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Homemade Portables Bandsaw Sawmill Progress And Questions :)

Started by Jay Sybrandy, September 11, 2016, 11:01:27 PM

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Ox

OK, me and numbers are no good.  In laymans terms, is the commonly found stainless hard enough to be suitable for guides?  I'm pretty sure the Cooks and Woodmizer guides are hard enough to last until the end of time...pineywoods had like, what, 20,000 hours on a set then ground them down and is still using them?  Incredible when you figure  how many times they must have gone around.  Billions?  Trillions?
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Kbeitz

Only in my opinion stainless also known as inox steel is never really common.
It changes with the amount of chromium present.
There are many different types of stainless steels: For greater hardness and strength, more carbon is added. With proper heat treatment, these steels are used for such products as razor blades, cutlery, and tools.
There is 36 different kinds of stainless on the market.

I don't like working with stainless. It work hardens very easy when turning.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Ox

Thanks for the explanation.  It still doesn't sound good for guides.  Good old hardened steel for me, thanks.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Darrel

How'd I miss this thread?  That is one awesome looking mill you're building.  I'm sure you will work out all the bugs as you continue the project.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

paul case

One important point about using just bearings on  top and back and underneath is that one underneath may keep you from cutting down to 1'' on the bed. Might not mean much now but eventually if you are sawing for someone wanting 1x they will want all 1x.
The roller guides from cooks or woodmizer will not take up enough room under the blade to be a problem.

Food for thought.
PC
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

Kbeitz

If I was going to make my own I would use drill rod.
After you finish making it you can harden it with oil or water.
There is two different kinds, one hardens with oil the other
with water.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Joe Hillmann

Quote from: Kbeitz on February 10, 2017, 01:37:18 AM
If I was going to make my own I would use drill rod.
After you finish making it you can harden it with oil or water.
There is two different kinds, one hardens with oil the other
with water.

Do they make drill rod that large?  And what would you use for bearings?

Kbeitz

You would need high speed bearings.
I think it would be cheaper to buy Cooks guides.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=13667&step=4&id=148&CAWELAID=120293320000044489&gclid=CNu1ufTIhtICFQ9EfgodiwYJGw

There is a 3ft chunk of 2-1/4 on E-bay for $17.00

Note... I went back and bought one off E-bay my self. That was a super deal.
There is 4 left. Search for " Drill Rod A-2 1/4 x 3 Ft "
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Jay Sybrandy

Making large bandsaw sawmill - 15 Years old - NZ

Kbeitz

Quote from: Jay Sybrandy on February 16, 2017, 11:10:12 PM
Hi, Whats the standed blade lengths around 5m (200")

Thanks

Sometimes you can tell by typing in Sawmill blade on E=bay and
looking at whats for sale.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Clover

Best to call the sawmill manufacturers. They will tell you an off the shelf size. You probably can still find someone to make them cheaper though. I've found woodmizer blades to be pricey compared to others. Still trying different brands and I'm not seeing a difference in cuts.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

gww

When I built my mill I went to cooks store and looked at the size blades they were selling by the tens and twenties.  I figured those were standard sizes for production mills.  You can also search blades by the mill they fit on that website. 

I have had a bearing go out on the guides that were made for me.  However they are really cheap and easy to change. My guides were made by member leggman and I am sure not hardened steel.  The do work fantastic though and they have cut quite a bit of wood and I guess if you were going to cut thousands of board foot a day.  Maby they wouldn't hold up but they are doing great for what I do.  I believe he made them from 1.5 inch round stock.  It was recently that one bearing out of the four on the guides went out and it is only taking a nut off and replace the bearing and put the nut back on.  I didn't even losen the tension but just pryed a bit to get it past the blade.    I should have had lots of bearings go out cause I do not untension my blade when not in use and I hear theis is hard on bearings.  I did have a wheel bearing go out.

I say if you have access to a lathe and the skill to do it, try Making guides before shelling out the big bucks.  I am really haveing good luck with mine.  My mill is cutting better then it ever has over the last few logs. 

Also, If the bearings are good the guides stay cool.
I love my Homemade guides.
Cheers
gww

Kbeitz

I don't believe tension on you'r blade will make you'r bearing go bad.
We don't unload heavy trucks that sit for weeks with heavy loads on them.
We don't jack up heavy tractors to take the load off wheel bearings.
I only take the tension off my blade for the winter. It stays on all summer.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

gww

k
I leave my tension on the blade even over winter. 
I did read this here.

