help! circle mill cable guide

sjh · July 04, 2004, 08:34:07 PM

I am finely getting ready to fire up the old frick, but I can not figure out the proper way to get the cable wond. I think it goes from the carrage-around the pulley-around the drum then reverse back to the carrage. Can ony one tell me the proper setup?
Pictures will be coming soon. I like seeing them too.

Ron Wenrich · July 04, 2004, 08:58:12 PM

Normally, there are 2 cables coming from the drum to the carriage. One goes to the front end of the carriage, and one goes to the back end. You want 2 or 3 wraps more cable then the length required.

It shoud go from the drum, through the pulley to the front of the carriage when the carriage is at the back of the mill. There will be tons of wraps in that position. 2 wraps, to the front pulley, to the back of the carriage, when the mill is at the back of the mill. (I think I got that right).

Your stick operation should be to pull back to make the carriage travel front, and push back to return the carriage. Its a safety thing. I graduated from a handmill to an automatic and kept those movements as part of the tradition of circle mills.

If you have problems., put up pics and we can help you figure it out.

Jeff · July 04, 2004, 08:59:00 PM

Corley5 · July 04, 2004, 09:03:48 PM

I just went through a hassle with my Corley's cable not too long ago and what Ron says sounds right. It was kind of a pain in the butt to get it all wound back up and working right. Then after it was on and seemed right after cycling the carriage a few times it came unwound after the slab cut on the first log I sawed :

:

Now we got it and several thousand feet later it's still on.

Ron Wenrich · July 04, 2004, 09:05:02 PM

You need a pulley on the front there, boss.

Jeff · July 04, 2004, 09:17:43 PM

Not on mine.First cable anchors on the drive drum goes down to the far end, around the pulley then back to the opposite side of the carriage. Second cable goes directly from the drive drum to the the Other, other end of the carriage.

While one cable is wrapping, the other is unwrapping. There should always be at least 3 wraps left on a cable at the end of the carriage travel for that direction.

My drum is mounted at the END of the track. You only need another pulley if your drive is in the center of travel.

Ron Wenrich · July 04, 2004, 09:35:56 PM

Which is exactly what the old Fricks had.

woodhaven · July 05, 2004, 09:25:14 AM

My cable drum is in the center too. Runs off the gearing at the husk. Pulleys are at each end of track. Never seen it done the other way. Of course there are a whole lot of things I ain't seen.

woodhaven · July 05, 2004, 09:32:04 AM

I Think I Am Going To Faint!!!!!!!!
Finally some circular mill talk!!!!!!!!

sawhead · July 05, 2004, 04:05:05 PM

You can use one piece of cable if your drum is in the center of the track . Make three or four wraps around the drum , let both ends come over the top , that will make one end go toward the back of the carriage and the other will be toward the front , then run them thru the cable pulleys and hook to carriage making sure that the cable that goes thru the back pulley hooks on the front of the carriage ,and the cable that goes thru the front pulley hooks on the back of the carriage. This will keep the same amount of wraps on the drum at all times , they will just be on differant side's of the drum depending on which end of the track you are at.

D._Frederick · July 05, 2004, 04:32:03 PM

Sawhead,

That was the way our American mill was cabled, there was threaded eye bolts on each end of the carriage that the cable was connected to. This system worked well and there was never any problems.

woodhaven · July 05, 2004, 05:08:57 PM

Yep,
Thats the way mine has been sense I built it 18 years ago. I have never had a problem.

Sawyerfortyish · July 05, 2004, 07:16:14 PM

Jeff's got one of them there new fangled drives. I can see that. I run a Frick #1 and sawhead explained it about the best way that you can without pictures. I will add that if you wind the cable the wrong direction on the drum it will try to walk on itself when you move the carrige. It is directional and must be wound the right direction. I look at the drum in frount of me every day and can't for life of me tell you how it is. But I replaced the cable one time and wound it bass ackwards and it will try to walk on itself.

sawhead · July 05, 2004, 08:06:58 PM

On the mill I saw on for a real living :D it works like jeffs , its a Berry 240 drive with the drum at the end of the track but on it , one cable end is on top of the drum and the other end under the drum with only one cable sheave at the other end of the track, the drum acts as a the second cable sheave.My little homemade hobby corley mill wraps as previously described.

smwwoody · July 05, 2004, 10:30:02 PM

Mine4 wraps like sawhead says. one piece of cable but they both anchor to the center of the carriage with turnbuckles. it makes it real easy to get every thing wraped then take up the slack.

