Woodland Mills Speed-SFP questions.

Paddydiver · September 09, 2014, 05:54:56 PM

Hi Everyone. Me again asking another silly question.
I'm a tinkerer at heart and don't want do do anything stupid to my mill.
I did some digging and found that my mill only runs at about 2900SFPM(Surface Feet Per Minute).
I have been looking into timber wolf blades and they say their blades are rated at 5700SFPM. So my mill is running a lot slower than what they suggest and I think its prematurely wearing my blades.
My question is has anyone had any experience with increasing the drive pulley wheel to increase the speed of the mill?
I realize I would have to cut part of the shield away to accommodate a bigger pulley but that is something I'm willing and able to do easily.
Any thoughts are welcome.
Thanks

thecfarm · September 09, 2014, 06:23:18 PM

I sure don't know. But I do know there are a few members with a Woodlands mill. They have not mentioned problems with the band speed. Also if you speed things,any bearings might have to be replaced with ones that could take the increased speed. And maybe your mill is not designed to run at a faster speed at all. Kinda like having a car that will do 120mph. Just because it can,don't mean you have to drive it that fast. Timber wolf probably have that speed stated for the bigger mills.

goose63 · September 09, 2014, 06:35:22 PM

I am happy with the band speed on my woodland

drobertson · September 09, 2014, 07:27:26 PM

Just reading this, and have to say, if you want to tinker go ahead, but it might have been better to have known this ahead of time. as mentioned, these mills have produces a pile of lumber, if you want or need more speed you might consider going bigger rather than cobbling(no disrespect intended) a workable mill. On the flip side, you very well could uncover an aid that would actually work. Just saying most of the mills on the market are designed, so this could be a head ache in the long run. How knows, not every design is perfect.

boscojmb · September 09, 2014, 10:01:29 PM

The advantage to your mill is that it is light weight and can be set up in places that other mills can't. 8)
In round numbers, if you double your band speed, you'll need 2½ times the power to run it.
Increasing your band speed and adding a much larger engine may or may not be an advantage.
I think that the folks at Woodland matched the band speed to the engine.

Paddydiver · September 09, 2014, 10:24:58 PM

These are all things i have wondered myself. I guess the big thing I'm just wondering if running blades at half their intended speed dulls and or damages the blades? And would even a small increase in band speed increase production?

thecfarm · September 10, 2014, 05:25:55 AM

If running a manual mill,a slow speed is not a bad thing. You get less done and less logs and cants to turn by manpower. ;D I have no idea how fast mine turns. Fast enough,I guess,it gets the job done,at a walk.

boxygen · September 10, 2014, 07:43:36 PM

If you change the size of the pulley, you will change the speed of the bandsaw, but you will need more power to push it. Perfect analogy is riding a bike in high gear and low gear. If you want faster, you need more power. There is no free lunch here. The engineers knew what they were doing when they designed it.