DIY Scrap Iron Bandsaw Mill

[RetiredTech]

  The Grapple came in late yesterday. Looks good so far. Put it to work moving a stump and some fallen rotten trees. Made quick easy work out of a chore I've been putting off. There's plenty of work for it to do on the farm. It will even get to contribute by moving logs for the sawmill.







OK, enough about the tractor. I promise the next post will be about the sawmill build.

[Magicman]

Nothing wrong with showing off your new tractor stuff  except that it makes us jealous.  I surely could use it here on this job because the customer only has a bucket on the FEL, not even forks.   :-\

[RetiredTech]

  I saw that stack of logs your working on. Looks like a good sized job. Lots of lumber being hauled away. Can't wait to start sawing some myself. Hopefully I will get to work on the mill one day this week.

[RetiredTech]

  No progress on the mill today. Spent the morning in the garden and the afternoon cleaning up trees on the fence line. I did save these logs to use on the mill. And I also found a small patch of Black Locust (I think). Maybe a dozen or so little trees the tallest is about 6' and about 3/4" in diameter. The little white posted sign in the background is where our property ends. I'll bring out the Grillo 2 wheel tractor and flail mower to clean out around them when I get time. Maybe in 20 years or so I'll have some black locust to cut. I'll only be 83 by then. :D

[RetiredTech]

  Installation of the swing-up stops is on hold while I scrounge a few more pieces of metal. I needed a couple stops on the far end of the mill for cutting long logs so I used the two pieces of 2" square tubing I had left on that end. I know that's not much progress, but it is something.

[Magicman]

Nothing says that you have to use the swing-up side supports but at least you now have options.  ;D

[Crusarius]

I have a love hate relationship with my swing up supports. I love how they are all connected and easy move from the trailer jack I welded to the bed. I hate how hard they are to adjust.

[RetiredTech]

  I plan to use them on the front end of the mill because I figured most of what I cut will be around 8' to 12' long and I wouldn't need the drop in stops at all. I'm sure the swing up stops will be much faster to adjust than than two drop in stops. I'll need the drop in's for longer lumber and beams. I think I know how I want to connect them and I blocked one in place so I could weld the drop in's in line with where the swing up stops will be. I cut a couple pieces of shaft for the swing ups, but I'm going to have to turn it down a little. If I can fit them in my little lathe. My biggest problem right now is time. It's funny how you have less time for the things you like to do when the days are actually longer.

[RetiredTech]

I hate how hard they are to adjust.

  I don't understand. How are they hard to adjust?

[Crusarius]

the way I designed them. I have adjustment on them but the biggest issue I have is if they are not perfectly perpendicular to the bed through the entire range of motion it screws up your square cants. I can have them perfect all the way up but halfway up they are not. So it takes alot of tweaking to get them just right.

[Magicman]

My biggest problem right now is time. It's funny how you have less time for the things you like to do when the days are actually longer.

Now that you are retired you will never have enough time to get stuff done again.  At least when you worked you had days off and vacations.  They are now history.   :D

[RetiredTech]

Crusarius,
  I hadn't thought of that problem. I had assumed If I adjusted them to be 90° when straight up they would be that way all the way down. Now that I think about it I see how that would happen. My idea was a fixed mount point at the back and then a plate that adjusts up and down on the other end. I guess I need adjustments for up and down plus left and right to compensate. I can see where that could be a bear to get perfect.

[Hilltop366]

the way I designed them. I have adjustment on them but the biggest issue I have is if they are not perfectly perpendicular to the bed through the entire range of motion it screws up your square cants. I can have them perfect all the way up but halfway up they are not. So it takes alot of tweaking to get them just right.

Wondering... if they were inline with each other when horizontal along their entire length using a tight string or wire then raised up and adjusted square with the bunks would they then not be the same set anywhere in-between?

[Crusarius]

Hilltop, that is a great thought. I may have to try that. thanks!!!

retired, one thing that I do have a problem with is the mounts are just ears welded to the frame and when I tighten the bolt it like to tighten flat to the ear. so that makes it more challenging to align it having to fight the rotation as you tighten the bolt.

between my slow raise and my out of square backstops those really are the only things that I am not really happy with on my mill. Still can't believe it works as good as it does with my lack of sawing knowledge when I built it. (never ran a sawmill before building it)

[RetiredTech]

  I'm kind of in the same boat. I never even saw a real mill until I met MagicMan. I'm just stumbling through the build on what I've learned by reading other peoples builds and some youtube videos. You guys that have replied to my posts have been a great help.

