379hammerdown
ArboristSite Lurker
Greetings,
I've built a Procut sawmill & made to spec but the clamping system that was outlined in the plans just does not work for me. This is a long post.. I like to type, but there is a recap of my questions on the bottom of the post if you wish to just skip through it!
What I need to do is make two adjustible bars in the back and one (Two?) cam... The two adjustible bars in the back is not a problem for me to make and design should be straight forward... but the cam.. I just dont know what one looks like! Could someone please show me a photo of what a cam looks like? I'm looking for the shape of what actually smushes into the log or cant. I'm thinking it is a half oval shape, maybe 1/4" plate with either no special edge on it... or a bevel on the edge to dig into the wood a bit. How accurate is this? Any spikes on it?
I saw a picture on here that helps me out a lot of a manual woodmizer that has a cam with a handle & chain on the end attached to a binder of sorts... & adjustible vertical & horizontal. This design is within my capabilities.. but I just dont know the shape of the darn cam!
The problems that I have been having is that with the current system, I cut a few cants from the log... say if I plan on cutting 2x6's, I'.. cut a 5 1/2" cant, shove it off the mill, then another, & another... till I'm done with the log. Then load them up and cut the boards to the height that I desire. Problem is that the cant when vertical gets pulled out of square by the saw chain. I'm hoping this new design will eliminate this... & even make it possible to cut 2x4's (Very bad results because the cant is so skinny).
Another problem is that if I cut long boards... like 14' or 16', beginning of the cant vibrates side to side badly for the first 2' or so till it gets close to the supports... then vibrates bad again for the last 2' as it gets away from the supports. So... how far apart are your back vertical bars?
I know I'm long winded... so here's a recap of my questions:
1. What is the shape of the cam, the part that actually contacts the wood. Close pic would be appreciated.
2. How far apart are the vertical back bars?
3. Do I need to have just one cam in the middle of the two vertical back bars or two, one in front of each vertical back bar?
One other question that I have... what kind of stresses are placed on the cam? How beefy should I make it?
I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to read through this & answer my questions!
Keith
I've built a Procut sawmill & made to spec but the clamping system that was outlined in the plans just does not work for me. This is a long post.. I like to type, but there is a recap of my questions on the bottom of the post if you wish to just skip through it!
What I need to do is make two adjustible bars in the back and one (Two?) cam... The two adjustible bars in the back is not a problem for me to make and design should be straight forward... but the cam.. I just dont know what one looks like! Could someone please show me a photo of what a cam looks like? I'm looking for the shape of what actually smushes into the log or cant. I'm thinking it is a half oval shape, maybe 1/4" plate with either no special edge on it... or a bevel on the edge to dig into the wood a bit. How accurate is this? Any spikes on it?
I saw a picture on here that helps me out a lot of a manual woodmizer that has a cam with a handle & chain on the end attached to a binder of sorts... & adjustible vertical & horizontal. This design is within my capabilities.. but I just dont know the shape of the darn cam!
The problems that I have been having is that with the current system, I cut a few cants from the log... say if I plan on cutting 2x6's, I'.. cut a 5 1/2" cant, shove it off the mill, then another, & another... till I'm done with the log. Then load them up and cut the boards to the height that I desire. Problem is that the cant when vertical gets pulled out of square by the saw chain. I'm hoping this new design will eliminate this... & even make it possible to cut 2x4's (Very bad results because the cant is so skinny).
Another problem is that if I cut long boards... like 14' or 16', beginning of the cant vibrates side to side badly for the first 2' or so till it gets close to the supports... then vibrates bad again for the last 2' as it gets away from the supports. So... how far apart are your back vertical bars?
I know I'm long winded... so here's a recap of my questions:
1. What is the shape of the cam, the part that actually contacts the wood. Close pic would be appreciated.
2. How far apart are the vertical back bars?
3. Do I need to have just one cam in the middle of the two vertical back bars or two, one in front of each vertical back bar?
One other question that I have... what kind of stresses are placed on the cam? How beefy should I make it?
I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to read through this & answer my questions!
Keith