The final project of a father and his son.

[StevenBiars]

So I'm finally taking the plunge and building a bandsaw mill. My dad and I had been tinkering with the idea of building a bandsaw mill for quite some time. The reason behind this is that I've been given a fair amount of standing hardwood timber, and I'd like to cut it up and let it dry before using it to build a house (about 2 to 5 years out). Tragically, my dad passed away on October 3rd from cardiac dysarrhythmia which lead to cardiac arrest (SCA / SCD). With that said, I've been trying to keep busy, and I refuse to let this project die. I'll be slowly adding to this thread as I build this mill (from design to completion) over the next year. My goal is to have it completed by the end of winter, but I'm in no real rush. Rushing things gets expensive, and leads to mistakes. Mistakes get expensive. Thus, I'm taking my time and doing it right.

With that said, I've already start accumulating parts.

The powerplant for this beast is a rather large side shaft engine from a reasonably new Campbell Hausfeld pressure washer (pump died). Additionally, I have 4 Link Belt P3-U216H/N pillow block bearing w/ 1" inner diameter (shown here: View attachment 203092 ). One of these will go on each side of the bandwheels. I'm slowly accumulating the square steel and angle iron that I'll need to build everything up, and following a few leads on trailers to be used in the construction. For the blade guards, I've got several real estate signs that are half-rounded at the top. They have a square steel frame and a sheet metal body inside of the frame. They're actually a little bigger than I'll need, but they should work just fine.

There are a few things that I haven't figured out, like how I'm going to raise and lower the saw and how I'm going to build the dogs, but things are coming along otherwise. So now, I'll be drawing on the expertise of others at this forum to get this thing designed and built. Firstly, I know I'm going to go with a 1.5" wide blade, but I have no idea on the blade length and such. I'm shooting for a 48" wide maximum cut, but I know that's probably pie in the sky without a much stronger motor and a larger blade. I would prefer to use sheaves of some sort instead of trailer tires, but I'm open to ideas on how to make this mill as efficient and cost effective as possible. One a minor side note, I've been considering having the carriage ride up and down the posts via v-grooved casters riding up a turned piece of angle iron. I suspect I can tweak these a little easier than trying to create a slide. I've heard of some users employing a mechanism that allows a screw-like adjustment, but I'm unfamiliar with how to employ it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Like I said before, this will be a rather slow project, because I want the best possible mill for the effort expended. :msp_biggrin:

Thanks in advance, and thanks for the help I've already received in the numerous threads that have already been posted here.

-Steven

P.S. A lot of my dad's lifelong friends called him "Jack" (a nickname from his childhood.) With that said, I've been thinking about calling my mill "Jack's Ripper".

 

[rwoods]

I can't help you on the mill but you have my condolences and prayers on the passing of your dad. Ron

 

[gemniii]

Condolences for you and your family

I'm shooting for a 48" wide maximum cut, but I know that's probably pie in the sky without a much stronger motor and a larger blade.

The largest low cost mill I've seen is the Hud-Son Oscar 52 sawmill which cuts 45.5" and

The Oscar 52" is only available with ground track due to the width exceeding D.O.T. regulations.

If you have a LOT of 48" wide cuts you are getting into professional milling. Which is good, but expensive.

There are two reasons I see to cut 48" - To create BIG SLABS or to get big trees down to a manageable size for making manageable lumber. A 9 foot long 48 inch round piece of Oak weighs in around 7,000 lbs. A 4" center slab from this will weigh almost 450 lbs. 48" diameter logs will require a LOT stronger track and moving equipment.

If your primary purpose is manageable lumber you might think of a chainsaw mill to cut out say three center slabs, then mill the rest on a bandsaw mill. That way you could put the "cant" on it's side and whittle it down, you just have to build the mill to have a 48" height capability. And you are only looking at moving pieces on the order of 3,000 lbs.

You also might want to look at Panther Chainsaw Mills and build a bandsaw mill with three tracks. The inner two for a 36" bandsaw cut, and the outer track for a separate "chainsaw" mill for those BIG logs.

Or look into a swingmill where you essentially build the mill around the fallen tree.

Good luck.

 

[StevenBiars]

There are two reasons I see to cut 48" - To create BIG SLABS or to get big trees down to a manageable size for making manageable lumber. A 9 foot long 48 inch round piece of Oak weighs in around 7,000 lbs. A 4" center slab from this will weigh almost 450 lbs. 48" diameter logs will require a LOT stronger track and moving equipment.

I have one oak (a lightning fatality) that I'd like to slab for a table. I haven't measured the trunk yet, but it's huge. I'll probably end up having to contract the milling on that particular log.

As for me, theoretically, I can't see myself needing 48", but it was an early goal of the project. I would be quite happy with something coming in at around 36". At 36 inches, each linear inch of cut log contains 0.6 cubic feet of wood, so with red oak coming in at ~44 lbs / cu ft, a 12 foot log should weigh in at ~3792 lbs which slightly exceeds the tipping weight (3,545 lbs) of my dad's old Case skid-steer.