[RetiredTech]

  Here's a picture of where I am right now. I have the two back end fixed stops in place and one log dog spot welded in place between them. I'm not sure if it's in a good location or not. I cut up the rest of my 1 1/2" square stock to raise the bed height a little. If a make a modification to the lower bolt on my fixed blade guide I should be able to get a 1" minimum bottom board thickness. The only problem is I was about 6' short of having enough to do all the bunks. They are just sitting there right now. I'm thinking about bolting them on in case I need another adjustment point. I guess I could tack them down so I could just cut them loose if I need to. I noticed when I was adjusting my blade guides that two of my bunks are a little off. One is about 1/16th low all the way across and one is off on one end. It may be close enough for what I need, but if not I could shim the low ones back into place. Can anyone tell me if a 1/16th of an inch in the middle of about a approximately an 8 foot span is going to be a problem?

[fluidpowerpro]

My opinion is yes, if you have identified the 1/16" issue now, then I would fix it. 
Your final product (boards) will be influenced by not only that 1/16" variance, but also the stack up of many other tolerances. If you start with a 1/16 " you will never do better. 

[RetiredTech]

  Thanks FPP, I'm pretty sure I can shim it out with some thin sections of sheet metal. I guess I need to see how close I can get them. I don't think I'll ever be using this mill to cut for anyone else. Most of what I'll be cutting is construction lumber to be used on the farm. My uncle may need a few special cuts, he's more of a woodworker than I am. But then he also has a planner.

[fluidpowerpro]

I think you will be happy you did. 

[Ljohnsaw]

On the 1/16" variance: Triple check that your rails are true/straight. Then check your bunks again. 

I have 12 jacks along my 40 feet of track. There are three rigid track sections with 4 jacks each. I have a dip in one of my tracks of maybe 1/8" in a 16' run. But my bunks are at the ends so the cut drops in the middle. I'm doing BIG beams so that variance is lost in the drying process, IMO.

[Crusarius]

You should definitely fix it. I have had minor setup issues where it was not flat and I did notice the boards had thick and thin spots.

Of course I am a machinist before a woodworker so I use calipers to measure everything.

[RetiredTech]

  Thanks guys, I only had enough material for four of the bunks right now. I laid a 4' level across the top of the square tube and measured down to the track on each side then tack welded in place. Each one is the same measurement from the top of the track to the top of the level. I think I'm good on these. I'll need to come up with some more 1 1/2 " stock for the other two. I finally got around to adding stops to both ends of the tracks so the saw head can't just roll off.

[RetiredTech]

  Well I decided it was time to throw a test log on the mill. I pulled this crooked 10' fork out of the fence line a few days ago. It had blown down in a recent storm. The base of the tree was pretty rotten but the tree was still alive. I thinks it's some type of Elm, but  I'm really not sure. It was about 10" diameter on each end. I wanted to see if I could get a usable 4x4 from it. I'll probably use it to stack lumber on. The 4x4 came out almost perfect except for about 8 inches where it was too crooked on one end and I forgot to flip it on one side when I was cleaning it up. I'm very satisfied with the way it turned out as far as being straight, square and dimensionally accurate. I ended up with the 4x4, a few stickers, two wheelbarrow loads of firewood, and better a understanding of how much sawdust one of these mills creates.
 I have a couple questions. Is it normal to have the edge frayed out the board? If not what would cause it? Can someone verify what type of tree this was. I added a picture of the leaves. Now it's time to do a little cleanup under the shed then work on blade guards.

[Magicman]

Is it normal to have the edge frayed out the board?

Yes, when the blade is sawing against the grain runout, it will leave the strings.  When the blade is sawing with the grain runout, there will be none or very little.

Yes, Elm.  Notice the asymmetrical portion of the leaf where it attaches to the stem.  One side runs out before the other.

[RetiredTech]

  I'm not much of a wood worker. :D I have some basic carpentry skills, but I never thought about wood grain that way. I had to do a search for wood grain run out before I finally caught on to what you were telling me. I only thought about the grain as being either in line with the cut (rip) or 90° to the cut (cross cut). Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?