Bodging a Mill?

[Banacanin]

I hope this doesn't make me sound like an even bigger idiot than I may well be

I would very much like to own a band saw mill, but it just isn't in the budget. I was wondering if I could use some of the parts off of an 97 Gran Marquis that I own that is largely mechanically sound, but would be cost prohibitive in making Road legal. Should I sell the car for scrap and use the money towards a mill, or can I (with the help of some mechanical friends) make something out of the car that resembles a reliable, albeit quick and dirty band saw mill

I ask because I have seen several home made saw mills that use axles and tires on You tube. Has anyone ever done anything like this? What parts are best salvageable?

 

[Coalsmoke]

I think you'll find that the time involved to convert much of that car into a mill might not pay off vs the used price on a small mill. How much do you figure the car would net you?

 

[Brmorgan]

I hope this doesn't make me sound like an even bigger idiot than I may well be

I would very much like to own a band saw mill, but it just isn't in the budget. I was wondering if I could use some of the parts off of an 97 Gran Marquis that I own that is largely mechanically sound, but would be cost prohibitive in making Road legal. Should I sell the car for scrap and use the money towards a mill, or can I (with the help of some mechanical friends) make something out of the car that resembles a reliable, albeit quick and dirty band saw mill

I ask because I have seen several home made saw mills that use axles and tires on You tube. Has anyone ever done anything like this? What parts are best salvageable?

LOL now there's a good motto for me... I think at this point it's assumed to precede everything I'm about to say!

As far as the car --> mill idea, there's possible, and then there's practical. If you can think of it, chances are some redneck somewhere has already tried it though. There are some crazy homebrew setups on Youtube that guys seem to make do with.

 

[Banacanin]

I think you'll find that the time involved to convert much of that car into a mill might not pay off vs the used price on a small mill. How much do you figure the car would net you?

I would say that there is 2-400 dollars in steel, if I part the car out I could get more but my neighbours will not like it.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Brad mentioned the practical vs possible, which is really worth giving some careful thought. What I would do in your shoes is make a very detailed list of all items that the car can supply and all the items you will need to buy that the car won't be able to supply. My gut instinct says that after you buy all of the components that you can get from the car, you will be 3/4 of the way towards a small used bandmill and would have been better off to sell the car and put it towards a mill.

 

[BobL]

I googled the 97 GM specs, 4,601 cc 4.6 liters 8 V 90° 190 HP. I'd think that's a touch of overkill for any sort of home made bandsaw mill. The weight of it alone would also require a significant carriage and probably favour a fixed mill and moving the log past the blade. Sounds like a lot of work to me.

 

[TraditionalTool]

Bana',

I think you'll find there really is not a lot of parts that can be used from a car, other than the wheels/tires, if that's the route you want to go. Axles are pretty heavy and would be difficult to use as-is, IMO. Remember you will need to move the carriage on a set of rails...

If your handy, and know how to weld, you could get a bandmill kit from Linn Lumber, and I think you would be ahead of trying to fabricate something yourself. You will still need to fabricate a bed for it, and provide an power source, but you would have a decent sawmill if you know how to weld.

Homemade sawmills often take a long time to sell, if you can find one that has been fabricated already, you might be able to work out a deal with the seller.

To give you an idea, there was a homemade sawmill by me that he owner wanted $1500 for, it had a small engine on it, and used tires/wheels for the bandwheels. I just couldn't see the value in it myself. But it was for sale for months, so was drawing little interest at the $1500 figure. It didn't look too bad, but was a bit redneckish in design.

As far as putting together a bandmill, even with the parts kit from Linn, you still need some type of motor or engine. One way to go would be with a 3 phase motor, a 5HP or 10HP would be ideal. Many are sold and/or tossed out cheaply as mostly industrial is the only area that uses them. Most industrial will be a new replacement if they have one go out. If you have a phase converter, it's not a bad option, or if you have access to 3 phase power. Most residential doesn't though. I have a Rotary Phase Converter I use on my woodworking machines with 3 phase. They aren't cheap, but you could build one if you needed to...3 phase motors are much quieter than gas/diesel engines, that is one advantage.

Better would be to get an Alaskan style chainsaw mill and use one of your chainsaws on it. Yeah, not a bandmill but it will do work for you.

There are some decent deals out there on used bandmills, so if you really want one, start saving and keep an eye out. Eventually you will find something that fits your needs and budget.

Another thought is to cut firewood and sell it to make enough to buy a used bandmill. I think that would be more probable than building one out of parts from an old car. My $0.02. (worth what you paid me for it )

 

[mikeb1079]

sell the car. take the 400 bucks and buy a used husky 395 stihl 066. use your handiness and parts and fab your own alaskan style mill. use with chainsaw. mill lumber. have fun.

i started last fall with this setup and i bet i've got a thousand board feet in the back yard.

dry lumber. sell lumber down the road to pay for your future bandsaw mill.

 

[Banacanin]

I googled the 97 GM specs, 4,601 cc 4.6 liters 8 V 90° 190 HP. I'd think that's a touch of overkill for any sort of home made bandsaw mill. The weight of it alone would also require a significant carriage and probably favour a fixed mill and moving the log past the blade. Sounds like a lot of work to me.

actually i have the police interceptor fuel injector chip and a few other goodies and without exhaust it is quite a bit more powerful than it was stock. For a big comfy car, it really moved. On one round trip, I was pulled over for speeding in Ontario and every U.S. State from here and to Tennessee The kind folks in Ohio (twice) and Michigan were kind enough to let me off with warnings, while Ontario,Kentucky and TN wanted their ransom. To paraphrase the song, and risk cliche, my brother and I are the only hell our mother ever raised:hmm3grin2orange:

Having said that, I had no intention of powering the mill from the engine, I just wanted to use parts such as the rear axle, the serpentine belt, pulleys etc for the saw carriage and I wondered if someone had ever done something like this.

