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I've seen this guy before - if I didn't have a sawmill I'd have something like it. I do make crude cradle jigs when I cut log sections but they are quick & dirty compared to his but they work great.
 
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  • #3
I'm thinking this would be a very simple way of milling. I get all sorts of wood that's too small for the mill my buddy has, but was too big for my old bandsaw. Now that I can cut 13", I may try something like this on a much smaller scale. If I can't lift it, it's big enough for his woodmizer and I'm not fooling with it. For smaller stuff like the hackberry or catalpa that I'm going to pick up tonight, this would be great.
 
That sort of set up will work well for smaller logs. I have thought about making one for small stuff like the lilac and buck thorn i have milled recently. Be patient when using a shop band saw. Maxing out your resaw capacity will bog it down pretty quickly.
 
I plan to eventually make a sled to use with my bandsaw for small logs, but don't have anything in mind like that setup!
 
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  • #6
Yeah, I had been looking at that carter jig... and realized that would be fairly simple to build myself. But then I saw this... I could do ~8" diameter logs a couple feet long with a short infeed and outfeed table that could easily be set aside for normal bandsaw work... or at least the infeed side. If I do something like this, I'll take pics.

Would probably be slow cutting with my 1.5hp motor, but I've already been looking at the 2hp and 3hp upgrade motors when the ability for 220v in my shop comes around (or when I build a new one).
 
At my day job we have a huge Do All 10 hp band saw that I've ran some serious stuff through.

I plan to make a sled system for it in the near future. Thinking maybe somethin with lots of rollers for an easy push.
 
I started out milling on my bandsaw. It worked but ruined the motor. It really bogs the machine down even at 208v . If you are going to build this, I highly recommend putting thermal protectors on the motor and also if possible hooking the motor up to 208v. the thermal protectors are almost a must in my eyes, you won't cook the motor only the bimetal material in the switch but that takes a long time unless for some reason the motor is already failing on you out on you
 
brown down said:
If you are going to build this, I highly recommend putting thermal protectors on the motor and also if possible hooking the motor up to 208v
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99% of the members will not have 3Ø service.
 
Jonathan, for the size your talking about, 8" dia and a couple of feet long, It is probably not necessary, I cut stuff that size and bigger all the time freehand with no problems. But having said that, I do flatten a couple of side on the jointer to start a straight cut, then just use the fence. For green wood, I'm not too worried about how pretty they are cause they are going to warp and twist some when they dry anyhow, and need planing or jointing... Not saying a sled wouldn't be nice, but it would be one more thing to trip over in my small shop.
 
Kevin said:
99% of the members will not have 3Ø service.
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your absolutely correct kevin.. most would not have 3 phase and altho you can find single phase 240v bimetallic thermal overload switches, they are way more common in the industrial setting. my supply house is closed or I would have given them a call just to get an idea of the cost for a single phase compared to a 3 phase. in any event you can use a 3 phase setup, you just wouldn't use the third one. the switch itself is just a reset button once the bimetallic material cools down. it is the bimetallic material that is protecting the motor. I can tell you that every motor I ever hooked up in my career had thermal overload protection, not to be mistaken for overload protection" your breaker". what thermal overload does to those who don't know, it breaks the contact when it reaches a critical level for the motor killing the power to the motor without kicking the breaker or running it until you cook the motor, think about it, you have a motor working flat out for hours maybe in which it wasn't really designed for. when you bog a motor down for long periods of time, like anything they heat up. they are kinda like your sensors on your car letting you know your engine is hot. there is a reason for that and if you keep running it your engine will kabuki out. . having a good motor rewound isn't cheep nor is buying even a crappy replacement! I cooked my bandsaw motor and gave the Rikon guy an earful on how valuable they are keeping a motor running under stressful loads. well come to find out lol he engineered the thing. just my 2 cents.
 
I liked the video -one concern- I was always told NOT to back away while in a cut. A thin blade spinning between two wheels in a cut being pulled backwards can come off the wheels- sometimes tension in the wood itself can cause binding enough to cause it.
 
I know this is an old thread, but a guy on another forum has an 18" (I think) setup and he uses conveyor rollers as his bed. He up graded to a 10 HP motor I think. Been kinda my model for what I would like to do someday with my 14" rikon. Small stuff only, though. Now that you bring up the overheating possibility, I'm a little worried about trying it. What's the thermal protection typically run, can you suggest something for single 220V and how would you hook it up?
Thanks
 
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  • #16
I decided against doing this... and went with a husqvarna 394xp and (soon to have) a granberg alaskan mill. For the time being, I just cut logs down to 12" sections, and process them upright. Lots easier.
 
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