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resawing cants with vertical 24 inch bandsaw

Started by dennyking, April 01, 2012, 06:04:40 AM

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dennyking

Just purchased a 24 inch commercial band saw with 1 3/8" blade capacity. I want to set it up to re saw 6X cants that I produce on my Belsaw. Plan on sawing the cants into 3/4 or 7/8" by 6 foot fence boards. Has anyone done this sucessfully ?The main questions are about auto feed and in feed and out feed tables. Any and all suggestions appreciated. Has any one scratch built an auto feeder capable of running a 6"x6'x6 foot cant thru a band saw?

bandmiller2

Welcome Denny,If I understand what you want to do your going to have to set up a mini sawmill using the bandsaw insted of the headsaw.You will need a carriage and setworks as freehand feeding will be all over the place.Your planning on cutting 6x6 cants,might be better to get a smaller thinner saw for the belsaw and use that,its all setup anyways.Unless your paying big bucks for logs might as well just use what you have I think you'll be money ahead in the long run,kerf loss is over stated. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Magicman

Welcome to the Forestry Forum dennyking.   :)
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ALWOL

   I have a 26" bandsaw with 2hp motor, and a 36" bandsaw with 7.5hp motor, each of which I have done some resawing with. Like FrankC said in his previous post, kerf is way overated. I almost always use the sawmill. I sometimes use one of the bandsaws for small, short pieces of high value wood.
   What kind of bandsaw do you have? Most major manufacturers offer resaw feeders for their saws. Before you buy a feeder, you may want to fit a fence to your saw and hand feed some of your 6" cants to get an idea of the speed. I built a fence for my saws, and need to fit some spring hold-ins to the table. How many horsepower is your saw? If you have more than 2hp, it should be enough.
   Good luck, and welcome. Let us know how it works out.

           Alan
There's a big difference between staying busy and making money.

Ron Wenrich

Bandmiller, I don't think he'll have to go to that extreme.  He needs a fence on one side of the saw to keep a consistent thickness.  That's similar to a line bar resaw.  He also needs a something to feed the cants through.  That could be something as simple as a conveyor belt.  And he needs a hold down.  That should be on the feed side to keep pressure on the cant. 

This method is also a 2 man operation.  You need someone to catch the cant, send it back and stack the boards.  A lot of manpower considering the product being produced.

You're right that kerf has been overrated.  From a production standpoint, you'll be able to produce a lot more from the mill than from the resaw in the same amount of time.  That brings down the cost quite a bit on a per unit basis.  But, the only part you can't do is get those last few boards in the cant.  A 3/4" dog board is pretty thin.

How many fence boards are we talking about? 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

dennyking

Thanks, Guys. Looks like you are suggesting a complete other mill with carriage, which is doable because I have parts of another smaller mill available. I have not found the tag on the band saw, but it has a heavy cast frame and will need some tuning up. I know a manufacturer will sell me an auto feeder for the band saw, but I would like to build one myself. Cost is a big reason to in house the project. Although you say the width of the kerf is insignifigant, the teeth on the 48" headsaw tear out a lot of sawdust. And lastly remember Belsaws nick name...thick and thin. My fence boards customers would be happier with resawn boards.

denny

mikeb1079

what about infeed/outfeed rollers, a fence, a featherboard (for downward pressure) on the feed side and an electric feed roller on the outfeed side.  you could push the cant thru until it hits the automatic roller and then let the machine do the rest.  i've seen some auto feed rollers on craigslist for cheap.  just a thought...
that's why you must play di drum...to blow the big guys mind!
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Tree Feller

I visit so many forums that I forget where I saw it but there is at least one person sawing lumber on a vertical bandsaw. He uses infeed/outfeed roller ta bles and pushes the logs/cants through by hand.

Why do you need auto feed? A six foot cant on roller tables would be a piece of cake to feed through the blade. A fence for consistent thickness, adjusted for blade drift, and you could turn out hundreds of fence boards in a few hours.

I've sawn quite a bit of 4' long lumber on my 17", 2 hp Grizzly bandsaw with solid plywood infeed/outfeed tables.
Cody

Logmaster LM-1 Sawmill
Kioti CK 30 w/ FEL
Stihl MS-290 Chainsaw
48" Logrite Cant Hook
Well equipped, serious, woodworking shop

dennyking

I like the hand feeding idea, totally doable, except returning the cant to the starting point. I could work on that. As to how many boards, it has the potential to be a cash crop. The wood comes off my own place (WRC and Doug fir). And fence boards do not require grade stamps. I can saw, sticker and cover the boards for sales in the future.

Thanks denny

beenthere

Quote from: dennyking on April 01, 2012, 10:59:55 AM
....... And lastly remember Belsaws nick name...thick and thin. My fence boards customers would be happier with resawn boards.

denny

The "thick and thin" was a result of the operator, not the Belsaw. ;)

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Ron Wenrich

A set of dead rolls can be used to return the cant.  On the Belsaw, you can put on a gauge like the Captain has on his unit to give consistent sets. 

Feed rates are going to be slower on the resaw, and you're going to have to handle material for a second time.  Put a pencil to it.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

ALWOL

   If you can feed the cants by hand, just make a simple fence out of smooth hardwood like I did, and clamp it to your bandsaws table. It will take a little bit of trial and error to get it set properly to account for blade drift. Run a couple of cants through it and see how your saw performs, then like Ron said, put a pencil to it. If your saw is really high-powered, (like my 36" Yates-American) it may be well worth it.

        Alan
There's a big difference between staying busy and making money.

beenthere

I'm with Ron, but
..if a fence it only needs to be a dowel (or tip of board with rounded end) then the drift of a blade can be handled easily as the cants are fed through. The tip is right at the blade. On some, it is just a pin or roller.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

dennyking

Thanks for the good ideas on the re saw question. I have a lot to consider. The more I look at it the better it sounds to run the few too thick boards thru my 18" planer.

Thanks to all who responded.

dennyking

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