Need help with plans......

[Mr Mom]

     Most of the mill makers are raising there prices beacuse of high steel prices i was thinking that i might try to build one.
     There are plans on ebay that look good but dont know. I know the basics of how to build a mill.
     I need a plan to follow just as a reference. I have a plan in my head and have ideas but my way is not always best way. It will not be portable right now.
     Has anyone bought any plans off ebay?? Does anyone know were i can get a set of plans that they used?? Maybe i could wing it.
     

     Thanks Alot Mr Mom
     

[Modat22]

I kinda looked a pictures on this web site and asked a bunch of question and winged it.
Bill Rake sells plans for a basic mill that might be a good basic starting point but you might not need them.

I'd be happy to give you any dimension of any piece on my mill but mine is pretty big and rough looking 
Most of the steel on mine was salvaged from construction sites by me, a sawzall and a gas generator.

[Mr Mom]

     Modat22...big and rough is about what i think mine will look like. Thanks alot for the offer you maybe hearing from me.
     What is the space between your band wheels??

     Thanks Alot Mr Mom

[Bibbyman]

     Most of the mill makers are raising there prices beacuse of high steel prices i was thinking that i might try to build one.
          

Have you already got your steel?  If not, you may have to pay more for your steel than what a big company does.  They buy in volume often get prices set under contract. 

I know a couple of months ago a neighbor came over and bought some real nice oak 2x6s to build up a header in a barn.  He and ordered some 6” steel I beams but the supplier called him back and told him couldn’t get them from his normal source and if he wanted them they’d be twice what he originally told him.

BTW,  Who has raised their prices of their mills recently?   Is I'm not in the market for a mill,  I don't keep up with the prices.

[flip]

Steel is getting to be a JOKE!  We have a trailer shop where we repair aluminum and steel dump trailers, stretch truck frames etc... so we use quite a bit of steel and alumimum in that department.  We have a few suppliers that deliver one or two times a week.  I am starting to build my log trailer and about fell over when I priced the 2X6X 1/4 20' tubes, $240/each.  We have a part time guy that works at a factory where they make metal chairs, frames and tables and he got all the metal I needed for $600.  You really need to check around and build it right the first time and heavy enough to upgrade and make mobile.  I used 20' 6" C channel for my frames, 6" I beams for my cross members with 6" C on top of that with 1X4 alumimum bar on top of that for the deck.  The cutting head and carriage was all 3" and 2 1/2"  1/4-3/16 tube that was scrounged from our cut pile.  Better figure on $2-3K in metal, nuts and bolts, lines, wheels, guides and other misc. stuff...it all adds up.

Flip

[Larry]

We have a scrap iron yard where you used to be able to buy scrap steel, and seconds at substantial savings.  No more...owner re-sells everything he buys straight to the foundries.  He said most of the scrap yards are going the same way.

If I were going to build a mill I would copy an existing design from a company that has built lotsa mills.  Even the biggest manufactures make mistakes, learn from em, and build a better machine.

[Bibbyman]

We have a scrap iron yard where you used to be able to buy scrap steel, and seconds at substantial savings.  No more...owner re-sells everything he buys straight to the foundries.  He said most of the scrap yards are going the same way.

That's about what I found out when I went to buy some "scrap" steel from our local scarp dealer.  He said he wasn't getting any anything but scrap.  I had to go buy new and I paid around $100 for 2  4" channel irons 10' long.

Again,  has any mill manufacturer raised their prices in the last few months?

[mike_van]

I called to get a price the other day on expanded metal sheet, the guy said the price was good for FOUR days only - thats all they'll guarante it for. Not meant to scare you off from building a mill, every time I use mine, there's a satisfaction only the builder knows - here's one tip though if you go stationary for your mill - My lower "frame" is  four 20' 2x12's bolted up on the sides, 2x10's across the middle - these sit on four 8' 6x10's. The whole thing on a concrete floor. I'm always glad to send pic's too - Good luck with it -

[Mr Mom]

     Bibbyman...no i dont have the steel yet but there is a place that sales structial steel. From what i heard it has surface rust on it.
     The company is Norwood and if i do buy one it has to be before the end of this month. I got my new SAWMILL AND WOODLOT mag today and seen the price but did not try to find the diffrent just flipped threw real quick.

     Flip...everthing is getting to be that way. A big JOKE. Wounder how some people can even live today.

     Larry...That is the plan i have some ideas on how i want to do it.

     Just like flip said i want to build a good,nice heavy mill and only do it once.

     mike-van...Thanks alot for the offer you all will here form me IF i start this thing.
    
     Thanks Alot Mr Mom.

[Modat22]

     Modat22...big and rough is about what i think mine will look like. Thanks alot for the offer you maybe hearing from me.
     What is the space between your band wheels??

     Thanks Alot Mr Mom

Bandwheel tires are 28 inches in diameter and the distance between centers is 85 inches. Bandsaw blade is 21'6" x 1.5 wide.

[jrokusek]

I bought plans off Ebay for about $32.  Save your money!!  This forum is a good place to gather enough info to build a mill.  Head over to http://www.diybandmill.com and look at pictures and posts.  Ask lots of questions and good people will answer them.

When building mine I bought 1"x2" tubing (I forget the wall thickness) that was supposed to be part of a Jello display rack.  I welded the 1x2's together to make the 2"x2" tubing that I wanted in the first place.  I also bought "drops" from my steel shop.  These were the cutoff's and misc stuff that my steel supplier got in.  My steel supplier owns a scrap metal place across the street from their regular business.  Sometimes people would bring in decent lengths of steel to sell as scrap.  The business (Zabel's Steel) would pick out the good stuff and bring it across the street and sell it at a nice discount as "surplus" steel.....whatever that means. 

I've had luck with trailer tires as bandwheels, some folks haven't.  I built my whole machine for less than $1000.  I did, however, have access to a scrap pile on a farm that saved me a few $.

It's not difficult to build a mill, just VERY time consuming and occasionally frustrating.  I recommend exploring this option further.

Jim

[gary]

If you are close to Youngstown or Warren Ohio you can come and look at my mill. It is a timberharvester if that will help you any.
 Gary

[Tom]

Be very careful about buying plans.  We have had, on this forum, at least one person who was trying to sell his plans.  He also sells them on EBay.  The crux of the situation is that we determined he had never built the mill for which he was selling the plans and had never run a mill nor sawed lumber.  He was an engineer or something who just liked to draw plans.

You will be a lot happier if you go slowly and ask for verification of your self-drawn plans here on the forum.   There are many threads to study.

[Mr Mom]

     Thanks alot guys .

     Tom... I remember that post. I know what you mean about buying plans. That is why i asked if any one has bought any good plans.

     Gary... Thanks Alot it is only 45 min to Warren from were i live. Thanks for the invite.

     jrokusek...I was just thinking about all the junk that i have. I will have to think on how to join them togeather.

     Modat22...Thanks Alot for the infor.

     Now that i think about it My friend ( yes i have some friends) gave me a truck frame an old stright truck,I have axels from an old Dodge 3/4 ton plus the tires.now all that i need is a little steel and time. A motor and other things.

     Thanks Alot Mr Mom.

[Minnesota_boy]

I've been following the construction of a few homemade mills.  There are some advantages, such as knowledge of how it was built so when something needs fixed, you just have to remember how you built it in the first place.  There are also a few drawbacks, such as the resale value and the customer confidence that a manufactured mill instills.  There is also a bit of time involved.  During the time that some have spent working on their mill and finding the weak spots and working out the hidden errors of design, I've just been sawing lumber with my manufactured mill.  In fact, I've probably sawed aroung a quarter million feet while some were still trying to get the kinks out.  If something goes wrong with my mill, I don't know how it was built and probably couldn't remember it if I had built my own.  Instead I look in the owners manual to find a nicely drawn exploded view with a list of partnumbers and a phone number to call to get the exact replacement.  If I still can't figure it out, there are a bank of technicians at the other end of the phone line willing to spend quite some time with me to work it out.  When I get ready to retire or upgrade, the manufacturer's name on my mill will make it worth a considerable amount.   How much will your mill be worth in 5 years?

[Mr Mom]

     Minnesota_boy...I have nothing against buying my mill.
     My way of thinking is that if they have a mill for lets say $3,000 and only cuts a 18" log in dia and for the same money i can build one that will cut a 36" log for the same price then i'm ahead of the game.
     Resale is not intended. I hope to build it to last a long time.
     If the looks of the mill has to be all bright and flashy then they can take there logs to someone eles.


     Thanks Alot Mr Mom 

[firecord]

I just posted this link in another thread but, I believe it is warented in this one also.
http://www.machinebuilders.net  A lot of good stuff in their forum, and a lot of saws. 

[Norwiscutter]

I want to build one someday, if only for the fun of it.  But I don't think a guy would be wise trying to build a higher production portable mill unless he really had put some thought into it.  When I look at my mill, I know there is no way I could ever come close to the efficency of it's design.  Not that there aren't things I would change if I was the grand guru of sawmill manufacturing, but all in all, the amount of time and money it would require me to come up with something half as good would exceed the bennefit of doing it myself. Now I still have dreams of building a monster 4 post bandmill to cut slabs from the 50 inch white pines I got in my back yard.

[Modat22]

I couldn't afford a manufactured mill and didn't see a time when I could have afforded the thing. I think I have approx 1400.00 in my mill but I do have a load of time in its construction. I didn't have anything better to do with my time anyway, and it got me away from the wife for awhile. It was a great way of relieving stress.

[GF]

I could not see paying what they ask for a mill, knowing a majority of it is labor.  Even though my labor was free to myself the mill I built I have around $10,000 - $11,000 in it.  All the parts were new including all the hydraulics.  And the best part is that its paid for.  It does all I want it to do, and I know every part in it, and I can go down and buy new parts from any parts place, nothing is proprietary on it.  Of course it was fun to build also, I never seen a working sawmill in person yet except on TV and the one I built.  Some major changes have been made since it was first completed, a new engine was installed, new carriage lift system (used to be Acme threaded rod, now it uses rollor chain). 

It has a hydraulic log loader powered by two 24,000lb rams, hydraulic log turner with chain, hydraulic log clamps, and log stops, two hydraulic log levelers, hydraulic carriage feed and lift, electric blade guide adjustment, remote throttle up/down on the console, 12v lighting to work at night (dont use since in a lighted shed now).  I have some photos on http://www.twistedoaksawmill.com websites with some videos. 

Eventually one day I may buy one already built, but the one I have now cuts everything just fine.