Restoring an old Belsaw edger from the swamps of Florida.

[Kbeitz]

Yesterdays work.



 



 

[grouch]

Be safe with that thing. Don't want to read about it firing a half-cut 2x4 through you. You're already far along in the restoration; no need to rush powering it up.

[Kbeitz]

Today I made the blade adjustment screw and belt guards.
Out of all machine builds I hate making the guards the most.



 



  

[etroup10]

Are you going to put a dust collector or shield on for the saw dust?? The way it looks now you'd be sending dust right at the motor??

[Kbeitz]

Are you going to put a dust collector or shield on for the saw dust?? The way it looks now you'd be sending dust right at the motor??

I'm going to make a saw dust tray to guide the saw dust down and out the back.
I'm hoping it works. There will be a wall between the engine and the blades.

[Peter Drouin]

You have been busy.  :D 

[moodnacreek]

A tricky thing is the relationship between the infeed rolls and the infeed press roll. If it's just right it will take the board right  out of your hand.  If not you have to shove it in.  What works for thin boards might not be as good on thick.  Worse yet is frozen or iced boards. I had a lot trouble with this and kept moving the infeed press roll back until the average size board got squeezed  between  both rolls at the same time.

[Kbeitz]

A tricky thing is the relationship between the infeed rolls and the infeed press roll. If it's just right it will take the board right  out of your hand.  If not you have to shove it in.  What works for thin boards might not be as good on thick.  Worse yet is frozen or iced boards. I had a lot trouble with this and kept moving the infeed press roll back until the average size board got squeezed  between  both rolls at the same time.

I had no infeed press roller. I sure would like to see a picture of what it looks like.
I made one and i hope it works. I did put new sprockets on the lower infeed shaft.

[Kbeitz]

Today I made the battery tray and the dust tray.
I also made a top engine cover and made one to match on the other side.



 



 



 



 

[grouch]

What I'm really waiting to see is how it handles your special spiral lumber.

[Kbeitz]

What I'm really waiting to see is how it handles your special spiral lumber.

All I would have to do is hook on my turning attachment...

[moodnacreek]

It looks like the in feed press roll is on your hood.  The board going in has to be held or pressed down on the feed roll that is turning.  these press rolls are gravity [free wheeling]. They are usually mounted on swing arms. If there is only one in feed roll, the press roll comes down about centered on the in feed roll. If there are 2 infeed  rolls the press roll comes down between the two [the out feed can also be made this way]  If you look at commercial edgers ads you will see 5 bearings on the side: 2 infeed shafts, 1 [larger bearing] mandrel,2 out feed shafts. and 2 over head press rolls on swing arms pivoted towards the operator.  Real old edgers where not made this way.

[Kbeitz]

I was told by different people that the roller on the hood is the out feed.
The sprocket side is the infeed. Also my blades would be on backwards if
it was fed from that side. I did not change the blades.
In this picture of someone else's saw you can see the blades are pointed
down towards the sprocket side. That would make the cover roller on the
output side.



 

[Kbeitz]

In this picture you can see the roller that I added to the infeed side.
It had none when I got it. I have no idea if it had one before.
You can see the teeth on the blade facing down.



 

[grouch]

Is the infeed roller attached to the hood or completely separate?

Spring mounted?

Was the original infeed roller steel or some resilient material (e.g., rubber)?

Thanks for your patience. I'm trying to figure this thing out based entirely on your photos, having never seen one in person.

[Kbeitz]

Is the infeed roller attached to the hood or completely separate?

Spring mounted?

Was the original infeed roller steel or some resilient material (e.g., rubber)?

Thanks for your patience. I'm trying to figure this thing out based entirely on your photos, having never seen one in person.

The saw did not come with any infeed roller.
the out feed roller is heavy Is a solid steel heavy steel roller.
I made the infeed roller and it's also a solid steel heavy roller.
The outfeed roller is hooked to the hood. The infeed roller floats
off two arms like the hood.

[moodnacreek]

   must have been hard to feed as the board would be through the saws before it got under the press roll.

[Kbeitz]

I got the gas tank and one of the drive belts made and on today.



 



 

[Kbeitz]

   must have been hard to feed as the board would be through the saws before it got under the press roll.

I was thinking I was missing a roller, but all the other pictures I looked
at had no second roller ether.

[Kbeitz]

Well I had it running today. I did not cut any wood. It took most of the
day to get the belt to stay on. I ended up taking the shaft out in the picture
and putting it in my press. I put a 1/4" bend in the shaft for adjustment.
Now I can rotate the shaft until it tracks good and lag it down. I need to
adjust my points because it's kicking back on the starter. Maybe Monday.



 



 



 



 



 

[grouch]

What holds the hood down and is that the only means of down-pressure on the infeed?

[Kbeitz]

The hood has a 3" solid steel roller for weight that pulls the board through.
The input side I made a 2" solid steel roller. The 2" roller pushes the board
Down on to chain sprockets. The 3" roller pushes the board down onto a
Splined roller to pull the board through.

[grouch]

Thanks.

So, the weight of the roller provides infeed pressure and the weight of the hood plus 2nd roller provides outfeed pressure.

I don't see anything to keep a heavy cut from pinching the blade. Is that not a problem with edgers like it could be when ripping on a tablesaw? Thinking that if it did bind, it would kick upward in the back which could relieve outfeed pressure and allow it to try to throw it forward.

[Kbeitz]

Thanks.

So, the weight of the roller provides infeed pressure and the weight of the hood plus 2nd roller provides outfeed pressure.

I don't see anything to keep a heavy cut from pinching the blade. Is that not a problem with edgers like it could be when ripping on a tablesaw? Thinking that if it did bind, it would kick upward in the back which could relieve outfeed pressure and allow it to try to throw it forward.

This is my first edger so I don't know how it's going to work.
But I will sure let everyone know how I made out.

[Kbeitz]

My blades are pretty much toast. I looked and looked on E-bay and google for a
12" blade with a 2" arbor hole but I was coming up empty. Last night I looked at
800 12" blades on E-bay hoping someone would have one with a 2" hole. Nothing...
Then I spent around an hour looking at saw-mill blades on Google... Nothing...
I went back to E-bay and typed in 2" arbor and looked at all 300 items. Payday...
I got all three of these blades for $20.00 plus shipping.

12 inch by 2 inch arbor Carbide Blades.