converting sawmill to electric?

[teakwood]

@Al_Smith , with all respect, i have newer surrender before a challenge. when i came from switzerland i was a simple construction worker, licenced bricklayer. Now, 17 years later i own 2 businesses, do all my mecanical work, 6years in the transporting business with semi's, drive excavator, skidder, chainsaws, good faller, 90acres of teakplantations, make formidable furnitures in my own woodworking shop. from producing the wood to the finished product. i'm one hair away to open my stone quarry and still enjoy live at fullest!

there is NO challenge that with effort and interest in the matter can't be acomplished.

Ramon  

[Al_Smith]

Well on that quite frankly a challenge doesn't bother me either .It's a little less these days with the internet you can usually figure out just about anything .For me though it would be a little faster if I could type using more than one finger .Then too a computer doesn't respond well from a blow from a big hammer .That is not a good plan .

[rjwoelk]

I would think that the electric motor would be running all the time. Then you engage the clutch to run the band.
you also need to run the band at a certain rpm for it to cut right, I believe, so pulley size needs to be correct.

[teakwood]

the clutch is a automatic type, like in a chainsaw. at idle it disengage and when you rev up it engages, thats why i need two speeds on the motor

[rjwoelk]

   Variable Speed control units are available for electric motors. I have one on my Tanning drum, to set the speed of turning, from not moving to full speed.

[Den-Den]

thanks for the info, in the trial i will not saw a full day, just some cuts, so i won't overload the motor.

the motor says 25Amp, 5hp, 220V single phase, 2 pole, heat 60C,  so the 25 amps is what the motor consumes under load? if i pass that when in the cut i will overheat and eventually burn the motor? how do i measure that? i have a electrical meter, the yellow ones which can measure, volt, amps, ohm, i just know the very basics. how do i measure amps?

Variable speed would be a luxury for a band mill , i want something to have two speeds, a idle where the engine turns but not engage the clutch which turns the band and a speed for cutting. is there such a gysmo that i can buy? just a on/off and 2 speeds

I tried to reply earlier but must have done something wrong.
A mult-imeter will not handle 25 amps, a clamp on amp meter would be my choice, would not have to be an expensive one.
I recommend you change the clutch so that the motor can continue running at the same speed (similar to an electric clutch on a zero turn mower).

[teakwood]

I recommend you change the clutch so that the motor can continue running at the same speed (similar to an electric clutch on a zero turn mower).

i could use a A/C compressor clutch from a truck/equipment. they are electrically activated with 12V, and probably could handle the abuse as these compressors eat like 10hp from a engine 

[wiam]

Here is the clutch I put on my 20 hp Kohler to run the chainsaw on my processor. https://xtremeope.com/p/xtreme-replacement-clutch-for-toro-92-6885/

[wiam]

On my homemade mill with a 5 hp electric I run the blade continuously when using. I make adjustments to the log before returning for next cut so I am not in front of blade. 

[KenMac]

On my homemade mill with a 5 hp electric I run the blade continuously when using. I make adjustments to the log before returning for next cut so I am not in front of blade.

Winner, Winner!!

[teakwood]

Update, after long investigation and info from friends with electrical knowledge i finally converted my sawmill.

At the end i bought a Techtop 7.5hp 3phase motor, TEFC, 3500rpm, 46kg (about 15kg lighter than the whole gasoline engine setup) and it works like a charm. for my use, smaller diam logs, it's excellent. It's not fast but a manual sawmill never is.
I ended up making the third phase (just single phase current available) with 1200mf starter capacitors and a 80mf running capacitor. of course it's not ideal but it works great.

Men, am i happy with this conversion, costed me about 700$, now the electric bill went up around 20$/month which is pretty low compared to the 60-80$ i spent for gasoline per month before.

It's quiet, no exhaust gases and starts easy every time.




