Nato
ArboristSite Operative
Well it's all over now. You've gone to the dark side....traitor....
Interesting Urban Milling project
- Thread starter BobL
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Not really. The BSM is not mobile so in some case I will still mill stuff on site.
Well after nearly 8 weeks of to and fro I am pleased to report that we went and picked up the BS mill this morning. Currently it's in several large pieces on the back of a truck while we prepare the area where it will be setup.
Will post some picks once its up and running. Meanwhile the stash of logs is now up to over 40 so I will be busy once the mill is up and running.
Will post some picks once its up and running. Meanwhile the stash of logs is now up to over 40 so I will be busy once the mill is up and running.
We decide to put down a 5" concrete slab to put the mill on.
Then we decided to tackle some of the surface rust.
Here it is before the treatment.
We decided to use a tannate passivator as there is already a fair bit of tannin on the mill.
Here it is after the treatment - the red orange bits are now brown/black.
Some of you may be interested in the piles of logs in behind the mill of which there are now around 100 - not all for milling - some are for nature playground construction
Then we decided to tackle some of the surface rust.
Here it is before the treatment.
We decided to use a tannate passivator as there is already a fair bit of tannin on the mill.
Here it is after the treatment - the red orange bits are now brown/black.
Some of you may be interested in the piles of logs in behind the mill of which there are now around 100 - not all for milling - some are for nature playground construction
Bob...you certainly live the dream. Nice cleanup of the bandsaw. We kinda hope you don't get too used to it
but l am sure it will speed up production and give good results.
but l am sure it will speed up production and give good results.
Boon
Addicted to ArboristSite
Looks like a rewarding project Bob. Nice to see you being part of the project, no doubt deserve it after all the time, effort and knowledge you have put into milling and the help you give to so many people online.
Am looking forward to more pics from beautiful W.A.
Am looking forward to more pics from beautiful W.A.
mike walsh
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2014
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 1
did that truck belong to tim keevil once apon a time
Sorry Mike I wouldn't know.
Dave Boyt
ArboristSite Guru
Congratulations on the mill. With your background, you'll have a pile of sawdust around it in no time. Of course, you'll need to resist the urge to sharpen the blade and add fuel after every cut, and drive wedges to open the kerf. Just keep the log stops & clamps lower than the blade, and remember to tension the blade before you start cutting.
Thanks Dave, I am under no illusions that I have to start a new learning curve and thanks for the advice.
Dave Boyt
ArboristSite Guru
Bob, you already have a good understanding of wood and how it behaves. That's the complicated part. Machines seem to be second nature to you, so you'll probably repeat your mistakes fewer times than I did/will.
Kicker_92
ArboristSite Operative
Having finally converted this year from CSM to a manual bandsaw mill, I agree with what Dave said. You know how to read a log, the feel of cutting when you hit knots etc, and how to cut for grade or quartersaw.
Watching out for metal no longer means just nails and stuff in the log. I killed two blades in the first week, one on a support post, and the other on the handle of one of the log dogs!
You'll love the speed of ripping off layers of 5/4 boards that woudl have usually been scrap. and being able to just toss on some low grade logs and quickly make cants and stickers.
Ryan (misses sawing 32ft+ beams though)
Watching out for metal no longer means just nails and stuff in the log. I killed two blades in the first week, one on a support post, and the other on the handle of one of the log dogs!
You'll love the speed of ripping off layers of 5/4 boards that woudl have usually been scrap. and being able to just toss on some low grade logs and quickly make cants and stickers.
Ryan (misses sawing 32ft+ beams though)
I put a coat of paint on the mill today and had just finished cleaning up and was about to take some pics when the boss turned up at the end of the day with the new Dinasaw bandsaw blade sharpener and setter still in their packaging so of course I had to help setting them up.
While unpacking the grinder I got the middle finger of my left hand (same one I mangled in a goods elevator door in 2010) caught in the mechanism and the full weight of the grinder on the end of its arm squished my finger hard enough for it to bleed all around the finger nail.
At that point we decided it was time to stop for a medicinal beer or 2 and put the finger on ic,e and after that it was time to go home. Finger is sore but not as bad as I thought I was going to be.
Pics will have to wait until Monday.
While unpacking the grinder I got the middle finger of my left hand (same one I mangled in a goods elevator door in 2010) caught in the mechanism and the full weight of the grinder on the end of its arm squished my finger hard enough for it to bleed all around the finger nail.
At that point we decided it was time to stop for a medicinal beer or 2 and put the finger on ic,e and after that it was time to go home. Finger is sore but not as bad as I thought I was going to be.
Pics will have to wait until Monday.
Jim Timber
1/4 bubble off
I hope your finger pulls through without too much discomfort. The mill's looking good!
Most oif the BS Mill got a lick of paint last week and here are some pics I took today.
