# homemade bandmill



## camojeep (Aug 28, 2008)

Been a busy spring and summer and i tired of using my alaskan decided to build a band mill i dont know much about them . I will hopefully finish the carrage this week end got to finish welding and make some blade guides and some gaurds . I got a wood mizer blade .042 7/8 pitch got a ten horse mounted on it do you think that will pull it? I got pulleys for 5500 sfpm does that sound right? I got i beams for the track does any body got any good ideas for racheting log dogs or any pics of dogs for holding the log Ill post more pics as i progress Thanks


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## redprospector (Aug 28, 2008)

5500 sfpm sounds a little fast to me, but I'm going off of my memory. 
The sfpm you want depends on a lot of different things, but in my opinion the size & type of blade are the most important ones. 
For the .042 x I'm assuming 1 1/4" blade it seems like I remember a sfpm of 4800.
Try googling Suffolk Machinery. They have a lot of good info on band blades & set up.

Andy


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## FJH (Aug 29, 2008)

redprospector said:


> 5500 sfpm sounds a little fast to me, but I'm going off of my memory.
> The sfpm you want depends on a lot of different things, but in my opinion the size & type of blade are the most important ones.
> For the .042 x I'm assuming 1 1/4" blade it seems like I remember a sfpm of 4800.
> Try googling Suffolk Machinery. They have a lot of good info on band blades & set up.
> ...



http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/troubleshooting.asp


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## redprospector (Aug 29, 2008)

FJH said:


> http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/troubleshooting.asp



+1
Thanks

Andy


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## camojeep (Aug 29, 2008)

http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/did_you_know.asp Thanks for the link this one suggest 5800 sfpm it looks like for a 1 1/4 blade


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## EPA (Aug 29, 2008)

Hi Ho: Here is the simplest and best clamp I'v seen JP


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## redprospector (Aug 29, 2008)

camojeep said:


> http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/did_you_know.asp Thanks for the link this one suggest 5800 sfpm it looks like for a 1 1/4 blade



I knew there was an 8 in there somewhere. 
That's what I get for going by my memory instead of looking it up and sounding smart.

Andy


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## camojeep (Aug 29, 2008)

EPA said:


> Hi Ho: Here is the simplest and best clamp I'v seen JP



is that like a cam that gets tight when you turn it? thanks


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## Mike Van (Aug 30, 2008)

Blade speed has a lot to do with the horsepower you have too - I was up around 5400 fpm, slowed up to 4800 and got better results. This was on advise from Tim Cook from Cooksaw in Alabama. I'm not sure what the percentage is, but the 10 hp 3 phase motor I run has a lot more available power than a 10 hp gas engine. Has to do with electric efficiency over gas engine efficiency. At 5500 fpm with the engine you have, results might be dissapointing.


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## olyman (Aug 30, 2008)

used to be the rule of thumb was 5 hp gas---to 1 hp electric---so a 10 hp electric was same as 50 hp gas---


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## EPA (Aug 30, 2008)

Yes the cam clamp has about 5/8" of offset to give good clamping action. EPA


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## Backwood (Aug 30, 2008)

The 10 horse I have wouldnt compare to a 50 gas  . I remember seeing in a grainger book that it was either 1 2/3 or 1 3/4 hp to 1 . So a 10hp electric should compare to around 17hp gas. Cant find chart in new book.

My dogs are cam acting. I took a 5" round peice of 1/4" steel plate and welded a piece of 3/4" pipe to it. Weld the pipe off center ( I welded mine about halfway between center and edge of disc ). Then I have 3" pieces of 1" pipe welded every several inches down a crossmember in the frame. I had to file the weld out of the inside of them but it was worth it. I made several cam clamps with different length pipes. welded a handle, then used a bungee strap to keep it tight. ( chain and a spring would probably be better )


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## EPA (Aug 30, 2008)

Here is another view and another model of a cam clamp ///EPA


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## camojeep (Aug 30, 2008)

couldnt resist got her runnin had to cut something cuts little faster than a chain saw i got to make ga rds and track now


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## Mike Van (Aug 30, 2008)

I'm just guessing you've never seen a blade let loose on one of these? Running that machine with no blade guards is just really dumb. Sorry, there's no way to say that nicely.


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## camojeep (Aug 30, 2008)

no i have never seen a band mill in operation neighbors got an old one with a big rip blade that looks pretty dangerous im gonna get guards made tomorrow


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## redprospector (Aug 30, 2008)

camojeep said:


> couldnt resist got her runnin had to cut something cuts little faster than a chain saw i got to make ga rds and track now



I've never cut with a bandmill with a 10 hp engine, but it should cut quite a bit faster than a chainsaw in the same cut.

Andy


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## camojeep (Aug 30, 2008)

id guess 5 times faster only made 3 cuts i think it will be nice when i get it all done


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## mtngun (Aug 30, 2008)

Your mill looks like a pretty good design. Keep the pictures coming.


