DIY Scrap Iron Bandsaw Mill

[Crusarius]

Spruce is my biggest nemesis. hardest wood I have sawn. but by hardest I mean most difficult. I can do hickory, that is a dream to me compared to the stupid spruce.

Would you like to swap some spruce for some sweetgum? :D

sure, do you deliver?

[RetiredTech]

Would you like to swap some spruce for some sweetgum? :D

sure, do you deliver?

I don't think I want to drive to NY. It's too cold up there. That's why I live so far south. We rarely see snow in my neck of the woods.

[RetiredTech]

I did the sliding tube in tube like you have and found it to be difficult get and keep aligned.

 I went ahead and welded the blade guides on. You are correct. The way I have them now is not going to work. I may try to add some bearings to my slide tube and see if that helps. There's just too much slack in the tubes. I added more guide bolts, but when you tighten them enough to remove the slack they create too much bind to slide the bar. I'm going to leave it as is for now and come back to it once I get closer to finished.
 I'm thinking about adding a section of 3/4" allthread suspended in bearings with a crank on the end to move the slider in and out. I'll have to address the slack problem first. I'm pretty sure I have some skateboard bearings around here somewhere. That might be what I need.

[Ljohnsaw]

On my sliding tube in tube, I welded on two 1/2" nuts on the back side.  In retrospect, I should have done them on the corner or at least the top.  I then had a couple big hand knobs to tighten things down when adjusted to position needed.  It worked but not convenient when the saw was running.  Basically, I had to hold the bar down with one hand while tightening the hold downs with my other hand.

Take a look at my new setup again.  Actually really easy to fab up, really easy to align and pretty cheap to make.  I was really surprised how stout it is.  You could just add a knob to tighten down on the bar to lock it in place.

[Crusarius]

I still have the tube in tube. The only reason I added the support arm was because I added the dual blade length option. the adjustable guide is about 30" long and at that length the 1.5x1.5 flexed enough that every time I moved it the board had a different taper. Adding the support arm fixed that problem and kept it at the same height for all positions.

[RetiredTech]

Take a look at my new setup again. Actually really easy to fab up, really easy to align and pretty cheap to make. I was really surprised how stout it is. You could just add a knob to tighten down on the bar to lock it in place.

 I'll have to look up your v2. I was looking at you revisions page last night. I couldn't figure out how big the actuator itself is. There is less than 2" between between the sidewall of my tires and the frames cross member. I have enough bolts in it now that I could move it to position and tighten it down. I'll probably do that for a while, but I know that's going to get old. I ended up with two bolts on the corner, two on the front side near the top and to on the underside near the rear. It still wouldn't take the slack out without making the guide immovable.

[RetiredTech]

The only reason I added the support arm was because I added the dual blade length option.

 I read that as "Dual Blade option." I was getting excited about a dual blade band saw. I had to go back and reread it a couple times before I caught on.
 I should have taken a picture of my guides today, but I didn't think about it. I've got a couple of ideas rolling around in my mind, but I think I can use it temporarily like it is by moving it into place and tightening it down to remove the slack. Ultimately, I'll have to fix it.

[RetiredTech]

Track build part 1.

  One of my brothers had a couple 2"x3"x24' thin wall tube that he didn't need and offered to donate it to the sawmill project. When he came to visit he cut them into @ 8' lengths so he could haul them in the bed of his pickup. I wish they were thicker, but that's what I used for the base of the track.
  Now I had to build a flat spot to build the track on. I tried digging out to lay some cross ties on the ground to make a level bed. I found out real quick that I had too much hill to work with for that. I had some short pieces of treated 4x6 and 4x4 from other projects. Some of it was too warped and twisted to be of any real use. I decided I could use the left over treated 4x4s and 4x6 as posts cut them to level then build the tracks on top of them.

  I laid out a row of post roughly 4' apart then squared up the second row and laid them out. The small pink ribbons on the ground are the center of each hole.




  I used the post hole digger on the tractor to dig the holes. Even after putting new cutters on the auger, it had trouble going through the hard packed dry dirt. I had to resort to breaking  chunks out of the bottoms of several holes with a 16 pound prybar, but I finally got them dug and cleaned out. Then it was just a matter of setting the posts as straight and square as possible and cutting them off level. 








It was a lot of work for a temporary work space. But it's done. Here's the two rails with some emt conduit for spacers. I change the conduit out for heavy walled pipe before welding it together.

[Ljohnsaw]

I couldn't figure out how big the actuator itself is.

OK, here are some more pictures but please excuse the background clutter and the rusty blade

The ram is fully extended.  It has 26.5" of travel - less than my mill is capable of but gets me close enough on the smaller stuff.  Still about 12" or so opening.  There is just a link from the end of the rod to the end of the guide to account for any deviation between the guide tracking and the parallel-ness, or lack there of, of the actuator.  It doesn't look it but that 1" square tube is really stiff in those V-groove rollers.

