homemade bandsaw mill, help

[mazdathumps]

Is it possible to sleeve it?

I feel like if I sleeve it, and it still breaks, I have a bigger mess to fix... I like the idea of the bigger axle, but that's buying new axle rod, pillow block bearings, and hubs... If nothing else works, I may just have to do that or like what GWW has talked about with the front support bar from wheel to wheel...

[mazdathumps]

You might try just a bit less tension if you leave it built the same and if it cuts well, that would also extend the life of your blade.

I plan to pull back the tension and see how my cuts come out...

[mazdathumps]

This is the broken axle...


This is the welded axle...



Welded axle mounted up.... again....


So, since It rained ALL DAY today, I wasn't able to get back on the mill after putting the axle back on... Although, since it was a rainy day, I did get some much needed work done under my barn... I wish I would have taken a before and after picture, but either way, this is the after picture... wires ran through the table to a power strip up front... Plenty of room between each tool and they are all removable using wing nuts... I plan to mount this power strip under the front...

[gww]

Josh
Thanks for the update and pictures.
gww

[Kbeitz]

I would think that if you would move the one pillow block out
onto the angle iron that It would help a lot.

[Joe Hillmann]

Can you move the hubs back so they are nearly touching the front bearing and move the being stop to one of the other bearings.   The farther the distance from the front bearing to the blade the more pressure and bending on the shaft.

[mazdathumps]

Thanks for the comments...

The pillow block bearings are as close to the front of the machine as they can be currently... This axle is my idle/alignment/tensioner axle, so the bearing has to stay on the plate to be able to adjust...

As for moving the hubs back, there is only about a 3/8" gap between the wheel and the frame as it sits... So no movement there...

On the good side of things, the welded axle is doing great... I didn't tension the blade quite so tight today... I cut an entire log up today after re-aligning EVERYTHING (again) and as soon as I was done, touched the pillow block bearings and they were still cold (in the past they were hot)... So, i'm guessing maybe I was a little too tight on the blade which "could" have been the major stress on the axle... That's still debatable, but it's working fine for now... haha

I think i'm going to add my blade lube next... This pine is gumming up the blade and randomly causing my cut to wander just a hair...

[gww]

Josh
I have no ideal if it would work but I saw a vidio one time where the guy claimed that if you stoped the forward movement of the cut while in the log that the blade would self clean a bit on its own.

I have never cut pine and so have no experiance of my own.  You could get a squirt bottle and put it on stream and just squirt a little diesel on the blade while cutting and see what effect that had.  It might get you by untill you get the system installed.
Cheers
gww

[mazdathumps]

Alright, well today was a little more fun than the past few days... haha I was able to cut some wood without something breaking on me...

I made a video of me cutting some wood and close up of the wood afterwards to show the straightness of it...

https://youtu.be/7YkApYzP0iI

I still have to put my blade lube on because this pine is leaving sap on the blade and guides and making my blade dip into the wood... I quit cutting after I noticed this and I'm pretty confident it's why my blade started dipping towards the end of the log... I will have to take a file or wire brush and remove the sap from the guides... As for the blade, I think a good bath in diesel or something will clean it up...

GWW, I like the spray bottle idea and it's cheap... Eventually, I should have a lube system on there that works... Probably the felt pad idea with diesel and kerosene...

Also, here in FLorida, we have termites... They show up within hours of cutting pine... Currently, i'm using Raid brand ant and roach spray when I find them in my wood... Is there something that I can buy at Lowes or Walmart or somewhere to battle these guys before they get into my wood stacks??

[Joe Hillmann]

If you use diesel in a spray bottle be extremely careful.  You need to get the diesel on the inside of the of the blade and if you put too much on the blade can float off the wheels.  The best way that I have found to prevent the blade from coming off is to get a few inches into the the cut then spray the diesel while still pushing the head forward.  That tends to keep the blade from coming off even if I put to much diesel on.

Alright, well today was a little more fun than the past few days... haha I was able to cut some wood without something breaking on me...

I made a video of me cutting some wood and close up of the wood afterwards to show the straightness of it...

https://youtu.be/7YkApYzP0iI

I still have to put my blade lube on because this pine is leaving sap on the blade and guides and making my blade dip into the wood... I quit cutting after I noticed this and I'm pretty confident it's why my blade started dipping towards the end of the log... I will have to take a file or wire brush and remove the sap from the guides... As for the blade, I think a good bath in diesel or something will clean it up...

GWW, I like the spray bottle idea and it's cheap... Eventually, I should have a lube system on there that works... Probably the felt pad idea with diesel and kerosene...

