Hydrolic evenly log lifter

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foeke

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We are planning our bandmill, and I am contemplating a maybe stupid, maybe brilliant aproach to making the first cuts level (by lifting the thinner part of the trunk).
So I was thinking about a hydrolic chain of a couple hydrolic jacks/lifter (every meter or so) but leave the lifter in the end or start.
The trunk will have an even force on every lifting spot. To prevent any unexpected tention in the log.
The logs are mostly 5 till 6 meters long.
After the trunk is level, close all hoses, and start milling.
Did somebody already try this?

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If you make the first cuts level to the tope of the log the cuts through the full width of the log will then not be straight grained.
It would be better to level the log to the long centre line of the log so the widest cuts are straight grain.
AND
If you make up a basic steel platform or cradle to support the thicker 2/3rds of the log you will only need one jack.
 
It would be better to level the log to the long centre line of the log so the widest cuts are straight grain.

That was totally my goal here.

And I wanted multiple jacking points for the longer weaker trunks. Especially for the last couple of cuts where the trunk lost it's regidity.

The handles placed on a sane location ofcourse.
7749e407c8478a683138ce3d34825646.jpg
 
I forget what they are called at the moment, but Woodmizer has a setup kind of what you are trying to do.

There are 2 rollers at each end that can go up and down hydraulically.

Just lift the skinny end so it's roughly flat, make a cut, pull off that slab, lower the taper roller, rotate the log 180 and continue cutting/rotating till it's a cant.

No reason to need a bunch of rollers. If the log is that weak, why even try making lumber out of it?
 
Toe boards what hydraulic mills come with to level the log. It will be pretty rare that the log will deflect much before it has a milled surface on the bunks. The common log roller chain set up can also pretty much be used as a support for the middle. I can't comment on the claw type roller.
 
Because sauna's are not made from oak.
I'm thinking 20 feet planks.

Sure but you use the toe boards to square up the log and thats it.

IE you have a 20ft log, 16" one end, 12" the other.
You cut the 4 sides making a cant, probably 10" or so.

Then you cut that 10x10 into 5 ~7/8"x10 boards, or whatever.

Or if you are wanting to do live edge boards, you'd just true up 2 faces of the log, then cut the boards out of it.

Google up Woodmizer toe boards and there's plenty of pics and videos of them being used.
 
Toe boards what hydraulic mills come with to level the log. It will be pretty rare that the log will deflect much before it has a milled surface on the bunks. The common log roller chain set up can also pretty much be used as a support for the middle. I can't comment on the claw type roller.

Thanks, I don't run the mill here, just assist once in a while so was drawing a blank.
 
That woodmizer toeboard look quite simple.
Thanks!
So nobody tried a hydrolic pump to lift such a board?
One other reason to use multiple lifting points is that you can put the log everywhere on the rails.
And I would incorporate some wheels to turn the heavy logs easier all in the same hydrolic system.
 
Some smaller manual mills have what is commonly called a bottle jack to raise the toe boards instead of powered pump and hoses and valves. Cooks for example on the MP32. Sure it you want to do 20 foot logs and 8 foot logs chances are the 8 foot ones would need done manually with a lever and wedge under unless careful attention to which direction to put the small end and where. Generally the bunks are at right angles to the framework, your diagram has them angled.

If you really intend to build your own the things I would consider would be the log stops, which side to put them on, what design (I kind of like the Timberking system).
 
Some smaller manual mills have what is commonly called a bottle jack to raise the toe boards instead of powered pump and hoses and valves. Cooks for example on the MP32. Sure it you want to do 20 foot logs and 8 foot logs chances are the 8 foot ones would need done manually with a lever and wedge under unless careful attention to which direction to put the small end and where. Generally the bunks are at right angles to the framework, your diagram has them angled.

If you really intend to build your own the things I would consider would be the log stops, which side to put them on, what design (I kind of like the Timberking system).
Those bottle jacks gave me the idea.
I would like to pump those bottlejacks up from where I'm at the base of the trunk.
And be able to rotate the trunk by motor instead of brute force.

I envy you Americans being able to buy local quality products for sane amounts of legal tender.
In Europe we don't have that urge to be independant (every body says they want to live on a farm, but then don't. Almost nobody knows what pioneering is even) or starting your own business small.
A small market means premium prices.
So for these kind of things, you have those things from China with different european sounding names, or the industrial very expensive things.
Woodmizer and Woodland mills (to small) are sold over here, but I believe for a lot more then overseas.
 
I'm not too up to speed on all the sawmills, but I'd imagine there are some European companies making them?

I think you are trying to make something more complicated than it needs to be, but maybe I'm not fully understanding what you are trying to do.

We cut anything from 6ft long to 30+ft long and I've never seen the 2 toe boards not work out. Most of the time you only need 1, so if the log is short, move it to on the 1 roller.


There are several that make logging and firewood processing equipment for sure. As I understand, there's lots of logging in Finland, Sweden, Latvia, parts of Russia, etc.
The local grocery chain was selling campfire wood a year or so ago that came from Latvia. Made no sense to me, as there are 4-5 suppliers of bundles within 50 miles of the stores... but let's get wood from across the globe!
 
Yeah, there are producers, but they focus on the 25k and upward installs.
I'm just a hobyist that wants to make life as simple/safe as possible.
I can get a Polish produced mill, without any fancyness for lets say 4k dollar. And if I have an hydraulic controll post with just a couple of levers, I can move the log up and down, attach a log lifter thing, a log roller thing etc.
For maybe 2k extra.
You guys have woodmizer/woodkings/lumbermate/norwood trying to out compete each other by being a bit more user friendly or more durable.
It the same market space we mostly/only have Chinese designed (or copied) Mills with different brand labels Holzman (sound german), Bernardo (sounds Italian), Lumag (sound german) etc. all make the exact same things with the exact same specs (made by the exact same chinese guy probably).

But back to the topic. I you look at the instruction video's, you often see people having to do a couple of things manually.
Like turning the log, setting up the toeboard, clamping the log to the logstop (?).
I would try to incorporate all that, in one system.
A bit like the controls in a simple earthdigger.
So just a couple of hydraulic levers that controll a couple of bottlejacks.
So some of those lifting points would have spikey things to fix the trunk. And a couple would have wheels to easily rotate the trunk.
We have a load of long birch and Elder trunks available, but also big heavy oak.
I don't see myself turning 1t + (in kilo so about 2t pounds) logs of oak manually with a cant hook.

But since none of the milling experts reconize my problem/solution approach, I might be going the wrong direction completely.
 
but let's get wood from across the globe!
That's one of the things I dislike in Europe. We don't have that sense of "local is better".
Even worse. Marketing makes us believe it's the other way around. We live in Germany (but we're Dutch). And see "from Netherlands" used as a sign of quality. But in the Netherlands it would be the other way around.
And looking a bit further, both are produced in China, and packaged only in the labeld country.
I'm not against the Chinese. But am against globalisation.
That Chinese producer is never going to care about my Oak and Birch problem. He just wants to sell his thing as cheap as possible so the European company that is in the label printing business can still make a good margin selling it under it's own name.
 
Norwood invented the idea of a small manual mill with their Mark 3, and Woodmizer came along with one much later, then the other mill makers got on the band wagon too.

As for toe boards, Norwood has them, you could call them hydraulic powered, because they use a bottle jack to lift with and they do work well.

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You just don't need them all along the mill, as you only use them to mill the first two sides of the log, after that you put them down and the cant lies flat on the mill, and is supported full length by the mill bunks.

SR
 
Woodmizer started what in 84??? Selling sawmills?

Reread my above post again, Norwood invented the ---------------> small personal manual mill, later Woodmizer came out with theirs...

Up until the Norwood Mark 3, all mills were bigger and many were hydraulic and more expensive.

SR
 
You completely missed the point again...

I guess you don't understand the difference between the two different BSM's, and probably never will, so I may as well quit trying to splain it to ya. lol

SR
 
Woodmizer made the first portable sawmill,
Norwood made the first affordable portable sawmill.
Both of you are correct, both are not listening to each other, both are discussing something pointless (only pick fights that are worth fighting for. is one of the main lessons when raising children).
I'd like the best mill now, not in '85 or '95.
And thanks for the constructive feedback (last part is not meant sarcasticly).
 
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