Some assembly required--adventures in South Carolina

Okrafarmer · October 15, 2016, 10:01:24 PM

So today I finally managed to start assembly of the Turbosawmill. I only had the afternoon to work on it, after numerous other things going on. I put in about four hours or maybe five, and got a good bit done, but it was daunting getting as far as I did. The good news is, there are a lot fewer parts lying around than there were when I first tore the boxes open. Between my two jobs, I probably won't get a chance to deal with it much more until next Saturday! But I also managed to locate my needed white oak logs for my trailer decking orders, as well as barter for the wood. I also helped a couple people who needed stuff. Prayed with a friend whose wife is doing very poorly. Did my banking. Yes, on Saturday, since I was too busy working yesterday to make it to the bank. It's been an eventful week.

Okrafarmer · October 15, 2016, 10:07:11 PM

Seaman · October 16, 2016, 08:32:43 AM

If I get time I will come down one day and help. Those are neat looking saws.
Frank

Okrafarmer · October 16, 2016, 08:39:39 AM

I'll probably be finishing it up Saturday, if all goes well. If you want to come down, let me know ahead of time. I'd be happy to have your input!

Ox · October 16, 2016, 10:14:06 AM

I wish I could help you. That looks fun and informative. I'd like to see it run in person.

thecfarm · October 16, 2016, 10:52:23 AM

Good luck with it!!

Bruno of NH · October 16, 2016, 11:29:39 AM

Can't wait
What modle did you get ?

paul case · October 16, 2016, 02:59:01 PM

PC

Okrafarmer · October 17, 2016, 12:13:02 AM

Quote from: Bruno of NH on October 16, 2016, 11:29:39 AM
Can't wait
What modle did you get ?

8" cut GX390 Warrior with 13hp Honda

mad murdock · October 17, 2016, 09:42:26 AM

Looking real fine there!!

Okrafarmer · October 18, 2016, 12:18:10 AM

I've been in contact with both Mike in Spokane, and Jake in New Zealand, and they've helped me sort through a few things that I was having trouble figuring out. So far, I'm real pleased with the level of support and interaction I've had with the company. Mike did a real great job helping me get my ducks in a row to purchase the Turbosawmill, and Jake's reached out to me on his own to see if I needed any help. Looks like I misunderstood the directions, and I was supposed to join the two beam halves together before attaching them to the outer portions. I'll fix that next time I get to work on it, which sadly probably won't be until Saturday. But I am doing it over and over in my mind until then! ;D

I think it was less than three weeks between when I told Mike I wanted the mill, and when it arrived. Definitely less than four weeks. I think he still has a couple in stock if anybody wants one before the next shipment comes from New Zealand, which might be a couple months out!

A friend of mine with plenty of money, ordered a nice-- yes, really nice-- bandsawmill this past winter or early spring from a company you would all know and recognize. Six months later, they couldn't give him a good enough explanation for why his sawmill wasn't ready for him, and he cancelled the order. By contrast, I just have to say, I'm blown away by the support Mike and Jake have shown me from thousands of miles away. ;D

On toward sawdust. . . . 8)

dgdrls · October 18, 2016, 07:45:18 AM

Congratulations you're really going to like sawing with a circle blade.

Best
D

Okrafarmer · October 27, 2016, 11:11:48 PM

Quote from: dgdrls on October 18, 2016, 07:45:18 AM
Congratulations you're really going to like sawing with a circle blade.

Yes indeed.

After tons of "not enough time" here are some pics of my assembled Turbosawmill, and some adventures in putting it together. Well-- I'll put one tonight-- more later!

Savannahdan · October 28, 2016, 07:36:17 AM

Nice looking saw and the helper looks like he is ready to take over the operation.

Okrafarmer · October 28, 2016, 08:35:43 AM

Quote from: Savannahdan on October 28, 2016, 07:36:17 AM
Nice looking saw and the helper looks like he is ready to take over the operation.

Yep he's not allowed within fifty feet when the engine's on~!

paul case · November 01, 2016, 12:29:43 AM

PC

rbhunter · November 01, 2016, 08:36:41 AM

Keep the updates and Pictures coming, I am enjoying this thread.
Looking forward to see how you like it. It looks like an interesting mill.

thecfarm · November 01, 2016, 10:57:42 AM

Looks good.
It's too bad to keep the little one way,but can understand why too. Things can happen.

Okrafarmer · November 01, 2016, 07:33:12 PM

Yes, well even if I did let any of my kids near the sawmill while it was running, i wouldn't say so in public, now would I? ???

