Homemade Log Slicer Slices Logs Nicely! 

I could legitimately watch these videos all day😅

Like a paper slicer or a guillotine having the blade at an angle reduces the load of the blade but gives it a better slicer action

What a happy chore to work with such an ancient and quaint machine, the smell of cut wood must be nice.

I watch nearly all your videos and think your a genius engineer in disguise as a ordinary man! I pride myself in being able to diagnose and rectify issues however your on another level! Keep bringing these amazing projects to us!

Its so cool watching your thought process. I have no questions, comments or complaints. 😊 Thanks for sharing.

Liked the reverse play back, when showing the container of charcoal!

Your shear pin can be made to shear at whatever stress you want by undercutting the bolt with two grooves from a parting tool on a lathe, you could also just use a brass bolt to lower the shear stress or aluminium rod, to reduce it more.

I always curl up with some good vittles and watch your lives. I love it. I'm quite envious to be frank. A simple life in the country is my American dream. Maybe someday I can experience the happiness of self sufficiency. God's creation is so beautiful. I want to be immersed in it. I'm about over people.

Glad to see you've now installed a safety chair Tim. I'll sleep a bit easier tonight!

Good morning guys and gals. The sound of this machine makes me want to do stuff. :)

It works! It really works!!! That's fantastic!!!!!!

Super satisfying to see it slicing nicely!

Great video as usual, but I am really looking forward for more rail and rail related stuff. Thinking about making my own. :)

I would first add a 1” board to the stop wall, dropping it all the way to the table. Let the blade cut the board creating a zero clearance cutting edge. Then build a cheap hopper that can hold several layers of logs above the blade. The weight of the higher stacked logs will apply downward pressure to the logs being sliced. Maybe 3 logs high. Just an idea, love the videos. Keep them coming!

Every bit of upgrades will help in the long run bro, knowing when to stop the upgrades could be the tricky bit. Safe travels.

In fact maybe you should think about a camping and working on the farm week, that would be wicked all your viewers get to meet you both and camp/meet each other and help out!!!

Whilst watching this I thought I might treat myself and watch your recent video where you did that wonderful job on your louvred barn.

Such a machine with no means of de coupling. Brave!

Here's an idea.... take a good look at how the iron in a hand plane is set up. The blade angle, the bevel angle on the blade, which side of the blade the bevel is on, the throat size, the chip breaker, etc. You can probably glean some good ideas from that to make this awesome wood slicer even awesomer!

Put lock nuts on the bearing blocks. Greetings from Tasmania Australia.🛠👍🇦🇺

This video title is, instead of being clickbait as per youtube standard, accurate. It is technically correct. Best kind of correct.

you have a nice storytelling voice. and a nice machine...

You are doing it. Congratulations.

Well done. Working brilliantly 👍. Not that any of us out here in RU-vidLand had any doubt that it would

These videos are great ! Keep up the great work

Your videos allways make me cheer up, Thanks and continue making great content :)

Looks like a good way to get into making shingles.

I always find your videos interestin

Advice to lengthen cut: attach push-pull rod to the mid point of a lever. One end of lever is fixed to a pivot point, and sliding guillotine to the other. Design the push-pull rod lever with many different attachment points, you can adjust the guillotine throw by moving the push-pull arm coser to the pivit point or closer to the guillotine. Obviously trading torque for throw.

Nice job. To increase the stroke length you will move the connection rod further from the center of the wheel. But like a lever you will gain distance at the cost of force. Keep experimenting! How fun!

Keep up the great work! Really enjoy watching what you are doing from across the pond.

*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff* 9:55 Take a marker pen, and draw a line on ALL the bolts & nuts, draw the line from the nut onto the bolt-threads, so you can see if it has been turning because the line doesn't line-up then anymore. Maybe also add double bolts where it's possible?

