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New Bandsaw Mill Setup Options

Started by Permaculturist, September 02, 2014, 05:50:14 AM

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Permaculturist

My new Linn Lumber Model 1900 mill is in transit now, and should be here next Wednesday.  I bought everything but the 20' rails to save on shipping, and sourced them locally.  I'll have 4 log bunks/dogs that I'll be able to position wherever I want, since I'm drilling my own holes in the rails.  I'm just wondering what other, more experienced sawyers recommend to space these out for maximum dogging flexibility.  The plans show the 4 log dogs set at 39", 83", 159" and 203" along the rails.

My plan is to temporarily set up this machine on railroad ties until I am comfortable that I have it at the height I want, then build a saw shed and mount everything on concrete posts and I-beams.  I'll also be doubling the track to 40' on the permanent setup, but I want to take this one step at a time.  When I turn the key on the 20HP Honda it will be my first time running a sawmill.


 

goose63

Congrats on the new mill and happy sawing 8)
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

bandmiller2

Perma, sounds like you have things figured out. A mill is only as good as the bands your running on it, if their not sharp and set properly it won't be a good day. You will probably find a mill hight just above your knees will be right. A log deck same hight as the mill will be a big help as you don't want to load logs on a mill with a machine, too many chances for error. In your part of the world you should have a roof, but you know a guy with a mill. Support your mill bed well, logs are heavy, keep everything level and plumb. Good luck mate. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Permaculturist

Quote from: bandmiller2 on September 02, 2014, 07:55:27 AM
Perma, sounds like you have things figured out. A mill is only as good as the bands your running on it, if their not sharp and set properly it won't be a good day. You will probably find a mill hight just above your knees will be right. A log deck same hight as the mill will be a big help as you don't want to load logs on a mill with a machine, too many chances for error. In your part of the world you should have a roof, but you know a guy with a mill. Support your mill bed well, logs are heavy, keep everything level and plumb. Good luck mate. Frank C.

I agree.  You can have the best equipment on Earth, but if the blade is dull, you're wasting your time.  This is why I also bought a Cat's Claw sharpener (Lennox cam) and dual tooth setter.  They're supposed to be here today on the UPS truck.

mad murdock

Congratulations on the new mill and support equipment!!
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

millwright

Congrat's on the new mill, it will give you many years of enjoyment.

Permaculturist

Getting close to running now.  I'm missing a few parts (log dogs, track stops) which should be here any day now.  The base is leveled to within 1/32" across 20', but I expect that to change as everything settles.


 


 


 


 

ed in idaho

looking good. sounds like a good plan 8)

Ed

Remle

My neighbor has a Lynn sawmill, only a ten horse engine. It's a tremendous little saw. His sits on a 4" concrete slab on 4X4 ties. As for raising up to a higher level yours at 6" height is good, makes it easier to clean out under the frame. Any higher and you will not be able to raise and lower the head with out making a plat-form to stand on. As I said great saw but the raising and lowering the head is tiresome. That's the main draw back I see, let's just say it wasn't designed for short people like me.. LOL. Some where in a past post their is a post about using the drive mechanism from an old wheel chair to raise and lower the head. Maybe some one will know where it is and point it out. The other thing that I think would benefit you is to get a WM scale, cost is about $8.00 to add to the Lynn one. It has rough cut dimensions of 4/5/6 and 8 quarter scale where you only have a standard 1"markings which does not account for saw blade thickness and set. After having wrote this some may think I am running down your choice of saw BUT that is certainly not my intent. As i said in the beginning they are a great product. Just a couple of observations from working with his saw which would make it better in my mind.  Congratulations and enjoy your saw..

Permaculturist

Quote from: Remle on September 18, 2014, 03:44:44 PM
My neighbor has a Lynn sawmill, only a ten horse engine. It's a tremendous little saw. His sits on a 4" concrete slab on 4X4 ties. As for raising up to a higher level yours at 6" height is good, makes it easier to clean out under the frame. Any higher and you will not be able to raise and lower the head with out making a plat-form to stand on. As I said great saw but the raising and lowering the head is tiresome. That's the main draw back I see, let's just say it wasn't designed for short people like me.. LOL. Some where in a past post their is a post about using the drive mechanism from an old wheel chair to raise and lower the head. Maybe some one will know where it is and point it out. The other thing that I think would benefit you is to get a WM scale, cost is about $8.00 to add to the Lynn one. It has rough cut dimensions of 4/5/6 and 8 quarter scale where you only have a standard 1"markings which does not account for saw blade thickness and set. After having wrote this some may think I am running down your choice of saw BUT that is certainly not my intent. As i said in the beginning they are a great product. Just a couple of observations from working with his saw which would make it better in my mind.  Congratulations and enjoy your saw..

Thanks for the input Remle.  I agree - raising and lowering the head is going to be an issue.  I set the saw up in a temporary location so I could get the feel for it before deciding on the height, and I'm already too high.  I'll be adding some more fill to the surrounding area to lower the rails some.  I'm 5'-10" and it's hard for me to reach the hand crank to raise/lower.  The first time I reached for it I knew I would need a 12V motor on there.  Lowering is not as bad as raising thanks to the 20HP motor.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all.  I bought this model of saw because I wanted something I could easily customize to my liking.  A year from now this thing will probably look completely different.

