# Chaikwa and MY homebuilt Lynn Bandsaw mill.



## StubornDutchman (Mar 19, 2013)

First off, Chaikwa is one heck of a guy! I met him last year and had the pleasure of assisting him mill some logs on his homebuilt Lynn Mill. What an awesome set up he fabricated, overbuilt in many respects. For some reason he took pity on me and offered to help me build my own mill. I’ve turned out to be a great observer and general all around gopher though. The phrase “good help is hard to find” comes up often.

Seriously, the project is well underway and it’s time to share our story. The bed is 28’ long not counting the tongue, resulting in about a 24’ log capacity. The two main frame rails are made out of 8” high strength truck frame. It has one single torsion axle that is easily removable by detaching four bolts. The carriage wheel track is made out of 3/8” angle iron. The carriage is 90% complete and rolls down the entire length of track using only one finger. Chaikwa is a wizard when it comes to welding and heat control. Everything is true in all respects. This thing is super solid.

I have a couple pics I will try to post. I just need to set up a photobucket account and master the process of posting them here.

As mentioned in other parts of the forum, our woods was severely damaged by a tornado and the logger left behind about a hundred logs that have milling potential. Plus there are numerous shorter logs (4’/6’/8’) that can be milled for table tops, dog houses, benches, etc. . Lots of oak, cherry, hickory, and ash to be milled. No softwood to speak of. I have a couple neighbors that also took a hit from the storm and they seem interested in me doing some milling for them, probably on a share vs. $$$ basis. This mill will see a lot of use.

There is no way I can thank Chaikwa enough for all his efforts. I can’t tell you how excited this whole project has me. I’m surprised some of my relatives haven’t tired of hearing me go on about the project. I guess it helps that they are already making requests for stuff they want built.


----------



## rarefish383 (Mar 19, 2013)

Ain't it great to feel all excited like a kid again? I wish you were in Marshall, VA, I can drive that far. I'll have to settle on pictures. I use photobucket and it's easy to post. Go to PB, click on the picture and then click on the IMG code(it will say copied), then come back here and push the control key and the "v" key and it will post the whole picture, not just a link or thumbnail. good luck with the new mill, Joe.


----------



## chaikwa (Mar 20, 2013)

So where are the pics? I wanna see what I'm building! 

Don't let him fool you, he's a lot more than an 'observer'! HE is building this mill, not me. I'm just steering things in the right direction and avoiding the small quirks I ran into when I built mine. This IS going to be one fantastic mill tho, it's being done right, right from the start! 

Oh, and he doesn't owe me any thanks. I'll help anyone who is willing to take the initiative, grab the bull by the horns and make something happen.

And for anyone who might be interested, Gary at Linn Lumber has apparently sold his sawmill manufacturing business to the guy that worked for him. I found that out when I called to order parts for the above mill. But Chris has the same customer driven values as Gary had and is very easy to deal with. This mill is being built as time and money allows, and Chris was MORE than willing to work with us and supply only the pieces and parts we needed right at the moment. He even GAVE us the blade tensioner mount because we needed it to fabricate the band wheel yoke but couldn't shell out the money for the complete tensioner assembly, just to have it sit around for 2 or more months until we were ready for it. Great people to deal with if you're going to build your own mill!


----------



## StubornDutchman (Mar 21, 2013)

Here goes my first ever attempt at posting pics. Sure hope it works. Thanks rarefish383.


----------



## PhilB (Mar 21, 2013)

Looking good! Looks like it's coming together. Good job.

Phil


----------



## golddredgergold (Mar 21, 2013)

Coming along great! I am in the middle of building mine to. Good fun just cannot wait to get my first log loaded on and cutting! Looking forward to more pix along the way.


----------



## StubornDutchman (Mar 21, 2013)

golddredgergold said:


> Coming along great! I am in the middle of building mine to. Good fun just cannot wait to get my first log loaded on and cutting! Looking forward to more pix along the way.



Thanks. This is a real learning experience. I can run a decent bead but consider myself a hack welder. Chaikwa has a lot of experience building to DOT specs and has showed me a lot of do's and don'ts about critical welds and heat control. It's simply amazing how well he has things fitting together with no tweaking required. 

Before starting on this we built up a set of pallet forks for my John Deere 3010 that will get quite a work out feeding the mill this summer. $$$$ is the only limiting factor but the mill should be up and running by early summer. Just in time for the heat and mosquitoes.