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## camojeep (Aug 31, 2008)

guards installed needs paint


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## redprospector (Aug 31, 2008)

That was quick. Looks pretty good too. You might want to cut a hole/put in a chute for the sawdust to exit the guard. Otherwise it will build up on the end of your guard and possibly cause you some problems.
I saw that the bottom was open, and you'd think the sawdust would just fall out but it won't.

Andy


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## glennschumann (Sep 1, 2008)

Nice work... looks like it is cutting reasonable smoothly too. A friend has been tossing around the idea of building one... maybe showing this to him will tip the scales. Again nice work... keep it coming.


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## Backwoods (Sep 1, 2008)

Nope you haven’t seen a saw brake yet!!! 
The sawdust may not come out the bottom but that saw sure will. 

Think of it this way. That saw is traveling at what 4800 fpm and when it cuts loose, it has a considerable amount of energy behind it. Take a 1 ¼ chisel, place it against the guard and give it a good rap with a 3lb sledge. It may even have enough energy to go right thru that tin. 

My dust shut has several pieces of ¼” steel welded vertically and I have had saws bust apart in four pieces and get past them. It is better to contain the saw in a heavy-duty guard and have to cut the saw out then it is to have a saw get loose. That would be plane ugly.

Always error on the side of safety.


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## camojeep (Sep 5, 2008)

latest progress


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## logbuzzard (Sep 6, 2008)

Awesome work and an inspiration for my own mill project. What log clamp style did you decide to go with? I really like the eccentric cam style shown in the previous post. Please post more pics when you can!

Thanks,
Will


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## Dennis_Peacock (Sep 6, 2008)

I like it and wish I had a mill like that. Been eyeballin one by Woodmizer for several years now.....but hey, all it takes is money.


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## camojeep (Sep 6, 2008)

I would have liked a woodmizer also but cant justify the cost i got about 600 in steel (steel is expensive these days) 25 in pulleys and 60 in blades had the motor laying around and the i beam i picked up for free . Im gonna make cams yet got to cut them out. Today i just used wedges . I got it set up were 6 in cams welded to a pipe should drop in the tube then you can rotate tight .I found a small walnut blown down i cut up not much lumber in it but the saw worked good


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## camojeep (Sep 7, 2008)

got a couple cams done


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## Backwoods (Sep 7, 2008)

I like that you have clamping holes on each cross member, the more clamping options the better. You may want to add additional bedrails in between each cross member as they look to be a bit far apart, I am guessing 36”. When cutting thin boards they may have a tendency to bow down a bit, 18” would be a better spacing and they do not need to be as heavy as what you already have in place.


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## logbuzzard (Sep 8, 2008)

Great pics, please post as many as you can.

The cuts look good, but you may want to adjust the blade guide closer to the width of the beam when cutting. It looks wide open in the pics. That will help keep the blade from waving up and down through the cut.


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## lazermule (Sep 11, 2008)

*looks great*

I will probably build one someday. Do you have a bit more detail (pictures) on the drive / clutch mechanism you have? For some reason I am having an issue in my mind on how to fabricate this mechanism. It looks like you have used a brake rotor as a driven pulley?

Great work!

Lazer


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## woodshop (Sep 11, 2008)

I'm loving this thread guys, keep it coming. Makes me wish I had more room, more welding skills and more time to do this kind of thing. Alas, most of us (to some degree) make our own prisons when it comes to time.


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## camojeep (Sep 11, 2008)

lazermule said:


> I will probably build one someday. Do you have a bit more detail (pictures) on the drive / clutch mechanism you have? For some reason I am having an issue in my mind on how to fabricate this mechanism. It looks like you have used a brake rotor as a driven pulley?
> 
> Great work!
> 
> Lazer



im a mechanic got plenty of car parts laying around the hubs are of the front of a front wheel drive so they have holes in them, drive wheel and drive hub are aligned so drive shaft is in between . I Was trying to come up with a 12 inch pulley and decided i have 12 inch rotors and a brake lathe, so i cut a v in the rotor to fit the belt,works good, the tensioner is a pulley that slides up to tension the belt, controlled by the rod, works nice and is very simple ill try to get more pics of it tommorow


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## camojeep (Sep 12, 2008)

more pics of drive, got some new clamps made for small logs, kids want monkey bars so im cutting 4x4 posts out of small cedar,lots of them around here dead and blown down,cams work good on larger stuff


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## Backwoods (Sep 13, 2008)

Looking good.

It looks like it is functioning ok. Now it is time to work out all the bugs. It looks like you have some more tinkering to do with the clamping system, play with it a bit and you find what works best. 

Next thing you know the kids will want a fort, then they will want you to expand the fort.


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## parrisw (Sep 14, 2008)

Very nice work. I like it. I need more time!!


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