Playing with Duanes Circle mill

[captain_crunch]

Shorty(my youngest) and I got drafted to work on Duane's mill today
Shorty the off bearer




Sawdust a flying



Duane himself


Went good till was my turn 5 seconds to cut 16 ft 2X6 Good going till I stuck my little finger to cant with Dog  >:(OUCH like clear thru so we did not look at other mill or shake jig. Pansy me had to come home and find band aid befer I blead to death. He complained about me blaeding all over boards but I did finish log

[DanG]

OUCH!  You gonna change your name to Captain Pinch now?  Great pics though.

[captain_crunch]

Dan
More like Captain Gored

[Ron Wenrich]

Those hand mills are fun to run.  It used to be that you could tell which guy was the sawyer.  He was usually the guy that was missing a digit or two.  Slammed that dog down on a finger and pinched it off. 

I've always worn gloves when I sawed on hand mills.  I've lost a few glove fingers, but never the real thing. 

[captain_crunch]

Bellsaw set works are cruder but in my book safer I belive these are Corley and lots heavier and the dogs being shorter seem to get pinkies in harms was better But other than being sore it was a good wake up call. I was useing his saw and cutting his logs so was kinda out of place

[terrifictimbersllc]

Dan
More like Captain Gored

Keep it Captain_Crunch, that still fits. Is that why they're called "hand mills"?    ::)Sorry to hear about your finger, my thumb had a bandaid on it a few days, pulling a 6x10 into customer's trailer at the front of my mill, he had ramps which wouldn't come off and were in the way all day including in the way of my thumb.

[bandmiller2]

Sorry Cappy, thats what Popeye would call embarasking.Hopefully you check where your fingers are before you wack your dogs down with a hammer.Its tough on a strange mill their all differant. Frank C.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Thats a SWEET Looking Mill you got there Duane    Whats the power plant I want all the details    


Crunch What are you bloody doin to yourself  Mate  Rack dogs are just alittle different that those cam dogs you are use to using you can use them single handed and keep the other one outa the way  But  I feel your pain we all knock our hands n digits about abit in this game from time to time 

Regards Chris

[Magicman]

Looks like it was a fun day.  Sorry that it also was a memorable one.   

[captain_crunch]

Finger mucs better today and it did not get me as bad as it looked after it closed up I will get more pics today. Thanks for you fellers consern and advise. I always worrie about big things like Blade and flying stuff then let the dog bite me is kinda embarassing
Medows
This is the mill that replaced my bellsaw it used to set in same shed. Belive carrage is a Corley as is rest of mill power is a 4 cyl Jimmy. One thing that suprized me is even tho it is faster it is not set up as well as we did on my saw(for 1 man) He runs a 50 in Hoe blade and had roll cases everywhere. It has hyd turners but not hooked up. Duane has owned pony mills since he was in his 20's and now is 76 and is always baffeled as to how much I have learned in 1 1/2 years( he does not understand what you can learn in the RIGHT place with a computer till 6 years ago neither did I) Got to go as he will be after me in a few mins.

[Dave_]

Captain, when I make it up to your place, do you think a field trip to this mill could be arranged?    Beings that I am running a Belsaw and plan to build a Corley, seems like I could profit well from seeing both and filling up the memory card on my camera   

[captain_crunch]

Dave
That was my plan to take you up to Duanes mill he may know of some pieces you need

[bandmiller2]

How well a mill is set up makes all the differance only experiance with that mill will let you fine tune it.When you run a mill anything that feels awkward or out of place should be corrected if possible,a mill is all material handling.Glad your finger has rallied.Frank C.

[Dave_]

Good deal Cap!

