Anybody made a beam machine?

[ptjeep]

Right now I am just playing with the mills for fun, its an excuse to run some saws. In a year or so I might make some ruff cut lumber and a friend is building a house right now that might want some milled beams. That's about all.

 

[820wards]

. A chip deflector is gonna be a must and the width guide might need some rethinking, didn't work all the great.

PT,

Looks like you had some fun today.

You might try turning your saw around so it is pulling into the wood until you get the chip deflector made. I have my saw set up to be cutting on the top of the bar, pushing the chain down through the wood. It should work either way. You can see in this picture of my first mini-mill how wide the 3/4" angle is set. I don't get side-side rocking at all. I think you will see a big difference in stability if you use a wider guide rail board.

My guide board is a 2x6x8'. I found that having a wider set of rails keeps the mill much more stable and has less tendency to rock sideways.

Here is a view of the mill I built for my friend. He is pushing through the log and the chip deflector keeping the chips from flying into his face.

Like you handle!
jerry-

 

[ptjeep]

Thanks for the input Jerry. I'm going back tomorrow with 4 more slabs to rip so i will turn the saw around and give it a try. I'm using a 2x6 also but my guide rails are 1.25" square tubing which takes up some room. I'm gonna run it a while tomorrow to get a good feel for it to see what needs changed. I might be better off with a 2x8.

 

[820wards]

Thanks for the input Jerry. I'm using a 2x6 also but my guide rails are 1.25" square tubing which takes up some room. I'm gonna run it a while tomorrow to get a good feel for it to see what needs changed. I might be better off with a 2x8.

I went back a read your post on the build and realized you had used 1.250" x 1.250" tubing which makes it wider in the middle, but I don't think it should be a problem.

What were the issues you had when milling?

Did the mill want to rock from side to side?

Other than looking like a snowman from the dust shooting back at you....

jerry-

 

[820wards]

Thanks for the input Jerry. I'm going back tomorrow with 4 more slabs to rip so i will turn the saw around and give it a try. I'm using a 2x6 also but my guide rails are 1.25" square tubing which takes up some room. I'm gonna run it a while tomorrow to get a good feel for it to see what needs changed. I might be better off with a 2x8.

PT,

I found that the 'with guide' needs to be as long or longer that your rails to make it work smooth. I made mine 18" to match my mill rails.


jerry-

 

[ptjeep]

Thanks for the interest and input Jerry. I ripped around 12 or so boards today and must say that i really enjoy this mini mill, much easier on the back. So far the mill is working great, although it needs lock washers to keep from vibrating loose. One of my angle iron guide rails must have a slight bend at one point cause i feel some resistance when i push by it but that should be a easy fix. I turned the saw around like you suggested and didn't get as much dust in the face but i did make a quick chip deflector out of a piece of cardboard to see how it helped and it did quite a bit. Gonna have to make one for it. Your right about the width guide, mine is half as long as my guide rails which is to short and when i welded it together it warped even though it was clamp in a vise. Since its bowed it lets the saw weave as it cuts. That shouldnt be hard to fix either. Now i just gotta find more wood to mill!

 

[mdavlee]

Preston I have a lot of cherry on my grandpas farm that will be firewood if someone doesn't want to mill it or saw it. If you want in on some of it I'll save some for you when I start to cut it up.

 

[ptjeep]

Preston I have a lot of cherry on my grandpas farm that will be firewood if someone doesn't want to mill it or saw it. If you want in on some of it I'll save some for you when I start to cut it up.

Definately interested, just let me know when.

 

[mdavlee]

I'll hit you up with some pictures of the logs when I get home from Fl. I hope to be in around Christmas long enough to do some cutting over there. You can mill on site or take them home with you. We were planning on getting a whole trailer load of logs from there for firewood.

 

[820wards]

Thanks for the interest and input Jerry. I ripped around 12 or so boards today and must say that i really enjoy this mini mill, much easier on the back. So far the mill is working great, although it needs lock washers to keep from vibrating loose. One of my angle iron guide rails must have a slight bend at one point cause i feel some resistance when i push by it but that should be a easy fix. I turned the saw around like you suggested and didn't get as much dust in the face but i did make a quick chip deflector out of a piece of cardboard to see how it helped and it did quite a bit. Gonna have to make one for it. Your right about the width guide, mine is half as long as my guide rails which is to short and when i welded it together it warped even though it was clamp in a vise. Since its bowed it lets the saw weave as it cuts. That shouldnt be hard to fix either. Now i just gotta find more wood to mill!

PT,

To correct the bow in your mill rail, use a hacksaw and cut a straight line in the center on the back side of the 1/2" stock you welded to the rail. You can then clamp the rail flat to your welding table or to another of piece of heavy tubing you know is straight. Weld the top and bottom and let it cool, then come back and weld the the backside. I had mine warp because I didn't clamp it to my 1/2" thick welding table first. I knew better.

Sounds like your getting the hang of using your mini-mill. Once you get it dialed in you will use it a lot for squaring logs into cants and making lumber.

jerry-

 

[ptjeep]

I definitely plan to use this mini mill to square up big logs before milling with the mkIII. When i milled the slabs that i ripped this weekend the 394 kept hanging up in the bark during the cut and i would have to try to pull the saw out of the bark while also pushing the mill forward. Not fun at all and very hard on the back. But wont be anymore!