I just saw this thing in your *"Railway Work - And Making A Sliding Tipping Hopper!"* video. TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: This is the first time I have ever seen a powered cheese grater made for wood...😉

Charcoals smouldering with the flame of ambition

For green wood - angle the blade, reinforce cutting back stop, decrease clearance between blade and cutting back stop, ensure blade travels beyond cutting back stop... should be good 🙂

Wow the hold down divce was what I said about 8 videos ago it will help a lot

8:12 I would suggest adding a vertical bar with a hinge at the bottom. The blade gets attached on one side and the rod get attached on the other. By adjusting the attachment point on the right, you can adjust the stroke length of the blade, depending on your needs.

I know there is not a lot of money to go around, however might I suggest some nylon lock nuts for the bolts holding down the wheel bearings. That little extra added bit of nylon is to keep the nuts from shaking themselves loose due to high vibration applications. A cheaper option is to just use liquid Loctite on the current bolts you're using. Love the content and please keep it coming!

You have made a kitchen mandolin on a larger scale, not for slicing vegetables, but for wood. I agree with lengthening the stroke, but also consider making an angled blade, like the mandolin. Thanks for the video, and keep trying. you will get it. Jon (Sean)

Nice contraption. Really nice. Now TO THE KILN. :D

As some others have said, you might find a cleaner cut if you rotate the log retaining walls by a few degrees, so that the logs are being cut at an angle to the blade. This way, the blade initially only has to focus on penetrating a tiny corner of the log, and from there it can slice the entire sheet cleanly off.

I love this bodgery!! Maybe a steel tube from the wheels bearing assembly to the chopper bed? This will stop the forces from bending the table legs and the wheels legs. And some bit of angle iron from the front chopper stop that keeps bending - triangulate it down to the choppers frame to stop the waddle. With this the chop would be cleaner so you get less blade debris, and make it less likely to rip itself apart.

Great job 👌 To stiffen the "counter blade", you can replace the angle iron with a square tube. Way better in torsion. It will flex way less, not so much hassle, and should work better without having to increase the stroke !

you could make a stroke length multplication lever, the con rod goes to a pivot point on a another con rod that itself pivots on the horizontal perpendicular axis, and the other end of which connects to another con rod which connects to the machine, the position of the pivot of the midle conrod determines the multiplication ratio.

My 2 cents on the link. I'd add something like the "expansion link" from a steam train reverser, but simplified. This will allow you to control the stroke length. One end is fixed pivot point with the link from the flywheel attaching about mid way. Then a floating pivot to the link to the tool. The distance from the fixed pivot determines the stroke length. You can make this as simple or elaborate as you'd like from set before running to adjustable while running; i'd go mid way and put the floating pivot on a screw that could be adjusted from the fixed end where it moved very little if i put my hand on it.

Add a diagonal brace on the legs closest to the big wheel to eliminate the flexing of the frame. Replace the stop on the same end with a piece of square tube to eliminate the flexing at that point too. You might consider running some sort of structure back to the big wheel foundation instead of depending on bolting the slicer frame down on the concrete slab. That would eliminate any flexing of the table.

well done...shingles are 'go'

1) Thicken the cutter backstop with another plate to ensure a complete cut. 2) Install some rails underneath the cutter so you can roll a rail car underneath with a bin to collect your cuttings directly 3) Mark the nuts and bolts holding that wheel in place so you can easily see if the nuts start to work themselves loose again. A simple line of nail polish or paint from the nut over to the end of the bolt will make it very obvious if any of the nuts have started to work themselves loose.

locknuts / lockwashers possibly double nut the important bolts just to keep em from getting loose .. cheers for good content :)

At the start of the video, I thought things were looking a little hopeless for splitting wood. But with perseverance and some cogitating you and Will triumphed. Well done...............again. The mechanical advantage imparted by your magnificent wheel is truly impressive.

