Built in Edger on Band Mill

br549 · October 29, 2015, 01:25:45 AM

For a long while I've wandered about adding a shaft In front or even behind the blade on my band mill with sliding edger blades. If this would work it would speed up the sawing process faster than anything I could think of. Especially after the first slab piece has been cut off and the next couple cuts will have bark on both sides. If you had edger blades with laser lines showing the blade placements it would save so much work. Personally I haven't seen any on the market for band mills is there a reason why? I know the kerf of the band is only a 1/16" or so but still if cutting barn framing and such if the blades drop down a little into the next cut it wouldn't hurt anything. Let me know what yens think.

Kbeitz · October 29, 2015, 02:06:19 AM

I thought about makeing something like that.
But I dont like cutting into the next board underneath.

beenthere · October 29, 2015, 02:09:53 AM

Design it so the edger blade only cuts to the depth of the bandsaw blade. Doesn't change with the thickness of the board being sawn.
Will take some power with the edger blades always being buried in the cut and cutting along the grain at the blade tip.

Ron Wenrich · October 29, 2015, 05:44:02 AM

I run a vertical edger on a circle mill for 15 yrs. That had 1/4" kerf, and there were times when you would mark the board behind and there were times when you wouldn't quite clean the cut. That meant my main cutting blade was moving. It could have been due to the log, blade sharpness, guide wear, feed speed, or a bunch of other things. Our tolerance was 1/4". You're talking a tolerance that is 4 times tighter. As long as your blade doesn't wander, you won't have any problems. I found saws wander more then you think.

Another factor is sawdust. Edgers send off a lot of sawdust. How are you going to handle that debris? With a vertical edger, we were able to move a good deal down into a trough. But, there still was a good amount that flew off the saws. You're going to have to direct it away from the operator.

Laser lights wash out pretty quick with any type of outside light. Maybe there is newer technology that this isn't a factor anymore. But, I had to use a lot of judgement setting edger blades due to the light washing out.

And as beenthere suggests, there is the added hp needed to run a couple of saws.

Here's a bit of a discussion we had many years ago. https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=13894.0
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,66393.msg992699.html#msg992699

jim blodgett · October 29, 2015, 09:53:10 AM

One thing I have started recently that really saves handling is edging one side of the (soon to be) flitch with a skilsaw before running the band saw blade through.

Let's see if I can describe this.

So you have your log on the mill and have taken off the first slab to get down to a flat surface, right? Let's say you have about 4" of flat showing, with wane on each side.

Snap a chalk line from one end of your log to the other and cut it with a skilsaw to give one pretty straight edge.

Really cuts down on the waste as well as the handling later when you would have had a pile of double waned slabs to edge. If nothing else you can now edge several of them quickly by putting the skilsawn edge down, edging, then flipping them back over to size exactly.

Next thing I plan to try for logs up to 10' long is what carpenter's call a shooting board. Instead of snapping a line you tack the shooting board on the line you want to cut and the skilsaw rides on the shooting board - that would give a very straight edge. But like I say, I haven't tried that yet.

I think with a shooting board and a table saw you could do a pretty good job edging those double waned flitches. A pair of sawhorses and long straight edge clamped to run your skilsaw against saves time/lifting/handling too.

Magicman · October 29, 2015, 01:59:17 PM

That would take a really long extension cord to reach some of my sawing locations. ;D

jim blodgett · October 29, 2015, 02:27:11 PM

Ha! Yes, you folks that take your mills out and about have an entirely different perspective!

Dave Shepard · October 29, 2015, 06:57:13 PM

Western Sawyer had a two blade edger on a mill. Not an ideal situation on a band mill.

Kbeitz · October 29, 2015, 07:12:48 PM

You need an inverter on your mill...
Or this....

br549 · October 29, 2015, 09:12:38 PM

I had not thought about the sawdust issue. Possibly a blower such as a leaf or discarded industrial blower behind the blades for dust clearing?.? The blade deflection had come to mind as well. Those HarborFreight "Clonda" as I call them" 6.5 HP engines are top notch and only take a small sip of gas per hard hour of use. 2 X's is most likely the thickest I'd be edging out. Had been thinking of using , 7 1/4 inch carbide tipped blades as the edger blades. Because they're common at any given place and CHEAP. To mount them the thought was to cut them in half and bolt them to an arbor mount like the racing Gocarters do their sprockets for a quick change ratio. Does anyone have an opinion on how a set of, 7.25 inch carbide blades will hold up to being used this way? I'm about positive the Honda clone engine will pull at least 2 maybe four blades and I keep one in the shop ready to repower old Briggs & Crappens engines.

Jemclimber · October 30, 2015, 10:21:04 AM

I'd sure like a gas powered circular saw like that Kbeitz, are they still made?

redprospector · October 30, 2015, 11:43:06 AM

Quote from: br549 on October 29, 2015, 09:12:38 PM
I had not thought about the sawdust issue. Possibly a blower such as a leaf or discarded industrial blower behind the blades for dust clearing?.? The blade deflection had come to mind as well. Those HarborFreight "Clonda" as I call them" 6.5 HP engines are top notch and only take a small sip of gas per hard hour of use. 2 X's is most likely the thickest I'd be edging out. Had been thinking of using , 7 1/4 inch carbide tipped blades as the edger blades. Because they're common at any given place and CHEAP. To mount them the thought was to cut them in half and bolt them to an arbor mount like the racing Gocarters do their sprockets for a quick change ratio. Does anyone have an opinion on how a set of, 7.25 inch carbide blades will hold up to being used this way? I'm about positive the Honda clone engine will pull at least 2 maybe four blades and I keep one in the shop ready to repower old Briggs & Crappens engines.

I'm not sure what size "Honda clone" engine you're talking about using. But I believe you may be under estimating the amount of power it will take to pull 2 blades through 2" of material, much less 4 blades. You might make it pull them, but you'll have to slow down enough to eliminate any added production you were hoping for.

snowshoveler · October 30, 2015, 11:53:06 AM

Please...more about the gas powered circle saw.
That would be as handy as pockets on a shirt.
Regards Chris

beenthere · October 30, 2015, 01:27:29 PM

Google it, and you will find some hits.

such as
https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=26032

Kbeitz · October 30, 2015, 06:58:46 PM

Makita sells a 14" Gas Powered Portable Cut-Off Saw
I guess you could put a wood blade in it.

etroup10 · October 30, 2015, 07:58:07 PM

I was also thinking about how to put an edger onto a bandmill. I was thinking about have two 5 h.p electric motors each powering a blade. Each blade/motor could be moved side to side by traveling along a threaded rod. I'm pretty sure the edger system would have go before the band to prevent the boards or edgings from flying backwards after the band completes the cut. I also was thinking about making the "edger" into its own carriage so when your not using it, it could sit at the end of the mill. It would still save a significant amount of time. And if it doesn't work, take it off the mill and make it into a standard type edger.

longtime lurker · October 31, 2015, 05:05:29 AM

Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQlxIVETV5A

MikeON · October 31, 2015, 06:38:53 AM

Quote from: redprospector on October 30, 2015, 11:43:06 AM
I'm not sure what size "Honda clone" engine you're talking about using. But I believe you may be under estimating the amount of power it will take to pull 2 blades through 2" of material, much less 4 blades. You might make it pull them, but you'll have to slow down enough to eliminate any added production you were hoping for.

For perspective, my single blade edger has 11 HP and cutting 2" material slows it down.