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The evolution of portable sawmills.

Started by boatman, June 17, 2012, 10:15:26 PM

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boatman

 

  

  From what I have seen and read, portable powered sawmills started out as circle mills.  These mills were assembled on site.  Later smaller circle mills were mounted on trailers.

Now the new mills are either band mills, MD types or swingblades.  Why have the circle mills fallen out of favor?  There are still a lot out there being used.  I have seen a couple of home made circle mills that work well, a friend has one that is made out of scrap.

I have used chainsaw mills and a Lucas mill.  I have no experience with other types.  I cut mostly 14-24 inch Oak and Pine.  Beams, studs and planks.

I ask in part because there are a couple for sale around here, cheap.

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Accuracy. This is the only thing I can thing of.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Magicman

My personal opinion is because more hardware is needed with a circle mill.  The blade assembly is stationary and the log carriage moves back and forth.  That necessitates accurately clamping and moving a very large and heavy object.

By keeping the log stationary, these mechanical obstacles are eliminated so that the builder can concentrate only on accurately moving a saw head.   

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

boatman

That makes sense.  Controlling the log requires more steel and HP.

Delawhere Jack

Who'd want a car with a carbuerator after you've had fuel injection?  ;D

Migal

Im thinking someone that likes a older classic! probably some young buck lol
Stihl learning and picked up my Log Master LM2 Cat 34hp 02 21 12! 230MF+ the toys that go with it! MS361 MS271 Stihl PB500 Echo 48" LogRite 16ft Bass Tracker Pro' Abua Garcia 5600 bait caster, Wood working equipment' Lake Lot never enough time! oh don't forget the fridge with ale! Loving Wife Rebeca

barbender

I would imagine it would cost a lot more to produce a new portable circle mill. You need a lot more horsepower to power a circle blade, and the bed has to be twice as long as a bandmill to cut the same length, that's just 2 reasons of the top of my head. I think the circle mills can be plenty accurate, most commercial mills still run big circle headrigs.
Too many irons in the fire

Cutting Edge

Quote from: Delawhere Jack on June 17, 2012, 10:43:34 PM
Who'd want a car with a carbuerator after you've had fuel injection?  ;D

Me!!  I like EFI about as much as Majicman likes Sweet Gum   smiley_thumbsdown
"Winning an argument isn't everything, as long as you are heard and understood" - W.S.


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captain_crunch

One of the worst drawbacks of Circle mill is saw kerf another is safety cant gaurd Blade real well and you are always closer to it than you want to be :o :o :o
M-14 Belsaw circle mill,HD-11 Log Loader,TD-14 Crawler,TD-9 Crawler and Ford 2910 Loader Tractor

bandmiller2

A bandmill can be a suburban backyard operation not much noiseier than a lawn mower.A circular mill is a mini industrial site.Anything that moves one ton plus logs requires some serious machinery insted of them just sitting on a table.It takes a fraction of the HP to run a bandmill,but you do loose production compared to a circular mill.Theirs room for boath. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

ladylake


Gotta agree with CC above, kerf and safety.    Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Banjo picker

I have never saw a circle mill being run by just one guy...Most band mills can be run by one person when necessary....Banjo
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

jimparamedic

To each his own. What works for one may not work for another. I went with a circular mill because of cost. And I can cut more lumber in less time.

Ianab

Those older circle mills can certainly cut lumber, fast and accurate. Old technology, but that means you can repair them easy enough, so if it's been cutting wood for the last 50 years, it can probably cut for the next 50 years.

But, consider what it would cost to manufacture one now? Much more steel, big moving parts, larger engine etc.

Then you have a mills that's not exactly portable, It's not something you can tow behind a SUV, or load on the back of a pickup. It really needs 2 or 3 guys to run it.  Then the kerf and safety issues...

Now for someone that doesn't need portable, and has the necessary skills I can see the logic in buying an old circle mill, repairing / restoring it, fitting up a 2nd hand diesel or running it off a tractor. Gets a very capable sawmill for a good price.

But there is some pretty compelling reasons why no one is manufacturing them any more. The newer technology just has it in the portability department and can run with much less of a powerplant.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Nick Walkley

The picture that you posted has a lot of similarities to our mill(Business Partner and I). Ours is aprox 12m (40'+)long assembled tractor PTO driven circle blade and the table carries the log through the blade. the table is 6m long and on pack up it is moved to the middle of the unit then each end is folded inwards, the legs wound up and it becomes a trailer to the next site. We use a Hough 30B with forks for loading but it could be done with the jigs and rigs that I see a lot of the guys on here use. I intend to fit a log lifter to it once I know how to work it properly.

Ill get some pictures up someday :)
Nick

jimparamedic

There is a saw made up north called a farm saw. looked to be a nice unit. As for power the more teeth on the blade the more power needed to run the saw propperly. Also I will say I would like to have a band mill for those extra good cants once they are squared on the circular mill.

sigidi

Traditional circle mills like those shown, require very large power plants, lots of manpower and are typically are not 'transportable' hence why our 'smaller' mills are more popular.
Always willing to help - Allan

bandmiller2

If there was money to be made selling small portable circular mills they would be making them.Liability is the big reason,its just too risky to sell a simple circular mill.Large mills are now all remotely controlled,sawyer is safe [hopefully] in his booth. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

dboyt

There are a number of portable circle mills being manufactured.  Peterson, Lucas & Brand X are "swing mills".  Mighty-Mite and Mobile Dimension have fixed blades.  All of these move the blade on a track, and the log is stationary.
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

shelbycharger400

have a circle mill here...yet to reset it up
have several arbors and other blades i could use for edgers ( in time)
home built chain bar slabber... works, still have some issues to work out, mostly the clamps are too slow.

contemplating building a  :-\ band  :-\ resaw    im just not thrilled with the way material comes off band mills.  i have a lot of smaller dia logs from trees i cut down for firewood.

buddy that ran a band mill at a local sawmill, just couldnt get over how nice the material i cut on my chain bar mill looked.  Hardwood is almost already planed comming off, pine and cedar is slightly rough..but i like to push it to get done cutting.   

evolution..  sometimes it takes  a few steps back .  Circle mill still makes the best looking rough sawn lumber and furniture that is only lightly planed.

around here its hard to tell what is best.  seems a lot of people are selling their portable machines.  and what "portable" at one time machines are now in sheds as permanant machines, some are running, some havent ran in years.

Satamax

I haven't got a mill yet.

But a think that i'd like to see implemented on cantilever saws is to have a "mobile" head. I mean a sawhead which could be put vertical, and have a table, guide and feed added to make a resaw for example.  And the head could also be angled to use the mill as a slanted saw. Just few thoughts.
French CD4 sawmill. Latil TL 73. Self moving hydraulic crane. Iveco daily 4x4 lwb dead as of 06/2020. Replaced by a Brimont TL80 CSA.

shelbycharger400

satamax..    an angled head to cut hexagon or such?   theoretically  one could make some placed holes in a block and put a pin in them for your stops on a swingmill

but you would have to know the swing of the head and various stuff.

Satamax

Shelby, i didn't think hexagon, but why not :D
French CD4 sawmill. Latil TL 73. Self moving hydraulic crane. Iveco daily 4x4 lwb dead as of 06/2020. Replaced by a Brimont TL80 CSA.

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