start of my homemade sawmill

[SPIKER]

we have a commercially built metal cutting band saw, uses metal wheels to ride the band on, the metal wheels are groved to help clear chips and such, (as you are milling in I think the 2nd or 3rd pic, then cut small groves in depth into the flat turned face so there is say 1/16" wide x 1/32' deep groves all way down to the hub face,

the blade has carbide wear guides to hold it still and keep it from flexing in any one dirrection which is then adjustable to/fro to keep the blade supports as close as possable to the material being cut. this should help stop andy bowing/cupping of the blade during cutting too. also remember that the blade does not cut at a 90 degree angle to the wood in a saw mill, it cuts an an angle bassically PULLING the wood into the blade as it cuts. also a good depth lock is very important too!

we HAD some bronz bushing and bars used to guid a commercial stamping press and was going to use some of those to build a saw mill but never got around to it... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Mark M

 

[markct]

thanks spiker, my metalcutting bandsaw has the grooves in the wheels, i had figured it wouldnt be neccesary with wood dust but maybe i should add them the more i think about it, altho most likely i will try them the way they are and maybe add them later if sawdust packing on becomes a problem. i was going to make ball bearing guids for the blade and have a little rotating wire brush to help keep the blade clean

 

[SPIKER]

I have heard that the dust IS a problem if it is dam or moist/green wood then the sawdust is pretty sticky.... the wire brush idea is good but I don't think a rotating one is needed a stationary one on each side of the OUT end blade would probably keep a lot of the dust knocked off but then again it MAY just build up with yucky stuff and clog?


so far it was some nice machineing work though!

Mark M

 

[chriswheeler]

Nice setup Markct,
I've run and set up 40 years worth of parts, and never used a mill to turn a larger dia off the spindle quite the way you did. I agree that there isn't much of a savings being a machinist when you factor in the cost of your toys. What it does buy is the ability to do your own projects. Just starting to make tractor implements. It will be great to see the end of your project, see how things come out. How wide of a band do you plan to run?? Carbide inserts in the band?? Brazed carbide would cost a little less and should work well unless you plan to put 40 hrs a week on this thing. Good luck,
Chris

 

[markct]

no carbide, just regular steel blades are what most of the portable sawmills use, at 16 bucks a piece from woodmizer they are pretty reasonable i think

 

[AndyMA]

Mark

I run a Timberking B20 bandmill. My all metal wheels have no grooves, are perfectly flat and use little scrapers that look like pieces of formica to keep the chips and sawdust from sticking to them. The wheels on newer Timberking milles are machined to accept a rubber drive belt on which the blade rides. The engineer at Timberking told me that without the belt, the wheels need to be refaced smooth about every 400 hours of use to keep tracking proper. Speaking of tracking, when you mount the bearings for the wheels, make sure that you can adjust the parallelness to the bed, toe in and up and down tilt very percisely. There is also a gravity feed drip nozzle that drips water onto the blade to keep it lubricated and keep stuff from sticking. In the winter I run windshield washer fluid instead. The blades on mine are 12'6" long, 1 1/4" wide and .042 thick. Carbide blades last longer (maybe). The tips are brittle and most guys I know don't think they are worth it. I've never run them but Stellite tiped blades are supposed to be a good comprimise. good luck.

Andy

 

[markct]

thanks for the input andy, i suppose it will be a long time before i have 400 hours on my bandsaw, and besides it wouldnt be a big deal for me to resurface them, thanks for the idea about the little scrapers, i think i might do something like that, maybe some pieces of hard plastic like delrin

 

[have_blue]

Be careful grooving aluminum. The lans need to be pretty wide, because they will tend to upset (smash down, compact) a little bit. As for the teeth hanging off the edge of the wheel, I think I would just try to make the wheel wider and let the teeth wear their own "bed".

Just a wild thought! What if you spent 3 weeks and milled grooves every 3 or 4 degrees around the diameter of the wheel, like a giant cog belt pulley? Then you could slip a standard 1.5" or 2" cog belt on to the wheel for the ultimate in traction and wear resistance. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Merry Christmas to all!

 

[Bluecheck546]

Nice work, markct!
To stop the premature wear on your wheels, I would glue a ruber band that could be made out of large innertube. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[AndyMA]

Your welcome Mark. The other thing I forgot to mention is band tensioning. My blades run best with 1200 pounds of tension on them. Tension is critical. Keep up the good work.

Andy