Author Topic: Long time visitor, first time poster! Need advice regarding low budget milling. (Read 4144 times)

Ianab · « **Reply #20 on:** January 17, 2012, 03:46:54 am »

Yeah, the DIY approach sort of needs a workshop and welder. By the time you get all that set up, may as well buy a basic mill.

You wont regret spending a few more $$ on a decent manual sawmill. Beams, boards, woodworking materials...

Ian

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #21 on:** January 17, 2012, 05:32:58 am »

Gday

First off Welcome to The Forum Ozarkian theres no mistakin where you come from Mate

With the sawmill there are some good mills out there and it sounds like you have access to plenty of wood and plenty of need for a mill a Barn/Workshop and Wanting to get into building furniture and selling abit of lumber

if you are worried about stretching the personal budget it might pay to look into the LT15 and putting the $1000 down on it and paying off the rest at about $250 a month on WM finance

by My reckoning ( thats a picnic table or garden bench every month to make the payment

) and you would still have $1k in the bank to cover any tight months

Just a thought what Jake said is a good Idea as thats what I am in the process of doing now as Im sawing a fair bit on the Lucas atm trying to get cash together to start getting things set up for Jesi Mexi and I when I get home on the 13th off feb for a while I got a fair bit off stuff to build Myself so far We will be needing 10 to 15000bft just for the additions to the home fort

Regards Chris

Magicman · « **Reply #22 on:** January 17, 2012, 07:29:38 am »

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, smanning. How about an intro from you and an update on that LT25. Also, pictures would be nice.

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #23 on:** January 17, 2012, 07:38:16 am »

We Like Pics

;D

thecfarm · « **Reply #24 on:** January 17, 2012, 09:13:31 am »

Get the little ones involved at a young age,even though it will slow you down and have to watch them ALL the time. When they get older they will be able to help and be glad to. Take your time with the sawmill,something might come up. Read on here,ask questions. There's alot to sawing and that's not even the working part with a manual mill.

hackberry jake · « **Reply #25 on:** January 17, 2012, 12:50:49 pm »

There are a lot of photos of the mill in operation in my photo gallery. The biggest con was the speed, however I have since put a 20hp Honda engine on it that I found on cl and it cuts much faster. For $4k you can't expect a full blown production machine. The pros of the machine come out everytime I have ran it. It cuts log after log and has never had a breakdown. Just keep a Sharp band on it and keep it lubricated and she should last a very long time. It's a very heavy well built machine.

mad murdock · « **Reply #26 on:** January 17, 2012, 01:35:26 pm »

WelcOme Ozarkian and manning. I have a CSM. Have worked around handset circle mills, would like a swing blade, and will prolly eventually build one. I may build a bandmill. IF you consider a CSM you will end up spending your $2000 between a mill large power head bar and chains and other needed accessories. You will be much happier with a thin kerf bandmill, as your lumber recovery is way better, and milling speed is off the charts compared to the CSM

FeltzE · « **Reply #27 on:** January 17, 2012, 05:06:40 pm »

I'd recommend looking at bandmill options. But keep in mind you are working in TONNAGE. A typical log may weigh from several hundred pounds to several thousand.

Starting off a walk by/hand pushed band saw may be your best bet. Why? Because bands cost about $20 each and resharp services are half that including shipping. Working with residential timber you WILL cut nails, and a single nail is reason for a blade change.

Take some time to evaluate your local market after starting to saw, you may find you are in need of portability as it's often easier to move the saw to the timber than the timber to the saw.

I could go on for another 500 word essay but won't, but be aware that soon you will need to budget for a cover for your saw, or a material handling option such as a forklift/loader or even a truck to handle sawdust, logs, or slab.

As always your invited to spend a few days with me at my mill for a free lesson in sawmilling!

Eric

Dave VH · « **Reply #28 on:** January 17, 2012, 05:40:18 pm »

Welcome!
I was in the middle of building my own bandsaw mill when I found a guy that needed a deck on his house that he was willing to trade for. I've got 300$ in labor (my employees and I did the deck in a day), another $200 in building a track for the mill. I now have a small bandmill for cheap. It took me some time to find a deal like that, but they are out there. Don't give up. When this mill makes me enough money, there is an lt40 in my future.
good luck. when you find that diamond in the rough, it'll make it that much more special to you.

Ozarkian · « **Reply #29 on:** January 17, 2012, 06:00:30 pm »

I am talking with some welder/fabricators in my area and am going to price out getting one built. Hopefully it'll be less than $3,000.00 including labor! Anybody know of any great plans they suggest?

