# First go at making a mini/rail mill



## BobL (Apr 14, 2009)

It's still been too warm to mill so I thought I'd start a new project - something I've had in my plans book for some time. This is part one of a rail or beam mill. My aim here is to make something that I can use to break up slabs into boards or beams but I may also use it to make cants so that I do not need to roll the log. I also thought I should show you what it looks like when I weld it up - warts and all - instead of the glossy job done by my BIL. Don't worry - even though it looks dodgy, it's plenty strong enough for what I want to use it for. Except for the wheels which I turned on the metal lathe at work everything else has been done in my shed - nothing fancy $60 stick welder, budget $20 angle grinder, and heavy duty drill press.




The design is based on a whole lot of ideas snaffled from here and there although I think my bar tilt correction mechanism may be an original idea - I never can tell because I look at so many designs. The frame is basically 1" x 3/16" angle iron which I did pay money for. The chunky metal blocks come from a bent heavy duty tow bar I picked up from the kerbside garbage pickup. The rests is craps from the scrap bin at work.

The base is designed to run on any flat board that is at least 1" thick and from 3 to 5.5" wide. Here is a view from the top.


The two nuts sitting atop the long slots, and the bolt at the back can be undone so the back wheel section slides out to accommodate wider boards


The brass wheels turn on 1/4" bolts and have 90º Vees cut into the rolling face. This stops the mill moving sideways and up and down. I'm trying without bearings to start with as it runs free and smooth but let's wait and see what sawdust will do.



The angle of the bar away from the vertical can be change by loosening all the allen bolts and the bolt atop the rear metal block then moving the bar to the desired position - usually vertical - this can be checked with a digital angle finder. The movement os very smooth allowing for fine tuning of the bar tilt angle.

The extent of the movement/correction possible is shown here.



Currently I have a basic bar clamp to hold the CS but there are a lot more mods/extras to be added yet including a design that connects direct to the bar bolts like otehr mills already out there.


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## BobL (Apr 14, 2009)

Here is a little mod I added to enable the mill to sit very squarely on the beam.

It's very easy to get 3 wheels to sit in the one plane and I was toying around with just using 3 but then I decided to use 4! This is much trickier and so I came up with a little adjuster that varies the height of the 4th wheel to become part of the same plane as the other 3 wheels and stops the mill from rocking.

The allen bolts that some in from the top are connected to the 1/4" bolt used as the wheel axle because the cam like brass piece has a threaded hole so the allen bolt can purchase on it. By turning the small nuts on the allen bolts (they look like locking nuts) the nuts moves the wheel up or down - This works really well.




Will keep updating this as I add things to it!

Cheers


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## Brmorgan (Apr 14, 2009)

I'm really liking the vee rollers there, Bob. I see some similarities to my design - same ideas carried out a bit differently, more or less. Note your first reply in that thread... FWIW, I haven't yet had any problems re: your concern in that post.

I hope you find yours as useful as I've found mine to be. There's something to be said for not having to turn the log to square it, especially some of the ones you have shown yourself working with. And now you have the 076 and 880, so you could set up one for the big mill and one for this one. Mine still needs some fine-tuning and a nice coat of paint, but it works. One thing I was going to add is a pair of set-screws on the bottom side of the bar clamp, one on each side of the bar. These could be turned in or out to fine-tune the squareness of the bar to the guide.







The set screws could be adjusted back and forth to very slightly bend the bar to cut square. An added benefit would be a second point securing the bar to the mill. I see that your mill has this adjustability built-in via the pillow block setup - good thinking there. Gives me some ideas for modifications.


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## BobL (Apr 14, 2009)

Brmorgan said:


> I'm really liking the vee rollers there, Bob. I see some similarities to my design - same ideas carried out a bit differently, more or less. Note your first reply in that thread... FWIW, I haven't yet had any problems re: your concern in that post.



Cheers Brad. Yep, I have to admit I looked at yours for a long time and definitely got the pillow block idea from you. I have a fair bit of unistrut laying around and was going to use that as well but decided to slot the angle instead, just drill a hole at the end of the slot. Cut the slot out with my thin kerf cutting blade in my small table saw, and then close the slot end the end back up again with a bit of welding.



