Finished saw

[clintb]

Finished painting this morning, it has a chinese 16hp electric start engine, 21" tires, 12volt winch for the lift, 32" wide, uses a 158" blade. It's on the same track as my 16hp chainsaw and 6.5hp 12" blade edger. I tried it out before I made the guard, couldn't tell much about how it cut, my eyes were full of sawdust. When it got to the end of the cut the blade dropped down about 1/4" below the log, what does that mean? Need more down pressure on the front of guides?

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Nice!

A wandering blade can be caused by a number of things.

Here's a few

-too little blade tension
-dull blade
-improper tooth set
-guides out of parallel

Got any close up pics of the rig?opcorn:

 

[Railomatic]

Having now made several of your type of band mill, the only problems that were a foot was the wandering of the blades.

On these types of mills, the blade level needs to be slightly lower than the the bottom of the wheels,
so the band is forced to run lower than the natural line it would when it is tensioned up, this helps to tension the band without having too much tension,
pneumatic tires can take the shocks and bumps out of the band whilst cutting, where as a solid wheel cannot, and you don't need the band as tight as a conventional bandsaw, so you never get broken or snapped bands.

It turned out to be the blades themselves, I tried cheap 2" blades to start with and found out that these came from China at 8 bucks per 100 yards rolls,
not a wise idea to buy this rubbish, the set was all over the place, every where they should have been, they never cut one straight board from out the box " period ".

Even more expensive blades were only good for about a couple of hours work between changes, If I were you get the best blades that money can buy,

I now only use tipped 2-1/2" blades, WHAT a difference, they can go for up to 30 hours between changes, I got them from this place here in the UK, once you use these or similar bands you won't go back to conventional set bands, see below

http://www.ernestbennett.co.uk/superhpg.htm

 

[Judge]

Finished saw.

Nice Job ! Looks remarkably like my bandsaw, custom crafted right here in SE Oklahoma. I use 1 1/4" Simmonds Red Streak 158" bands from Cook's Saw in Georgia at $ 15.99 each. Mine will cut straight and true except when the tire pressure is off. I usually run 25 lbs in each tire. When the tire pressure is considerably lower, say 10-12 lbs. in the idler tire, my band does what you have described. Yes, I have a flat on my rubber tired bandsaw...don't ask me how !

Judge

 

[infomet]

Nice, how about more pictures??
How's the engine doing?

 

[clintb]

I don't know why the pictures are so bad, I paid $40 for that new camera. I've only made 1 cut with it to try it out. I planned on setting the tracking with the pillow block bearings on the drive side, when it started cutting the bearings would slip. I welded a plate with a bolt at the ends of the bearings to hold them, it didn't move on the next and only cut. I ordered 2 blades to set it up with from Cook"s, I think Lennox blades. Can anyone tell by the picture, do I have enough guard to keep the sawdust out of my face?

 

[BobL]

Clint, It looks like a neat set up. Some close ups would be good to see. Also of the timber you cut.

BTW Why don't you upload the photos direct to Aborist itself? It's a bit irritating to be directed to another site to view photos.

Cheers

 

[redprospector]

Neat looking mill. As far as having enough guard, my wheels are totaly covered, the top of the blade is covered between the wheels with covers on the front, and with the slightest breeze I still get dust in my face. Just get a good pair of safety glasses, or goggles and mill on.
The blade diving is a different thing though. I don't know about pneumatic tired band saw's, but make sure your tension is right. Also your set may be too narrow for the width of log you're cutting.
I have had teeth on blades hang when un-coiling them, knocking them out of set on a few teeth, but that usually just makes that tooth cut a deeper mark in the board.

Andy

 

[Judge]

Finished saw.

Being a newbie, I oriented my bandsaw North & South. It was fine in the winter (with a North wind), but with spring breezes from the south, I now get sawdust in my face. An old sawyer, looking at my set-up, laughed and told me that you always orient the rig East and West to take advantage of the prevailing winds (at least in this part of the country).

On my mill, the sawdust exits from the lower left side (even without the guard in place), and absent a contrary wind doesn't scatter on me or in my face. If your mill is scattering the sawdust everywhere, I'm thinking that whatever's causing that is the source of your band rising or diving as well.

Judge

 

[clintb]

I learned how to size pictures on my camera, maybe a little better.

 

[clintb]

I had a poplar top left from last year, I cut a slab , then edged it and this is the 3rd 1x6. The blade only drops down the thickness of the blade, maybe I'll try adjusting the nguides some.

 

[woodshop]

Nice job clintb, I am enjoying these home made bandsaw threads. Think how much harder this would be without the advice and steering from those who have done it already.

 

[kamhillbilly]

How do you like that Chinese motor and where did you get it and how much$$,I am in the process of acquiring parts for my band mill

 

[clintb]

How do you like that Chinese motor and where did you get it and how much$$,I am in the process of acquiring parts for my band mill
Sent you a PM

 

[aquan8tor]

Do you have any pictures of the edger setup?? I'd be interested to see it in action. Great design there.

 

[clintb]

It's a 6.5 hp with a 12" blade. It can only cut 4" deep.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

It's a 6.5 hp with a 12" blade. It can only cut 4" deep.

Pretty cool. How does it work?

 

[clintb]

It cuts fast enough at 1 3/4" , but at 4" slower than the bandsaw will cut. I started out sliding the engine to tension the belt, then found that the engine would crank alright with it engaged. Now it's just locked down with visegrips. It moves hor. and vert. with threaded rods, i'm going to change it to slide vert. with bearings or casters and get rid of the unistrut, it doesn't't fit that well in the tubing. It has a 60 tooth blade on it now, I have a 40 tooth i'm going to try. I might buy a Lucas blade and bigger engine if I knew how to mount it.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Come to think of it....

I have most of the parts lying around to make something like that....

I might just have to make one when the new bandmill mill gets in.