Feltze, I am pretty set as to sawing primarily Eastern Red Cedar, and have yet to cut a log that I believe would require a forklift after cutting into 8-10 lengths. Also, most all of the timber I am cutting is coming from my parent's land that's been in the family for over 150 years. I am familiar where most the fence lines have been and still are. However, stray bullets from target practice and so forth could dull a blade quick I bet!

customsawyer · « **Reply #30 on:** January 17, 2012, 06:04:18 pm »

Bullets are not that bad as they are soft lead. The ones with a metal jacket can cause a problem from time to time. Sometimes I will hit a bullet and not even know it till later when stacking the lumber.

steve phillips · « **Reply #31 on:** January 17, 2012, 06:13:16 pm »

hey ozarkian
welcome to the site , its a great site lots of info and helpful folks. im new too
i am building a mill , ole social security dont pay much

Ozarkian · « **Reply #32 on:** January 17, 2012, 06:19:04 pm »

I bet some sawyers have found old lead balls from the civil war when cutting into the big old trees. That be cool... As long as blade isn't damaged!
How's the build coming along? What plans are you following, and estimated cost to build?

mad murdock · « **Reply #33 on:** January 17, 2012, 06:56:47 pm »

Linn Lumber out here in ORE sells piece parts, kits or the whole mill. Some guys have gone that route, and have been able to build a manual band mill plus it cuts down on fabrication time. I am sure there are others, There are plans available for little $$. if you are wanting to research the build your own route, I would use the forum search and read through threads on it. Check out the Iron Inventory thread on this forum as well. There are a lot of guys who have posted info on their builds there.

morgoon · « **Reply #34 on:** January 17, 2012, 08:42:49 pm »

Well I guess the name of the game is patience...for me not having a shop, sure eats at my patience, especially when winter hits around here.

Wait long enough the right deal will come along

I bet if you start building a mill, you will be mid way down that road and good deal on a mill will come up...

Lease wise that is my luck anyhow.

I think most guys who build their own mill, usually have a shop at their disposal, and have been collecting parts for a while...so when it comes time to build it might not appear to be as costly as buying outright, but I bet it all adds up.

I bought a homemade mill, with a wisconsin S14d on it, 4 post design and a 24' deck...it cuts nice, all manual though, and it cost me 1500.00...and I had/have to do tons of tweaking on it, as I plan to do a bit of mobile milling this spring.

Usual stuff eh...if you have the time, you probably don't have the money, or if you have the money you likely don't have the time

No expert here just my .02

Ozarkian · « **Reply #35 on:** January 17, 2012, 09:04:26 pm »

Building the saw definitely would be very rewarding, and I would get hands on knowledge inside and out about the mill I would be working with.

I did mention that "I" personally do not have a shop, however, my awesome neighbor owns a full welding and fabrication shop next door, he manufactured and works on Dune Buggy's and other stuff - extremely nice and smart guy.

He already made it clear that he personally wouldn't want to take on the project, which is understandable. He is nearing retirement. But I approached him today about possibly hiring out one of his skilled workers to help. He agreed to take a look some pictures and plans tomorrow, and will talk to his guy for me. We're gonna see if he thinks it would be financially worth my while to build one. Fortunately I have a brother in law and some friends who are welders that would probably help for some pizza and beer

! they don't have as nice a shop as he does though... $:-\$

I don't want to be one of those "annoying" neighbors, so I guess I'll get the wife to bake him some cookies or a pie for giving his advice! Who knows after he see's the plans and knows what I am going to be doing with it... he may want some lumber sawn!

He may want me to saw some boards to put a privacy fence between us if I keep harassing him!

Buck · « **Reply #36 on:** January 17, 2012, 11:35:30 pm »

After a nice dinner, foot massage, and some smooth talking (lots of alcohol

) my Wife might just agree to let me buy one of those!... Hey, it's worked before - she married me!

Quote

..He's gonna fit right in around here dont ya'll think?

Carpenter · « **Reply #37 on:** January 18, 2012, 01:20:14 am »

Not to discourage you, but, you could do like I did. I bought an old handset circle mill which was basically a set of metal parts. And I split the cost with a buddy, so my share of the mill originally was only $500. Well, several thousands of dollars later, not to mention the time spent on the mill itself and support equipement. My wife basically insisted that I stop putting money into that old mill and buy one that worked. We bought an EZ-Boardwalk 40 and I have been very happy with it.

Ozarkian · « **Reply #38 on:** January 18, 2012, 01:28:27 am »

So my mind has been going non-stop today! I posted Wanted ad's in several different city's and have increased my price to $3,000.00. I don't think it will matter how much sucking up I do, nor how many blenders of margarita's I make, my wife is very set on that price. Which is fine with me right now. I am waiting for some responses, hopefully I get a couple of offers that are good. Otherwise, to the scrapyard I go... I'll give it a couple/few weeks of checking online before I decide to build, I am ready to start cutting now though!

I have seen a couple of cheap models, one for example is from Harbor Freight. It seems like a decent setup but the motor is a bit small in my opinion. How hard do ya'll think it would be to buy a cheap model and put a little bit bigger motor on it? Of course, that is considering I could come across a good cheap 13 hp+ motor...

Ozarkian · « **Reply #39 on:** January 18, 2012, 01:36:08 am »

Not discouraged at all Carpenter, thank you for the feedback. I am essentially considering all options in my budget, we don't have the finances available to exceed $3,000.00. I have 3 kids, one is still a baby, and a very beautiful wife to spoil. I know I will be able to make it work (somehow) within my budget. It may take some time and patience, but I am confident I will make it work. And many pages later on this topic, you'll see some pictures of beautiful cut eastern red cedar, walnut, and persimmon boards! Then, shortly after I can upload some of the projects I have planned.

Please, keep the comments coming! I like hearing advice, it makes me feel better suited to make a well informed decision.

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Author Topic: Long time visitor, first time poster! Need advice regarding low budget milling. (Read 4144 times)