> One thing I was going to add is a pair of set-screws on the bottom side of the bar clamp, one on each side of the bar. These could be turned in or out to fine-tune the squareness of the bar to the guide.



Humm . . . good idea but I'm not sure about whether that would work. - there would need to be a lot of stress on the bar and bar clamp to move it, plus the chain is then running permanently in a curved channel and that will wear the chain and bar in a non-standard way. The other design I have seen is rotating the clamp head itself but that mean teh saw MUST be kept vertical and it seemed at least as complicated as my correction method and I want to be able to use several variations of clamp head so I wanted the vertical correction done further back in the mill frame without having to build it into every clamp head.


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## SilverBox (Apr 14, 2009)

I like it!!! Looks like it will work nice, but it seems like you'll probably be using a wider guide board most of the time, that smaller setting seems like it might be a bit tilty with a heavy powerhead attached.


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## BobL (Apr 14, 2009)

SilverBox said:


> I like it!!! Looks like it will work nice, but it seems like you'll probably be using a wider guide board most of the time, that smaller setting seems like it might be a bit tilty with a heavy powerhead attached.



Thanks SB. The biggest powerhead I plan to run with this is a 660 but mainly I will use my 441 to break up slabs.

The bits I have made so far should work on their own, but the eventual plan is this.



What I have made so far is the bit inside the striped box. The beam will consist of two 1.5 x 3" beams welded in a T-shape as shown or I might go for a 4 x 2 on top of a 3 x 2. With the V-profile wheels also gripping the beam underneath any tilt should be less of a problem.

Meanwhile I'm working on a bar bolt connector.


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## irishcountry (Apr 14, 2009)

Looks great!! As always top notch! Doesn't look like that going anywhere heavy duty I was just thinking about why they don't use wheels on the granberg!! I have one on my b-day list which is pretty short so hoping to get one soon can't wait to try it out though yours looks much sturdier!! Get job have fun with it.. Take care irishcountry


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## BobL (Apr 15, 2009)

OK - all prettied up in volcano orange with the 441 sitting on top.


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## Brmorgan (Apr 15, 2009)

Looks good Bob. One thing I might suggest is to use some washers on both ends of the bolts on the bar mount squaretube sections. I initially used squaretube for mine, and the necessary tension to keep the bar tight eventually bent the ends all to pieces. Yours looks to be a bit heavier gauge material though, so it might stand up OK.


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## striperswaper (Apr 15, 2009)

so how does it cut?


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## BobL (Apr 15, 2009)

Brmorgan said:


> Looks good Bob. One thing I might suggest is to use some washers on both ends of the bolts on the bar mount squaretube sections. I initially used squaretube for mine, and the necessary tension to keep the bar tight eventually bent the ends all to pieces. Yours looks to be a bit heavier gauge material though, so it might stand up OK.



Yeah those bolts are also too short - I need to get some that are 1/2" longer so I can add regular and spring washers. I made that standard bar clamper so that I can use any chainsaw with the mill but I am also in the middle of making two different bar bolt mounters and will prefer these so I don't have to worry about bending the bar clamps. 



striperswaper said:


> so how does it cut?


Can't say since I live in an inner city block and the neighbors will go bonkers if I fire up the saw in the evenings - have to wait till saturday.


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## Kicker_92 (Apr 15, 2009)

Nice mill Bob, how do you think those rollers will do with sawdust buildup on the guide rails?

I'm not sure what your climates like there, but around here I've been having problems when it's raining with sawdust clumps on the guides for my Granberg Mini-Mill. The mill rides up on the lumps and throws the cut out of square.


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## BobL (Apr 15, 2009)

Kicker_92 said:


> Nice mill Bob, how do you think those rollers will do with sawdust buildup on the guide rails?
> 
> I'm not sure what your climates like there, but around here I've been having problems when it's raining with sawdust clumps on the guides for my Granberg Mini-Mill. The mill rides up on the lumps and throws the cut out of square.



Yep - that flag has been up for a couple of years since I first saw a mini mill in action. I have two proposed solutions.

1) I want to make a sheet metal cover that goes over the whole mill and the front edge of which has either rubber or brush wipers. We have these wipers on a big belt sander at work and they work a treat. You see those holes on the top of the black pillow blocks - they are ready for threading to hold the cover.





2) The bigger plan is . . .




