Firewood processor build thread

[woodchipper]

It's all those holes that take forever! How are you going to hold the poly to the sides of the guide?

By the look of it, you are using a hole saw for the larger holes -- what brand? I tried a couple 3/4" holes and just eat the teeth off after only a couple holes, seems they don't clean out enough (1 Mastercraft, 1 Dewalt) 1 1/4" worked much better thru 3/8' plate

And what drill press are you running? My Mastercraft one slips the belt way more than I think it should.

CDN Farm Boy:
May I suggest you go to L馮鑽e Industrial Supplies on Woodward Drive for your shop needs. For the hole saws, they cary Starrett brand. They have good quality drills (Dormer among others), cutting and tapping fluid, etc
I too had less success with the Mastercraft, Exchange-a-blade, and Dewalt brands. Better success with Milwalkey, DoAll, Morse and Starrett brands. Good quality tools do make a difference! Pay more upfront (not allways...), but save way more down the road.

Pointers given by kiotiken, and muddstopper are excellent! :thumbsup:

 

[muddstopper]

I have had good success with the Lennox brand of holesaw, more so than the dewalt. Lennox is easy to find, Lowes, Homedepot, etc all carry both brands. I havent tried Milwaukee or any of the other brands. Keep the saw oiled with the proper cutting oil and drilling a relief hole so the cutting can fall out, and it should last a long time.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I knew they left Morrison Dr, didn't know where they went. Thanks for the new location. Never liked the guys in there much, they always talked down to you like they were better. Some nice equipment though.

Never heard of Doall or Morse but I've tried pretty much every brand I can find in my 20 yrs in construction with no appreciable difference between any of them.

I'll be getting some proper cutting oil and trying the clearance hole mud suggested

 

[muddstopper]

When drilling the clearance hole, try to get as close to the inside dia of the saw as possible. That way the chips will just fall thru the hole as your drilling. Also if your sawing large dia holes, you might want to drill more than one clearance hole. In the one inch metal I was hole sawing, I used a 1/2 drill bit to drill the clearance hole with and a 2.5in hole saw.

 

[kiotiken]

Since there's been so much discussion about using hole saws here, I figured it was time to start building the rollers! I've never tried using a 4.25" hole saw in metal before, can't say I enjoyed it much. It was very easy to stall the bit so you really had to pay attention to the shavings coming off the piece and the pressure you were applying. It took a really long time and I just had to be patient and let it cut at it's own speed. It also took a lot of cutting oil. The first two I cut, I didn't have a pilot bit in the mandrel. As I was sitting there cutting way, wondering what the best way would be to find the centre of the circle would be, I had an absolutely brilliant idea, use a pilot bit! I used a 4.25" hole saw on 4" wide, 1/8" plate hoping the inside diameter, or the cut out, would be 4" (1/8" blade diameter on all sides). It was just a little too big so each disk has a little flat spot on it, which is really no big deal. Now I need to drill a 1.25" hole in the centre of each of the disks and cut 2" flat bar to form the teeth.

10 of these took a really long time.


I also finished the pusher plate. A few parts are still only tacked on, but the majority is fully welded.

I replaced the attachment for the cylinder since the original one was bent and distorted with the plate was pushed upward and capped the vertical piece to keep the rain out.


I added some plate to the sides and to the front and back to hold the nylon strips that it will sit on. Four screws will secure it on either side, but really, it wont be able to move anyway. This stuff is amazingly durable, I ripped a cutting edge into a 6' by 4" strip and bolted it under my 1500# blower 3 years ago. My driveway is paved and hasn't worn it down a noticeable amount.


The pusher plate took a really long time to re-engineer. Now that it's mostly done and I'm moving on, I should have more to show for an evening in the garage.

 

[kiotiken]

More fun with the hole saw last night, each of the 4" cut outs needed a 1.25" hole cut in the centre. So much nicer cutting with a smaller hole saw, I actually enjoy enjoy sitting and cutting holes. The saw doesn't stall and cuts much nicer and quicker than the 4.25" saw.


Since we've been talking about it here, here's my set up for cutting holes with a hole saw.


Next I cut a bunch of 2" - 1/8 flat bar. I then cut them into a V shape.


I cut some DOM tube to length and welded one of the disks to the end of it.


Next came the V shaped flat bar.


Finally it was capped with another disk. I'm building 5 of these rollers that will be chain driven.



They will fit onto a 1" axle and have spacers cut for each side so they remain centred in the trough. The one thing I forgot to do is drill a hole through the roller and axle for a pin (bolt). Turning the axle won't do a whole lot at the moment, it needs to be connected to the roller and for future maintenance, I don't want to weld them in place.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Looks like those flat spots on the 4" disk came in handy to clamp in the vise. Just like you planned it :thumbsup:

 

[kiotiken]

Looks like those flat spots on the 4" disk came in handy to clamp in the vise. Just like you planned it :thumbsup:

Yes, quite right, this entire project has been perfectly "planned" and executed :laughing:

 

[kiotiken]

I haven't had a chance to get to Princess Auto yet and I need to pick up flange bearings before I can cut the axles for the rollers and locate them along the trough. I should be able to sneak over there this afternoon but I'm off on a ski trip this weekend so not much more will get done till next week.

I did go out again last night to finish the 4 other rollers. The first thing I noticed was an oil mark on the garage floor under the Power Fist (Princess Auto brand) 15hp engine. I guess I should have expected it since it has 0.25 hrs on it so far :laughing: Upon closer inspection, it was coming from the drain plug. I cinched it up a little tighter so I'll keep an eye on it, but I wouldn't have though it was loose enough to cause a leak.

All the rollers are done so I stuck them on the axle and gave them a quick spin. I should have (and was going to) build a jig to fit the rollers up properly but was just too lazy. It's amazing how true they spin and how similar they all turned out for fitting them up by eye :thumbsup:

 

[mikefromnh]

I just skimmed this thread to get caught up again...but instead of hole-sawing 4" discs could you have just cut squares out of 4" flat stock instead? (I'm not seeing the reason for the outer part of the rollers needing to be round)