homemade bandmill

[camojeep]

Been a busy spring and summer and i tired of using my alaskan decided to build a band mill i dont know much about them . I will hopefully finish the carrage this week end got to finish welding and make some blade guides and some gaurds . I got a wood mizer blade .042 7/8 pitch got a ten horse mounted on it do you think that will pull it? I got pulleys for 5500 sfpm does that sound right? I got i beams for the track does any body got any good ideas for racheting log dogs or any pics of dogs for holding the log Ill post more pics as i progress Thanks

 

[redprospector]

5500 sfpm sounds a little fast to me, but I'm going off of my memory.
The sfpm you want depends on a lot of different things, but in my opinion the size & type of blade are the most important ones.
For the .042 x I'm assuming 1 1/4" blade it seems like I remember a sfpm of 4800.
Try googling Suffolk Machinery. They have a lot of good info on band blades & set up.

Andy

 

[FJH]

5500 sfpm sounds a little fast to me, but I'm going off of my memory.
The sfpm you want depends on a lot of different things, but in my opinion the size & type of blade are the most important ones.
For the .042 x I'm assuming 1 1/4" blade it seems like I remember a sfpm of 4800.
Try googling Suffolk Machinery. They have a lot of good info on band blades & set up.

Andy

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/troubleshooting.asp

 

[redprospector]

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/troubleshooting.asp

+1
Thanks

Andy

 

[camojeep]

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/did_you_know.asp Thanks for the link this one suggest 5800 sfpm it looks like for a 1 1/4 blade

 

[EPA]

Hi Ho: Here is the simplest and best clamp I'v seen JP

 

[redprospector]

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/did_you_know.asp Thanks for the link this one suggest 5800 sfpm it looks like for a 1 1/4 blade

I knew there was an 8 in there somewhere.
That's what I get for going by my memory instead of looking it up and sounding smart.

Andy

 

[camojeep]

Hi Ho: Here is the simplest and best clamp I'v seen JP

is that like a cam that gets tight when you turn it? thanks

 

[Mike Van]

Blade speed has a lot to do with the horsepower you have too - I was up around 5400 fpm, slowed up to 4800 and got better results. This was on advise from Tim Cook from Cooksaw in Alabama. I'm not sure what the percentage is, but the 10 hp 3 phase motor I run has a lot more available power than a 10 hp gas engine. Has to do with electric efficiency over gas engine efficiency. At 5500 fpm with the engine you have, results might be dissapointing.

 

[olyman]

used to be the rule of thumb was 5 hp gas---to 1 hp electric---so a 10 hp electric was same as 50 hp gas---

 

[EPA]

Yes the cam clamp has about 5/8" of offset to give good clamping action. EPA

 

[Backwood]

The 10 horse I have wouldnt compare to a 50 gas . I remember seeing in a grainger book that it was either 1 2/3 or 1 3/4 hp to 1 . So a 10hp electric should compare to around 17hp gas. Cant find chart in new book.

My dogs are cam acting. I took a 5" round peice of 1/4" steel plate and welded a piece of 3/4" pipe to it. Weld the pipe off center ( I welded mine about halfway between center and edge of disc ). Then I have 3" pieces of 1" pipe welded every several inches down a crossmember in the frame. I had to file the weld out of the inside of them but it was worth it. I made several cam clamps with different length pipes. welded a handle, then used a bungee strap to keep it tight. ( chain and a spring would probably be better )

 

[EPA]

Here is another view and another model of a cam clamp ///EPA

 

[camojeep]

couldnt resist got her runnin had to cut something cuts little faster than a chain saw i got to make ga rds and track now

 

[Mike Van]

I'm just guessing you've never seen a blade let loose on one of these? Running that machine with no blade guards is just really dumb. Sorry, there's no way to say that nicely.

 

[camojeep]

no i have never seen a band mill in operation neighbors got an old one with a big rip blade that looks pretty dangerous im gonna get guards made tomorrow

 

[redprospector]

couldnt resist got her runnin had to cut something cuts little faster than a chain saw i got to make ga rds and track now

I've never cut with a bandmill with a 10 hp engine, but it should cut quite a bit faster than a chainsaw in the same cut.

Andy

 

[camojeep]

id guess 5 times faster only made 3 cuts i think it will be nice when i get it all done

 

[mtngun]

Your mill looks like a pretty good design. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[camojeep]

guards installed needs paint