This means I can then try cutting using the other side of the bar so the sawdust is squirted down instead of up.


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## dallasm1 (Apr 15, 2009)

[/QUOTE]
This means I can then try cutting using the other side of the bar so the sawdust is squirted down instead of up.[/QUOTE]

That would be an elegant solution to the upward blowing sawdust problem. The bottom wheels would hold the rig down as cutting with the "top" of the bar would drive the rig upwards. Great idea. Great thread Bobl.


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## BobL (Apr 15, 2009)

dallasm1 said:


> That would be an elegant solution to the upward blowing sawdust problem. The bottom wheels would hold the rig down as cutting with the "top" of the bar would drive the rig upwards. Great idea. Great thread Bobl.



Let me throw in another idea for cutting up slabs or cants that can cut in reverse ie cuts down, a riving knife on sprung wheels (I'm calling this a RiveJig)




The frictional contact with the cant would be minimal because the saw is trying to lift itself off the cant
The vertical counter cutting tension could be adjusted by having a threaded knob on the top of the spring which could be adjusted as the cut goes along in case the cant varies in thickness .

What do you reckon?


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## SilverBox (Apr 15, 2009)

BobL said:


> This means I can then try cutting using the other side of the bar so the sawdust is squirted down instead of up.




LOL, that would be SO NICE.. Then I wouldn't have to wear my motorcycle goggles while canting..


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## dallasm1 (Apr 15, 2009)

BobL said:


> Let me throw in another idea for cutting up slabs or cants that can cut in reverse ie cuts down, a riving knife on sprung wheels (I'm calling this a RiveJig)
> 
> 
> The frictional contact with the cant would be minimal because the saw is trying to lift itself off the cant
> ...



A couple of things. I think the force of the saw pushing up would mean a strong spring and as short a lever as possible, even perhaps one on each side of the bar. But the biggest problem I see is clearance on the bottom. I rarely have enough room under the log and often I sacrificially cut the log mounting timbers for convenience. Other times vertical blade does not even cut through the log entirely due to the size of the log. Trying to overcome that often leads design to the external frame setup (see Brmorgans great setup), losing portability in the process. Your top and bottom wheel design would lend itself very well to an external guide rail setup.


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## Brmorgan (Apr 15, 2009)

For a really strong spring, go to a car mechanic and get an old truck engine valve spring. Or just one from a smaller engine for a more realistic compression.

I'm with Dallas on his thought about your setup being ideal for mounting on a more permanent structure, like a Logosol of sorts. That isn't to say that I don't also think it's ideal for a more portable application as well. In fact, I think that with some tweaking, that rig is very close to being a marketable product as long as it does't infringe on any patents from Logosol etc (I'm not familiar enough with their stuff to know). That setup could, in theory, ride on a very straight 2X4/2X6 just as easily as a metal guide. You could sell that unit along with a set of pre-made portable guide rails, or with a set of instructions to build a more fixed setup from dimension lumber or whatever. 

I just wish I had the machining and welding capability at hand that you do. My neighbor is a machinist and can get some stuff done for me where he works, but I can't exactly have things done in short order that way. If I had a metal lathe and a TIG welder, I can only imagine what I would have come up with by now.


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## Raymond (Apr 15, 2009)

Bob you do good work. 
So tell me how did you get the wife 
to leave you alone so you could build it?


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## BobL (Apr 16, 2009)

Raymond said:


> Bob you do good work.


Cheers Ray!


> So tell me how did you get the wife to leave you alone so you could build it?



I slip her a little something every now and then 
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I do the wood work and she makes the jewelry!
Actually she's a mad horse rider so everything I do looks relatively "cheap as" !
"I Wanna buy an 880 !" - "Sure honey" - but her horse cost 10 times more than what the 880 cost!


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## BobL (Apr 16, 2009)

dallasm1 said:


> But the biggest problem I see is clearance on the bottom. I rarely have enough room under the log and often I sacrificially cut the log mounting timbers for convenience. Other times vertical blade does not even cut through the log entirely due to the size of the log.



Yep I agree that is a problem but The benefit of not spraying sawdust all over the place comes with some limitations.


In addition I realise that the RiveJig would have problems in squaring the sides of logs, because, 
- the variation in depth along the length of many logs would be too great to handle and I'd be continually having to adjusting the roller depths from underneath and it could even be outside the range of any spring.
- The slope of the side of the log would also ride the rollers underneath upwards and bend the blade away from the centre of the log. 

