built and will last us forever.

I see this type of edger advertised for $1-2,000.

You couldn't begin to build one for that and I would rather have one than a new light built edger.

Noble

Ron Wenrich · August 09, 2002, 10:17:33 AM

I totally agree. Go out and buy a used one.

New saws will run about $300 each, and a good arbor will go for about $1500. You still need bearings, belts and pulleys.

J Beyer · August 09, 2002, 02:06:56 PM

Major ouch on the parts prices!

I guess that i will stick with my thoughts :

on the gasoline engine powered tablesaw. I'm kind of like Tim Allen when it comes to tool. Any thought on converting a belt drive table saw to gasoline power?

JB

Brian_Bailey · August 09, 2002, 04:48:20 PM

Woodmizer use to make a single blade edger. It's basically a table saw with rollers on each end. Maybe you can find one or get some pictures of it for ideas. I have one and really like it. I don't saw enough lumber to justify a bigger edger. Once you get the hang of using it, it does a good job. Shure beats edging on the mill ! Brian...

Corley5 · August 11, 2002, 03:08:29 PM

If I were you I'd buy a used one. Check out the support equipment section of the sawmill exchange http://www.sawmillexchange.com/commerc.htm I see a couple pretty good ones there that sound like good deals. By the time you fiddle around building your own you could buy one of these and be edging lumber rather than building an edger. My edger is a shop built 3 blade one from somewhere in the U.P. I run it with a flat belt from an IH H or 300. The lat time I sawed we had a big pile of flitches stacked up. When the edging was over we had just short of 2,500bdft of lumber and it was all edged in less than an hour and a half. My man tailing was just about done in and so was I from trying to do him in :D ;)

;D 8). The only thing I don't like about mine and Grandpa didn't like it either is that it's some kind of a major overhaul to get the blades out of the d!#$%d thing to sharpen them. Someday I want to replace them with two piece blades. The ones in it now are a solid tooth saw with set like a table saw blade.

J Beyer · August 11, 2002, 09:08:32 PM

After seeing the prices for edgers without a power source, if I want to tinker a little that route will be much easier. I agree with the split blade idea, though I have never used an edger but would appreciate the split blade design.

JB

Bro. Noble · August 12, 2002, 02:30:07 AM

Jeff,

If you get a used edger from a production set up, it will likely have inserted teeth. Ours does, we've never had to remove the blades and probably never will. We file the teeth in place and very rarely have to replace them.

Noble

Bibbyman · August 12, 2002, 08:39:34 AM

If you're running a mill by yourself, you probably won't find much productivity gained by adding an edger. It's only when you've got someone pulling flitches and pushing them through the edger while you are sawing that you'll really see productivity improvements.

We've got an edger but many times we still edge thick or long stuff on the mill because we don't want to lug them off the mill to the edger. We just shove the flitches over on the loading arms and then we the cant is down to say a 4x6, we pitch the flitch (or flitches) back behind the clamp against the cant. On a Wood-Mizer hydraulic mill, you can use the loading arms to dump them back on the blocks and if you're good with the new clamping system, you won't always have to handle them. You can get the clamp in behind them and push them up against the cant. You'll still have to flip and pull, etc.