Give me a hand, bandblade length, Homegrown mill

[valley ranch]

The width of carriage, on the bandmill I'm working on, is 45"+or-. The shafts as will be slightly over 46"  center to center. The OD of the band wheels is 60". That will give the mill a about a 26" gullet.

I figure the length of the Band Blade will be 150". 

Question: Are blades a better price if they are a standard size? Wood miser blades 158"   Simplicity 160"

Should I continue and install the shafts as I've planned? Thanks Richard

[Chuck White]

Take a string and lay it around the band wheels in the same path that the band will take and that will give you the length required!

[valley ranch]

 

 

In the picture there is a shaft on the left side. I cut the angle off next to the upright post.

[valley ranch]

Chuck, I haven't installed the shafts yet. Will I be ok with the Length band blade I mentioned about 150"+?

[thecfarm]

Make your track so you can cut a 20 foot log. Than when you put a 16 foot log on you have plenty of room. Helps to get the head out of the way too.

[valley ranch]

I have one length of track tacked, and the material to make another 10' track.

[Ludo]

I purchase me blades from Cook's, they are 144" on my home made mill.  I have seen that some places do give discounts if they are standard sizes because the blades are in pre-made packs.   Cook's and a lots of others make blades to order so I would imagine there is no savings other than just buying shorter blades.  On Monday call whoever you plan on buying blades from and ask for a price comparison on 150" vs 160" etc. Of course you wont be able to do any welding this weekend on your mill project :-\

[Larry]

I don't think there are any price breaks for a certain length of band.  Of course the longer it is the higher the price.

One small detail.  On a band the tooth sequence is left tooth, right tooth, straight (raker) tooth.  Most folks run 7/8" pitch.  If you can make the length perfect the left, right, straight sequence will continue through the weld.  If the length is off you could end up with something like left, left, right or a variation.  Small detail and I don't know if the log will notice the difference.  It also makes the guy that cuts your band a lot easier as they sometimes round off to get an even pitch.

For the above reasons I would make your machine work with a standard 158" WM band and make everybody's life easy.

[Den-Den]

"The shafts as will be slightly over 46"  center to center. The OD of the band wheels is 60"."

Something wrong here; the wheels would overlap each other.  The wheels are not really 60" diameter are they?

[valley ranch]

You're right 60" circumference.


Ludo, I'd like to see pictures of your homemade mill, and hear a bit about it.

Richard

[valley ranch]

Larry, Backing up or going forward an inch, one way or another, and the teeth would come out properly wouldn't they?

Richard

[boscojmb]

Hi,
60" band wheels don't make sense. I have 30" band wheels, and that is overkill.
With 60" bandwheels and a 26" throat you need a blade that is about 300".
To dertermine your blade length multiply your band wheel diameter X 3.1416, Then multiply the distance between your shaft centers X2. Add the two together and you have your blade length.

John B

[Den-Den]

60" circumference +  (46" x 2) = 152" band length

With a couple inches (or more) travel of one shaft, most of these worries become unimportant.  You need some travel to get bands on and off and to adjust tension anyway.

[drobertson]

I am thinking bands can be made to  any, size, just not sure if you buy from any specific supplier they will accommodate this request. I would make the head with enough adjustment to accommodate the avg. size available that is available.  david

[valley ranch]

I'd like to know the avg. size.

Richard

[Ga Mtn Man]

No such thing as an average size blade.  WM uses 158" on the LT40/50.  TK uses 173" on the 2000/2200.  Both have 19" diameter bandwheels but the TK has a much wider cut throat.  Nice thing about building your own mill is you get to choose.

[Magicman]

I would design the sawmill around a blade length that one of the manufacturers use.  That way you can use "off of the shelf" blades instead of custom made.

[Ga Mtn Man]

 

I would design the sawmill around a blade length that one of the manufacturers use.  That way you can use "off of the shelf" blades instead of custom made.

[customsawyer]

Just for info the LT70s use 184" blades.

[drobertson]

I would design the sawmill around a blade length that one of the manufacturers use.  That way you can use "off of the shelf" blades instead of custom made.

This is what I was trying to say,   

[valley ranch]

Good morning, I'm closer to the 158", might make sense to shoot for that.

Richard