A circle sawmill journey...

[Jeff]

You ate the pictures??  ;)

[reride82]

You ate the pictures??  ;)

Hahaha  :D  :D  :D  :D  :D  :D

[SPD748]

You ate the pictures??  ;)

Well, yeah but only because Poston wouldn't share any of his GRITS!  :D

-lee

[captain_crunch]

Ifn I understand what they be made out of  understand why my ancestors crossed country in covered wagons :P :P :P :P

[Seaman]

Lee, get Tripp to semd you pics of his dust chute. It walks left to right so as to evenly spread dust in his trailer!
Frank

[SPD748]

Today's progress: 

  

  

 
We got the dust chute fabricated and painted. I ran out of daylight so the installation will have to wait until another day. It's about 8" wide and 5" deep. I think it will work. It's angled at 30 deg so it will be about 10' high at the output end.

I also took a few pictures of the carriage scale. 

  

  

 
I took the pointer off and painted it red. Hopefully that will make it a little easier to see. Again, many thanks to Jeff for the scale's design inspiration and a big thanks to all the forum members whom have encouraged me along the way!

Don't worry guys. The journey isn't quite over yet. Stay tuned!

-lee

[Magicman]

The scale is a wonderful tribute to the individuals in particular and to the Forestry Forum in general.   

[bandmiller2]

My last chance at immortality. Frank C.

[Corley5]

Looking good  8) 8) 8)  It's about time for the old girl to saw herself a house 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I figured this petty weather would get you back to the mill. But you got some BAD storms coming tonight.

Nice job Lee. 

[Don_Papenburg]

What is the reason for the angle iron bolted to the top of the head block knees?

[SPD748]

What is the reason for the angle iron bolted to the top of the head block knees?

JO told me once that he added the angle iron to "hold the knees together." Being that he added it, I left it.

-lee

[Jeff]

I've seen it done a few times. Most automated mills tie the knees together to carry oil or electrical components. They do help stiffen the knees side to side and help take out movement if there is any wear when gigging back and forth. I think its good to have it on there. The last mill I ran, the member was actually a hydraulic oil conduit. It gave the dogs a larger reservoir than what would just be in the lines. More oil volume at the dogs

[lyle niemi]

Looking good Lee!

[SPD748]

Ooo... FedEx stopped by! 

  

Thanks Logrite!

-lee

[thecfarm]

All sorts of new toys.

[Jeff]

Pretty Pretty Blue. 

[4thgensawmiller]

It's been almost a year since you posted the picture of the belt lacer, but I have one just like it, and I think the data plate is still on it.  Let me know if you still need information on it.  I scanned through this entire post, so I might have missed some information.  In reference to your dust chain, I run the square link detachable chain at my mill.  I noticed that your chain is positioned to one side of the blade.  I run mine in the center, and the dust cascades to the chain.  This might not be an option since your saw is so close to your pad.  My chain also returns under the blade, with the return running about 8-10 inches from the blade.  There have been occasions where the chain has jumped into the blade, but no major damage has ever occurred.  A chipped corner off of a tooth at most.
Watching your posts, and seeing your attention to detail might just drive you crazy when you get a saw that doesn't run well!   :D  Amazing fabrication!  I wish I could be doing this as a hobby, instead of a living!  Keep up the good work!

[SPD748]

4thgen,

Thanks for the complements. My plan is to collect a few old items, tools and such, and display them in a curio cabinet. The cabinet belonged to my sister and was given to me after she was killed. I figure that I'll fill what, to me, is a very meaningful cabinet with some very meaningful items.

As for the chain, you are correct. I don't think I have room to safely run it directly beneath the blade. As it is, it will run 20" ahead of the lower tangent of the blade. Hopefully, this will take enough of the dust away. We'll see.

Now, that 'attention to detail' thing. Again, you are correct. When I experienced my first 'not so friendly' log, I became frustrated in a hurry. As a toolmaker, I'm used to adjusting a work piece to a precise point then sending it through a cutter, with a calculated outcome. I quickly found that wood does not behave like other materials :D. Once again, I had my Dad there to remind me that, "You're not making Swiss watches." Oh, he also reminded me that, "It's wood son, learn to deal with it." Somehow, he's always been able to set me straight though, years ago, it was less words and more belt Hey... it worked!

-lee

[Ron Wenrich]

I'll try to remember to take some pics this week of the dust drag we put in on a circle mill.  I don't think I have more than 8" of clearance.  Ours was fabricated from the chain off a silage wagon.  Its wide.  It has a chain on 2 sides, and there are metal paddles in the middle. 

We're not pulling an angle to have it go overhead, so maybe that's the difference.  It feeds back into a barn sweep. 

The single chains I have run, I put one chain under the saw, and ran the return overhead.  There was no need for a chute, as the sawdust makes it own chute. 

Machining a log is a bit different from machining metal.  You don't have the same consistency of material all the way through like you do with metal.  And, each one is different.

[lyle niemi]

This is my set up

  

 

[SPD748]

Dad came over today and helped set part of the dust system into place. Nothing is mounted yet but it's a start. 

  

  

 

Man, that thing is heavy

-lee

[SPD748]

Yesterday's progress complete with a little oops. 

  

  

  

 


The chain works great! I don't have a belt yet so I turned it by hand. The paddles take the dust out and up the chute just fine. We may have to make some final adjustments to the chain length after the drive belt is installed. I put a white oak board on the concrete to prevent the paddles from wearing prematurely. Everything was going great until my Dad noticed this:

 

The carriage scale isn't going to clear the overhead chain guard.  :embarassed: :embarassed: :embarassed: It looks like I didn't think quite far enough ahead. I'll have to shorten the carriage post by 14" in order for it to clear the guard. Oh well, I suppose a snag or two isn't all that bad. Today, we're going to remove the scale and finish up the chain system.

-lee

[Ron Wenrich]

Here's the dust drag at one mill:


 

This is off a silage wagon.  They run a vertical edger, so the extra width is helpful.  The drawback is if a chunk of wood gets into it.


 
This shows how little clearance we had to work with.  I've run a single width chain with paddles in a narrow clearance situation.  To get the incline, I had to use another sprocket.

Your's looks good.  Most that I've run have had more paddles.  I guess it depends on the speed you're planning to go. 

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Your going realy well Mate  ;) ;D I would just raise the backend of the return trough upto where it clears the scale Mate   ;)

Regards Chris