Being a Tinkerer of some 5 decades, I tender my vast expertise: A "Shim" placed in front of Flexing Plate will prevent log from traveling beyond cutting position. I suggest a 3/4 thick piece of wood. ( about 1.5 centimeters , for those still counting on their fingers ) Adressing "Flexing Plate": If a welder is available tacking a straight rod from dead center of Top of plate, then weld to each side angle iron frame ( 45 degrees-ish ).

Just great to see it all working. My only suggestion would have been something to let you put pressure on the wood without fingers getting involved. You did that with the plank of wood.

Nicely done! :)

I agree with a few of the other comments suggesting the blade be set at an angle, (you'll need a new blade), and the stroke increased, (a larger eccentric cam). I don't think the cam needs to be much bigger but large enough to allow a stroke long enough to facilitate the angled blade. The blade will last longer and cut more efficiently without all the vibration you have now. I agree 100% that this setup should only cut on the draw stroke as you have now. Cheers folks. 🇨🇦

Nice feeling watching this.

Thanks Tim

Good job Tim :)

I haven't read all the comments to check however in my experience I found it helps greatly if you know the growth direction especially with knots, one gets more tare out grain affect going against the growth dirrection, hope this helps, I'm aware you've rectified most factors already. It takes less effort the correct way regardless

Keep up the great work m8

Bravo Tim. Happy to see no important bits got sliced in with the tree bits.

I normally enjoy every episode but this look a lot like a former one.

The Shingle Machine - Lock washers below the nuts

Hey Tim ..... now you just need to build some gondola cars to sit under the slicer and connect to the railway!

Add an intermediate lever. The wheel moves the lever(attached to fulcrum on the ground) back and forth. Then attach your slicer to that lever. By moving the attachment point further from the fulcrum, you can increase the stroke length. Above the point your big wheel attaches, the stroke length will be more. Below that point it will be less. This is kinda similar to the reversing lever on a steam locomotive.

Nice job!

You could make the stroke adjustable by using a lever. On the side of the table add a lever that pivots at the ground. Add a con rod from that lever to the sled at about table height. Run the con rod from the wheel to the lever. If it is below the attachment point of the sled con rod, it will increase the stroke of the sled, but have reduced maximum force. If it is attached above, it will have a shorter stroke but increased maximum force. Can make a few different holes to have multiple stroke lengths of the sled.

Nice progress! Two thoughts: 1) If you raise the bed closest to the wheel the angle of the connecting rod changes and I think you would get more stroke. I imagine the rod movement as the hypothenuse vs. one side of a triangle. The most stroke would be if the bed points right into the center of the shaft. 2) could you hand crank the wheel now and use the momentum as a starter for the engine?

If those big wheel bolts come lose again, try loctite or lock bolts? And flexing backplate, just weld some more steel back bracing or thicker plate/double plate to it. Great content, have a great day sir.

1 comment for every minute since uploaded, cool =D sure it will be a great vid

Love it! If the issue is just that the blade isn't going far enough under the backstop, could you just bodge the backstop with another plate or two, to make it thicker? You'd be reducing the maximum length of the logs even more, but it would be a relatively simple modification until you can be bothered to increase the stroke.

It’s the Tim-co, Slice-o-Matic!

Nice video, for on how to extend the stroke why not make a lever, connect the conrod to the middle of it and put another rod from the top of the lever to your cutting machine. But you would need to make that lever quite strong to cope with the forces. Keep the work on going and dont stop making videos, they are great fun and educational. Greetings from germany

Fantastic to see it being refined! I love watching the Eccentric in action, it’s such a fluid motion. On a side note, I’d love to see Eoin Reardon get together with you guys to hammer some carpentry on the farm, would be entertaining!

Tim doesn't even need an Al to be hilarious! :) #tooltime

The next step would perhaps be to improve the log-hold-down-clamper so that it is pulled down on it's own using weights, or a spring that you fasten to the machine, pulling the clamper down. That way you can load the machine up and do something else while it slices.

I love the Scrapheap Challenge bodged together nature of this contraption. It may not be perfect but it is at least functional and that I think is key! Love to see further improvements though.

