Finally got the project bandmill home - now the work begins

[Brmorgan]

Well it'll soon be a year since I first found this bandsaw in the junk pile at work and posted pics here. The millyard finally dried up enough to haul it out of there, so I found a flatdeck trailer I could borrow along with my brother's diesel to tow it home with.

 

[Brmorgan]

It was a beeeeyotch to get off the trailer, since it only has wheels on one end and no hitch on the other. I jacked it up a bit and put my little log hauler bunk under the legs just so I could pull it with the quad (you can see I have it slapped together with C-clamps, but they held!). Even then, those little 10" tires were practically flattened right out to the rim. They say 150kg load at 30PSI, I had probably 500kg on them at ~40PSI, and I'm actually a bit surprised they didn't fail.

The conveyor belt section is only attached by a few bolts, so I'm going to pull it off first thing so it's a lot easier to drag around. Right now it's stuck in the middle of the driveway up to my truck shop because I didn't have time to move it after unloading it. I'm going to haul the Oxy/Acetylene up there and cut the legs off and weld a makeshift hitch or wheel set for the time being so it's easier to move.

I know it looks like a heap but just the bandwheels and their bearings and pulleys are probably worth the $750 I paid for it. Not to mention the hydraulic system. Anyway I'm running late already so I'll post a bit more about it later tonight maybe.

 

[deeker]

Looks like a resaw outfit. I could use one. Looks like "killer" is already busy protecting your investment. Keep us posted.

Kevin

 

[BobL]

I reckon killer looks like he be a good milling buddy!

Good luck with the saw BTW

 

[Brmorgan]

Yes, I believe it was originally used as a resaw for headrig side slabs. I basically bought it for parts though and will be rebuilding it into a carriage mill. Just need a couple hundred bucks worth of steel and an engine, and some time. I'll post pics as I get it rebuilt. One piece of information I do need though is a list of commonly available band sizes. These wheels are about 2' diameter and I'd like to be able to mill about a 30-36" log eventually, but I haven't done the calculations yet to figure out how long of a band that will require.

Also she doesn't get to come milling with me too often because it's hard to keep track of her while I'm working. She doesn't usually go too far, but she has almost no fear and is so small that I even have to watch out for eagles overhead, as they've been known to pick up small dogs in open areas around here. One got my uncle's terrier about 25' into the air before it decided he was too heavy and dropped him.

She's an excellent little guard dog though. Well, maybe more of a house alarm than an actual guard. She "helped" us unload it this morning, but when I let her out this afternoon she immediately recognized it as being foreign to the yard, and started barking and running towards it.

 

[Brmorgan]

Hey, I just had a thought. Perhaps I could use a hydraulic motor to drive the band? Hydraulic power is very efficient and constant, though I don't know how they would stand up torque-wise in an application like this. That way I could use one of the vertical shaft engines I already have lying around. The hydraulic pack on this thing actually has a fairly large pump. I'll have to take a closer look at it to see what it's capable of. Industrial hydraulic systems is one area that I really have no experience in though.

 

[Mike Van]

From the pics Brad, it looks like it had a big electric motor mounted on the top? You could mount a gas engine there, you'll need to do some math with pulley sizeto get a blade speed around 5000 fpm. To drive the head hydraulic I think wastes energy - You need to run the gas engine to convert to hydraulic power, which in turn runs the bandwheel. Everytime you convert from one power to another there's losses, they all cost you $$$. Large size hydraulic motors, etc. are pretty pricey. If it was cost effective, the big manufacturers [wood mizer, etc] would be doing it, but they aren't. Good project you have there, keep up with the pics -

 

[Brmorgan]

Yes, it originally had an electric motor on the top plate. I assume it would have been 3-phase since the motor on the hydraulic pack is 3PH.

I certainly wouldn't want to run the band off a hydraulic motor permanently, I was just throwing out ideas that don't involve dropping a couple grand for an engine. I'd love to find a good, running beetle engine right now.

