Author Topic: The Bandmill That I Built Continued (Read 22137 times)

rbarshaw · « **on:** January 10, 2004, 03:07:46 pm »

the height Adjustment, made from two camper jacks that everything is attached to, with a hand crank that drives two bicycle sprockets linked by chain.

A log carrier that i made out of mobile home tires and angle iron.

Rear view.

Front view.

The drive axel is a 3/4" steel rod welded to the wheel at one end and to the chain sprocket at the other.

This is the engine, a CB400A Honda motorcycle engine, electric start and automatic transmission.It's attached to the frame by 1/2" threaded rod.

Rear view of the mill.

Blade tension and toe in adjustments are 1/2" threaded rod.

My first two pieces of wood, from a small sweetgum.

Front view of mill.

pasbuild · « **Reply #1 on:** January 10, 2004, 04:06:16 pm »

rbarshaw
that sure is a good use of all that good stuff we all seem to save I wish I had what it takes to do a project like that

Do the band wheels double as the towing package?

rbarshaw · « **Reply #2 on:** January 10, 2004, 07:41:42 pm »

No,but my wife thinks it looks like a motorcycle tho'.

Furby · « **Reply #3 on:** January 10, 2004, 08:25:23 pm »

Not so sure about that 1/2" rod, might need some beefing up.
I'm glad to see a motorcycle engine will work. I was kicking around that idea for a while.
Good job rbarshaw, whatever it takes to make some sawdust!

By the way, welcome!

etat · « **Reply #4 on:** January 11, 2004, 01:01:06 am »

Well Howdy There! I like someone who takes what they have and makes something they need, without having to break the bank to do so. Pretty Cool!

rbarshaw · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2004, 05:49:21 am »

Furby - That's four 1/2" rods that hold the engine in place. the only money spent was for 2 guide assemblys from Cooks Mills and the scrap iron for the rails ( was Home Depo shelf legs ), about $300.00 for the whole thing. It cuts straight, dosen't waver around knots, went thru 12" of sweetgum as fast as I could push it and didn' slow the engine at all.
Can't wait to get a 30"+ piece of wood on it.

D._Frederick · « **Reply #6 on:** January 11, 2004, 08:08:45 am »

rbarshaw,

A couple of questions if you plan on doing much sawing: I don't see a fan to cool that motor cycle engine, without it you will burn it up? How are you going to control engine speed, over speed will also will destroy it?

Corley5 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 11, 2004, 09:01:02 am »

That's

Looks good. I was wondering about over heating. That engine should have air flowing over it to keep it cool. A fan of some sort might be a good idea.

rbarshaw · « **Reply #8 on:** January 11, 2004, 10:00:38 am »

I've got a 12 volt car radiator fan that i plan on using for cooling, the engine does have a working 12 volt system that will provide more than is needed for charging and the fan.
The speed is controlled by placing my finger directly on the throttle on the carb. to go faster than the idle setting and i have put a stop to prevent over speed.
Everthing on this mill was measured by a ruler, made square by an old rusty framing square and eyeballed, cut with a sawzall, stick welded, used c-clamps and pipe clamps to hold in place during assembly. It dosen't vibrate and works quite well. So much for needing a machine shop!

Tom · « **Reply #9 on:** January 11, 2004, 10:03:23 am »

You are an Artist.

Machine shops are to help the Masses

Steve · « **Reply #10 on:** January 11, 2004, 10:43:24 am »

What a great mill!! Keep us posted.. I haven't seen that level of creativity and "made do" since the old bush days in Alaska.

Duane_Moore · « **Reply #11 on:** January 12, 2004, 09:52:42 pm »

8)rbarshaw, one heck of a job, can't say enough.you got more guts then most, fantastic. wish I had your ambision.

8)Duane

Norm · « **Reply #12 on:** January 13, 2004, 04:29:40 am »

Dang that is one neat mill ya got there rbarshaw. You should go to work for NASA, those guys get billions of dollars and can't make anything work right. I figure with a couple thousand you'd be waving at us from Mars.

OneWithWood · « **Reply #13 on:** January 13, 2004, 06:24:06 am »

Glad to hear you have thought about some cooling. Any cooling is good. Those CB engines will run forever-even if you drain all the oil out of them. I sorta remember some biker events where the big fund raiser was to take a Honda CB and try to kill it. Always raised a lot of dinnero and very seldom saw an engine failure. Frustrated the bejeebees out of some of the hard core HD crowd

I would of course take great care with the air filter system.

rbarshaw · « **Reply #14 on:** January 15, 2004, 05:07:59 pm »

Well, bad news.

I was cutting my third log today and the axel broke off on the side of the pillow block away from the tire.

I knew that 3/4" was too small, but was all I had on hand. Guess I'll have to get a larger shaft, maybe 1.5 or 2" and new pillow blocks.

I've got to get it running again, it's too much fun.

D._Frederick · « **Reply #15 on:** January 15, 2004, 07:02:10 pm »

Rbarshaw,

I would be interested in knowing how the 3/4 inch shaft broke, was it by a weld? How did you fasten the shaft to the hub or to the sprocket?

Percy · « **Reply #16 on:** January 15, 2004, 07:28:54 pm »

Neat mill rbarshaw.
Too bad about the breakdown but from the look of things, you'll haver up and running in no time. I was wondering if the tranny was still functional, heh, like do you shift down for the big knotts??

rbarshaw · « **Reply #17 on:** January 16, 2004, 04:35:15 pm »

D._Frederick
Look at the fifth picture down, see the pillow block bearing to the right, the break occured right where the shaft exits the pillow block on the left side of the right block. There was no weld or other visable defect there or in the break. The wheel is stick welded to the shaft, everything looks fine there, I have ground all the weld away in preperation for the new 1.75" shaft that I got today. I have also reviewed the thread about welding a drive shaft. The drive sprocket has a pipe welded thru it that is keyed to the shaft, all looks fine there too, i'll have to remove that also for the new sleeve. I'll see if I can get a picture of the break posted here soon.

Percy
The tranny is functional but I havent needed to get out of Low speed, and since it is an automatic I just leave it in gear when I turn the engine off or on. Seems to work fine.

rbarshaw · « **Reply #18 on:** January 17, 2004, 07:28:03 pm »

The broken 3/4" drive shaft

Another view

Old and new shaft, new is 1.5" and is welded into the wheel. Just waiting on new pillow blocks.

cluckerplucker · « **Reply #19 on:** January 18, 2004, 04:23:49 am »

to my way of thinking the weight of the wheel assy is why your shaft broke.The new shaft is a lot better.but is there a way to lose the brake drum and reduce the weight? cecil

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Author Topic: The Bandmill That I Built Continued (Read 22137 times)