[woodnthings]

This is a special setup for resawing large and heavy logs into planks and boards. I have done something similar, but this set up is slick. However, I would prefer a fence to the left of the blade to establish the thickness of each plank and for repeatability.

 

[woodnthings]

My resaw or small log milling set up

the resaw sled...
Sorta:
__________________

 

[Gilgaron]

Nice. Your setup actually looks like one I could handle in my basement.... his might be able to do larger stuff, but I don't think I could get a log as large as the one he milled into my basement easily enough for it to be worthwhile.

 

[Lola Ranch]

I have a similar band saw set up. But let's be honest here, these are not large logs. If you can lift it onto your sled it's not a large log. That being said the lumber we get out of these small logs is quite useful.

Bret

 

[woodnthings]

small logs in my case

I have a similar band saw set up. But let's be honest here, these are not large logs. If you can lift it onto your sled it's not a large log. That being said the lumber we get out of these small logs is quite useful.

Bret

What is akward is the weight transfer, whether it's a small log or not. The sled is necessary to carry the weight, the rollers support the load and aid in the movement. My dream "setup" is this one by bugman:

 

[Lola Ranch]

What is akward is the weight transfer, whether it's a small log or not. The sled is necessary to carry the weight, the rollers support the load and aid in the movement. My dream "setup" is this one by bugman:

Bill, I have to use my band saw for many different things. your attached photo shows the elaborate setup and all he is doing is ripping the edge off a 2 x 6. Seems like it would be much simple to run it through the table saw. He also has a big fat blade on the saw which would have to be changed to do anything else.

As I have mentioned before, I'm lazy and do not like to change blades or re-adjust the guides on my band saw very often and I use a 1/4" blade for almost everything.

The photo shows some nice roller beds but they must weigh a ton. I think what is shown in the photo must be a permanent setup.

I require a setup that is easily set up and taken down and stored away.
My setup uses just two rollers, one each fore and aft, is very light weigh and sets up in under five minutes. The 8' sled strattles the blade by way of a removable siding dovetail rear fence apparatus.

The sled is 8' long but effectively it will only handle a six foot long log but if you start cutting off a side it will handle logs up to 18" in diameter

Bret

 

[woodnthings]

that's a sweet setup Bret

Very simple and clean looking. If I did more of the small log milling it's a rig I would certainly entertain making for myself. Thanks for the photos.
Bugman's setup is best shown here:

 

[w1pers]

I don't have a very large band saw but I have thought about doing something like this with some Black Elm logs I have just to see what the wood looks like and if it would be worth working into something. Thanks for the post..really gets my mind churning. :thumbsup:

 

[wood shavings]

It rolls

Looks like you guys are jumping ahead of yourself. You are all working with flat surfaces, what about starting with a round log I don't see any safe way of cutting any of the photos. Don't see any clamps to hold a log round stock.

Jerry

 

[woodnthings]

right you are

Here's one way to get started:

Power Planer uses
Not everyone would use their power planer for this operation but on a green Box Elder log it created a flat on the bottom (along with a spud) in less than a minute. A quick way to get the log ready for the bandsaw for a safe pass with a flat on the bottom rather than round. 3 more passes and I have a square cant. Can't quite figure why they call them "cants"?:blink:
They should be "cans" because you can't use them when they're are round unless you're building a log cabin or rustic furniture. :thumbsup:
BTW I can't wait to see what's inside this log, Flame I hope!
Attached Thumbnails

 

[woodnthings]

dudeman55's sled

From dudeman55:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/resaw-sled-7552/
This resaw sled can accommodate an 11'' dia log up to 30" long.

 

[gus1962]

That's a nice set up. Nicely built. Resawing is a lot more convenient and easy.

 

[Lola Ranch]

I've recently been cutting some small logs into lumber. I'm no expert at this but here is what I've learned lately.

The set-up I had shown earlier in this thread was not working well so I made a new one which is much simpler in design. The whole set-up slips into place with a friction fit which is important because you have to remove it to change the saw blades. The logs are not perfectly clean and if I hit a pebble or something I need a new blade. This operation does not work well without a sharp blade.

My set-up is very simple and easy to put up and take down which is important because I use the band saw for many different things. It's basically and in feed and out feed support table that is install dead level with a space down the middle for a traveler to slide in the miter gauge slot. The traveler is just a long piece of 1/4" plywood with a strip of hardwood screwed to the bottom which fits into the MG slot. All the surfaces are coated with ample J wax and slide easily.

I thought the ramp and winch shown in the video was a nice way to go but there again the set up time would be significant and I don't have enough room to set it up the way he had it. I have to roll the log into place with a hand truck then lift one end at a time onto a series of platforms the last of which is the same height as the band saw table and I can then slide it into position. If the log is too big I size it or square it up using an Alaska Mill but it is far easier to cut with the band saw.

At one point The blade hit something about halfway down the cut and dulled immediately and I had to force it through. The blade got hot and started melting the urethane tire on the lower bull wheel and some of the melted goop began collecting on the lower guide assembly. I had to dismantle the lower roller guide and clean it all up and I discovered two of the bearings had failed. I had replacements on hand fortunately. If this happens again I'll wedge the saw kerf open and back the blade out instead of forcing it through.

No doubt, this is hard work but the days work turned logs into a nice little stack of lumber and I learned a lot.