Also, here in FLorida, we have termites... They show up within hours of cutting pine... Currently, i'm using Raid brand ant and roach spray when I find them in my wood... Is there something that I can buy at Lowes or Walmart or somewhere to battle these guys before they get into my wood stacks??

[Ox]

Mill's cutting good!  You should be able to go a bit faster with the feed if everything's holding together.  The pitch on the guides will come off with some diesel/kero being squirted on like Joe says.
As far as blade tension - I've experimented with just about everything and the sharpness and set of the blade counts for more that the tension.  You can have all the tension in the world but if it's not sharp and set proper it won't cut worth a darn!  Hopefully your mill will stay together a while this time and you can just piddle around with it when you feel like.  I don't have any idea how to battle termites cause they can't live up here.  This is pretty much the only benefits to living up here - no termites, killer bees or fire ants.

[mazdathumps]

Now, I just wish I had all the trees back that I butchered getting this thing cutting right. Haha.

[mazdathumps]

We have ants, bees of all sorts, and lots of termites. It's FL building code to have termite spray put down before a concrete foundation is poured. Stem wall, whatever, has to be sprayed under the foundation.

[Kbeitz]

Next I would be putting a Zero-max right next to you'r engine
to drive a power carriage feed. Very simple and easy to do.

[gww]

Josh
Maby do a search of this site on treating wood.  I think they spay with something called borak or something like that.  It was brought up recently in other threads but for the life of me I can not remember which one or I would post it.

I think your mill is doing well.  I notice that you don't have near the bounce in your tires that I do on mine.  I didn't see anything wrong with your boards and like ox said, the more you use it the more you will adjust your flow during the cut.  I still cut pretty slow myself and that could be a factor in my blade not staying sharp as long as I think it should.  I thought it did good.  I have notice on the what you are sawing thread when there are pictures of what others cut, even the $30,000 mills have some imperfections in thier boards.  You are just going to have to put a planer on your wish list if you want perfection.  (I don't want perfection and a planer is on my list).

Don't let the tire hit the boards you are walking on though I doubt it would hurt much.

By the way, I jinxed myself when I mentioned the log stops being wood.  I forgot another one up yesterday and so it is now shorter.  I am going to have to make more of them if I keep wittling them down.

I think you are now walking in tall cotton.  Consider those previous logs as part of the cost of building a mill.  I have made lots of logs into fire wood, ha ha.
Good job
gww

Ps I don't know what a zero max that K mentions is but I do know what power feed means and it make my tounge hang out and dribble slobber in anticipation.  If I had a four pole head and my mill did not walk so bad side to side, I would be looking hard at that.

Also what ox said, a good blade can make up for alot, I am guessing you are still doing this with one of your first three blades.

[JRWoodchuck]

Water will usually do the trick on my mill just a little drip system seems to work just fine. Gravity fed. Quite a few people just use weed sprayers as well. Like Linn Lumber. You can buy those pretty cheap. Once you have some lube system on there just running you blade with the lube on will typically clean off any build up. That last board look real nice!

[mazdathumps]

Next I would be putting a Zero-max right next to you'r engine
to drive a power carriage feed. Very simple and easy to do.

This might be further down the road if at all... I'm cheap and simple and don't mind pushing a little to save some $$... haha

[mazdathumps]

I think your mill is doing well.  I notice that you don't have near the bounce in your tires that I do on mine.  I didn't see anything wrong with your boards and like ox said, the more you use it the more you will adjust your flow during the cut.  I still cut pretty slow myself and that could be a factor in my blade not staying sharp as long as I think it should.  I thought it did good.  I have notice on the what you are sawing thread when there are pictures of what others cut, even the $30,000 mills have some imperfections in thier boards.  You are just going to have to put a planer on your wish list if you want perfection.  (I don't want perfection and a planer is on my list).

Don't let the tire hit the boards you are walking on though I doubt it would hurt much.

By the way, I jinxed myself when I mentioned the log stops being wood.  I forgot another one up yesterday and so it is now shorter.  I am going to have to make more of them if I keep wittling them down.

I think you are now walking in tall cotton.  Consider those previous logs as part of the cost of building a mill.  I have made lots of logs into fire wood, ha ha.
Good job
gww

Ps I don't know what a zero max that K mentions is but I do know what power feed means and it make my tounge hang out and dribble slobber in anticipation.  If I had a four pole head and my mill did not walk so bad side to side, I would be looking hard at that.

Also what ox said, a good blade can make up for alot, I am guessing you are still doing this with one of your first three blades.

