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Automated Twin blade sawmill build.

Started by CaseyK, September 24, 2014, 10:19:37 AM

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CaseyK

Hi everyone, im a newbie so thanks for the add. I have been enjoying reviewing your forum and seeing all of the home builds.  Im building a 35hp diesel twin blade sawmill. I got the engine last week from and have started on the frame this week. Ive got 3 main questions that i was hoping to get some input on.

1st Does anybody have a source for a 35hp electric clutch supplier (1.75" bore)or would a belt tensioner apparatus be sufficient to engage and disengage the load for starting the engine?

2nd For the vertical blade i found a supplier for Lucas blades (16.7 5 tooth) but was wondering if anyone knows of a supplier for the arbor shafts besides just having one milled in a machine shop?

3rd For the horizontal blade i was hoping to be able to cut 10" boards so im thinking i will need a 26" blade. What would be the tooth count i would be looking for with this 26" blade? Most of the blades ive seen had a large tooth count which im thinking would require more HP than i have available, so would a 10 - 15 tooth blade be what i need? Also if anyone knows of a supplier for the horizonal blade and possibly a matching arbor i would greatly appreciate it.
Home built automated twin blade

Hilltop366

Welcome to the Forestry Forum. I'm sure someone will be along soon with some good advice, sound like a interesting build.

CaseyK

Reviewed the forum some more and found some great news concerning getting saw blades from B.H. Payne so i gave them a call and they were a big help. They had a 5 tooth lucas style 21" edger blade and a 8 tooth peterson style 26" vertical  blade in stock and ready to ship so i ordered them. And now to get the gear box and roller chains ordered tonight. 
Home built automated twin blade

Hilltop366

Gerat, I'm hoping you will to bring us along with the build.

bandmiller2

Welcome Casey, An electric clutch for that size engine would be costly, "V" belts with a over center pulley to tighten them would be much more affordable and do the same job. Depending on the engine mechanical clutches are available but also costly. Where are you located Casey.?? Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Don_Papenburg

If you want to automate the overcenter clutch get a small hydraulic cylinder . You are going to have hydraulics on your mill  ?   Electric clutches snap in fast ,jerking everything they engage to speed right now .  That is harsh on equipment.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

CaseyK

Hi Frank, Im located in North Louisiana near a small town called Farmerville.

Don, yes, i will have hydraulics on the mill and a small hydraulic cylinder should work great for the overcenter clutch. Thats a great idea. I haven't seen that yet in the forums.

I found a great deal on a military surplus air compressor an individual had purchased a few years ago and was needing it anymore. Gave him 375.00 for a 35 HP Kubota diesel mounted on trailer with 5 piston air compressor and air tanks. Removing the air compressor took a while but she cranks right up and is hitting on all 4 cylinders.

Im going to give this picture posting a try to showw the before and after compressor pics and the start of the 10x4x8ft high frame (laying on its side).
Home built automated twin blade

CaseyK

Any lucas operators with the  21" 5 tooth blades tell me what rpm your running at?

Also any Peterson operators using the 26" 8 tooth blades tell me what rpm your running at?
Home built automated twin blade

tjhammer

Hi Casey I think Lucas runs a 1 to 1 gear box so the blade would run @3600 rpm and I think the Peterson is the same, I have a Lucas blade I run on my saw but I had Payne to hammer it for 3200 rpm Peterson has a 6 bolt pattern and Lucas 5 bolts, Payne does good work, I started on a two blade saw myself but haven't done much but gather parts I have a 22 horse Kubota for the big saw and thought about running a electric on the edger
tj
hammer

Hilltop366

Quote from: CaseyK on September 24, 2014, 11:14:47 PM
Any lucas operators with the  21" 5 tooth blades tell me what rpm your running at?

Also any Peterson operators using the 26" 8 tooth blades tell me what rpm your running at?

B.H. Payne should be able to tell you what rpm the blades are designed to be run at.

Great score on the Kubota!

CaseyK

Today i got the casters, rollerchains, sprockets, gearbox, pullys, bearings, and conveyor chains ordered. Now to get some welding done this evening and go look for a car axle tomorrow for the arbors.
Home built automated twin blade

backwoods sawyer

How big and long of log are you setting up to handle?
Will you drag back cants?
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

CaseyK

Hi Backwoods Sawer
Im probably going to build the tracks so i can do a 24ft cut and im thinking it should handle a 5 ft diameter log. It will have the ability to pull average side boards back.

I got the engine pulled last night and its on the back porch.

Just received my first shipment of pulleys and parts in just a second ago and placed an additional order for some more stuff also.

Talked to B H Payne and they were able to locate a 545 blade with the Peterson hole layout so that both of my arbor layouts will match, however the 660mm blade will have 4 additional holes that the 545 blade does not have.

The 2 truck axles should get dropped off this evening and hopefully if my buddy is home we can get the shafts turned down and cleaned up tomorrow.

