Using diesel fuel at the moment, but water also works. There seems to be a bit of conjecture as to what to use. I'm just gonna try a few different ones and see what I reckon. good luck with your saw and if you get stuck ask me I may be able to help. By the way I had never done any sawmiling before I made my saw. Regards Troopy
I don't have any plans on paper. It was all inside my head. As far as cutting faster goes. There's no substitute for horse power. I have watched a lot of sawmill videos on youtube and electric motors seem to be the best. I think a 3 phase 15 hp motor with a 8 or 10" cut. Direct drive to the blade. Making a mount that swings would save a lot of parts and simplify things. I used Petrol so I could take it to the wood and I'm not in a hurry.
thanks tj. the blade guard is coming. Now that I know what is needed. A guard incorporating a wood chip exhaust. I am going to move the triangulators outside of the area of the motor as well. and after some consideration I have realized that the rattling noise is not the belt guard, but the bed bouncing up and down when working hard. I'm going to have to put locks on all 4 corners instead of just the front. And yes 1:1 ratio, full throttle which is supposedly 3600 rpm. the motor does it easy.
Nice mill, thanks for including a lot of detail that others don't such as the drive mechanism and practicalities of directing the sawdust flow. I'm a Kiwi and you sound a bit like Fred Dagg, a creation of expat Kiwi comedian John Clarke. Similar sense of humour too.
I mounted the swing bearings on the bottom of the horizontal sliders. I suppose you could make spacers and mount it as low as you want, increasing the length of the drive belts to suit.
Inspiring, that's nice. Thanks hauntedmortuary. The size of the flange (boss or mandrel) the blade bolts to, was determined by the bolt pattern on the blade. It ended up being 100mm (4") in diameter. I expect that would increase with larger blades. I used 100mm dia pulleys. both the same to keep the 1:1 Gear box ratio. They looked about the right size and the seem to work ok.
I didn't end up locking all 4 corners. The chatter was coming from not having stops for the swing mechanism to sit against. I guess I should post a final video showing the blade guard and the stops. Using a height adjuster on all corners is probably a good idea. good luck. keep us posted on your progress.
I am very visual. That is I could see the finished saw in my head. I had to go backwards a couple of times but that is part of the fun. All my plans were centred around the size of log I expected to cut and the diameter of the blade. I could probably draw you some plans but all the information you need is in the videos I made and I am willing to answer any questions
FAAAARRRRK MATE... THE FUEL!!!! Did ya check it?.... lol On a more serious note, I don't think people realize how hard, our hardwood is to rip.. You done a good job mate, for sure.. Keep up the good work. Paul
thank you very much sir. and i believe that you said in one of your videos that you would like the blade to sit further down. how would you go about doing that?
In the last vid I made. When I started on that log all was good until the blade was fully on the cut surface of the log. Then the sawdust was getting trapped under the blade guard, building up and fouling the blade. That is why I had to push so hard. I removed the bottom 5mm of the guard to allow the cuttings out and all is well again. I also fitted another blade cause I cooked that one (whoops). Got so hot one of the tungsten cutters came off. I fitted up a drip feed lubricator. Using diesel f
Hi mate,was very impressed with your homemade swingblade sawmill build,if you have a face book account or email address would be very helpful as I want to ask very detailed questions about your swing blade sawmill thinking of building one ,thumbs up From the pacific Bougainville....👍👍👍