Don't look too close, it's really just a coat to keep a lid on the external rust and nothing like a full refurb which is what I would have done if it was mine.
Anyway it should do the job.
Front
Back (the unpainted black bits are going to be greased up anyway so it was not worth painting them)
I charged the battery and fired it up to see how it ran - no cutting though, blade was off.
I also assembled the new Dinasaw BS blade sharpener and setter
Fully Auto (start it and walk away - apparently) Sharpener.
Takes about 3 seconds to sharpen a tooth and toggles on to the next one and when its done the full set it turns itself off.
Dinasaw setter. works on a manual crank, about one tooth per second.
Neither units are adjusted yet so I can comment on how good a job they do and I won't really know until I start cutting
Don't look too close, it's really just a coat to keep a lid on the external rust and nothing like a full refurb which is what I would have done if it was mine.
Anyway it should do the job.
Front
Back (the unpainted black bits are going to be greased up anyway so it was not worth painting them)
I charged the battery and fired it up to see how it ran - no cutting though, blade was off.
I also assembled the new Dinasaw BS blade sharpener and setter
Fully Auto (start it and walk away - apparently) Sharpener.
Takes about 3 seconds to sharpen a tooth and toggles on to the next one and when its done the full set it turns itself off.
Dinasaw setter. works on a manual crank, about one tooth per second.
Neither units are adjusted yet so I can comment on how good a job they do and I won't really know until I start cutting
I spent a few hours today coming to grips with the sharpener.
For standard sharpening there are 6 adjustments/knobs/settings/screws
Hook Angle AdjustmentTooth Stroke
Feed Pawl Presentation (height)
Tooth Position
Tooth Shape
Bevel Tooth Grinding—MSA
I experimented with the first 5 settings to see if I could get it to automatically do a basic grind.
All of the 10 blades we have are the same TPI but are set LRL so MSA cannot be used unless the teeth are reset to a Left - Right - Centre, or Right - Left - Centre pattern
The time to reset the teeth is when the blades have minimal set left on them so that will have to wait until a few more sharpenings
It took me about 2 hours to get it set up and learn what each of the 5 things does.
Next time I go to the yard I'm bringing a label maker so I don't have to keep referring back to the manual to determine what does what and in what direction.
Unless a different size/TPI blade is used it should only take a few minutes to set up a similar blade next time.
If a different size size/TPI blade is used it will take a bit longer but of course one would get faster with practice.
It takes 6 minute and 45 seconds for it to automatically complete a full circuit of all the teeth.
That's about as quick as I can touch up all the cutters on my 42" chainsaw chains but of course one would expect to get a lot more sq ft cut with one BS blade sharpening.
The gentlest way to sharpen is supposedly with several light multiple passes.
Here's a short vid of it running.
Sorry its not too clear, ordinary mobile phone and low lighting under shed veranda don't help.
This was the third of 3 passes.
The grinder might sound like it's labouring but its capable of taking off more in one pass. According to an experienced sharpener there is too much being taken off the front of the tooth in this pass. It's not a big deal as I've basically set this blade aside as a practice blade.
Anyway I reckon I got the blade to the point where it was worth using it on the BS but it was raining so that will have to wait.
When I folded up the blade I chickened out doing it without gloves (as I usually do) as the pointy bits were very pointy.
You can see I haven't cleaned out the entire gullet but I reckon it will still make some sawdust.
For standard sharpening there are 6 adjustments/knobs/settings/screws
Hook Angle AdjustmentTooth Stroke
Feed Pawl Presentation (height)
Tooth Position
Tooth Shape
Bevel Tooth Grinding—MSA
I experimented with the first 5 settings to see if I could get it to automatically do a basic grind.
All of the 10 blades we have are the same TPI but are set LRL so MSA cannot be used unless the teeth are reset to a Left - Right - Centre, or Right - Left - Centre pattern
The time to reset the teeth is when the blades have minimal set left on them so that will have to wait until a few more sharpenings
It took me about 2 hours to get it set up and learn what each of the 5 things does.
Next time I go to the yard I'm bringing a label maker so I don't have to keep referring back to the manual to determine what does what and in what direction.
Unless a different size/TPI blade is used it should only take a few minutes to set up a similar blade next time.
If a different size size/TPI blade is used it will take a bit longer but of course one would get faster with practice.
It takes 6 minute and 45 seconds for it to automatically complete a full circuit of all the teeth.
That's about as quick as I can touch up all the cutters on my 42" chainsaw chains but of course one would expect to get a lot more sq ft cut with one BS blade sharpening.
The gentlest way to sharpen is supposedly with several light multiple passes.
Here's a short vid of it running.
Sorry its not too clear, ordinary mobile phone and low lighting under shed veranda don't help.
This was the third of 3 passes.
