Author Topic: greenhorn from michigan here. (Read 1971 times)

tomsteve · « **on:** November 25, 2009, 07:24:12 pm »

i came across this forum lookin for info on bandmills and, man, there's a lot of good knowledge here! glad i found ya'll
i am a forced-into-retirement carpenter. i have done some aspect of woodworking pretty much all of my life( i'm 42 now). i have a friend that has an old barn on her property( laying in a pile from a storm) that her husband was gonna burn, but she was able to get him to let me take a look at it and see if there was any wood i might want out of it., well, the barn was built in 1902, and it is old growth pine for the majority,plus some maple was foun, but i am still takin it apart.
i have quite a bit of the hand hewn beams here waiting to be milled, and that is where i thought about a bandmill. got surfin and see where a lot of people have built their own and i know i can do it. access to complete machine shop is at my disposal( and i know how to use the machinery in it), have a lot of the parts already on hand, and access to auto and farm equipment salvage machinery.
i dont plan on starting the build until after Christmas* as i gotta get kickin on makin Christmas* gifts( might be bags of sawdust this year). so i'll be seeing and meeting you all around.

almost forgot... the names tom. long story about the nick and gotta get goin here.

VictorH · « **Reply #1 on:** November 25, 2009, 07:31:32 pm »

Welcome from one greenhorn to another. Lots of great knowledge here. I thought about building my own then decided to spend that time making the money to just buy one.

If you have not found them already there is a site called DYIbandmill.com They are all about self built units. Very helpful folks as well

mcfcfan · « **Reply #2 on:** November 25, 2009, 07:35:25 pm »

Well come aboard tomsteve, yes there is a wealth of knowledge on here.
My name is Lee from Petersons check out our website to your left.
If you are ever near Traverse City i have a rep who could demo his swingblade ATS Peterson mill to you, might give you some more ideas.
Good luck
Regards
Lee

fishpharmer · « **Reply #3 on:** November 25, 2009, 08:04:26 pm »

Welcome forestry forum Tomsteve.

Magicman · « **Reply #4 on:** November 25, 2009, 08:34:19 pm »

Welcome to FF.....

James P. · « **Reply #5 on:** November 25, 2009, 09:19:15 pm »

Jah mon welcome to the rasta forestry forum.

southpaw · « **Reply #6 on:** November 25, 2009, 11:25:45 pm »

Welcome Tom

tomsteve · « **Reply #7 on:** November 26, 2009, 12:30:58 am »

Quote from: James P. on November 25, 2009, 09:19:15 pm

Jah mon welcome to the rasta forestry forum.

ya forgot tah end da sentence in mon ,mon.lolol
after doin some more surfin i can see there is also a pretty good sense of humor here. good thing because i want the help from others and like to give it where possible and i dont take life too seriously. thats a waste of energy, which can be used in the shop.

woodmills1 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 26, 2009, 05:03:59 am »

OK I can see it now.......

who will be the first to do rasta yoper speak!!!

welcome to the forum

bandmiller2 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 26, 2009, 07:14:58 am »

Welcome Tom,great bunch of guys[and girls]here just don't mention anything about wood handled peaveys or canthooks.Tom if you have alot of the materials and the ability by all means build yourself a bandmill,it is an interesting project and you will be the better sawyer for it.Theirs hours of reading in past posts, look in the archives.Their are plans you can buy but the best thing is to look at as many mills as you can and take what you like best from each,do your own thing mon.Frank C.

moonhill · « **Reply #10 on:** November 26, 2009, 07:50:06 am »

Well now that it has come up I do like my home made cant hook, made from scratch didn't cost a penny, some time though. I do ogle those blue handled jobbies maybe some day.

Tim

tomsteve · « **Reply #11 on:** November 26, 2009, 09:20:43 am »

Quote from: woodmills1 on November 26, 2009, 05:03:59 am

OK I can see it now....... who will be the first to do rasta yoper speak!!!

welcome to the forum

aaah yah mon eh?? ime not up over dah bridge mon, and dey r yoopers eh mon

tomsteve · « **Reply #12 on:** November 26, 2009, 09:28:14 am »

Quote from: bandmiller2 on November 26, 2009, 07:14:58 am

Welcome Tom,great bunch of guys[and girls]here just don't mention anything about wood handled peaveys or canthooks.Tom if you have alot of the materials and the ability by all means build yourself a bandmill,it is an interesting project and you will be the better sawyer for it.Theirs hours of reading in past posts, look in the archives.Their are plans you can buy but the best thing is to look at as many mills as you can and take what you like best from each,do your own thing mon.Frank C.

thanks for the info frank. havent looken in the archives yet, but dont think i saw that yet. i found a site called diybandmill.com. lotsa good indfo and pics on homebuilt bandmills.
what you stated is pretty much what i was planning. i have looked thru a lot of photos of homebuilt mills and have discussed some of the building with my good friend that is gonna be workin on this with me. we are lookin at different ways to fabricate different parts of a mill and decided we are gonna K.I.S.S.( keep it simple and strong).
we decided instead of gettin way too ahead of ourselves, we are gonna get the sawhead built first, then concentrate on the carraige( quite a few ideas on this area alone), then the tracks. then probably a test and tune, then add upgrades( we are already thinkn the power source might be the first upgrade).
so

so i'll be seein ya'll around mon

gizmodust · « **Reply #13 on:** November 26, 2009, 10:52:16 am »

Welcome Tom from another southern yuper.

