bandsaw mill,bought one

missourihick · Apr 24, 2004

I had planned to build a bandsaw mill,I looked at several different ones and liked all I saw. But after alot of thinking I finally decided to buy a factory built model.The one I decided on is a baker wood buddy $2300 brand new with a honda engine. web page baker wood buddy page
I can't hardly wait till it is ready,they are backed up 8 to 10 weeks on building them,I went to the factory and watched them operate one,it was great. If anyone is interested in them Email them and ask for a video and information,it's free and very informative. I just wish it was here already.

KiotiJohn · Apr 24, 2004

I happened onto their site one night while searching for something else. Looks like a very good product, and could sure save a person a lot of money in lumber costs. I'm thinking of getting one myself. Hope you get it sooner than later! John

treesmiths · Apr 26, 2004

Hi,
Congratulations on your new mill. I bought one last year and have found it akin to my tractor. I keep thinking up new projects and ways to improve it (oh great, more work: less fishing! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.). I bought a Berg bandmill (from Oregon) and it is a pretty basic manual mill. I am planning on a log lifter that is powered by my log splitter and building a shed so I can work out of the weather. Also, a solar kiln (many plans from woodweb.com for free).
Here's a tip: when you drop a tree, it will begin drying out from the ends and can split and ruin many board feet of usable lumber. I use a wax based sealer developed just for this sort of thing, Anchorseal by U.C. Coatings and buy it from Lacey-Harmer in Portland, OR 503.222.9992 for $32.00 plus $12.00 for shipping. It comes in clear and is almost unnoticable. Just brush it on the whole log end and your yield will go way up. I have tried old (free!) latex paint and had mixed results. I might try oil based but I am guessing that it would saturate well into the grain and cause headaches that way.
My wife was out of town for a week and I found an old travel trailer for free. I towed it home, removed the wheels and sprinkled the interior with about a dollars worth of diesel and struck a match. Wow! Can those things burn. But after about an hour and half I had a perfectly good trailer frame to set my mill on. The fire marshal let me go with a warning but he said that next time he would have to fine me. Yikes! Anyway, I can now tow it around to the trees instead of pulling the trees to it. Good luck with your new purchase! Let me know if I can offer any other advice. Prentice. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Buckcreek · Apr 26, 2004

i went to the berg band mill site and looked at thier mills. the small basic one looked nice. How hard are they to hand feed through the logs, ive been dreaming of getting a small bandmill to saw some boards for barns and sheds, I have plenty of trees, do you thing a person would come out cheaper then buying the lumber in the long run /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Buzz_Sawyer · Apr 26, 2004

Hey buckcreek,
I own a mill and can say if you enjoy cutting and using wood, you most likely will get addicted to milling your own beatiful lumber, as far as re sale value, it is good on band mills, as far as when the mill is payed for, ...how much lumber could you use? ...at 50 cents a board foot (way cheap) it could be completely paid for in 3 weeks....if just a little here and there...well who knows...you have to enjoy doing it ..to see the value (But it can be profitable too)

missourihick · Apr 26, 2004

I got a chance to run a KASCO brand band mill a few years back and I loved it.The kasco had a few more options like power up and down and feed assist even the power feed assist did'nt work. It had a 16 V twin briggs engine and the one I bought has a 5 hp overhead cam honda,I think that'll probably have to be changed eventually with something with a little more umph. I really enjoyed baking something out of nothing. I like the way the boards come out almost as smooth as out of a planer. I can't hardly wait till it is here,I have so many projects planned,I'll probably saw all summer. When it gets here I'll bump this topic back up front with some pictures.

treesmiths · Apr 27, 2004

The workmanship is good on the Berg, but I hate the hand crank position. It's almost 6 feet up on the frame and its very inconvenient. I bought a small 12v cable winch to replace it, and I'm sure I'll spend a day welding and tinkering just to change this out. Grrrrr.

Also, the tensioner is a simple hydraulic jack. A large screw in tensioner would work better. I can overtighten the jack and be unaware, which makes the blade dive.Grrrrr.

Cooks bandsaws are down your way and they are very nice people. You'll save a bunch on shipping and get closer to the shop should you ever need parts. I wanted a Cooks but couldn't justify the freight prices.

Yes, the mill can easily pay for itself. I have put up a new barn and am cutting western red cedar for the siding trim. Just the trim quote was $870.00. And its less than a days labor to produce it. If you are trying to justify the cost using Home Depot 2x4 prices it would be tough. That is a commodity board and the most common. Price some large beams or look at the price of applewood, walnut or other specialty lumber and one good log can yield over $500.00 in savings if it is cut right.

My barber needed some large cedar posts (8x8) for some landscape feature and I quoted her $10.00 a lineal foot. That was 40% less than a local yard had quoted her and she took my offer without a moments hesitation!!! Nice. Her $300.00 order will take me less than 1 hour to produce from a log I have that is already down.

Good luck with your decision. Take a look at ebay. Sometimes these bandmills show up there as well.

missourihick · Apr 27, 2004

I could not find the berg site.Do you have the address?

missourihick · May 15, 2004

I finally got the mill. To heck with vacationing I want to stay home and cut boards! I put it in the build it forum because I was planning on building a band mill. Now I am glad I didn't. There are alot of little details I would'nt have thought of. Heres a few pictures of it. By the way I have only had it 2 days and have been cutting anything that was lying around and have cut just over 400 board feet,

missourihick · May 15, 2004

It is supposed to only cut up to 18 inch logs,I have cut 22 inch cotton woods and had no trouble. That 5 hp honda does alot better than I had expected.