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Homebuilding a dimensional mill

Started by GlennG, January 17, 2006, 01:03:09 AM

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GlennG

Hello

I`m building my own mill and I will be posting pictures. The mill I am building will have 2 circular blades , one vertical and one horizontal. Sorta like a mini Mobile dimension but with a separate engine powering each blade. So far I have 2 engines, 2 Lucas 21" blades and a chunk of annealed 4140 steel to make the saw blade arbors.

If a Lucas owner could measure the the diameter of the blade mounting arbor I would be greatful. Since I`m not building a swinger I don`t see this as infringing on someone elses design.

Thanks in advance
Glenn Gertz

woodbowl

Quote from: GlennG on January 17, 2006, 01:03:09 AM

The mill I am building will have 2 circular blades , one vertical and one horizontal. Sorta like a mini Mobile dimension but with a separate engine powering each blade.


Glenn,
   Welcome to the forum and hurry up on those pics.  ;D We're eager to see what your going to come up with. What part of the country are you from?  There is a fellow that did the same thing in my area. He used 2 electric motors. One for each blade. It is all homemade. Here is a pic or two. Got a few more ....................  somewhere....       







Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

GlennG

Right now I have a pile of parts and in the next few weeks I sould have some machined parts made. It will be a few months before I have anything that remotely resembles a mill. I plan to take my time and put a lot of thought into it. I hope the outcome is a real professional looking and working product. I can`t wait to post pics but right now is the very begining. Maybe I`ll take some pics of the engines ,blades and the chunk of steel, along with my lathe as the very beginning of this project ;D


BTW , Cool looking mill. It looks like a brute.

Glenn

GlennG

I`m in Western PA, from NC I just updated my profile too.

Glenn

isassi

Man, I tell you what! Being from Oklahoma, which is not sawmill country, it kills me to guess how somethings work. I am going to find a swingmill somewhere to see. I know they can, but I want to know how small blades can do the really big logs. I too will be waiting for pictures to see how it comes... :)

jpgreen

joasis-

Order demo packs from the manufacturers.  Most have good videos or DVD's cept for tha music..  ::)
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

GlennG

Bump, 4.5 inches is my guess can anyone verifiy this? See the first post in this thread.

Thanks Glenn

Bob_T


QuoteSince I`m not building a swinger I don`t see this as infringing on someone elses design.                                                                                                                             

Glenn, I hope some of the manufacturer's reps here can correct me if I'm misguided, but I think that as long as someone is building a mill for their own personal use, there's nothing wrong with copying part of a commerical mill design.  If someone plans on going into business building mills or selling mill plans, then you've crossed the line.  Is that correct?

Bob
1959 FWD Model 286 Dump Truck
1955 Allis Chalmers HD-6G Crawler Loader
1941 GMC CCKW 6X6
Wood-Mizer LT30 G18

jpgreen

I believe you cannot copy a manufacturer's design without permission technically.

I think a company also has grounds for legal action against someone that copied, then published on the internet that they did also, because it sets up and promotes a scenario that this can easily be done, and compromise the companies possible sales.

Don't cha jus love the leegal world..  ::)
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

Bob_T

QuoteWhere is the do it yourself spirit? Taking my ball and going home

Glenn,  I'm really sorry I got started the subject of what's OK to copy.  It just seemed to  me that you were being overly concerned about it in your opening post.   I'm sure that jpgreen wasn't trying to be a sea lawyer either, he was just responding to my question and I don't think he meant it to be taken that you shouldn't be asking for info, or that anyone who has the info shouldn't give it to you.  Wish I had the dimensions so I could give it to you myself. 

Bob
1959 FWD Model 286 Dump Truck
1955 Allis Chalmers HD-6G Crawler Loader
1941 GMC CCKW 6X6
Wood-Mizer LT30 G18

GlennG



I wound up with a pair of Lucas 21 saw blades so that is what I will use to begin with. I`ll probabably switch to blades of another spec when I find a manufacturer or a pre-made blade that is a better suited to needs of my mill. 

I think I figured out what size to make the arbor anyways 21"/2=10.5"

4.5"(arbor) /2=2.25"............10.5 minus 2.25 =8.25 which I believe is the depth a Lucas will cut.   

  I just finished the arbors today 4.5" by 1.125" .

Now I just need a bunch of steel and 35 hours in a day ;D  so I have some time to fabricate the big parts.

Glenn

PS I am going to rename this thread "Homebuilding a dimensional mill"  since I no longer seek an answer to my original question

DanG

Glenn, welcome to the ForestryForum!  I find what you are trying to do fascinating.  I'm putting some thought into some serious modifications to my Mobile Dimension Saw, so I'm interested in your ideas.  I also have a few ideas of my own to share.  Have you thought of using the 2 lucas blades as edgers, then getting a larger blade for your main saw?  The reason I suggest this is that I have become addicted to the twin edgers, but am restricted to a 4" horizontal cut because of them.  I could easily convert to a larger h cut, but I would lose the top edger with the package that is offered.  All it would really take is to lengthen the platform the whole mess is mounted on.  The mods I have in mind go further than that, but that's essentially all that is necessary.