The intention is to use the RiveJig on slabs and cants that already have a flat bottom and can be supported well above the ground. Slabs and some cants can just overhang a set of heavy duty saw horses. For square cants that are too big and have to be left sitting firmly on supports it would not be too hard to make a set of supports that have a notch in them to allow the bottom wheels thru the notch. It would then be a matter of using a crow bar to lever the cant over to allow the bottom wheels to match up with and pass thru the notch.

All good ideas folks - keep em coming.


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## excess650 (Apr 16, 2009)

Raymond said:


> Bob you do good work.
> So tell me how did you get the wife
> to leave you alone so you could build it?



The answer is quite obvious. Bob's been slippin' 'er some wood!:hmm3grin2orange:

Bob, 
What kind of wood is that beside the blue beer bottle?


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## BobL (Apr 16, 2009)

excess650 said:


> The answer is quite obvious. Bob's been slippin' 'er some wood!:hmm3grin2orange:
> 
> Bob,
> What kind of wood is that beside the blue beer bottle?



It's called Banksia, it's stunning wood and has a funny Nut/fruit that looks like this






It's very hard to get in big logs, all logs split like crazy. I know a guy who lives in a banksia forest - he is a bit of a greeny but boy does he have some nice trees on his property!


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## BobL (Apr 16, 2009)

*Mini-Mill part 2*

Here is another CS mount for the mini-mill. It uses the bar bolt mount mechanism - stronger than the clamp method but is unbalanced in the current form - will work better once the rest of the trolley is made.








Im also working on a 3rd bar mount .


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## stipes (Apr 16, 2009)

*Nice Bob!!!*

I like that design!!!!


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## BobL (Apr 18, 2009)

*Minimill - more CS clamp mechanisms*

Here is another Minimill clamp mount mechanism. I think this is the one I'll be working with. I like this one. Its strong, more adjustable and better balanced of the two bar bolt mounts I've made.





The CS is held primarily by allen bolts at A & B.


Bolts E&F hold the 2" x 1/4" vertical steel plate that can be replaced to suit different CS bar mounts.

Bolts C&C1 and D&D1 can be used to grip the bar. As well as providing extra bracing these bolts can be used to adjust the twist of the blade so the blade cuts parallel to the beam. This may be needed because there are quite a few bits of metal between the rail and CS. The way this is done is to loosen allen bolts at mount point A&B and then C&C1 and D&D1are used to adjust the blade twist, Then A&B are retightened. the amount of adjustment needed is small but it all helps.







If I was to make it again I would probably use 30 instead of 40 mm angle.

Now for the rest of the carriage


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## Brmorgan (Apr 18, 2009)

I like it. My only concern is that the lower bolts might be close enough to the bar rail grooves to pinch a bit and cause some extra friction. Of course I'm only looking at a little picture here so it might not look as close in person. Just wondering because one time my Alaskan mount loosened up during a cut, and crept too close to the bar rails and pinched a bit. I was still able to cut, but it just felt like the chain suddenly got dull. After not noticing the problem for a couple minutes, the extra friction caused the bar steel to overheat & blue for a couple inches around the clamp. I soon noticed the smoke. No real long-term harm done, fortunately.


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## BobL (Apr 18, 2009)

Brmorgan said:


> I like it. My only concern is that the lower bolts might be close enough to the bar rail grooves to pinch a bit and cause some extra friction. Of course I'm only looking at a little picture here so it might not look as close in person.



The blade twist adjust bolts are very close (< 1/16" from) but not over any part of the bar groove for a standard 2 ft Stihl bar so should work on all bars bigger than this. I wanted maximum leverage so I wanted them as far out as possible. Unfortunately this feature will not work on my 050 20" blade for my 50 cc Homelite but then again this blade is so narrow it is less important like it is for wider blades


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## Raymond (Apr 18, 2009)

Damn Bob you just keep making these while we sleep or what?
Like I said Bob you do some good work.  

My dad was a metal fabricator before he died. Doing all kinds of odd stuff. He was also a perfectionist. One day he had a friend of a friend come to see him with two old style mechanical arms. Somehow the guy lost both arms and wanted my dad to see if he could help him dial his arms in for him. I guess it was full of little cables and pulleys with many adjustments. 