The engine may only have 6 hp, but it has a giantic amount of torque. ;-)

When you cart the chopped wood off to the shed, make a cart that's taller, lift tub off into shed. Less bending.

Cracking job as always! Can't wait to see how charcoal production goes!

If you make the front bar a bit thicker or slide it towards the wheel a bit so that the blade goes complete under it I think it would give you more complete slices.

You need a much longer stroke and an angled blade. To get a longer stroke build a pivot above the bed, attach a rod between the pivot and the bed and connect the con rod half way down the rod (or a variation of the geometry) an angled blade will reduce the shock as the blade begins cutting or feed your stock in at an angle.

You need to put a shallow railcar underneath sideways to catch the processed material, that way you can just slide another empty bin underneath the table.

Use a lever with hinge at bottom. The power input moves it back and forth in the middle. Slightly farther away from the hinge is the rod that actually moves the blade. Different mounting holes gives a different stroke length. 2. lard is a nice grease

That hinged weighted roof idea seems very familiar. 😁

As a thought, where the wood is getting stuck in the gap in front of the blade, does the gap have to be in front on the cutting edge? If it was just under and behind the cutting edge it would still fall through and not allow it to get stuck vertically.....maybe. Fyi This has become my favourite channel on youtube its great to watch you puzzle your way through these inventions instead of another infomertial which alot of makers videos have become. Keep up the good work Tim!

well, GREAT for kindling. I mean, anyone that burns wood would be happy to have all that kindling.

You could use some lock nuts, or self-locking nuts such as Nylocks, to stop the bolts holding the bearings coming loose.

Great for making char. John

Nice! You know the old "Pert-Machine" they have here in Sweden, when the made roof plates, they collected very fine pine wood with straigt grains and full of resin in it. They looks like they have saw out them! They came out exactly flat and smooth!

add an unequal rocker or a pivoting vertical beam to adjust the stroke depending on preference for reversing the motion or not.

Now you need a hopper under the bench to funnel all the cuttings onto a belt that can carry them into a wagon from your railroad.

Rule of thumb says that; cutting/sheering of a Diameter 8mm of mild steel, takes 8 Ton. D 1mm / 1 Ton. D 5mm / 5 Ton. D 10mm / 10 Ton. D 20mm / 20 Ton,, etc. Cheers from Sweden,, 🍻🍻😎👍‍‍👍‍‍

Always nice to see these films :D Like balm on the soul. (yes writing and watching at the same time.)

Hey Tim, the horizontal gap between the blade and the "slide" would need to be greater than the vertical gap. What you really have is a reciprocating wood plane and if you try to increase the depth of cut it just jams in the throat. The hold down is acting to stop the log lifting and there for increasing the depth of cut. I think there are similar analogies with a table saw, without holding the work against the fence or using a riving knife you increase the chance of kickback.

7.53 Another steel plate on the inside will ensure the travel changes without actually changing anything. Logs should still fit in the gap space. It should bring it a few mm over

What if you added a linkage between the wheel and the slicer, it could give you an adjustable stroke, have a fixed pivot at the bottom, the engine pivot in the middle ish and the slicer pivot above it. This would trade a bit of strength for more stroke but could be useful as by moving the pivot points you could change the stroke to suit your needs

Looks great.

Next is to build a chute under there to have 2 Boxes. One on either side where the stuff can just slide in. Or use a special rail Waggon

You ought to try some cedar, I don't know if there's much of a market over there, but here in the US a small bundle of cedar shakes (about 1 tree) is $80! And for the "premium" ones that come already primed..... They are $500 per bundle!! Now that you have a shingle mill, might help your business to sell inexpensive shingles. They're great for siding and roofing, though not as "good" as asphalt petroleum shingles and vinyl junk, but they have been used for hundreds of years.

Great to see it working efficiently. Keep checking those bolts, don't want that wheel coming loose.