Cheap Sawmill - Woodworking Talk

bugman1954 · 04-10-2009, 09:45 AM

I envy you guys with you Woodmizer and other various sawmills. The love of wood is in my blood and I thought I would share some pictures of my mill that I built for just over $1000. The saw is a 21" Grizzly 5hp purchased from an auction for $800. The rollers are hytrol capable of 1000 lbs per foot purchased off of Craigslist for $100. The legs cost me $100 to have made. I use Timberwolf silicone steel blades 1 1/4" 45 thousands. When I have to dismantle the operation I take the rollers out of my infeed table and tip it over and but the frame under the standing one.

I really appreciate all the input I get from you sawyers. I thought I would share this with other readers that would like to have there own mill but just cant afford the production mills. I lubricate the blade and rollers with a combination of kerosene and chain bar oil. I use an engine hoist with a logging grapler hook or in some cases a chain to lift the quartered logs onto the rollers. I guess you figured out I use a chainsaw also.

Here is a video fo my operation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FZtIg5HeR0

**Daren** · 04-10-2009, 10:16 AM

I was surprised in the video how fast you could feed the wood to the saw.
No problems with blade wander ?

AZ Termite · 04-10-2009, 10:20 AM

Bugman, that is an awesome little setup you have there. I am not a sawyer but I have been considering doing something like that. I occasionally run across small logs and have given a little thought to getting a setup like yours.

Rick C. · 04-10-2009, 11:08 AM

Bugman,
Nice

I like it a lot,Most of the logs I get are under 24".I also can't find a sawyerthat will quarter saw or cut logs shorter than 7'6"and I get a lot of good looking shorties.
What do you use to get straight quarters?
Nice setup

Rick
also is your saw 3 phase,this is some thing we don't have access to.

**TexasTimbers** · 04-10-2009, 02:30 PM

That's fantastic. I've been wanting to put something like together for a while. I sure need one.

$800 bucks for that Griz was a good buy.

bugman1954 · 04-10-2009, 03:13 PM

As long as the bottom is square and I good contact with majority of the rollers the cant runs true to the rollers. I keep bumping the fence as I try to set up for the next cut. A friend of mine recomended a small set of hydralic cylinders which would bump the log over. When a quarter is almost a 1000 lbs it is hard to get lined up just right. Its alot easier as it gets under 500lbs. The rollers allow the cant to litterally roll down hill. There is about a 4 in drop in my garage floor over the 24 ft length.

I know I will never get a log over 28 inches again. They are just to hard to work with. The one on the driveway was 34" in the middle. It flared at both ends. Another mistake. Only get strait buck logs. I wish I had the resources that Daren has. But I have almost as good. I pay 30 cents a bd ft for scaled logs. I don't have to cut them just take trailer and get a load.

I love quartersawn white oak. I build mission furniture and I love the look at the rays of a quartersawn board. The first cut was made by a freinds 36" Stihl. He just freesawed it, he has a good eye. The other cuts were by my 20" Husky 455 Rancher. I have a Boardmaster from Hudson but have not had to use it yet. I know I could handle a 28 inch log and hit it pretty well. The boardmaster only allows me to make a 16" deep cut. A larger saw is in the future. My Grizzly G0531 is a 5hp single phase

A friend today dropped off a 20" walnut that he asked me to saw for him. I halfed it and will quartersaw one half and plainsaw the other half.

jeffreythree · 04-10-2009, 07:45 PM

Have you thought of using a chainsaw mill to cut the log into a cant then use your bandsaw? Nice clean wood, already straight lined, might make things a little better.

bugman1954 · 04-19-2009, 10:59 AM

The one inch wide line running down the middle of the whole log was unknown. The first day the wood was laying out it started seperating running some 14" wide boards. Now I will have to straight line them out after it is kiln dried. If you look at the edns of the quarters you can see the visible ring running all the way through all four quarters. So now I will have some beautiful 5 -6 inch boards. I still have to weigh it down and build a roof on top of the stack

jeffreythree · 04-19-2009, 12:06 PM

Appears to be ring shake. A fungal attack that causes the rings to separate. I have never encountered it myself, so maybe someone can confirm it?

**TexasTimbers** · 04-19-2009, 02:56 PM

I run into shake often, and you will too Jeff. I can't see it in the photos though. Ring shake, or "wind shake" as it's often called by old timers, is generally thought to result from a combination of what jefferey stated, a bacterial infection which weakens the tree, then another applied force which stresses the tree. Such as wind, felling them with heavy machinery, and in some cases steep growth angles.

Shake is the separation of the growth rings, parallel to the rings. I see it here mostly in walnut, white oak, and honeylocust. A tree can have some separation but not have it throughout the tree wholly. It tends to occur more frequently where the sap and heart woods meet, but certainly not limited to that area exclusively. I have some logs in the yard with shake so bad I'm not going to mill them.

**TexasTimbers** · 04-19-2009, 03:04 PM

Pith wood is so tender and soft in most trees that it will dry out much quicker than the heart and that's why for most applications the pith is avoided at all costs. In timber framing, especially back in the old growth days when you could get several 12 x 12 beams out of a tree, the beams would not be cut from the center of the tree. These are known as FOHC or free of heart center. IOW no pith.

But you're saying you see this characteristic in all the boards from the tree then it sounds like shake to me. Pith defects would only effect one or two boards.

woodnthings · 04-19-2009, 06:35 PM

Having made a much smaller version for my Mini Max 18" I would love to have that setup, but My shop is on the second floor and I have no intentions of hoisting up 1000 lbs of tree up there. Besides, the floor load wouldn't stand for it. Bugman that work out is sweet! I can handle about a 4' quarter, which I run through/over my 13" jointer to get a smooth face on the table. Then I run it again each time I take a saw cut, keeping one good face at all times. Pictures:

bugman1954 · 05-24-2009, 10:54 AM

I built this roof with used glass panels from two sets of patio doors I picked up at a salvage yard for $5 each. The other day it was 80 degrees and it was 120 degrees under the glass. I may also have to roate the wood later to get the bottom equal. The wood at the top is 11% and 13% at the bottom. The green cloth is rain screen from a local fencing company they took off a fence at a construction site. Catches the rain but still lets the wind through. It has been 5 week since I cut this lumber.

I noticed that the wood I picked up from the Kiln last month is very brittle. I think 7% is too dry. This wood has been in my garage and I was hoping it would draw in a little more moisture.

Julian the woodnut · 05-24-2009, 11:53 AM

7% is what you want for fine furniture. If you are over 10% you will have problems with shrinkage if you're not careful in prepping the joints, and allowing for the unavoidable contraction that will happen in the winter months.