The guy had both arms laying on his bench with my dad studying them for a few minute. The guy started getting restless and told my dad he needed to hurry. Dad got pissed and said hey DUDE I've never worked on mechanical arms before, if I ain't quick enough for ya take'em somewhere else.

The guy went to apologize and said no that's not it..I just have to pee. 
Dad give him back an arm, so he could piss. Then an hour or so later he give him back both arm and the guy was so happy said they never worked so good.


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## BobL (Apr 18, 2009)

Raymond said:


> Damn Bob you just keep making these while we sleep or what?
> Like I said Bob you do some good work.  .



Thanks Ray. I actually lay in bed awake and spend a lot of times in meetings at work rolling these ideas around in my head and dreaming up variation and improvements. I get a little frustrated that I have WAY more ideas than I every can build or ever write down and spend way too much time in my shed on fiddling around with how to make these. Anyway - I can do this or go to therapy - and this is cheaper and more effective 

Cheers


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## dallasm1 (Apr 18, 2009)

I really like this last mount of yours Bobl. These looks easy to fabricate and would add some serious stability to the whole rig. On my minimill with superstrut, the mounting is flimsy and I am using bracing arms on the saw. Even so the structure is not as strong as I would like and there are some vibrational issues. 
I really envy the length of your days down under. What is the metric conversion for hours? 2.54 of ours to one of yours? Otherwise how could you get all of this fabrication done, mill the lumber, AND post detailed pics and notes on AS. Keep up the great work and try to find some time for


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## BobL (Apr 20, 2009)

*Whole Carriage : WIP*



dallasm1 said:


> I really like this last mount of yours Bobl. These looks easy to fabricate and would add some serious stability to the whole rig. On my minimill with superstrut, the mounting is flimsy and I am using bracing arms on the saw. Even so the structure is not as strong as I would like and there are some vibrational issues.


I first saw a minimill about 2 years ago and I thought immediately of a number of ways it could be improved. I made some sketches in my books but this is the first chance I've had of working in it.



> I really envy the length of your days down under. What is the metric conversion for hours? 2.54 of ours to one of yours? Otherwise how could you get all of this fabrication done, mill the lumber, AND post detailed pics and notes on AS. Keep up the great work and try to find some time for



Cheers Dallas! I have to say I have a very understanding other half. She goes horse riding as much as she like and I get to hang out in my shed. A pity works gets in the way 

Remember this?





When here is the 3/4 made carriage



Top view



Side view, The whole carriage can expand to fit different side planks/beams.



Underneath view so that it can sit on top of another beam.



And one for luck.



Right now I'm making the teflon bearings for the bottom 4 wheels of the carriage. Even without the bearings it runs fairly smoothly.

Cheers


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## BIG JAKE (Apr 20, 2009)

I thought I'd posted on the sawdust buildup on the wheels with the rigid mounts. I like your Rive jig I think that will work. If one spring(i'm thinking valve spring too) isn't enough you could put two on and make the second with adjustable tension if necessary so you can minimize friction. Might not be an issue though. Nice work Bob are you doing this with a stick welder? Looks pretty smooth. I've been thinking of a possible carriage down the road for my Ripsaw so I can bring smaller logs home in event of mechanical issues up in the mountains. That way I won't waste a trip. Or if I don't get as much cutting done as I'd like I can bring a few home too. Anyway I'm watching with interest and again, nice job on the mill and the nice projects for your wife!  opcorn:


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## BobL (Apr 20, 2009)

BIG JAKE said:


> I thought I'd posted on the sawdust buildup on the wheels with the rigid mounts. I like your Rive jig I think that will work. If one spring(i'm thinking valve spring too) isn't enough you could put two on and make the second with adjustable tension if necessary so you can minimize friction. Might not be an issue though.


I'd like to work on this one right away but I gotta stop and do some chores next.



> Nice work Bob are you doing this with a stick welder? Looks pretty smooth.


Yeah it's just a $60 elcheapo stick welder. I need a lot of flush surfaces to make this carriage work properly and I can't do those nice recessed welds with this welder so I pre-bevel all the joins/seams and then over weld and grind off the excess with a flap sander - that's why it looks so smooth. I reckon about every third welding rod ends up on the floor of my shed. I could take it around to BILs and use the TIG but I want to save that for the really hard jobs. I wouldn't mind a TIG tho' they are sooo . . cool!.