Any time you want to discuss it, just lay it out here and we'll talk. ;D ;) ;D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

woodbowl

Things are being copied all over the forum Glenn, even complete mills. If it is for personal use it's not a legal problem. Some companies copy a product and put their own little twist to it. Right or wrong ?? Hmmmm.......... I'm not into all that. I've had a few good ideas of my own only to find out that they were already invented.  >:(  I hope you will built what you want. We'll be waiting for lots of pics.  8)
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

GlennG

  Well, the mill I`m building is pretty much  my own design. The only mill I`ve ever used is an Granberg Alaskan III with a Stihl 066. The only mills I ever seen in operation are a WM LT40 and an old stationary circular mill. If the mill I come up with resembles some comercial product that I have no knowlege of then its only because me and the designer of the other mill must think alike. How much new ground can a new sawmill designer/builder actually gain? Saw mills are  real darn old inventions. Whats really left to discover? Until someone comes up with a photon , nuclear powered laser beam , cold fuson mill, that mills the wood from a standing tree,  there probably isn`t anything left to invent in this game. My intent is to build a safe , light ,strong , fast ,one man mill. Also it will be efficient reliable,user friendly, attractive and easy to store in a small space. So far I think I have a good design. The design is mostly in my head right now but I think it will work well when its finished. Actually it preforms very well in my head ;) all I have to do is is prove it by building it.

Can a homebuilder compete in a sawmill shoot-out?  That would be a blast.

Glenn

GlennG

DanG

I like MD`s from the pictures I`ve seen. My mill will have some simalar features but will be more of a "personal size" mill. I plan to make 8x8`s from time to time. If I had the $`s I`d buy a Mobile Dimension. But I spent the down payment on an engine lathe, tig and mig welders ;D. I have to make use of this stuff or the wife will think I`m wasting money silly stuff :).

Glenn

KGNC

Quote from: GlennG on January 19, 2006, 09:27:56 AM
  .... cold fuson mill, that mills the wood from a standing tree, 

Hey! That was my idea!  ;D

DanG

Glenn, the best thing you can do for yourself right now is to see all the mills you can, in action.  The quickest way to do that is to attend a show where lots of them are being demonstrated.  The BEST way, however, is to visit mills that are actually in production.  The next thing is to read everything you can on this forum. Almost every question there could be on the subject has been asked and answered here, usually with some discussion and different viewpoints.

A few years ago, before I found this place and before I got my mill, I had the notion of building my own from scratch.  It was going to be the superest duperest monster of a portable mill ever!  Well, I'm sure glad I found The ForestryForum before I got any further than the dream stage with that project.  I learned a lot about the principles behind things being done the way they are, and concluded that my idea wasn't really that good, after all.  Oh, it would have worked, ok, but would have been an evermore nightmare to adjust and maintain.

Not saying that your idea isn't a good one, but you need to educate yourself to the MAX before you start cutting metal. ;)
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

GlennG

Here is were my homebuilt mill pictures can be viewed. The pictures are 512kb .

--Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--.com/albums/e322/glengertz/?sc=6

THe pics allowed on this sight are just to small so this might reveal more detail.

"Not saying that your idea isn't a good one, but you need to educate yourself to the MAX before you start cutting metal. Wink"

To late DanG....the project has officially started :P :)

Glenn

Tom

I've tried for 10 minutes to look at the pictures and all I've seen so far are the thumbnails.  The larger pictures are not loading and the thumbnails are too small.   I sure wish they were on the Forum Gallery.

beenthere

Glenn
Here is one of your photos, and it processes quite well in the gallery.





Nice lathe setup, and it'll be great to watch your progress as you build your mill. Hope you will let us prod you along so it doesn't take too long.  ;D
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Tom


GlennG

Quote from: beenthere on January 19, 2006, 06:06:09 PM
Glenn
Here is one of your photos, and it processes quite well in the gallery.



Nice lathe setup, and it'll be great to watch your progress as you build your mill. Hope you will let us prod you along so it doesn't take too long.  ;D

  No problem, I figure I`ll have it up and running by May, I wish it could be sooner but I have some day job commitments that will be using a big chunk of my time in the near future. I do have a week of Vacation in April and I should get a lot done then.

Glenn

rbarshaw

I'm jealous already of your lathe. ;) I built my bandmill with parts laying around and a framing square and a stick welder, If I had a lathe like that I could have made alot more of the parts I needed. ;D I look forward to seeing the progress on your mill 8) 8) .
Been doing so much with so little for so long I can now do anything with nothing, except help from y'all!
By the way rbarshaw is short for Robert Barshaw.
My Second Mill Is Shopbuilt 64HP,37" wheels, still a work in progress.

isassi

My wish list includes an Index mill and a 16 inch Southbend, just so I can build my own stuff again instead of heading to the machine shop down the road. Nice pics.  :)

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