Home built bandsaw mill

[KYErik]

This was last year's project (I haven't thought one up yet for this year).

The saw bed is actually a frame from a 1958 chevy 2 ton truck with inverted angle iron welded to the right side to guide the saw carriage which has 2 v grooved steel wheels, the motor is an old 7.5 hp 3 phase electric (I am running it on 220 volts with an ancient phase convertor). The blade is a woodmizer brand (only $20 new). I can cut up to a 28 inch diameter log up to 12.5 feet long. The largest that I have cut so far is 22 inches. The saw head is raised and lowered by 4 all thread rods linked by bike spockets and bike chain which is driven by an electric drill via a right angle gearbox.

The blade guards are not present in the attached photo. If anyone is interested in seeing more photos, or has any questions, just let me know.

 

[KYErik]

OK now I think I figured out how to post the pic- I really had to crop it down so that it would be small enough to post

 

[Nat]

That looks neat. I wish I had enough work to justify building one myself. More pics would be nice, Later, Nat

 

[KYErik]

Here is a close up of the blade tensioner and alignment adjusting bolts for the unpowered saw wheel.

I'll try to take more pics tomorrow in a different mode with this digital camera- all the pics that I took today were too big and I'd have to crop them too much for anyone to get an overview of everything.

 

[KYErik]

Here is a close up of the raising/lowering gearbox and one of the 4 bike sprockets that has a nut welded in the middle which raises and lowers the platform that the motor and saw wheels are attatched to.

 

[KYErik]

This is a close up of the blade guide on the right side (closest to the drive wheel). Each guide is made up of three $5 generic bearings that I picked up at TSC. There is an identicle guide on the left side. The guide is adjusted so that it deflects the blade downward slighly thus no roller bearings are needed on the bottom of the blade.

 

[KYErik]

Here is the inverted angle iron welded to the left side of the truck frame and one the 2 v groove casters that guides the saw carriage. The angle iron is on the side that the discharges the sawdust- that way the sawdust slides off the angle iron and doesn't affect the rolling of the whole saw carriage.

 

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.
Nice going with the building project.
Looks like you have been making some sawdust with that machine. Are you happy with the sawcuts you are making?

What woods are you mainly sawing with your rig?

Power is what? Or did I miss that in the pics?

 

[Renze]

Please guve us some details, that machine just looks awesome !! I didnt know it was that easy, i really consider building one myself as well !!

How do the rubber tires last ? do the saw teeth cause wear or puncture to it ?
What is the band sawing speed ?
Do you feed it manually or is it also powered somehow ?

Thanks, great work /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[KYErik]

My cuts are still a little wavy- with an average of two 1/4" waves along each 8 foot board. They are much better than they were though (some waves were 1/2"). I have been adjusting the wheel alignment and the blade tension and it is getting closer to what I want it to be.

Actually this log was only my 7th log. Its a big black locust. The other logs were ash, cottonwood and even a 12 inch dogwood (it has a nice pink/purplish heartwood).

The electric motor is barely visible in the first picture- its an old white westinghouse 7.5 hp three phase.