----------



## golddredgergold (Mar 21, 2013)

Yep same boat here. $$$$$ are a hold up. But getting there a small chunk at a time. I have bought all the pillow blocks and the wheels for the carriage metal for the carriage frame and started welding is all together. I have the 1 threaded couplers as well. I just bought a large trailer project that gave me enough metal for the mill frame bed solid here at home and enough to build the 16ft long tandem axle trailer for hauling logs back. I have a Mac Super pro 125 saw for it. I plan to cut doug fir and walnut and maple. I am just tired of buying wood and paying top dollar for it. I build a shed 2 years ago 8X12' it cost me $800 to build roofing and all. I want one more and I priced it now and it will cost me $1500 plus this year for the exact same building materials!:bang: So I will be milling my own 2x4's starting very very soon!


----------



## jimdad07 (Mar 21, 2013)

The base of your mill looks great, as well as the carriage. I am looking forward to seeing more. Like a lot of others here I plan to do the same at some point.


----------



## StubornDutchman (Mar 21, 2013)

golddredgergold said:


> Yep same boat here. $$$$$ are a hold up. But getting there a small chunk at a time. I have bought all the pillow blocks and the wheels for the carriage metal for the carriage frame and started welding is all together. I have the 1 threaded couplers as well. I just bought a large trailer project that gave me enough metal for the mill frame bed solid here at home and enough to build the 16ft long tandem axle trailer for hauling logs back. I have a Mac Super pro 125 saw for it. I plan to cut doug fir and walnut and maple. I am just tired of buying wood and paying top dollar for it. I build a shed 2 years ago 8X12' it cost me $800 to build roofing and all. I want one more and I priced it now and it will cost me $1500 plus this year for the exact same building materials!:bang: So I will be milling my own 2x4's starting very very soon!



I hear you re material price increases! I plan on building some outbuildings to store farm equipment so the mill will pay for itself in short order. It sounds like you are off to a good start as well. It's real satisfying to construct something so worthwhile, isn't it?


----------



## StubornDutchman (Mar 21, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> The base of your mill looks great, as well as the carriage. I am looking forward to seeing more. Like a lot of others here I plan to do the same at some point.



Thanks. Lots of overbuild designed in in-case I get a little careless loading logs. I have some logs that may put quite a strain on my loader tractor and I sure don't want to risk tweaking the bed frame out of shape if a log slips off the forks. Someday maybe we will get pics of your project. Looking forward to it.


----------



## StubornDutchman (Apr 11, 2013)

Lots of progress since my last post and will get a couple more pics up shortly. We got the 18 hp Briggs running after a partial tear down and clean up. The carriage is now about 95% complete and I start painting tomorrow.  Chaikwa discovered that the up/down motor had increased in price from <$200 to over $400. He kept searching and discovered that a semi trailer tarp motor had similar specs and cost less than $140! It works great and even came with a fancy chrome cover, a nice little touch of bling. To say that I am a happy camper is an understatement. With luck we should be making test cuts next month.


----------



## StubornDutchman (Apr 14, 2013)

Here are some more pics. The carriage assy is almost done. All we need to finish besides paintwork, is for the guards, Tiny Tach and an alt gauge. That old 18hp Briggs only had a 4 amp alt, not enough to keep up with the up/down motor's 60 amp draw. Chaikwa easily solved that by ingeniously mounting a spare automotive alternator I had.


----------



## golddredgergold (Apr 14, 2013)

Very cool looking sharp and getting close to making some sawdust fly!!!!! Keep the pix coming and nice work there!:msp_smile:


----------



## Dave Boyt (Apr 15, 2013)

There is a lot of good advice and help on the forum, and I appreciate it when people help out fellow sawyers :msp_thumbsup: Looking forward to more pictures, especially when you start milling! Glad to hear the company is still in business. We're still working with tornado logs here, too (Joplin, MO).


----------



## StubornDutchman (May 23, 2013)

Well, she's ready for paint! We did some test cuts and except for a stubborn electric clutch everything went great. Note the cut outs in the bunks to prevent sawdust buildup. The hitch assy should be here soon. The tower holds a Warn 4000# winch for pulling logs onto the trailer and turning.


----------



## Greenland South (May 23, 2013)

This stuff makes me smile. Good job.:msp_biggrin:


----------



## mad murdock (May 23, 2013)

Very nice work!


----------