The grinder might sound like it's labouring but its capable of taking off more in one pass. According to an experienced sharpener there is too much being taken off the front of the tooth in this pass. It's not a big deal as I've basically set this blade aside as a practice blade.
Anyway I reckon I got the blade to the point where it was worth using it on the BS but it was raining so that will have to wait.
When I folded up the blade I chickened out doing it without gloves (as I usually do) as the pointy bits were very pointy.
You can see I haven't cleaned out the entire gullet but I reckon it will still make some sawdust.
Jim Timber
1/4 bubble off
Your dog running around that grinder makes me cringe Bob. I've had 6 metal fragments in my eyes (3 from grinding) and I was wearing eye protection for all of them but one (buddy lit me up by accident for that one).
The dogs have a death wish. The small one will charge up within inches of and barks furiously at a running chainsaw. When I used canola oil in the aux oiler they both lick the bar and chain clean.
Jim Timber
1/4 bubble off
I guess you suck at sharpening then. j/k!
j/k!
Just a bit of an update with the Bandsaw mill.
I finally put a log on the mill and made half a dozen cuts.
Given that I was using the blade that was my first attempt at sharpening the cutting speed is fine but making these cuts highlighted two problems with the mill.
The first is that although the mill has a 35" wide cut, the blade could only be raised 20" above the height of the log rails.
A quick inspection showed that the original design of the mill limited the maximum height to 26" inches but some modifications and additions to guards had been made by the previous owner that prevented the carriage from being raised more than 20".
So out with the angle grinder and a thin cut off wheel and I cut small non-critical pieces off some guards, and I replaced o guard bracket with another one that did not get in the way.
I also replaced an original carriage bracket that was in the way with another that still did the intended job but did not conflict.
All this means the blade can now reach a height of 28".
I could get another 2" of vertical movement but that will mean mean rebuilding the fuel tank frame.
The second problem related to hog holding during cutting.
The mill came with one of these adjustable height clamps on blade entry side
And 4 of the log support rails have these on the blade exits side
The 2 x 2: internal sockets welded to the side of the support are designed to hold either short lengths of steel square tubing, or wooden poles, which the log can be pushed up against (by the clamp above) while cutting.
Once the cant is squared up the regular shaped cant can just be held by the 1/2" thick pieces of steel plate welded to the top of the support rails.
Although this all seemed to work well enough for the small regular shaped logs we saw being cut by the previous owner I was not happy with this for the irregular shaped log I was trying to cut.
The log was rocking too much during the cut especially at the end of the log that was not clamped
I figured at least one more log clamp would help so during the last week I have been making a prototype holder.
In the pic below mine is the silver green shown alongside the one that came with the mill
The original log clamp can be easily repositioned along the galvanised pipe but the galvanised pipe is welded to the log support frame and cannot be moved to another position.
The new one can be moved to any of the log support rails.
Now I would like to make something similar for the other side so that the log is well and truly held firmly while it is being cut.
I finally put a log on the mill and made half a dozen cuts.
Given that I was using the blade that was my first attempt at sharpening the cutting speed is fine but making these cuts highlighted two problems with the mill.
The first is that although the mill has a 35" wide cut, the blade could only be raised 20" above the height of the log rails.
A quick inspection showed that the original design of the mill limited the maximum height to 26" inches but some modifications and additions to guards had been made by the previous owner that prevented the carriage from being raised more than 20".
So out with the angle grinder and a thin cut off wheel and I cut small non-critical pieces off some guards, and I replaced o guard bracket with another one that did not get in the way.
I also replaced an original carriage bracket that was in the way with another that still did the intended job but did not conflict.
All this means the blade can now reach a height of 28".
I could get another 2" of vertical movement but that will mean mean rebuilding the fuel tank frame.
The second problem related to hog holding during cutting.
The mill came with one of these adjustable height clamps on blade entry side
And 4 of the log support rails have these on the blade exits side
The 2 x 2: internal sockets welded to the side of the support are designed to hold either short lengths of steel square tubing, or wooden poles, which the log can be pushed up against (by the clamp above) while cutting.
Once the cant is squared up the regular shaped cant can just be held by the 1/2" thick pieces of steel plate welded to the top of the support rails.
Although this all seemed to work well enough for the small regular shaped logs we saw being cut by the previous owner I was not happy with this for the irregular shaped log I was trying to cut.
The log was rocking too much during the cut especially at the end of the log that was not clamped
I figured at least one more log clamp would help so during the last week I have been making a prototype holder.
In the pic below mine is the silver green shown alongside the one that came with the mill
The original log clamp can be easily repositioned along the galvanised pipe but the galvanised pipe is welded to the log support frame and cannot be moved to another position.
The new one can be moved to any of the log support rails.
Now I would like to make something similar for the other side so that the log is well and truly held firmly while it is being cut.