 

[ResDocJon]

Ya, I've got absolutely nothing to add to the building of the mill, but would like to offer up condolences as well as tell you I think it's really cool what you're up to.

And I agree with your dad - very few things can't be torn down with a sledge and enough time.

 

[tomsteve]

Home Built Bandsaw Bandmill - Build your own Bandsaw Sawmill


the folks here should be able to help ya along the build. my condolences to you and yours.

 

[gemniii]

As for me, theoretically, I can't see myself needing 48", but it was an early goal of the project. I would be quite happy with something coming in at around 36". At 36 inches, each linear inch of cut log contains 0.6 cubic feet of wood, so with red oak coming in at ~44 lbs / cu ft, a 12 foot log should weigh in at ~3792 lbs which slightly exceeds the tipping weight (3,545 lbs) of my dad's old Case skid-steer.

I use the calculator at Timber and Lumber Calculators at WOODWEB and it shows a 36" (at each end) 12' long log weighs about 5200 lbs. Wood is heavy, wet wood is heavier. http://frec.vt.edu/FWSPubSeries/FWS-3-80.pdf

 

[mikeb1079]

hey steven i've just recently (this summer) finished building my own bandsaw mill from scratch. some thoughts:

I'm shooting for a 48" wide maximum cut, but I know that's probably pie in the sky

yes it is. if you notice, most mill manufacturers max out around 30" (give or take). that's because cutting that wide poses all sorts of design and practical problems. you would need a HUGE mill structurally to take the tension and TONS of horsepower, my guess is that you'd need at least 30hp if not more to cut that wide. also, cutting a straight 4' wide slab with a flexible band is asking alot of it.

don't worry about the little stuff like dogs etc. that'll all work itself out as you move along, and you'll probably end up modifying your setup anyways.

don't skimp on the wheels. i bought used woodmizer 25 1/2" wheels and i thought they were a great deal. in hindsight i wish i would've just bought new 19" wheels from linn lumber for $300. out of true/round wheels will make your mill cut poorly.

don't forget that your mill deck needs to be a little higher than where your casters/bearings ride (those that the whole mill rides on i mean). this is so that you'll be able to cut down to the deck. i forgot this important detail and now i can only cut to 5" from the deck. i can fix it but i wish i would've thought of it before.

it's a ton of work and you'll utter a few curses but it's all worth it in the end. once you build your mill and word gets out you'll be amazed at how many people will be beating down your door with logs. i'll post some pics for you tomorrow.
good luck

 

[StevenBiars]

Thanks for the calculator link. I originally pulled the weight from a google search and although I thought it was kind of light, I've really not considered wood weight on a per-log basis until now. As for the carriage, it's going to be built rather stout. I do plan on upgrading the engine significantly, and I'm overbuilding the carriage and deck because I'm going to be manipulating the logs with the skid-steer.

As for the bandsaw wheels, I *might* have a pair tracked down, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm assuming a larger diameter would allow more tension to be placed on the blade while allowing it to retain greater elastic potential than if you were trying to tension the blade on a smaller diameter wheel? I've been considering using 6" v-grooved casters to make the mill roll a bit easier (but I may just use the 4" ones). With that said, I probably would have overlooked the height, and that could have been a real problem. I do plan on adding a 1/4" hard stop so that I don't end up cutting into the deck and thus destroying a blade, ruining my day, etc.

Today was an off day. I ended up losing my job today, because a new contract failed to go through, so we're on hard shut down indefinitely. It's irritating because I'm just shy of being able to collect unemployment, but not too irritating because my hours had been cut to virtually nothing anyhow. I guess when it rains, it pours. So, I made the most of the day and took my daughter (old picture) to Cave Run Lake for the day. She loves being outdoors, and her momma and I enjoy giving seeing her smile.

Tomorrow is another day, and I think I'll pay a visit to the local scrap yards to see if I can scrounge up anything *useful*.

-Steven


My dad.

 

[qbilder]

You got any sugar maple on that property?

 

[StevenBiars]

You got any sugar maple on that property?

The property I'll be cutting from has about 10 acres that were largely destroyed by a brush fire two years ago. There are about two dozen dead standing red oak that I plan on milling. I've made it a practice not to drop a healthy tree if I can avoid it.

 

[qbilder]

The property I'll be cutting from has about 10 acres that were largely destroyed by a brush fire two years ago. There are about two dozen dead standing red oak that I plan on milling. I've made it a practice not to drop a healthy tree if I can avoid it.

All the logging in the region, a guy with a good CSM would have a hay day milling giant stumps & crotches from a variety of hardwoods. They buck the saw logs & leave the "trash" piled up for anybody to come get for firewood. I have gotten some outrageous fiddleback red oak, walnut crotch, burls, etc. from those piles. Right now is perfect time of year to be hunting because loggers have been cutting hard all summer.