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## stipes (Apr 20, 2009)

*Looks great!!!!*

I was wondering about the square tube vers. I beam ...Looks solid,,and liked the last mount you posted... Gotta make me one when I get time,,and the funds... Thanks for sharing!!!!!


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## Kicker_92 (Apr 20, 2009)

BobL said:


> Right now I'm making the teflon bearings for the bottom 4 wheels of the carriage. Even without the bearings it runs fairly smoothly.



Have you considered eliminating the wheels and all movint parts and just make them sliders with UHMWPE or Teflon? 

I'd picture a box around the tube, with low friction glides on all four sides and no clearance for sawdust to accumlate. With a ball end endmill, you could even install some graseless ball bearings inside to roll along the track like excavator turntables do.


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## dallasm1 (Apr 20, 2009)

BobL said:


> Here is another Minimill clamp mount mechanism. I think this is the one I'll be working with. I like this one. Its strong, more adjustable and better balanced of the two bar bolt mounts I've made.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## BobL (Apr 20, 2009)

Kicker_92 said:


> Have you considered eliminating the wheels and all movint parts and just make them sliders with UHMWPE or Teflon?
> 
> I'd picture a box around the tube, with low friction glides on all four sides and no clearance for sawdust to accumlate. With a ball end endmill, you could even install some graseless ball bearings inside to roll along the track like excavator turntables do.



Yep I have considered this approach several times but I am worried it would not be as steady or firm, as hard metal on metal contact. I even have some pieces of UHMPE and teflon in my shed where I half started this approach and I may well make one like that some time. I think UHMPE and teflon will be fine for a little saw but that stuff does flow and wear under pressure and it will need more adjustment and replacement over time if it is used with a bigger saw. The thing about my design is the wide range of correction possible to keep the saw vertical will compensate for any wear due to saw tilt.

RE: with low friction glides on all four sides
As I want my beam to be T shaped for extra strength the carriage can't go all the way around the 4 sides.

Cheers


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## BobL (Apr 20, 2009)

Hi dallas,

Some good ideas there.

When I quarter sawed (I have only done it once!) I found rolling the quarter so that one of the flat surfaces was at about 22º to the horizontal allowed me to use my BIL mill (which has 4 wheels on the inboard side of the mill so that the mill) so easily to peel off boards it would not be worth making something special for this.

However, some improvements to your design could be




Rotate the log 22º and rotate the power head 180º so it was better balanced and add an extra (blue) wheel.
I would prefer to have the whole base sittin on wheels rather than hard metal to wood contact which although the wood surface is already fairly flat will add to the effort required - at least for us old pharts anyway!

Cheers


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## dallasm1 (Apr 20, 2009)

BobL said:


> Hi dallas,
> 
> Some good ideas there.
> 
> ...



There I go! Over thinking it again! I could probably easily modify a smaller alaskan with wheels to do as you suggest. Most of the stuff that i will be quarter sawing is only about 6 - 16 in after it is quartered. Thanks for your valued input.


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## BobL (Apr 24, 2009)

*Finished . . . . well for the moment . . .*





In these you can see the perspex cover
Notice I modded the bar twist mechanism with a steel block to turn the bar.







The Perspex cover will eventually vibrate to bits but for the moment I can see what's going on underneath. Eventually I'll replace with an ally or galv steel cover.

Cheers


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## BobL (Apr 25, 2009)

*First run*

Well I had a short period of time this afternoon where I could nip down to the milling yard (12 miles away) to try the mini-mill out.

The main purpose of the mini-mill is to break up dry slabs so I can resaw the lumber on my bandsaw. I had a small slightly twisted slab of 3" thick red gum that I was going to cut up for firewood that I thought I would try it out with.

Here you can also see the grey T-shaped rail I made for it. The rail is made from two pieces of 10' long, 3 x 1.5" RHS (0.06") welded together into a T.




Back view



The basic idea is like any mini mill, clamp the rail onto the slab and then slide the mill and saw in one piece and onto the rail and . . . . cut.

Because the mill and saw are firmly held down the saw can cut either way - top OR bottom part of the bar.