My bandmill thread has the details of the V-groove wheel mount and adjustments.



U-bolts hold the actuator to the angled braces on the guide arm support.  The white Zip ties are just holding the electrical wire up.  Tight quarters but it works.

The only drawback is that the actuator "case" sticks out all the time.  You can see the end of the blade guide rod below it and next to the blade cover.  It could go that much further but the actuator is too short of throw.

 
If I could find a slow 12v motor, I might replace that with a capstan setup with a cable attached to both ends of my blade guide rod (1" tube).

On the Woodmizer mills, one of the V-groove wheels is powered and when it hits end of travel, I think it just slips so nothing gets hurt.  If I had room, maybe a rubber wheel riding on the rod or one of the wheels would work as well?

[RetiredTech]

OK, here are some more pictures but please excuse the background clutter and the rusty blade

No problem with the clutter. I deal with plenty of it here. The pictures cleared it up for me. I'm not going to have room for an actuator like that, but I may be able to adapt the roller idea and slide it manually.

[Crusarius]

The only reason I added the support arm was because I added the dual blade length option.

I read that as "Dual Blade option." I was getting excited about a dual blade band saw. I had to go back and reread it a couple times before I caught on.
I should have taken a picture of my guides today, but I didn't think about it. I've got a couple of ideas rolling around in my mind, but I think I can use it temporarily like it is by moving it into place and tightening it down to remove the slack. Ultimately, I'll have to fix it.

I did think about the dual blade option. But in the end I chose to just stick to the single blade but I can run a 158" or a 176" gives me up to 41" between the guides.

[Crusarius]

That bed design looks so much better. I think you will be very happy with that.

[RetiredTech]

That bed design looks so much better. I think you will be very happy with that.

I was worried the 2x3 stock might be too light. I plan to have it fully supported when it's moved to it's permanent location and I'll have supports under the bunks as well. However I'll have to cut all that timber on the mill before I can move it. It's in a terrible spot to try to use it for anything. Everything would have to be loaded from the end of the track. Very close quarters.

[Magicman]

You should have plenty of Black Locust for your timbers.

[Ljohnsaw]

It's in a terrible spot to try to use it for anything. Everything would have to be loaded from the end of the track.

I was wondering about that!

[RetiredTech]

You should have plenty of Black Locust for your timbers.

Unfortunately no. I do have a very few Honey Locust. We used to get Black Locust from a neighboring property, but we don't have access to that anymore.

[RetiredTech]

I was wondering about that!

It's out of the weather and I have electricity for the welder. Eventually it will be moved behind our container. I plan to build a roof over the container with the tractor and implements on the up hill side and Sawmill and walk in cooler on the lower end. I think I may have more projects than ever now that I'm retired. 

[RetiredTech]

Track build conclusion.

Steel Pipe tack welded.




Welded all the way around each pipe end.






Cut the channel material for the cap strips.


Making sure my angle iron for the wheels is straight. It's hard to see the string stretched tightly down the center of the angle iron.




All welded up.




That pretty much brings us up to date with the build so far. I have the blade guides installed, but will have to rework them later. Right now I'm working on changing out the v-groove wheels to make the mill easier to roll.

[Magicman]

Unfortunately no. I do have a very few Honey Locust. We used to get Black Locust from a neighboring property

I am very surprised, and Honey Locust will not work.  Being able to saw might attract some interest and lead you to someone that has Black Locust.

[RetiredTech]

That's a shame. There's a big Honey Locust right where the mill will end up. It's going to have to be cut. Would it make good construction lumber?

[Magicman]

It is prone to twist, etc. as it dries.  I would not use it for framing lumber but it could make some nice wall paneling.


 

 

 It will also make some nice slabs for benches, etc.

[Crusarius]

I would not worry about full support under the rails. I don't know if you get cold and freezing in MS but if you do I definitely would not do full support. Having full support will allow sawdust to build up around the frame causing rot and rust. if its only supported every so many feet you will have much less issues with piles of slimy sawdust.

I have a few spots on my sawmill where I gets piles and it can get really nasty if I do not clean them before I end for the day. Worst case scenario for me is the pile freezes and the backstops don't move.

[Ianab]

I am very surprised, and Honey Locust will not work.  Being able to saw might attract some interest and lead you to someone that has Black Locust.

When you have a mill you have the opportunity to do a bit of "wheeling and dealing". There have been many discussions about "sawing on shares". It's an option if someone has logs you want. Work out a deal based on the log value and your sawing costs. Don't do a deal on logs you have no use or market for, but if you can both come out ahead on the deal, then go for it. 

[Magicman]

I don't know if you get cold and freezing in MS

He will never have to worry about the ground freezing. :D

[Crusarius]

I thought that to living in AZ. but every once in a while, you say the wrong thing to the significant other and its amazing how cold everything gets