homemade bandmill

[redprospector]

That was quick. Looks pretty good too. You might want to cut a hole/put in a chute for the sawdust to exit the guard. Otherwise it will build up on the end of your guard and possibly cause you some problems.
I saw that the bottom was open, and you'd think the sawdust would just fall out but it won't.

Andy

 

[glennschumann]

Nice work... looks like it is cutting reasonable smoothly too. A friend has been tossing around the idea of building one... maybe showing this to him will tip the scales. Again nice work... keep it coming.

 

[Backwoods]

Nope you haven’t seen a saw brake yet!!!
The sawdust may not come out the bottom but that saw sure will.

Think of it this way. That saw is traveling at what 4800 fpm and when it cuts loose, it has a considerable amount of energy behind it. Take a 1 ¼ chisel, place it against the guard and give it a good rap with a 3lb sledge. It may even have enough energy to go right thru that tin.

My dust shut has several pieces of ¼” steel welded vertically and I have had saws bust apart in four pieces and get past them. It is better to contain the saw in a heavy-duty guard and have to cut the saw out then it is to have a saw get loose. That would be plane ugly.

Always error on the side of safety.

 

[camojeep]

latest progress

 

[logbuzzard]

Awesome work and an inspiration for my own mill project. What log clamp style did you decide to go with? I really like the eccentric cam style shown in the previous post. Please post more pics when you can!

Thanks,
Will

 

[Dennis_Peacock]

I like it and wish I had a mill like that. Been eyeballin one by Woodmizer for several years now.....but hey, all it takes is money.

 

[camojeep]

I would have liked a woodmizer also but cant justify the cost i got about 600 in steel (steel is expensive these days) 25 in pulleys and 60 in blades had the motor laying around and the i beam i picked up for free . Im gonna make cams yet got to cut them out. Today i just used wedges . I got it set up were 6 in cams welded to a pipe should drop in the tube then you can rotate tight .I found a small walnut blown down i cut up not much lumber in it but the saw worked good

 

[camojeep]

got a couple cams done

 

[Backwoods]

I like that you have clamping holes on each cross member, the more clamping options the better. You may want to add additional bedrails in between each cross member as they look to be a bit far apart, I am guessing 36”. When cutting thin boards they may have a tendency to bow down a bit, 18” would be a better spacing and they do not need to be as heavy as what you already have in place.

 

[logbuzzard]

Great pics, please post as many as you can.

The cuts look good, but you may want to adjust the blade guide closer to the width of the beam when cutting. It looks wide open in the pics. That will help keep the blade from waving up and down through the cut.

 

[lazermule]

looks great

I will probably build one someday. Do you have a bit more detail (pictures) on the drive / clutch mechanism you have? For some reason I am having an issue in my mind on how to fabricate this mechanism. It looks like you have used a brake rotor as a driven pulley?

Great work!

Lazer

 

[woodshop]

I'm loving this thread guys, keep it coming. Makes me wish I had more room, more welding skills and more time to do this kind of thing. Alas, most of us (to some degree) make our own prisons when it comes to time.

 

[camojeep]

I will probably build one someday. Do you have a bit more detail (pictures) on the drive / clutch mechanism you have? For some reason I am having an issue in my mind on how to fabricate this mechanism. It looks like you have used a brake rotor as a driven pulley?

Great work!

Lazer

im a mechanic got plenty of car parts laying around the hubs are of the front of a front wheel drive so they have holes in them, drive wheel and drive hub are aligned so drive shaft is in between . I Was trying to come up with a 12 inch pulley and decided i have 12 inch rotors and a brake lathe, so i cut a v in the rotor to fit the belt,works good, the tensioner is a pulley that slides up to tension the belt, controlled by the rod, works nice and is very simple ill try to get more pics of it tommorow

 

[camojeep]

more pics of drive, got some new clamps made for small logs, kids want monkey bars so im cutting 4x4 posts out of small cedar,lots of them around here dead and blown down,cams work good on larger stuff

 

[Backwoods]

Looking good.

It looks like it is functioning ok. Now it is time to work out all the bugs. It looks like you have some more tinkering to do with the clamping system, play with it a bit and you find what works best.

Next thing you know the kids will want a fort, then they will want you to expand the fort.

 

[parrisw]

Very nice work. I like it. I need more time!!