[laffs]

its a good thing you wear pants... sorry

[captain_crunch]

More pics fer Medows
the power plant

This is a neat feature lever moves bar in and out to allow for log taper and the DOG that bit me

part of carrage drive

view of blade and out feed

[bandmiller2]

You just got to love old sawmill machinery.There are few things better than standing in the sawyers box and watching a fine log go through the saw,the sound ,smell and you can feel the wind off the saw.Disclamer, pi$$ oak dosen't smell that great.Frank C.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

And Thanks for the Pics Shes a tidy setup for her age and that lill jimmy would pull it well  and Its nice to see it working as I remember the thread you did on it a while back Mate    Did he buy it as a complete mill or did he rebuild it himself  

And ment to say Im with Ron on his comment that Those hand mills are fun to run  there is nothing quite like being on a manual or semi manual style mill where you actually have to touch the timber and you are close to the action ive done abit of sawing in booths in my time even though you are more productive usually it dose take abit away from it 

Regards Chris

[captain_crunch]

Here are the rest Duanes cheat wheel

The Half moon log turners

I really like these set works

Possibly the next project

[ibbob]

I'll bite... What is a cheat wheel?

[Dave_]

Thanks for taking one for the team.  I was wondering the same thing

[captain_crunch]

ibbob
Here is a pic of mine maybe it will make sence to you I just set Duanes in bracket for pic. once you get them set like 2 in for example you just ratchet cant against wheel for makeing repeat cuts cuts down on math

I am not useing mine in pic but hope this helps
Brian

[Corley5]

Great Pics.  Why isn't he using the peg in the setworks for repetitive cuts instead of the cheat wheel 

[Texas Ranger]

Captain, that looks a lot like the first and only saw mill I ran, but mine was older, WWII era I think, old military mill.  Talk about a hands on experience, I got some pictures around here if I can find them.  We logged with old deuce and half's, and we kept some just for parts.

Ah, the wasted youth.

[captain_crunch]

Corley5
Proably cause we don't know how to use it He had the wheel on the mill I have so he just built another one. If you can explane how it works I can play Genius next time I see him

[Corley5]

See the holes in the top of the setworks rim    Each hole corresponds to a thickness of lumber to be sawed.  A steel peg is dropped into the desired hole to limit the stroke to the desired thickness.  No math for every cut and every cut should be the same if the setworks are tight    The double acting works on my Corley 5s have the thickness stamped next to each hole in 1/8" increments 

[beenthere]

Corley5
I was wondering the same thing. Seems it would be so much faster to use the intended pegs.
Might be a matter of finding the pegs (or making some up).

Or maybe the pawls are worn and don't catch for a full stroke and set. ??

[captain_crunch]

Will look at his monday His cheat wheel is quite fast being he has holes a pin drops in for 1-6" mine with crank is a little slower Got to remember these old set works generaly have sawn millions bd by the time we found them and ratchets are worn and skip. But I lucked into a very little used set works on the shake jig so I am going to do some swapping on mine

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Setworks do wear but you can buy a new set of prawls for bugger all its under $120 for them on my LTI setworks on the Meadows  A good steworks should also have and fine adjustment for the stop when the leavers rite back so you can fine tune it for wear in the cogs and prawls and it would not be a hard addition to any mill all it is is a 3/4 bolt that is tapped through the main body of the setworks at the back with a lock nut so you can adjust the starting point for your stroke to the set pin  I can see how the idea of using a roller guide on the husk of the mill works just like the gauge on a breast bench but it only gives you another thing to do id rather just have my setworks running well if it was my own mill 

Regards Chris

[bandmiller2]

Chris is correct all of the better setworks have adjustment to fine tune the pin holes on the quadrant.Its far better to use the pins,and quicker as you can set on the fly. Cheat wheels work but sometimes cramp the cant depending how hard you pull it over.Many times if your pawls and ratchet wheel are worn you can sharpen the pawls to a sharper corner or shim them sideways to engauge unworn sections of the wheel.Worn setworks are like using a worn metal lathe you just take up the slack and go from there. Frank C.

[jimparamedic]

That little guide when set makes the boards dead nutts on I made one for mine cause the set works on my mill are old and not always the same with each pull on the set works and even with the pin in place you some times want a thickness thats not there