My brother gave me a hand tearing it down today. Everything that was bolted on was removed to get it as light and easy to move as possible. I didn't get any pics of it stripped down today though. At least I can move it around by myself now! The hydraulic system is thankfully still full of oil, so it shouldn't have much rust or frost damage. The wheels appear to be more or less perfectly true, and I can't see any wobble in them or their bearings. Now I just need to get some steel for the bed runners and I can start work on it. Too many projects on the go.

 

[Leroy in Kansas]

Still looks like you've got a major score at that price. plenty of iron to work with. I'm thinking that the electric motor would turn at about 1750, which should give you a starting place to adjust the motor you select to. I'll be eagerly watching the progress. Thanks for sharing. Leroy

 

[Brmorgan]

I dropped by a local scrap steel yard today to see if they had anything I could use for 20' long bed rails. I came up empty on that one, but I found a bunch of small 4-stroke engines that would be good. I found a welder and a big 240V generator that were smashed up but the engines seemed intact and looked fairly large. As long as they're not seized I don't see why they shouldn't run with minimal cost. I asked what they would want for an engine like that, and the guy said, "I dunno, 25, 50 bucks?" For that price I'll take a few, hopefully a couple identical to have a parts spare. They told me to come back another day (I was there near closing time) and I could get someone to dig out whatever I wanted from the heap. I'm not going to buy something if I don't know the (relative) condition of it.

I also scored a big truck air conditioning compressor from a local dump today. I'm only really after the electric clutch, but it might be handy to have onboard compressed air on the mill.

One thing I was wondering about was anyone's opinion of the band guide bearings as pictured in the last photo. It's a roller with a ridge at the back, so that the same roller supports both the side and the back edge of the blade. As you can see though, there is only one roller, so the band is not held tight between two. I'm interested in hearing opinions about this, specifically whether it would cause a wavier cut or not. If it'll work though, it looks like an easier system to have.

 

[Mike Van]

Brad, check out this place http://www.cookssaw.com/ for guides, blades, etc. Tim Cook was a big help with a problem I had with mine. They sell the guides that you have, and a lot of others use. They also send out a nice catalog a few times a year.

 

[redprospector]

The guide in the picture is similar to the guide's I have on my mill. They work good, your blades have to be true though.
Check out those engines real good. Most welder, and generator engines have a tapered shafts which makes it fun to match up to pulley's etc.

Andy

 

[Brmorgan]

Brad, check out this place http://www.cookssaw.com/ for guides, blades, etc. Tim Cook was a big help with a problem I had with mine. They sell the guides that you have, and a lot of others use. They also send out a nice catalog a few times a year.

Thanks for the link. Just for kicks I checked out their prices on new 25" bandwheels - $435 apiece or $1465 for a set of two with associated shafts and bearings. So just the wheel assembly is worth twice what I paid for the mill. Albeit that's for new parts, but these seem to be very true and balanced still. My one concern with them is that they're not very wide - about 1". What's the widest band I could run on them? Also, how could I go about widening them if needed?

 

[Mike Van]

I don't think there's any way to widen the face. Most use 1 1/4" blades, you should be fine with that as the teeth want to overhang the front edge. If you run the teeth right on the wheel, I think you'll be pushing the set out of one side of the blade.

 

[BIG JAKE]

It was a beeeeyotch to get off the trailer, since it only has wheels on one end and no hitch on the other. I jacked it up a bit and put my little log hauler bunk under the legs just so I could pull it with the quad (you can see I have it slapped together with C-clamps, but they held!). Even then, those little 10" tires were practically flattened right out to the rim. They say 150kg load at 30PSI, I had probably 500kg on them at ~40PSI, and I'm actually a bit surprised they didn't fail.

The conveyor belt section is only attached by a few bolts, so I'm going to pull it off first thing so it's a lot easier to drag around. Right now it's stuck in the middle of the driveway up to my truck shop because I didn't have time to move it after unloading it. I'm going to haul the Oxy/Acetylene up there and cut the legs off and weld a makeshift hitch or wheel set for the time being so it's easier to move.

I know it looks like a heap but just the bandwheels and their bearings and pulleys are probably worth the $750 I paid for it. Not to mention the hydraulic system. Anyway I'm running late already so I'll post a bit more about it later tonight maybe.

That's when you fire up the Lewis winch. Nice score. It'll look alot different running with new paint!opcorn: