1958 French sawmill, do i buy?

Satamax · August 12, 2012, 02:27:45 PM

Hi everybody.

Well, to explain. I want that sawmill, old vertical wide band type, stelitte blades. to transform into a slant sawmill, moving head instead of moving chariot.

Like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=PwxDlcYs9FQ&gl=US

What i would get, is a plain wheels all cast iron saw head. 4 inch wide wheels, by 43" diameter. 4 or 5 blades, plus a few broken ones. A 20' all manual chariot. Not in too bad a state imho.
65 of track. A friction winch. An automatic sharpener. A 4 cylinder perkins with a gearbox. puleys. Fresh, ish belts. No bearing rumble into the wheels. Plus a 22hp electric motor.

All this about 65 miles away. I have to dismantle it. And the guy wants 615 dols cash. Obviously, i have a friend who gonna do the transport for the same kind of price i'd think.

What's your opinion? Easily transformable into a moving head slant sawmill, fixed bunk? I think i can do it.

Here's the pics!

Sawhead front bottom wheel is in a pit.

Sawhead back and guide movement wheel and chain.

Chariot

Chariot setworks and winch.

Chariot wheel and automatic backing movement when in reverse.

Perkins engine.

Sharpener and spare electric motor.

So, your opinion guys? Dead cheap. Not in a too bad state. Perkins engine resellable. I think i gonna take the plunge.

shelbycharger400 · August 12, 2012, 05:25:20 PM

not bad for the $ , resaw bandsaws go for big money, with no powerfeed.
what is the maximum cut it can take? I cant tell from the pictures but that head might be bolted to the plate. If that is the case you can always put in a riser block.
I love old machines, as long as their not all banged up you can always rebush and rebearing them.
Everything else if you have problems , we are here for you.

drobertson · August 12, 2012, 05:36:19 PM

looking at the lumber and slabs, it surely works. If you like it and have the money and time, go for it, pretty cool stuff, I always have like the verticle mills, mainly because they work so much like the circle mills. Get a off feed bed, if not with the package, and make some lumber.

drobertson · August 12, 2012, 05:50:42 PM

satamax, just watched the vidio. Brother you have to go for this one! live off feed, and the works. If parts are available, just thinking it will be an issue at some point. Love the mill! David

Satamax · August 13, 2012, 02:23:14 AM

Hi everybody.

Shelby, this is not a resaw. Proper sawmill over here. Ok, that's a small one. Cab be used as a resaw too with table, proper guide and power feed.

It cuts 83cm (32.5 inch) absolute maximum. This means that i could have a cant of 32x32. Don't need this tho.

David. At first it won't have an offbearing system. All manual. Exept for the winch. The more i think about it, the more i can picture the chariot i need. I was even thinking of making it mobile ;DThe main prob is the tipping point. And that ..... perkins.

Thanks a lot for the coments. Just in blades, i have more than the guy wants.

Al_Smith · August 13, 2012, 07:15:08 AM

In addition to being a very interesting sawmill it looks like some other interesting items in the back ground .The deep throat scroll saw being one of them .

Satamax · August 13, 2012, 07:22:01 AM

Quote from: Al_Smith on August 13, 2012, 07:15:08 AM
In addition to being a very interesting sawmill it looks like some other interesting items in the back ground .The deep throat scroll saw being one of them .

Yep Al.

But he's keeping all the rest. I've already asked for the lathe.

Satamax · August 13, 2012, 04:43:38 PM

This is making me dream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=UITfRtGKw9o&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mszSc5aOi8&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZrRkPkohjc&feature=relmfu

Nice beasty. Guys, what kind of angle you reckon i should use? To me, closer to horizontal than thoses. Something like 30° from horizontal would tickle my fancy. Or may be more like 45°I wonder if the boards would still drop round the 30°.

sealark37 · August 16, 2012, 08:34:55 AM

I would hold out for the seller to throw in a new bulb for the carriage light fixture, then do the deal.

Satamax · August 16, 2012, 09:32:08 AM

Yep, i should have bought already. :D

Just need to sell my trials bike before. I have no spare cash for the mom.

Solomon · August 16, 2012, 10:37:13 AM

Did I read that right?
$615.00???? That Perkins is worth more than that not running. Heck, It's all worth way more than 615 at the scrap yard. I know nothing about that kind of saw, but I dont think you can go wrong on that deal. Looks like a win win senario to me. $615.00 ????????? is that the price?????

Satamax · August 16, 2012, 02:16:31 PM

Yep mate!

tyb525 · August 16, 2012, 03:50:11 PM

satamax if I had any spare cash at the moment I would buy that trials bike off of you.

Satamax · August 16, 2012, 05:29:04 PM

Thanks a lot mate.