I have a 13" planer, but seldom use it... I like the rustic look for the most part...

The boards that I walked on are now stickers for my stacks, they were just parked there for the time being...

I thought about your log stops today... It seems it would be most advantageous when cutting stickers to run the log stops all the way up and just cut them with the stickers... Anyways, that was my thought... Just keep making more of them...

I'm using a brand new blade today... also re-leveled the blade after installing the new one today... I tend to do this a lot - I guess i'm paranoid with this mill... haha

[mazdathumps]

Water will usually do the trick on my mill just a little drip system seems to work just fine. Gravity fed. Quite a few people just use weed sprayers as well. Like Linn Lumber. You can buy those pretty cheap. Once you have some lube system on there just running you blade with the lube on will typically clean off any build up. That last board look real nice!

Thanks.  Someone mentioned a felt pad that actually touches the blade with a lube on it... I like that idea and it seems more controlled/less messy... I had water on my first build and it was such a mess (which I see now that I was using way too much water)...

[Kbeitz]

I don't think cutting your log stops all the way down will work.
The log is round and after the first cut the log stops wont
be touching you'r log anymore.

[Ox]

I think he was saying just when cutting stickers to use wood stops "temporarily" only for the stickers.  It actually makes sense to me.  Cut the backstops down with the stickers.  When you're done you got a layer of 1" stickers and a 1" stub of your backstops left.  I hate doing stickers but it's a necessary evil.

As far as checking your blade level it's a good idea with a newer machine just to be sure everything is breaking in and your settings are not moving around.  You'll trust your mill more and more just like everything else.

[gww]

The only thing I could see bad about cutting the stops down is if one of them as it got cut, ended up between the tire and blade.  You know how sometimes the board will slide sideways toward your guides at the very end of the cut.  I heard some thing that seemed to catch and send something flying is how I found the last one I cut.  I thought I had hit metal or something but when I looked closer I could see my stop was shorter.  I think it would be kinda a freak thing if it did pop off and do the tire blade thing cause I have cut them a bunch and it hasn't happened yet.  I also think saw dust is easier to clean up then a bunch of little chunks of wood. 

I never try to cut them cause between stickers and the log stops and the pallets to stack on, all that actually takes a lot of extra wood and it is hard for me to give up more of what could be boards for one off stuff.  Plus I cut my stops on the table saw so they are a little tight cause mine just slide and I don't have a jam nut to hold them in place.  So I get a few out laying along the side of my mill and get used to what to grab for what and me being me, I hate change once I get used to where things are.

It is a visious cycle where you have to keep cutting boards so you have a way to store the boards you are cutting.

I do understand the speed and niceness of having five boards stacked by each other and not having to keep going around to lower your stops that are holding those boards up so you can cut them into stickers. 

I don't know which would be better and clean up or ease of cutting.  I am sure Josh is going to figure that out though.

I hate everthing about stickering.  You got to cut them, then stack your board and then when you want a board, unstack them and then after you have your board, restack them and you either have a bunch of stickers when unstacking that are worth reusing and so you have to store them or you have to cut more so you can stack.

Did I mention I hate stickering.

I like best to cut and use but it is hard to start a project with out a lot of boards to get you started pretty good on it and things like the bee hives I make need dried lumber.

I think Ox said it best, now that you have the mill, it could change your life.
Cheers
gww

[Ox]

gww - it really is like a form of structured madness, isn't it?  Try explaining to someone who has no idea about wood, trees or mills.  Like a shut-in from the city or something.  Explain to them the ENTIRE process of milling (felling, skidding, milling, stacking, unstacking, building) with every little detail and then tell them you're glad you're able to do it and I'm sure they'll get scared thinking they're in the same room with a crazy fool!

I hate stickering and stacking too.  I don't think anybody likes it much.  Some may not mind it as bad but I don't think anybody actually LIKES it!  :D

Gotta go play in the 3 foot plus of global warming out there for the next bunch of hours...

[mazdathumps]

From what I gather, I'm not the only one who finds a certain hate for stickering also... Yesterday, I cut like 300 stickers just to have some on hand. I make short stickers, like 10" each and stack more stacks to make it easier to find and take one peice of wood without moving large amounts of wood.

As for the wood log stop, I was meaning for just stickers. I see Gww's concern also. That would be a mess to have one of those little buggers sling up into something vital.

It's a little chilly out today and tomorrow, so I doubt I'll get much done with the mill. I hate the cold more than stickering. Haha

[Kbeitz]

Sure wish I had some of you'r Florida cold right now...
I think I would be out and about...