Practically neighbors, we are. You'll find a ton of good stuff here, and maybe a good jab here and there. Good luck with the mill. Catch you later, eh.

Hilltop366 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 26, 2009, 07:18:45 pm »

Hi there Tom and welcome!

A home built mill can add lots of extra personal satisfaction (or frustration depending on how it turns out), it sounds like your on the right track and putting extra effort on the research before you start cutting and welding. It looks like a lot of frustration can be skipped by paying close attention to things like shaft sizes and structural steel size and thickness on other mills to see what works.

There seems to be some that are under built and won't stay in adjustment, I say it's better to build'er heavy and you just have to do it once.

I hope to start on home built #2 this winter, I got it all figured out (almost)and it's right up there in the ol noggin.(I am pointing at my head)

If you enjoy making that sort of stuff don't let anyone talk you out of it, It is kinda more fun than sawing wood for me.(it's a close call)

Cheers and stick around there's always something to learn.

Note for bandmiller2: Man you got to figure out how to post pictures so I can see some of those wonderful things your talkin about.

Don K · « **Reply #15 on:** November 26, 2009, 09:10:54 pm »

Welcome to the forum Tom

Don

bandmiller2 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 27, 2009, 07:16:57 am »

Hilltop,your right wish I could tried to post many times.I'am cyberly challenged with no grandchildren.Frank C.

SwampDonkey · « **Reply #17 on:** November 27, 2009, 07:36:39 am »

Wow, Bob Marley.

James P. · « **Reply #18 on:** November 27, 2009, 10:31:55 am »

hey bandmiller2, I am also cyberly challenge had other people searching the internet for years for me cause I thought it was beyond me. Once you figure it out which I am sure you will and get patents on all those gadgets we will get to steal I mean see your ideas.

DanG · « **Reply #19 on:** November 27, 2009, 12:37:47 pm »

Welcome to the forum, Tomsteve! I thought you was gonna tell us the "Tomsteve" story. Enquiring minds want to know, ya know.

That reminds me to remind y'all that we already got a Tom, so we're gonna hafta call Tomsteve Tomsteve so we don't get confuzzed when they're posting on the same thread.

So, if you ain't a Yooper, you must either be a Fudgie or a Troll, eh? Whichever it is, you're gonna love Yooper Night!

tomsteve · « **Reply #20 on:** November 27, 2009, 01:16:47 pm »

Quote from: DanG on November 27, 2009, 12:37:47 pm

Welcome to the forum, Tomsteve! I thought you was gonna tell us the "Tomsteve" story. Enquiring minds want to know, ya know.

That reminds me to remind y'all that we already got a Tom, so we're gonna hafta call Tomsteve Tomsteve so we don't get confuzzed when they're posting on the same thread.

So, if you ain't a Yooper, you must either be a Fudgie or a Troll, eh? Whichever it is, you're gonna love Yooper Night!

lololol

. okay,, here it is... i have about 7 friends that i know that are named tom. b4 i turned 40 it was young tom. then i turned 40 and that stopped. i figgered there were enough billybob's bobbyjoe's, and big john's out there already, so tomsteve it is!!!
i have bveen surfin this site and another one and have found some great information, ideas, and advise, and i havent even started building the mill yet. wish i didnt have a crapload of stuff i need to get done first. darn priorities!!!

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #21 on:** December 01, 2009, 07:17:56 am »

Gday

and Welcome to the forum Steve

and another ex crpenter tooboot Mate

your already in the salvage game ive been doing it for nearly 10 years and have done it with bands

but have allways prefered tct insert circs for the job

and one thing ill say is if your using a band get yourself a good p/washer the grit can kill a band in three foot of cutting somtimes keep em as clean as possible

building your own mill takes time and you need to be spoton

the process you decribed before is the best way and im prety sure you will nail it Mate

Regards Chris

tomsteve · « **Reply #22 on:** December 01, 2009, 08:23:00 pm »

thanks, chris. already own a pressure washer and also have a line on 3 barns that went down last year in a windstorm. i am guessin i have about 600 b.f. of pine still in timber form. i picked some up in the spring and milled it with my chainsaw and table saw. i built some pretty nice end tables and some picture frames with it, but now i have a computer desk/hutch i want to build out of some of what i have now, but i really dont want to waste any more of this beautiful wood.
i have been doin some form of woodworking for a long time and have never seen growth rings so tight. i was sittin in the shop one nite lookin at the end of a 6" by 6" post, sanded the end down a bit and started counting rings. i got up to 70 before my eyes went goofy and i still had about 2" to go. i noticed some thing about the growth rings, too. there were some areas where the rings were so tight i could barely make them out as more than one. some areas of the growth rings were a little more spaced and there was one that was a grayish color. well, figgerin that a lot of the beams were hand hewn monsters, i thought they probably didnt travel too far from where they were cut and started lookin up history of forest fires in the area. seems that during the great chicago fire, there were some fires ravaging michigan( there was a huge one out around jacson that, when the smoke went acroos detroit, the people thought it was from the chicago fire) and there was one in this area around 1860. i am guessin that that is where the grayish ring came from.
found out there was some weather recorded from the 1800's and there was a really cold spell for about 10 years in the early 1800's. guessin that's where the tight rings came from.

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Author Topic: greenhorn from michigan here. (Read 1971 times)