Bret

 

[Mark Jones Ozark]

Ok. So. I have resawn Oak, Cedar and Walnut logs on a 12" bandsaw after ripping them down to 5.75" so they would fit under the guard. Ok. bought the 17" Grizzly. Installed the 1" 3 tpi blade. Saws fast and furious with the 2 hp motor. PROBLEM. Walnut log 4' long by 12" around is all I can do to just lift it end for end into the truck like the logs shows above. My wife and I resawed one 2 nights ago...she is tough but pulled something. SO....no more of that nonsense.

Ok. I have two Grizzly pump action 300 pound tables on wheels that pump up to about tail gait height. I bought them to help me lift big plastic totes into and from my pickup bed as I work in a Royal Ranger group (Church Boyscouts ish) and wanted to save my back.

So I am going to make a stackable table that fits over the top of these two pump tables so I can get my logs in and out of the truck and up to the height of the 17" grizzly. Then on top of those I plan a 10' removable table that can friction fit ontop the bandsaw table and be supported by the two grizzly pump tables.
Processing..... I will have a 4' table on top of each of the pump stands. So the 8' sled will roll over these tables. Do I want to put wheels in this or use the roller balls 6 for 23.00 that grizzly sells.
Or go the 300.00 bucks for the adjustable roller tables that grizzly has. Shop room is a premium. So I am opting out for no more floor space waste with seldom used tools.

One of the pictures I have seen is a table that fit over both sides of the bandsaw table that extended 10 feet. then it had a guide in the plywood and a guide on the side that ran it straight and parallel with the blade.

Cooking up some plans here. 5 4' long walnut logs sitting in my shop...saying..I dare you! I am picking up 2 more tonight. Just junk logs that people were cutting up for firewood. Nice walnut!

 

[woodnthings]

2 separate issues .....

The issues are:
(1) lifting the logs
(2) supporting them as they are run through the bandsaw


You can combine the 2 or not. A motor lift/cherry picker will work to lift them and move them, but the wheels are a bit small. A pump lift table will work also and has the added advantage of adjustable height.

For the resaw setup I made, I use adjustable height roller supports.
These worker OK, but the rollers weren't really in use so ...

I then I made a jointer extension support by removing the rollers (easily done) with a 2 x 12" plank.

Get 4 elcheapo roller stands.
Remove the rollers and replace them with a 2" x 12" plank on either side of the table, assuming you have 4 stands. Under the plank you can "tack" additional support struts to support the plank if it sags. To remove the rollers from the stands just push in on the pin, it's springloaded, and the roller will pop out.
If you don't have 2 - 2 x12" planks just buy some at HD, use them, and return them the next day, "Sorry, I didn't need these...... any more" :blink: bill
Attached Thumbnails


https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/resaw-large-logs-your-bandsaw-58708/

 

[Mark Jones Ozark]

I had one cheapo roller stand on the infeed side under a piece of plywood that I used as a sled (wasted it (plywood)) It worked but it wasn't stout enough for that weight after I was done it had settled down a inch or so.

Main thing is as you said. The weight of the logs getting them up on the table and managing them. I will take some pictures as the project comes to life in the week. Busy racing (pinewood derby cars this weekend) may get to it sunday. Installed the dusty deputy 4" on the bandsaw and it's working like a charm..no dust in the filter!

Will get some video of the process. Not a lot out on the web on 4' long logs...it's work that is for sure. My other resawing on the bandsaw was 3' long logs and most of those were cedar much lighter than the walnut. Used a bandsaw mill this past summer and milled a bunch of 10x10x 18' long beams from trees. That was about 5 days of fun up in Alaska.

4' is my length limit. I may have to back off from that and go 3' if I don't get a good solution. Walnut is HEAVY!

Thanks for posting.

 

[Mark Jones Ozark]

I got the aux table built this last sunday. Here is some pictures of my shop update. I will be making the 10' long 28" wide resaw table with roller bearings in it that these two tables will support and allow me to lift the logs up. The resaw fence is already built from a few years ago it has a sliding fence that allows me to keep the log secured while I cut off the lumber.
This link is a ongoing ling so the pictures could be nested down in this report.

http://readyrangers.tzo.com/2019ShopUpdate/shopupdate2019.htm

 

[woodnthings]

You may want to 1/4 your logs ......

When I sawed my Spalted Maple it was way too heavy to manage, so I quartered it with a chainsaw. Ripping down the length of a log as opposed to cross cutting takes forever! There are special ground chains for ripping, if you are doing much of that.


This also gives you 2 flat surfaces to rest on the table for less setup hassle and it's more safe. I haven't done anymore of this since I posted the roller setup, but aside from ripping the log, it's easy to do.
:vs_cool:

 

[Mark Jones Ozark]

In years past we did rip the logs with the chain saw to get them down to a smaller size. Here is a video from 6 years ago with my first resaw.

Here is me using a chainsaw. it works.

With the 4' long logs it can still be done. With the sled on the 17' with roller sled I should be able to get a extra board out of these logs.

Should have the roller table built this weekend...hopefully.

 

[woodnthings]

I like this sled ......




Lola Ranch made this sled and support system. It's two separate issues in my opinion. The support system including the center guide makes the sled a "no brainer", in that it can only ride within the guide, parallel to the edges. Once the log/cant is attached to the face of the sled.... off you go. Then, the next issue is making the "thickness" adjustments, and making the face of the sled parallel each time you change it. I won't engineer it here, but that's as critical as any other part of the system.



So, we have the support, the parallel guide and the thickness adjustments to make the ideal Resaw Sled System. :vs_cool: