1st House log off the mill....

[VT-Woodchuck]

I ordered a new blade for my 088 and a modified tip form Woodbug about a month ago. Both arrived. Sorry to hear they may be out of business.

Gordie - I welded up an extension for my Woodbug last fall. I will look for the material list to see what I bought for steel.

 

[MotorSeven]

Gord, pm me your address & i'll send you a cd of pic's & measurments i took for another member(also canadian). The dogs are not attached & just wedge on the tubing down bar & on the wood with spikes. They go on & pop off easily. The dimension stops just fit over the 1/4 inch flat bar with a male notch that fits into the female notches on the bar. The dogs work amazingly well, the stops could be done a little better, because sometimes when you butt the log against them too hard the pop out. I would guess the tubing is 1/16 thick, pretty standard stuff, i can measure it for you if needed. The bar track is about a half inch wide & the bar just has a bead of weld on each side at the tip that has been ground down to fit in the channel. This keeps the bar form having any slop & also keeps the chain from touching the inside of the trac.....simple but neat. You might try their phone # but i have heared others say it is disconnected.........
RD

 

[DRB]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MotorSeven
Gord, i'm just assuming, since i have sent them several em's with no response over the span of a year. The one i bought(used) was damaged from an oak tree falling on it(ironic revenge?) & i had to replace the entire 10'top section from the ground up. It was no big deal, just 1/8 angle & square tube. I have plans to weld up a 20' section for doing my rafters(when the time comes). For me the plate that holds the dimension stop is the only thing i will have to get a shop to do. it's got a bunch of 1/2 notches that the stop fits into. Or i can come up with my own stop set up. Either way a 20' section willl run between $2 & 300, way cheaper than what they were selling them for & i can't imagine the shipping fro BC to the US. If it is going to be a stationary mill, it could be made heavier and larger to handle bigger logs.
RD

Thanks for the reply. I sent off an e-mail to Woodbug after reading that they were out of business and have received no reply as yet.
Yeah, shipping from BC to Nolalu should be a bank-breaker too. I live about 35 miles south by southwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario in a little community with so few people that we don't even have populations signs LOL.
Got some pics of the Woodbug from the NET and am busy figuring out the details as far as dimensions, wall thickness of the square tubing, gap on the bottom guide, outside dimensions, inside dimensions, dimensions of the stops and dogs, etc. Most pics are not large enough to see properly.

Prolly can't figure out everything by myself as I don't have one to copy so I may have to ask someone (like perhaps you).
1 -- Are the log dogs easily removable or are they fixed and just slide up and down the squared tubing? If they could be carried as a separate package it would lighten up the load.
2 -- Do the stops come off easily to be carried as a separate package?

Prolly is how I would make them anyway.

I have already decided that the stop notches should be contracted out to a machine shop so as to get something accurate that can be relied on. The rest of it should be easy enough for me to make as long as I can draw up a plan with proper dimensions.

Started to think about such things as I just got some trees removed from the property to make a clearing where my new 32' x 32' shop is to be located. Began with GOOGLE to search the NET and wound up on this Forum. Now, I start and finish my day reading and learning as much as I can.
Really appreciate seeing what the sponsors have to offer too.

I have always been interested in this mill design and have thought about building one like it. Do you guys have any good pictures of the upper saw carriage assembly and the lower bar guide that you can post here. How does the lower blade guide work?

Thanks

 

[user 19670]

I have always been interested in this mill design and have thought about building one like it. Do you guys have any good pictures of the upper saw carriage assembly and the lower bar guide that you can post here. How does the lower blade guide work?

Thanks

Actually, most of the pics I have came from this Forum. If you use the search feature you can find them too.

 

[DRB]

Thanks Gordie. I have also found most of my pics on this site as well. I am having a hard time figuring out how the carriage is mounted to the rails? I was hoping somebody with a woodbug had some good pics of the carriage rollers & bar tip roller assembly.

MotorSeven do you have any good pic you could post? The first and last pics you posted the other day in a larger scale would be helpful

VT-Woodchuck do you have any pics?

Thanks

 

[user 19670]

Just sits there

I am having a hard time figuring out how the carriage is mounted to the rails? I was hoping somebody with a woodbug had some good pics of the carriage rollers & bar tip roller assembly.

Looks like two bearings @ the front and another two @ the rear ride on the sides of the top support and keep the carriage true. Two more bearings on the saw side and one @ the rear support the weight of the carriage and saw. It would just sit there (of course the bar tip is in the guide at the time. During the cut the teeth of the chain pull the saw (and carriage) down tighter so there is not much chance of it jumping off.
I think it can be removed at any time and anywhere along the cut if so desired.