Woody

Sawyerfortyish · July 06, 2004, 04:52:07 AM

I have a berry drive on my Frick but I think it's a 218.

Frickman · July 07, 2004, 05:41:26 PM

I second Woodhaven, finally a circle mill! And a Frick too! One thing to remember when purchasing and installing a cable is to make it as long as possible. It may take some trial and error, but put as many wraps as possible on the drum. My Frick 01 has nine. There is one unused groove on each end when the carriage is run out either way.

There are two benefits with this. The first, and most obvious, is that the more wraps you have, the less likely you will have slippage. The second benefit will become apparent after you get some hours on the cable. Unless you have bad accident, most of the time a cable breaks it will be at the end where it passes through the eyebolt. This is because of the sharp bend the cable has at this point. When this happens simply take one or two wraps off the drum and reattach it to the eyebolt. Doing this can help extend the useful life of your cable.

Ron Wenrich · July 07, 2004, 09:20:39 PM

We use 2 cables on our drum. We used to have a big problem with breakage. Went over to the coated cable and that pretty well solved the problem. Its now a rarity to have it break.

Coated cable is expensive, but well worth it. If I was running a hobby mill, I probably wouldn't go to that expense.

Tom · July 07, 2004, 09:51:47 PM

How is it coated?

Ron Wenrich · July 08, 2004, 04:06:01 AM

Some sort of plastic. I believe it "soaks" into the whole cable. We were breaking cables about once a month, now maybe once a year. For us, its usually the rear cable. I've broken the front one maybe twice in 6 years.

We even went to coated cable on our laser lights. This is a pretty small cable tht runs through several pulleys. It tells me where my vertical edgers saws are at. We went from a monthly event to a yearly event on those, as well.

Tom · July 08, 2004, 05:46:17 AM

Oh! That sounds like the plastic coated cable that is used for steering cables on outboard engines down here. Yours is probably a lot larger. I think most of this is 3/16's plus the coating.

Frickman · July 08, 2004, 06:52:45 AM

Ron,

Two questions about using the coated cables. Does the coating cause the cable to slip on the drum, and does it get soft in the summer?

woodhaven · July 08, 2004, 08:06:39 AM

I am sure it is not a fair test cause I don't run my mill like you guys do. Maybe 1 or 2 months a year. My cable was given to me to try when I was building the mill almost 18 years ago and it has been there ever sense. It came off a elevator in a commerical building. I guess elevator cables have to meet rigid standards. Its 5/8" and never shown any deteration or rust or anything it still looks just as healthy as the day I installed it.

Ron Wenrich · July 08, 2004, 03:50:21 PM

As long as your cables are tight, I wouldn't see how they could slip. But, I'm running a 2 cable system, not a single.

It doesn't get soft either. The coating is starting to come off in places, but there isn't any fraying. I get mine from Kline's Mill Supply over in Pennsburg, PA. I'm sure you can get it from any good supply shop. Do you deal with Reckart's?

Buzz

Most automatic mills have some sort of hydraulics to power their carriage. The Berry feed that these guys have is basically a hydraulic power pack.

I'm running a 49 GPM Sunstrand motor. It has variable speed, and brakes. I need to have it rebuilt every 18 months.

I've also seen a shotgun feed. That's where they use a hydraulic cylinder to push/pull the carriage. I saw one on a Filer & Stowell carriage out in St Louis. The carriage must have been 8' wide. Real impressive, but too much mill for what they were milling.

Frickman · July 08, 2004, 04:49:41 PM

Ron,
Kline's used to run a small store in Somerset County, one County east of me. It's where I got the cable I'm running now, along with a lot of other parts. They had a truck that would stop by the mill every two weeks too. Reckhart's have a store also in Somerset. I've dealt there from time to time also. They're a good source for logging equipment parts as well.