We use our homemade sawmill to cut smaller walnut logs into 3/4 x 6” lumber to be used for a wall project of shiplap design. #homemadesawmill #howto #lumber #sawmill #shiplap #accentwall #walnut
Nice Mill . I also Built one of my own . I could not find an afortable yet sturdy Mill on the market . So I took the Time to Do it. I also like your shop setup, seam to work fine
Thanks Charlie. Not that I know everything, but if you ever had a question about anything I would be for sure willing to answer anything that I might have fought through. When I built this mill I for sure had the ideas in my head, but did change a few things as I was going through it. After over a year now of running this one I’m still very pleased with it. And don’t think I would change much even if I was to build another one. It functions great with the drive system as well and hasn’t even given me the rush to upgrade yet. I’m pretty happy with even it being a manual mill. Good luck with the build and for the comments. The biggest thing that I’m grateful that I did was figure out a way to have springs and hydraulic tension. The cuts are always straight. The tension always stays the same.
You obviously are a man who is intelligent enough so that you have no problem taking advice from others. I see that attribute in your mill. The deep throat on your mill is a huge improvement over the small commercial mills I have seen. Here's my advice for you. Read up on quarter sawing. These small mills are slow. But, given great expertise as a sawyer, you can easily provide yourself, and others some of the most fantastic and valuable wood possible out of each log, wood that is otherwise unavailable anywhere else. Learning about quarter sawing from a number of different sources, will give you that knowledge. There are a wide variety of quarter sawing techniques to study, each for a specific purpose corresponding to what the end-user, carpenter/craftsman, has in mind. Quarter sawing is begun by studying the log, and turning it on the mill, so you can make a straight cut right down the center of the log. Then throw half the log off the mill. The remaining half, stand it up flat and cut a line off-center through the middle. The off-centeredness is determined by 1/2 the width of the stock you are cutting. Then make the opposite cut. These pieces are the best quartersawn, wood coming from this log due to their width. If the log has a swoop, you'll want to LIE IT DOWN so you can cut straight through the log center. If you're cutting a log with a swoop, you'll obviously need another kind of saw to cut a swooping line offset through the center. When quarter sawing, one generally leaves the round edge with the lumber. Narrower quartersawn wood is also valuable. Once you start quarter sawing, you'll understand, your mill can do a lot. But that, the end goal is to provide wood for a carpenter/craftsman who has all his own tools with which he can get the best out of the wood, that you can provide. Nice job on the mill! Keep improving it, and or, build another one even better! I wish I were near enough by to come see your mill in action.
That’s quite a compliment I appreciate it very much. I wish you were closer as well I enjoy sharing the mill. This is a hobby for us with this being our mill. We have however sawn lumber for quite a few years on another mill at an other location that was not our mill. And I agree with quarter sawing too. The ability to gain stable lumber is a great thing. We have sawn quite a few logs on this mill quartered and the main reason for the larger throat depth for me was the ability to reach the center of a log. That’s funny that you mention this because I was wanting to post a video of sawing a larger white oak log we have and a process of quarter sawing it. And also a larger cherry. Thank you again for the comments. I agree for sure.
Ok you’ve got me thinking more about quarter sawing some stuff for myself to stock. It has been a few months since I’ve done it. Thanks for the reminder.
Yes I sure have. One day maybe. For now it’s still working well and when I have some time to put to finishing the mill up it will either be hydraulic or electric driven. Probably electric since it will use less of the horsepower of the engine to run a pump. And would be cheaper.
You guys have eliminated a lot of double steps and make it seem quite simple... and in a lot of ways it is. I just enjoyed you or a partner told about how you designed this mill. Its really well thought through... I mentioned a way to adjust height of a log for the pith in the other comment.
Yes actually we cut 1-1/16” for shrinkage for final 3/4” boards at the end. But this project we were cutting was for a final dimension of 1/2” once dried and machined. 👍
What size of pulley are you using on the engine and what size of drive pulley are you using, and what size of band wheels? I'm sorry to ask so many questions ,but I love the range of speed you're getting. I'm building one right now and would like mine to run that speed !