The disadvantage of cutting with the bottom of the bar is because the chain is going up during the cut, the majority of the saw dust ends up spraying into the air over the rail, and if there is a breeze, the operator.

The advantage of cutting with the top of the bar has the chain going down during the cut so the majority of the saw dust ends up on the ground and not on the rail or the operator. However, the chain still throws enough chips back onto the operator to be a nuisance but a small guard should fix this. I thought there might be more vibration cutting with the top of the bar as the saw would tend to lift the mill and rail off the log but that did not happened - maybe it will with a longer slab.

This was a normal cut, you can see not much sawdust ended up on the rail, but of course it was a very narrow cut.



They look very happy with each other



Just to finish of a pic of my van with my minimal milling kit I carry between the yard and home. When I go bush I carry a lot more stuff including my log rails on the roofrack.


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## Matildasmate (Jun 12, 2009)

BobL;
I do the wood work and she makes the jewelry!
Actually she's a mad horse rider so everything I do looks relatively "cheap as" !
"I Wanna buy an 880 !" - "Sure honey" - but her horse cost 10 times more than what the 880 cost![/QUOTE said:


> Thats some fine looking wood work and jewelry there Bob , you and your wife must make a great team , very impressive mate . Cheers MM


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## BobL (Dec 24, 2011)

It's lmost 3 years ago I made the mini-rail-mill described in this thread to break up my slabs into lumber.

This method of cutting up the slabs works OK while the slabs are maneuverable and short enough to clamp down to my work table but what happens when they are longer?

What I want to be able to do is cut the slab with the CS mill and then perch the slab just off the side of the log and peel off lumber without tek screwing a guide board onto the slab.
So here is what I came up with.

I didn't have a slab at home to demonstrate this so I just demonstrate it with a piece of 4 x 2"



At one end the rail can sit flush with the end of the slab and use a conventional clamp like this. The rail overhang is just enough for the mill to perch on so the saw can be started



At the other end is a custom clamp that can be easily repositioned to cope with different length slabs.


My next problem is what happens if the slab is longer than the rail ?
So I am in the process of making a longer rail or maybe another that joins to this one.


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## mtngun (Dec 24, 2011)

Glad you are well enough to be building mills, BobL.


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## Fundyheather (Dec 25, 2011)

*Merry Christmas what a thread!*

Hi all, I'm a newbie with a small slabbing mill under development. I'll bother you with pictures later, but I just wanted to say these tips are precious in my sight.
jim


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## BobL (Dec 26, 2011)

Fundyheather said:


> Hi all, I'm a newbie with a small slabbing mill under development. I'll bother you with pictures later, but I just wanted to say these tips are precious in my sight.
> jim



Welcome Jim, Looking forward to seeing your photos.


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## Quietfly (Mar 3, 2016)

I know this is an old thread, but thank you for sharing this!!!!


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## Czech_Made (Apr 19, 2019)

Excellent design, Bob! I will be borrowing I mean stealing some of your ideas. The UHMW pieces on my mill are wearing out, plan is to do wheels instead.

I especially like the 45 degrees orientation of those wheels, what a clever solution!


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## BobL (Apr 19, 2019)

Czech_Made said:


> Excellent design, Bob! I will be borrowing I mean stealing some of your ideas. The UHMW pieces on my mill are wearing out, plan is to do wheels instea
> I especially like the 45 degrees orientation of those wheels, what a clever solution!



Thanks CM,

I made several versions of the saw holding attachments - themes solid one is where the mill bolts to the bar bolts but below are a few shots showing it in action to make park furniture.
This uses a conventional mill bar clamp because I had to cut to a specific depth - ie plunge then blind cut for about 6 ft.

Horizontal cut



Angled vertical cut.



More details and Photos about milling this park furniture here
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/nature-playground-milling.294273/#post-5779506


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## Tarki0 (May 19, 2019)

Your rig is a heck of an idea. Thanks for sharing it here. Gave me all kind of 'craz-nay' mad scientist ideas.


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## BobL (May 19, 2019)

Tarki0 said:


> Your rig is a heck of an idea. Thanks for sharing it here. Gave me all kind of 'craz-nay' mad scientist ideas.



Thanks, I have the odd "craz-nay mad scientist" ideas from time to time.


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