New Mill taking shape

[TreeWinder]

Welded up the stabilizers tonight, get them welded on next couple of days if the rain quits.

 

[deeker]

Looking good, are you going to have the "cross bunks" higher than the guide rails??? That is how my Norwood is.

 

[TreeWinder]

Yes, the bunks will be welded in above the cross channels, plan on V-notching them, with adjustble log dogs on both sides. Not sure on the design of the dogs yet. Lots of good ideas from others on here.

 

[TreeWinder]

Got chance to get back on the mill, another 10hrs and should be ready for 1st run.

 

[gink595]

Looking good

 

[deeker]

Saw dust for dinner.....soon.

 

[DRB]

Nice work

Looking forward to seeing how you set up you log dogs. I don't like the setup I'm using for hold the cant when I'm slicing boards off. I can't seem to hold the cant tight enough and it moves.

Be sure to post pics when the sawdust flys

 

[Coalsmoke]

Nice work, looks like perhaps a procut mill? Is that a 36" bar in that saw?

 

[TreeWinder]

Nice work, looks like perhaps a procut mill? Is that a 36" bar in that saw?

Yes, mainly based on the procut design. 084 with a 36" woodland CSB-S2-36-63. I'll drill the bar for mounting, in the previous pic I have it temp mounted.

 

[stipes]

Looks great!!!

Nice lookin setup.....

 

[Coalsmoke]

Any updates on it to share with us? I started building mine yesterday. Something that I was wondering about is whether the carriage is going to try to tilt or fall off the rails when pushing on it. Are you just going to let gravity hold yours on or are you going to give it a set of bottom rollers to prevent the carriage from lifting / tilting.

 

[woodsrunner]

Any updates on it to share with us? I started building mine yesterday. Something that I was wondering about is whether the carriage is going to try to tilt or fall off the rails when pushing on it. Are you just going to let gravity hold yours on or are you going to give it a set of bottom rollers to prevent the carriage from lifting / tilting.

I have wondered the same thing about the procut mill and other similar mills. I do know on one mill I looked at (in person) the carriage was very flexible and it would tilt up and twist off the rails. Looking forward to any answers for this question.

Scott

 

[excess650]

Its looking good so far. With weight on the side opposite the powerhead for balance, and maybe more weight on top of the entire carriage, it should follow the rails rather nicely. You might want to devise some sort of "stops" on the bottom of both sides to limit the amount of possible lift. A guard for the tip of the bar, and an auxiliary oiler bottle would be good ideas. Felt wipers to keep the track clean wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[HUCKLEBERRY]

Dogging option for chainsaw mill

TreeWinder I am in the early stages of a chainsaw mill project myself and have spent a little time exploring a dogging option you may be interested in that is low buck and I think will work well for round or square. The basic idea is to mount a deep reach pipe clamp just below the v-notch on your vertical plates that will slide from side to side. With a little work the clamp could be very strong, adjustable and have alot of bite. I'm new to the site so i'm not sure of the best way to communicate the design specifics to you but if you are interested I'm sure we can figure something out. Thanks for the pics and good luck.

 

[TreeWinder]

Any updates on it to share with us? I started building mine yesterday. Something that I was wondering about is whether the carriage is going to try to tilt or fall off the rails when pushing on it. Are you just going to let gravity hold yours on or are you going to give it a set of bottom rollers to prevent the carriage from lifting / tilting.

The carraige has quite a bit of weight to it (not flexible), should stay on the rails but some type of sweeper or attention so that the rails do not end up with lots of debris is needed as your wheels/sheeves could then ride up on the debris and possibly tip your carraige. Right now it almost rolls by itself down the rails. Adjustments probably necessary when I actually get into the wood. Rain just will not stop around here.
Opposite the powerhead I used 1" rod and heavy bearings and also put them outside the frame adding additional counter weight on that side and gives me the room for the full 36" bar. Remote oiler has to be mounted and since it'll be on the end that also should add a bit or weight.
One thing to look at while your building is the depth of the grooves of your rollers/sheeves try to find the deepest.

 

[TreeWinder]

TreeWinder I am in the early stages of a chainsaw mill project myself and have spent a little time exploring a dogging option you may be interested in that is low buck and I think will work well for round or square. The basic idea is to mount a deep reach pipe clamp just below the v-notch on your vertical plates that will slide from side to side. With a little work the clamp could be very strong, adjustable and have alot of bite. I'm new to the site so i'm not sure of the best way to communicate the design specifics to you but if you are interested I'm sure we can figure something out. Thanks for the pics and good luck.

Good idea, might work on that. I'm sure the procut system dogs work fine but for some reason I think it can be improved and do not not want to weld something on just to remove them later.

Your idea may be the one. I've thought about spring loaded also.
Looking foward to seeing your mill, post up as it takes shape.

 

[chaikwa]

Something that I was wondering about is whether the carriage is going to try to tilt or fall off the rails when pushing on it.

I built a procut about 10 years ago and was very pleased with it's operation. I can tell you that on mine, the carriage never tried to tilt or fall off the rails unless the log I was cutting developed an upward bow in it WHILE it was being cut. Then it would push the carriage upwards and off the rails, but the carriage never tipped over or fell off. I think if you made something to hold it tight to the rails the only thing it would really do is bind the whole thing up.

I also didn't like the dogging system of the procut design, but didn't know that I didn't like it until after I built and used it for a while. Here are a couple of pics of the dogging setup that I made for my new mill. There isn't any reason you couldn't make them smaller or bigger according to your needs.

Hope this helps.

chaikwa.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Thanks guys for weighing in on the track and carriage system.

 

[HUCKLEBERRY]

Track sweeper

I've used a swingblade mill that used flat bar welded to a large piece of chainlink to "sweep" the tracks in front of the wheels. One link was tacked to the mill carriage while the other link was tacked to the flat bar so that it was suspended right in front of the wheel. The flat bar (maybe 2"x1/4") had the profile of the track angle cut into it with a 1/8" or so of space between the two. The system worked well, was cheap and you could flip it back over the carriage frame when not in use. A piece of angle that was hinged to flip over the end of the carriage and hang in front of the wheel would also work well. Good to see so many others working on this type of stuff. I enjoy all the pics. and ideas. I will do my best to get up to speed with all the posting tricks.

 

[TreeWinder]

Chaikwa,

Interesting idea, questions for you.

Is your mill upside down or have you fliped it to add addtional frame support, looks like the bunks are under the frame.

The left side of the dog appears hard welded in, while the right side is the adjustable. Correct?

What do you do to not hit the non-adjustable side with the saw? Just rotate it towards the frame?

Thanks