Al,
Does gravity hold the log still enough or are there dogs that hold the log in place while sawing?
Bryan
Bryan if you look at the 2nd 3rd pics the silver piece is an adjustable dog clamp.
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Some of that “chunker feed” looks rather thick even for chunking. Don’t know how bad you want food for your gasifier, but I would group those “chunker feed”, put them on edge, then cut them at 2 inch increments. TomC
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I like your setup Al.
You upgraded your engine to 13hp, from what? Is there a noticeable difference? At what point is there too much hp for the blade?
Hi Bill, It had a 8hp, the 13hp helped a lot. I don’t think too much hp would matter as long as you don’t raise rpm of the blade. The extra hp keeps it from bogging down in hard woods, and knots. I set the mill on the edge of a bank, so I don’t have to mess with the saw dust. How are you making out with your mill?
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Lov that hat Billy , that’s what I need
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It keeps the sun off. $2.00 at the thrift store. I’m sure some tourist paid $45.00 for it in Mexico never to wear it again…
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Got more wood too SWEM and looking forward too a warm winter with plenty of wood, i have twice that much too got get yet. Chunker trailer steel is in the shop too start on next.
6 feet tall 50 feet long 3.5feet wide.
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Gather up some green pine needles and put on a small fire next to your work area, should help with some of the bugs.
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Hey Al. I’m still learning on the sawmill. I’m not sure how to get the log at exactly 90 degrees. I think if I had an edger it wouldn’t matter. Maybe it doesn’t matter if it’s a few degrees off for rough cut? Are all blades created equal? Does one cut better than another?
Are you checking the whole table/system to make sure it hasn’t warped, twisted or tilted? The guy I knew that had an antique sawmill used to spend about as much time adjusting it as he did actually cutting with it, and it was in cement footings. If you dropped a log too hard on it, it would change the alignment, and you had to stop and readjust it. You can try to plane it out, but it is harder and more wear (and uneven) on the planer bits, which are expensive.
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What brand of mill do you have there Bill?
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Is that after you take the first slab off ?
Sharp blade is a good blade. I like Cook blades and their sharpener. But the sharpener is expensive and that is why Wayne uses a hand grinder.
Tension is important also.
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Bill; I know nothing about sawmills, but I did have a friend bring his mill over and cut up some logs. He would take a slab off the top. Then he rotated the flat side to the back. On the back side were two arms that he tipped up and pushed the flat side tight against the two vertical rods. Then set the “dogs” to hold the log. The next cut off the top was 90 degrees to the first cut. Hope that makes sense. TomC
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Hi Bill, Hope I can make it understandable; my mill has 2 different length stops, I use the long ones to square up the log. After the first slab cut I turn the cut to the long stops, you can roll the log so the cut is square on the stop, do this for 3 sides then go to the short stops.Don’t know if your mill has any thing like this, If you look at the pictures of mine you can see square tubing welded to the log bunks with lock bolts, the stops slide into these, and adjust up, and down. Blades are different; some are for soft wood, some for hard, some for frozen logs. This best place to buy is Cook’s sawmill. If you call tell them what mill you have, and what wood you saw, they will custom make blades for your mill. Wayne uses their blades too. Hope this helped.
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Hello Mr. Bill
I already know my saw blade is running level .
After I make 1-3 cuts on the top side of the log I will turn it to what I think 90% will be . I use a little plastic level than I will put to the cut side that will show me where exactly 90% is .
https://www.lowes.com/pd/KAPRO-9-in-Magnetic-Torpedo-Level-Standard-Level/1000179331
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yep…cheap enough too…
Bill, We put the log on the mill. cut a slab off the top. turn 90 degrees with cut side against standards/“stoppers”, cut that side to where you want it, then flip two times to he oppostite side. That way you are cutting as little bark on the leading edge as possible. That keeps blades sharper longer. Sometimes it takes a couple people around here to get a crooked or knotty log squared up and dawged down—no hydraulic roller and only manual dawgs.
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HI Don.
The sawmill is a Wood Mizer. I believe it was a Northern Hydraulics sawmill.
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I need some input.
As you know I’m new to my bandsaw sawmill. 2 logs ago I broke a blade. Thinking maybe it was too tight, I loosened it up a half of a turn. I put a new blade on without backing the wheel off. It ran well until today. The cutting was slowing down so I’m guessing the teeth were getting dull. Then I noticed my cut drifting upwards. I shut the saw off and backed the saw out. With the blade still on the saw, I noticed it was separating from the flat side of the blade and almost to the teeth.
What I’m wondering is, are my blades breaking because they were getting dull and I pushed it too far before changing them? Are the blades just old? Can I bring them to someone that does TIG welding to fix them?
Thanks in advance,
Bill S