I went with a design for 1900 rpm for the 660 mm blade and 2400 for the 545 mm blade so that if i did ever decide to go with inserted tooth blades the speeds would already be slow enough.

After welding tonight i still have to dig through the forum to decide how to power my carriage up and down, it has 4 post which are 10ft left and right wide and 4 ft fwd and aft), and on each end of the carriage there is 2 shafts with 2 sprockets on each shaft there will be one 10ft of 50H roller chain attaching to the top of each post coming down to the sprocket below it then going horizontal to another sprocket (4ft) then down the post and attaching to the post. there will be one 1-1/4 drive shaft connecting the left and right of the carriage. I purchased a 20:1 gear box with a 1-1/4 hollow output shaft from surplus center and am planning on driving it with a hyd motor with a 1" shaft stuck directly into the gear box.

From there i have got to settle on exactly how im going to power the travel of the frame down the tracks.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I am going to try to get some pictures posted this weekend.

Home built automated twin blade

backwoods sawyer

Look forward to seeing it all come together.
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

pineywoods

Casey, to answer your IM questions, my mill uses a 12 volt dc motor driving a gear box hooked to a roller chain for head position. Carriage travel is a bigger 12 volt variable speed motor driving V belts and a long roller chain. The factory hydraulics uses a 12 volt dc power pac. My mill is fixed, so I get away with a 110 volt ac motor to run a small gear pump. Standard cylinders to power a log turner, log clamp, adjustable backstops, and toe roller for log leveling. No log loader, I use a tractor with homebrew hydraulics and forks to load logs. The remote uses a handheld infra-red control(looks like a tv remote) to remotely control all the electric stuff, hydraulics is all standard lever operated control valves
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

CaseyK

Home built automated twin blade

CaseyK

Home built automated twin blade

CaseyK

Finally got the post a pic problem solved. The above pis show the military air compressor that i drove 3-1/2 hrs to get, once i removed the top cover i was able to remove the air compressor and then pull the engine. Its a 4cyl Kubota diesel v1702 i think, around 30-35hp. Next is the frame, its 10ft wide, 8ft tall and 4ft deep. Its going to be for a twin blade.
Home built automated twin blade

CaseyK

 

  this is the frame once i got it all welded up & pulled out into the yard. Now im placing the saw carriage into the frame.



 

   Here is a pic of the motor frame before i mountthe right angle gear box and place it on the saw carriage. 

  this is an older pic when the frame was under the back porch, notice the new mig welder & stick welder, cant build a sawmill without the right tools.

Home built automated twin blade

CaseyK

 

 
Here is my youngest of 5, Kaleb. Learning to make minor alignment adjustments to the right angle gearbox assembly.
Home built automated twin blade

CaseyK

Work has been busy this hitch but finally getting a chance to get caught up on the design problems still left and get the parts all ordered for when i get home Nov 13th i can finish my dream project.
Current status:
1. Motor has been rotated on the motor frame and mounted on the carriage.
2. Added (2) 5/8"acme rod to move the motor frame left and right on the carriage, originally i was planning on it sliding on top of 1"angle iron turned down and the motor frame sliding on uhmw blocks, but now im thinking i may have to get a back up plan ordered.
3. The blades came in and the machine shop has finished them up and are ready for pick up.
4. The carriage will raise within the frame by (4) 1"acme rod connected with 50H chain.
5. The wheelchair motors came in but they have 17mm shafts that are not very easy to cross reference in the US, finally found (2) connectors on ebay and got them delivered.
Still left to do.
1. mount up/dn motor and connect it with sprocket and chain to the acme rods.
2. mount the side to side motor and connect it to the acme rods.
3. select the feedworks motor and mount it, the  gearbox, and cross frame shaft so that there will be a drive sprocket on each side of the frame.
4. Design the frame rails so that they can be extended.
5. Design the electrical controls so that there can be manual controls for now and a more automated functions later.
Home built automated twin blade

pineywoods

Looking good casey. I'm anxious to see that thing making some lumber. Plan on some visitors when the sawdust starts flying. I'm only about 30 minutes from you, if I can help, just yell..
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

CaseyK

Last day on the rig, ready to start the trip back to America.
Got the bulk of all the parts ordered to hopefully finish the sawmill this hitch. Added a PLC and encoder feedbacks to all movements so it should be as accurate as a CNC assuming the mechanical slop is tight enough. looking forward to finally getting her put together and creating some lumber.
Home built automated twin blade

CaseyK

With Thanksgiving and christmas parties and raising 5 kids i didnt get to finish the mill before heading back to work but i got a lot closer. here is some pics:
Home built automated twin blade

pineywoods

Pics didn't show in the post, but I went to your gallery.  Impressive. I wanna come eyeball that rig. Will be next year before I can get loose, but you can't be more than 30 minutes from me. PM your schedule and location...
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

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