Another thing I noticed right away is the exhaust on the Honda is pointing right in my face when I'm at the operator side.  I'll be extending that somehow to blow the exhaust as high as I can over my head.

As for the scale, I won't have an opinion on that until I run the saw for a while.  I've never run a sawmill, and I'm going at this with an open mind.  I'll probably try a few options and see what I like the best.

Today I'll be leveling the blade to the bunks.  Hopefully my missing dogs get here with today's mail.  If not, I think I'll use some 1-1/4" square wood to hold some small test logs in place until they get here.  I've waited 5yrs to get to this point and can't wait any longer.  8)

bandmiller2

Perma, your is the perfect setup to add hydraulics. You just need a modest volume hyd. pump, engine driven, two spool valve and two hyd. motors one for up and down the other with a cable drum to move the carriage. Your setup is permanent run elect to it to drive an electric motor driven hyd. pump in the base for a Piney woods or two plain clamp/turner. With the hydraulics you can have your mill at a comfy hight. Of course you realize a NB winter is bearing down on you in fact you probably had frost already. Keep us posted. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Permaculturist

Quote from: bandmiller2 on September 19, 2014, 06:55:02 AM
Perma, your is the perfect setup to add hydraulics. You just need a modest volume hyd. pump, engine driven, two spool valve and two hyd. motors one for up and down the other with a cable drum to move the carriage. Your setup is permanent run elect to it to drive an electric motor driven hyd. pump in the base for a Piney woods or two plain clamp/turner. With the hydraulics you can have your mill at a comfy hight. Of course you realize a NB winter is bearing down on you in fact you probably had frost already. Keep us posted. Frank C.

Had our first frost this morning actually. Glad I have a couple greenhouses  8)

You're right, winter is coming fast and there aren't enough hours in the day to cram in all the stuff from my list.  I still have time to get a roof over my head before the ground freezes though.  I was out this morning looking at the trees I'm going to use.

I fully expect it is going to take me a few months to get set up where I need to be.  No worries.  It's taken me 5 years to get to this point in the journey, another 6 months won't make a difference. 

I'm thinking of looking at a stepper motor so I can not only automate the raise/lower of the head, but also add a DRO, and know where the blade is within 1mm or so.  We'll see.. first I'm going to make some sawdust, and remind myself that I've never run a sawmill before.  8)

Anyway.. breaktime is over, back to figuring out what I'm going to use for log dogs until mine get here.

d

Permaculturist

Here's the first test cuts in some crooked white birch.  Everything ran fantastic!  8)

 

 
I have a shipping notice from the post office, which is probably for my missing parts, but they're closed til Monday now.  I'm using C-clamps for track stops and 1.5" square pine with a screw in one end for dogs.  It works good enough for the testing/adjusting I'm doing.

47sawdust

It may have been mentioned already,but elevating the mill bed to a more comfortable working height will reduce fatigue and give room for all the hydraulics you will be talked in to adding.You have all the tractor you will need to load logs on the log deck your gonna want as well.I've always liked the linn mill and the owner seems to be friendly,knowledgeable,and talented.Good buy!
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

PC-Urban-Sawyer

Quote from: 47sawdust on September 19, 2014, 05:51:16 PM
It may have been mentioned already,but elevating the mill bed to a more comfortable working height will reduce fatigue and give room for all the hydraulics you will be talked in to adding.You have all the tractor you will need to load logs on the log deck your gonna want as well.I've always liked the linn mill and the owner seems to be friendly,knowledgeable,and talented.Good buy!

Mick,

The problem with that is that this particular mill has a manual crank handle to raise and lower the cutting head and it's located on top of the cutting head assembly. The OP has already mentioned that it's too high up to crank comfortably as is...

Herb

Permaculturist

Quote from: PC-Urban-Sawyer on September 19, 2014, 07:01:29 PM
Quote from: 47sawdust on September 19, 2014, 05:51:16 PM
It may have been mentioned already,but elevating the mill bed to a more comfortable working height will reduce fatigue and give room for all the hydraulics you will be talked in to adding.You have all the tractor you will need to load logs on the log deck your gonna want as well.I've always liked the linn mill and the owner seems to be friendly,knowledgeable,and talented.Good buy!

Mick,

The problem with that is that this particular mill has a manual crank handle to raise and lower the cutting head and it's located on top of the cutting head assembly. The OP has already mentioned that it's too high up to crank comfortably as is...

Herb

Yes, I plan to raise the mill another 14" or so.  This is a temporary setup so I can build a mill shed, then I'll move the mill.  The next setup will have 40' of track on I-beams anchored to concrete posts past the frost line, and some sort of power raise/lower.

d

thecfarm

It's nice having a mill!! It all looks good.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Permaculturist

The mill is running great!  Here's what I got done on the first tank of gas.  I'm still running the first blade too.  There's a bit of poplar and pine at the bottom, but the rest is fir.  I knocked two trees down and hauled the logs out of the woods in the morning and milled them that afternoon.  Easily the most fun I've had in a single day for a long time, and it felt real good to take this picture at the end of my first day running a sawmill.  8)



The stickering job sucks, I know. These boards won't be there long enough to dry though.  I've got a bunch of stuff to build (goat & chicken shelters, shed, garbage box, etc) and green lumber will be good enough I figure.

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