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/six-rules-of-sawing.html

QuoteALWAYS DETENSION YOUR BANDS

When you are done cutting for the day, take the tension off your blade. Band saw blades, when warmed up from cutting, always stretch; and upon cooling shrink by tens of thousandths of an inch each cooling period. Therefore, blades, when left on the saw over tension themselves and leave the memory of the two wheels in the steel of the band, which will cause cracking in the gullet. When you leave the band on your saw under tension, not only do you distort the crown and flatten out the tires (which makes them very hard), but you also place undue stress on your bearings and shafts. Believe it or not; you can, and will damage your wheel geometry sooner or later and considerably shorten bearing life. You are also crushing your tires or V-belts.

Cheers
gww

Kbeitz

I think I'm going to run out and jack up my truck.
I don't want to shorten bearing life or crush my tires
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Darrel

Kbeitz, be careful what kind of jack you use, all that tension on it might damage it.  :D

In reality, I've heard all my life about taking tension of of things when not in use. Be it a hunting bow, a bandsaw or what have you.  So I make a habit of releasing tension on my band when I shut down for the night. That being said, I don't stress if I occasionally forget.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Kbeitz

I'm sure it helps. But It's more work than the benefit that I get in return.
So far it has not hurt anything on my mill. Guess I gotta learn the hard way.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

pineywoods

There's another reason for releasing tension if you run some of the woodmizers. The larger mills use a hydraulic blade tensioner, just a small hydraulic cylinder with pressure in the 2500-3000 psi range. Leaving that much pressure on a hydraulic cylinder over long periods of time gonna be rough on the seals...
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

Kbeitz

Quote from: pineywoods on February 18, 2017, 05:37:54 PM
There's another reason for releasing tension if you run some of the woodmizers. The larger mills use a hydraulic blade tensioner, just a small hydraulic cylinder with pressure in the 2500-3000 psi range. Leaving that much pressure on a hydraulic cylinder over long periods of time gonna be rough on the seals...

Yes i would agree on that... I wish I had hydraulic but the cheapest
already made ones sell for around $600,00. I might try to make one
myself it I can catch up to some of my other projects.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

pineywoods

Kb, look at a cheap floor jack. Everything you need for a nice hydraulic tensioner. Drill and tap a hole in the right place, screw in a 3000 psi pressure gauge. Look in arnold113's gallery...
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

Kbeitz

Quote from: pineywoods on February 18, 2017, 06:43:59 PM
Kb, look at a cheap floor jack. Everything you need for a nice hydraulic tensioner. Drill and tap a hole in the right place, screw in a 3000 psi pressure gauge. Look in arnold113's gallery...
How do you know where to drill the hole ?
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Jay Sybrandy

Would a cheap bottle jack be able to hold that pressure on its side for long periods of time ?
Making large bandsaw sawmill - 15 Years old - NZ

boscojmb

Quote from: Jay Sybrandy on February 16, 2017, 11:10:12 PM
Hi, Whats the standed blade lengths around 5m (200")

Thanks

Hi,
My mill uses 229" bands. I have never had any trouble getting them.

It looks like Cooks uses 202" and 210".

Manufactures in New Zealand may have different standard sizes.

Quote from: Jay Sybrandy on February 28, 2017, 01:33:30 AM
Would a cheap bottle jack be able to hold that pressure on its side for long periods of time ?

Yes, it will. As long as you mount it with the pump side down, so that it can pick up fluid, the jack does not care what position it is in. (With larger mills you need to relieve the tension when you are not sawing.)
You will need to mount a gauge on the jack. Using a caliper and clamps, apply the proper strain to the blade, record the pressure, and apply the same pressure every time you saw.

Folks with smaller mills can get away with leaving tension (strain) on the blade overnight. I have accidentally left strain on my blade overnight on several occasions  and the next day the blade did not make it through the first 15 minutes.  :-\ :-\
John B.

Log-Master LM4

Jay Sybrandy

Carriage :

I cut two pieces of 150 x 50mm (6 x 2 " ) box section 1500mm ( 5ft ) long for my carriage, then put 5mm end caps on them.





Then welded 2 60x10mm with 25mm holes in them for my V wheels



The other side of the wheel mounts unbolt and has a little ledge to hook under my bed so that the carriage can't fall over



I then cut 4 gussets and 2 pieces of box section 2000mm long for my uprights









I  also made 2 slides out of 5 x 50 mm ( 1/4" x 2" ) angle iron and 5mm ( 1/4 " ) plate



I bought a bandsaw blade for $105 from www.bandsaw.co.nz



I decided to use these bigger wheels that have an outside diameter of 700mm ( 27")





I will be able to get a little over 1200mm of cut
Making large bandsaw sawmill - 15 Years old - NZ

Ljohnsaw

With those wheels, you may have issues with set on the blade.  You either need a tire that has a pretty good crown (think round profile) or you may need to cut part of the tread away to make a relief for the teeth. NICE welding.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

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