Bandmill questions
It's hard to tell the dimensions from the photos. What is the length of the rails, diameter of cut, length of band blade,&c? Also important, the price tag ? I have a similar (shop built) rubber tire band mill, and love it. There are several differences in mine and the photos, mostly minor things. Questions I would have about the one you are looking at :
[1] Is the diameter of the shaft and pillow blocks large enough to handle the load of milling ?
[2] What is the method of adjusting the tires so the band will track true ?
[3] The roller movement of the carriage on the rails is pretty straightforward, but it looks like sawdust, from your discharge side, will quickly build up on the rail and interfere with accurate movement of the carriage, making it hard or impossible to keep your lumber dimensions true.
Find out how many of these mills the man has made and sold; talk to one of the owners and get their opinion of the mill. My builder has built 86 of my type, his brother has built over 100, so has worked most all of the bugs out of his design. Railomatic, AS member, built one from that basic design, and there's a thread on here somewhere about Rail's version. My cousin and his dad owned four of the mills, and were favorably impressed; they mill cedar for a living. My builder occasionally builds a smaller mill, 18" log diameter, 11 ft. bed, 6.5 hp that he sells for $ 2,500; mine is a 30", 24 ft., 13 hp that goes for $ 4,000.
Of course, I don't mill for a living, but I have used my mill a lot for structural lumber, siding & beams, and I wouldn't trade it for any of the commercial band mills. The tires run cool, and true. I have never broken a blade and my cousin tells me you never will; he hasn't in the 10+ years he's been using a rubber tire mill!