But it's a smidge far for shipping :D

tyb525 · August 16, 2012, 05:55:13 PM

Is that a motorized trials bike or a bicycle?

Sprucegum · August 16, 2012, 06:13:18 PM

Just curious (I know nothing about bandsaws) why do you want to move the saw instead of the log?

b dukes · August 16, 2012, 06:30:58 PM

What is the advantage of having a slant sawhead? Sounds like a great deal though!

beenthere · August 16, 2012, 07:06:00 PM

Quote from: tyb525 on August 16, 2012, 05:55:13 PM
Is that a motorized trials bike or a bicycle?

Is this different from a trail bike? :

Also wonder if two wheel or four?

Corley5 · August 16, 2012, 09:21:02 PM

That's a pretty DanG neat old sawmill 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) Why not buy it and use it just like it is ???

Satamax · August 17, 2012, 04:02:42 AM

Quote from: tyb525 on August 16, 2012, 05:55:13 PM
Is that a motorized trials bike or a bicycle?

Quote from: beenthere on August 16, 2012, 07:06:00 PM
Quote from: tyb525 on August 16, 2012, 05:55:13 PM
Is that a motorized trials bike or a bicycle?
Is this different from a trail bike? :

Also wonder if two wheel or four?

Here's my baby. http://satamax.free.fr/balme4.jpg Can't ride it anymore due to carpal tunel syndrom.

Quote from: Sprucegum on August 16, 2012, 06:13:18 PM
Just curious (I know nothing about bandsaws) why do you want to move the saw instead of the log?

Well, less track. If you have the wood moving before and after the saw, you need twice the lengh of the wood. While if the saw moves, you only need the lengh of the wood.

Quote from: b dukes on August 16, 2012, 06:30:58 PM
What is the advantage of having a slant sawhead? Sounds like a great deal though!

Well, imho, making the saw vertical and moving is dificult, the bottom wheel has to chear the ground and the "log bunk" has to be right up. So by leaning it a bit, you can avoid a bit of height. The more angle, the less height. Plus, there's two advantages over either vertical or horizontal. Due to the V shape of the bunk, gravity, and it's position, the log tends to rest in the V. While on a vertical chariot, you have to clamp the log harder to avoid it rolling. Ok, solution is easy, make the saw horizontal, and you're sorted, a litle V in the bunks, and you're done! Yes, but then you have to pick up the planks or beams manualy. Therefor, the slanted saw makes much sense, as the planks fall down on their own. Even more, the falling speed might be controlable to some extent with different angles.

Quote from: Corley5 on August 16, 2012, 09:21:02 PM
That's a pretty DanG neat old sawmill 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) Why not buy it and use it just like it is ???

Reason above. Plus the 10000$ in concrete slab and pit. plus that i gonna be on a loaned piece of land for a little while, then move to may be my own.

Guys, a question, with that perkins, do you think i could remove the gearbox, and do direct drive, with the proper puleys? And do a "belt slack" type of arangement to engage and disengage? Saw should run in the 8 or 9 hundred rpm i think. 1800 would be a nice spot for the perkins i'd think.

Satamax · August 19, 2012, 02:33:13 PM

Starting to think.

63x63 chariot. , atach the motor at the back, to counterbalance and the winch in it somehow.

So any advice guys

Do i use the 22HP electric three phase or the unknown perkins? Any ideas? Do i make a sawyer seat on the sawhead to pilot everything from there? Or i do one at the end of the static bunk?

Thanks a lot.

Max.

Satamax · February 06, 2013, 01:11:54 PM

Hi everybody.

Well, the saw is still 60 mile down south from me. But a change has happened to me.

I bought a car lift.

For about 200 dolls. So i'm thinking of transforming that old beast into a horizontal one. So guys, what do you think? Two post horizontal sawmill, and resell the chariot of the old beast? With my crane, i could go vaguely mobile. Or stick with the slanted saw, and keep the car lift for another project? Like a huge swingmill! ;D

Satamax · September 13, 2013, 07:14:58 PM

I'm doomed!

I had an agrement with the seller to move it in spring. Couldn't get ahold of him when my friend went down with the truck. So i said in the fall. I call the seller yesterday, having some cash to spare. He scraped it about two weeks ago. All went to the press. I would just have been happy to have the two wheels the blades and the sharpener!

I'm gutted!

beenthere · September 13, 2013, 07:25:16 PM

Sorry to hear that Satamax. Not at all fun to have such a thing happen.

5quarter · September 14, 2013, 12:21:52 AM

Satamax...That's a tough pill to swallow. But when you find deals like that saw, You have to buy them right then and sort out the details later. I've let a few deals slip by me, but nothing like that. you might want to find out which yard it went to. They may have a backlog and it could still be intact. worth a try.