Not your everday sawmill build

[rmack]

Sounds far fetched, but I'll put my money on this guy making it happen.  8) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8DoxRoLZ9o

[T Red]

I'll admit I thought he was crazy until I watched the video.  I think it'll work. 

Here is his youtube channel.  He has added a few updates.
http://www.youtube.com/user/djgatton?feature=watch

[beenthere]

Does he show the finished mill, up and running?
I see no reason his subbing plywood for steel shouldn't work, but would like to see his 'plan' finished and running.
Welding vs. screwing and gluing to get the same or similar results would be of concern.

[grweldon]

This saw looks substancial... I don't think the innertubes for tires will work and I'm not sure the frame will provide enough tension to properly tighten the blade.  He's talking about using a 2" plus blade on this saw, don't know why he would choose one so wide.  Also haven't really heard what HP motor he will use.  It is certainly possible to build a mill out of wood... it's been done before...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpI-NMNUQwI

[Ianab]

I've often wondered if a Sash saw would work better for these DIY guys?

100 years ago they where built out of wood, and commercially sawed a heck of lot of it, needing very little power (Water wheels, small steam engines etc)

You could probably run one from a ~3 hp electric or a small gas engine. Feed speed would depend on engine power so you probably would need to experiment a bit there with gears and pulleys. But log size would only really be limited by the size of your carriage and blade. But 2 guys with a pit saw can rip though a 3 ft log relatively easily, and that's with only 1/4 hp.

Ian