That is how I plan to make mine anyway

 

[DRB]

Gordie - keep use informed on how the build goes opcorn:

Thanks

 

[user 19670]

That would be a BIG help

Gordie - I welded up an extension for my Woodbug last fall. I will look for the material list to see what I bought for steel.

Thanks VT-Woodchuck. A bill of materials would take some of the mystery out of the whole thing. Wish my sketches actually LOOKED like something because I would like to make some plans first. Will have to sit with a ruler and a pencil and some graph paper to make something I can work from.
Of course I could just cut and weld until it looks like a Woodbug but it helps to have a plan (usually saves material toooooooo)

Hope you can find that list.

 

[MotorSeven]

DRB, Ok, i'll rustle up the pic's, here's a few of the carriage i just took. VT, maybe i am assuming too much since they(Woodbug) don't answer e-mails, i will give them a call.
RD

 

[MotorSeven]

more...

 

[VT-Woodchuck]

Gordie,
Attached is the order that I had for a 4 ft extension. All pieces were cut to fit and did! I've included the drawing I did for the bunk index. I have a nephew who works as a mechanical engineering lab assistant at a local tech college and he whipped off two of these in no time - lucky me! Good luck with this project and keep us informed.

Motorseven,
I have wondered how long WB would be in business. Walker's Saw Shop used to sell their mills and parts, but they (Walkers) no longer do. The carriage is the only part that I haven't reproduced.

 

[user 19670]

Thanks for the help

Gordie,
Attached is the order that I had for a 4 ft extension. All pieces were cut to fit and did! I've included the drawing I did for the bunk index. I have a nephew who works as a mechanical engineering lab assistant at a local tech college and he whipped off two of these in no time - lucky me! Good luck with this project and keep us informed.

You did me a big service. Thank you. It sure is hard to guesstimate accurate dimensions from pics. I had the angle as 2-1/2" and the square tube as 1-1/4". By some miracle I actually guessed the thickness correctly as 1/8" though so even "I" can't be all wrong

 

[TNMIKE]

What is your drying time?

Rick I was wondering what your drying time was for your logs? Cedar is so full of oil...Im curious as to what you think...MIKE

 

[MotorSeven]

Mike, i figure about 6 months should be plenty. ERC doesn't seem to shrink a whole lot. Haven't been able to get any cutting in, too much ice here, & along with that a frozen pipe....
RD

 

[TNMIKE]

Sorry to hear about the pipe

How cold did it get there?? We had lows around 7 or so. Its been a cold winter with more on the way.

Im curious about how you are proceeding. Are you going to cut and mill all the logs before you start construction or build as you go? I have had several friends who bought old, and I mean old, mobile homes to live in while they built. I like you way better. Its gives you a good place to work out of.

You might be interested in the link I just ran across. This guy is doing pretty much what you did. His shop is huge and the apartment very nice.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=589523

Take care...

 

[MotorSeven]

It was 11, then 8 degrees here. Yep, i want to cut/skid/mill all the logs before i start. I will do the heavy joists & beams last and on site so i don't have to move them around much. We looked at the older mobile homes and i wouldn't live in most of them. We ended up getting an old 20' Airstream Argosy travel trailer & lived in that for about 6 months while i built the building. The Argosy is now the "guest house".... . Soup to nuts, the 30x50 arched steel build with our 600 sq ft apt in one end cost us about 25K. That is what a decent old MH would have cost, and i still have 30x36 feet of shop left for my STUFF! It is nice living in a county without a bunch of codes, rules & the evil home owners associations. Here is a pic of the place from the apt end, Argosy to the left:
RD

 

[TNMIKE]

Ditto the code Nazis

They are so bad here in NC its crazy. I tried calling you about noon..got your answering machine.

Can you get me some close up pictures of the milling head? Im interested in where the bar connects, the thickness mehanism etc. I had plans to either build or buy a band mill and this would eliminate some work.

Thanks Mike Ill send you my email ...

 

[MotorSeven]

Ok, in ref to Woodbug, i called their 877 # and their local #, got a recorded "Woodbug" message, then the machine was full so i was unable to leave a message......hmmmmm.......

VT, how did you get in touch with them a few months ago?

RD

 

[VT-Woodchuck]

Doesn't sound good, does it? You would think that they would put a notice on their website and the answering machine.

I emailed Suzy what I wanted. About a month later the bar and tips arrived with a bill.

 

[user 19670]

Website long inactive

Doesn't sound good, does it? You would think that they would put a notice on their website and the answering machine.

I emailed Suzy what I wanted. About a month later the bar and tips arrived with a bill.

<wink>Hmm, maybe I can order a Woodbug and they will send it and just bill me</wink>

Seriously, the Woodbug website has been inactive since 2005. I e-mailed for an updated price list since 2005 has long gone and there has been no answer.
No biggie. I'll build one for myself. Just gotta work out some of the details like how much is the gap on the lower bar guide and things like that.