Magnetic starter switch (lower box), and a momentary push button (switch) for the starter capacitor (upper box)


these are the biggest logs for now, 14.5" diam
 

Nice boards


also did several updates on the mechanical side of the sawmill, a precision shop made these rollerguides for me and i put new fly wheel bearings in. I always had a wavy cut before. i spent several hours watching the cooks sawmill videos on youtube, men o men did i learn some stuff from them, excellent videos!
Now i'm very pleased how the sawmill performs.

[boardmaker]

Awesome.

Looks good.

[ellmoe]

Are those teak boards?

[Nebraska]

Looks great.

[Al_Smith]

The rule of thumb on a converter is around 7.5 mf per HP run caps on 240 volts .If the third leg is low,add some,too high remove some .They don't have to be perfectly balanced .
I think mine being 480 volts is within about 6-8 volts .The 480 is also transformed down to 240 delta because I have a drill press and an old Bridgeport milling machine that only have single voltage motors .I'm 72 years old and these are older than I am .Back in the 30's they did make them to last forever.Fact I have some that are about 100 years old that still run just fine . 

[teakwood]

I measured 228V between the 2 normal phases and 234V on the third leg.  

[Al_Smith]

Close enough .The old guy who showed me this little known trick about 45 years said to keep the dummy phase below 300 volts .

That old gent who was an engineer and never went to engineering school .When Ohio came out with "professional engineer " he grand fathered it .When the old oil wells in this area became low producing "stripper " wells he made a fortune electrifying them using three phase motors he bought for a dollar a HP and ran from single phase .Very smart gent he was .

[K-Guy]

Since I started coming to this website I have been thinking more and more about getting a small sawmill when I retire but I wouldn't need it to be portable so I would switch it to electric.

[Al_Smith]

I've got a home build that is a work in progress which I can't seem to find the time to finish .I've got options,15 HP Wisconsin twin ,18 HP Briggs ,31 HP Wisconsin 4 banger,10 HP electric .I don't want it portable but movable .I have no intention of hauling a mill all over north west Ohio to mill somebodies yard trees just because I'm a nice guy .Find some other nice guy for that .

[muggs]

With your knowledge Al, you have no choice but to go electric.  8)

[Al_Smith]

The way I have in mind to do it  ,it would not be difficult to change over from electric to gas or vica versa .Yet alas I have so many irons in the fire I'll have to live another 50 years to get them all done .
I have plans to built another building .So rather than trench in 100 amps to the building with another 60 for a mill I'll just go with an engine first .If it works out I can always  trench in a 60 amp branch feed from the building .Then the mill .I have to get my Monarch 10 EE lathe  working first because I've got a lot of machining  to do .I've got a new solid state controller for but with my wife ill never got around to installing it .Now 6 years a later after the fact having a new resident who just happens to be female I'm up to my behind in alligators once again .Just not enough hours in the day some times .No big deal .I'm retired . 8)

[moodnacreek]

Going electric is a step forward, good for you. How did you get the wires to follow the traveling saw head?

[Al_Smith]

Overhead festoon would be the simplest method .Cat track like an industrial robot would be cool but expensive .

[muggs]

Al Smith, You have a Monarch 10 EE?  I am jealous, One of the finest lathes ever built.

[Al_Smith]

I think it's a 1956 model WIAD ( works in a drawer ) Giant gas thyratron tube  rectifiers .The components are so old you can't find them any more .It got so I can't run it in slow speed .So I ordered a solid state control unit which I have not installed yet .If I wanted to I could sell the old components for more than the new unit cost .

Although I was a navy submarine sonar technician  and knew tube type electronics very well at one time I had to refer to my books  when I got into this thing.Use it or lose it type of thing  
Monarch kept very good records .I know the complete history where this thing has been .FWIW Monarch which basically just a warehouse now is in Sidney Ohio .About 30 miles south of me .I've been there several times ,
All that said  this old sweet heart could cut parts for the space shuttle,it's that accurate .I do believe I could cut threads on a darning needle after a couple of tries .