And for the record, that one is definitely too young to be very close. Circle mills are more inherently dangerous than band mills, if for no other reason that they could possibly hit a bolt and shed those teeth which could go flying. They can also pick up loose knots, wood scraps, etc. and send them flying, which is not a common occurrence with band mills. ;)

Okrafarmer · November 01, 2016, 07:47:35 PM

Ok, here's what you've been looking for. This nineteen minute video shows me sawying off 64 board feet. 64 bf in 19 minutes isn't too bad. Of course, I was already set up for this level of the log. If you watch carefully, you can see me pull the 4X4 out of the middle of the log. I had it lined up fairly nicely.\

This was a 23" shortleaf pine that had sat around a while and the outer wood is fairly bug-eaten. The inner wood is better quality, but it does have a good few knots. The log is 12' long.

I'm happy with the speed of production for this sawmill, considering it is a manual mill. I can definitely make money at 100 bf/hr, and I probably could even at 50 bf/hr in hardwood.

This was my second log, and my first sizable one. First was a small cedar just to try it out.

I was having a little trouble with the horizontal guard, but I got it figured out finally.

My big son, 12 years old, took the video, and it is a little shaky at places. Sorry about that. . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx_f-wyGRPU

tnaz · November 01, 2016, 08:16:01 PM

Okrafarmer thanks for sharing. I have never seen one in action. That is a cool set up, and tell the camera man/director good job. 8) :D

Terry

paul case · November 01, 2016, 08:36:52 PM

That is real nice and its what we have been waiting to see from you MR. Okra. Tree guts make me smile.

However I couldnt help but think of the guy who thought he could pick up his lawnmower and trim his hedges. He is the reason there is warning stickers on new lawnmowers that say '' do not put your hands or feet under lawnmower.''

Get that guard deal ironed out before you stick your fingers under there and they dont come back. smiley_carpenter_hit_thumb

PC

Okrafarmer · November 01, 2016, 09:05:21 PM

Good point, Paul, but so you realize what's going on, I was mostly doing that with the horizontal guard while the blade was in the vertical position. But I pretty much figured out what was going on now. Just ironing out the kinks!

Mike and Jake at Turbosawmill have been real helpful as I have contacted them with various problems or questions that came up. Each time, they were helpful and walked me through whatever I was dealing with. Everything seems to be working great now, but----- NOW I NEED TIME to run my sawmill!

Ox · November 02, 2016, 10:20:05 AM

It's gotta be nice not worrying about wavy cuts, huh? It seems to cut very easily. I can see how a helper would really make that machine fly. Thanks for sharing!

Okrafarmer · November 02, 2016, 11:40:46 PM

Yep, I like how it works overall. There are a good few things to get used to, but one of the things I really appreciate is the low amount of maintenance time required, especially for the blade. You can sharpen the blade without taking it off, and that only takes a minute or maybe two. I have to get my vehicle close enough for the battery jumpers to run the grinder, and I could do with those lead wires being a few feet longer, but oh well. The Honda engine comes with the option for electric start, but so far I'm just using it with the pull cord. If I get a battery for it, I'll be able to use the sawmill battery to run the grinder for sharpening.

I got to run it a little more today. Most of the 2 hours I spent there was in setting up my work area and flipping the log over to mill the other side, and lining everything up again after. It is not necessary to flip the log over, but I will do it any time I wish to make a single wide slab out of the middle of the log. this log is about 22 inches wide, wider than my 16" double cut capability, so I flipped it. No camera on site today. . . .

One problem I encountered with flipping the remaining half log over was that now the log is not perfectly true to the blade, and so the angle is off a little bit. I will need to true it up a little next time I mill. If I were operating on a flat concrete floor, this would not be as much of an issue. I think a transmission jack might help to get it to the desired tipping angle to match up with the other surface for a resulting uniform thickness wide slab.

The somewhat thicker kerf and slightly clumsier jacket-slabbing process have caused me to think I will probably get somewhat reduced bf'age out of each log compared to with a bandmill, and of course, small logs jump around a good bit, so I think I may adopt the Doyle scale now instead of the Intl which I used for the Woodmizer. For purchasing, selling, estimating, etc. I think now is the time to use the Doyle to punish small logs and allow more for kerf and jacket slabs. But these are small concessions to make for a great mill, due to the added ease and convenience of operation, not to mention the ability to mill super size logs.

Next time I run the mill I hope to successfully do a double cut. I'm nearly set up for it now. Glad to be able to mill some 16" material-- hard to do on an 8" Lucas, but should be relatively easy with the Warrior. ;D