I am beginning to see that this was more wishful thinking than anything else. Perhaps money spent in my younger days could have gone toward more worthwhile and productive things

 

[Banacanin]

Bana',

I think you'll find there really is not a lot of parts that can be used from a car, other than the wheels/tires, if that's the route you want to go. Axles are pretty heavy and would be difficult to use as-is, IMO. Remember you will need to move the carriage on a set of rails...

If your handy, and know how to weld, you could get a bandmill kit from Linn Lumber, and I think you would be ahead of trying to fabricate something yourself. You will still need to fabricate a bed for it, and provide an power source, but you would have a decent sawmill if you know how to weld.

Homemade sawmills often take a long time to sell, if you can find one that has been fabricated already, you might be able to work out a deal with the seller.

To give you an idea, there was a homemade sawmill by me that he owner wanted $1500 for, it had a small engine on it, and used tires/wheels for the bandwheels. I just couldn't see the value in it myself. But it was for sale for months, so was drawing little interest at the $1500 figure. It didn't look too bad, but was a bit redneckish in design.

As far as putting together a bandmill, even with the parts kit from Linn, you still need some type of motor or engine. One way to go would be with a 3 phase motor, a 5HP or 10HP would be ideal. Many are sold and/or tossed out cheaply as mostly industrial is the only area that uses them. Most industrial will be a new replacement if they have one go out. If you have a phase converter, it's not a bad option, or if you have access to 3 phase power. Most residential doesn't though. I have a Rotary Phase Converter I use on my woodworking machines with 3 phase. They aren't cheap, but you could build one if you needed to...3 phase motors are much quieter than gas/diesel engines, that is one advantage.

Better would be to get an Alaskan style chainsaw mill and use one of your chainsaws on it. Yeah, not a bandmill but it will do work for you.

There are some decent deals out there on used bandmills, so if you really want one, start saving and keep an eye out. Eventually you will find something that fits your needs and budget.

Another thought is to cut firewood and sell it to make enough to buy a used bandmill. I think that would be more probable than building one out of parts from an old car. My $0.02. (worth what you paid me for it )

Bob and Alan: I tried to rep you, but the site says that I have done so too recently, I will try to get you guys later. I really appreciate the sound advice.

I think I was more infatuated in a bad idea than I usually would be because I hate getting rid of that rusted, dusted and busted car:
- It was was the first car that I bought with my own money
- I drove that car on countless road trips with friends
- it was the car that I would drive down to TN in to visit my then fiancee,now wife.
In a lot of ways it represents a lot of who I was, but it is also a broken down heap and I can't live in the past and call it being resourceful .

After considering everything everyone said, I am beginning to realize that if I spend a bunch of hours and money, I might just end up with an eye sore or a modern art sculpture and I will be no closer to the bandsaw mill.

I will check the LinnLumber kit out though, it might give me something to save for.

 

[BobL]

actually i have the police interceptor fuel injector chip and a few other goodies and without exhaust it is quite a bit more powerful than it was stock. For a big comfy car, it really moved. On one round trip, I was pulled over for speeding in Ontario and every U.S. State from here and to Tennessee The kind folks in Ohio (twice) and Michigan were kind enough to let me off with warnings, while Ontario,Kentucky and TN wanted their ransom. To paraphrase the song, and risk cliche, my brother and I are the only hell our mother ever raised:hmm3grin2orange:

In that case it sounds like it's read to just turn the car over, lock the back suspension, bolt a 24" circular on one of the back wheels, and trundle the logs past the blade

 

[Banacanin]

In that case it sounds like it's read to just turn the car over, lock the back suspension, bolt a 24" circular on one of the back wheels, and trundle the logs past the blade

why not just replace both back wheels with 24" circulars and drive over logs

 

[jdrum]

Banacanin, check your pm. good link

jim

 

[BlueRider]

It's do able but it would take so much duct tape that it would be cheaper to just buy a band mill.

 

[TraditionalTool]

After considering everything everyone said, I am beginning to realize that if I spend a bunch of hours and money, I might just end up with an eye sore or a modern art sculpture and I will be no closer to the bandsaw mill.

I will check the LinnLumber kit out though, it might give me something to save for.

I know a guy who's building a log house down in Kansas, and he bought one of the Linn kits. I'm not sure if he has it together yet, but he's pretty handy and welds, so decided to go the kit route.

I decided it was easier for me to buy a used sawmill, and found a Norwood LumberMate 2000 recently with a custom 30' bed. I think it will suite me fine, and might even have some work on it soon for a friend who wants some siding slabbed. He wants it slabbed with live edges to be used on internal walls to look like dovetail with chinked walls (you can't see the dovetails from inside, but it would look outrageous.

Do some research, there's a lot of companies, lots of mills both new and used...the Linn kits are reasonable and quality product, the bed is not that difficult to make. I've seen beds made with 2 beams laid on the ground and angle iron on top for the carriage. My bed is made out of all tube and steel with angle iron welded on top. Here's a pic, it's sitting up on some logs I dovetailed to keep it out of the mud temporarily. It's heavy, there's no way a person could lift it...not without a forklift. Remember, it doesn't need to be as heavy as this is, it could be 2 beams laying down with some angle iron on top.

Here's the wheels that Linn sells for the carriage, they charge $200 for a set of 4. Your brother could spin some on the lathe for you easy.

The one nice thing about having a mill is that if you hear about a hardwood tree that goes down, people are often to look at getting rid of them, and they can often produce some valuable lumber, if not rotted. It's worth investing in a sawmill to have around, IMO, they could pay for themselves.

 

[dingeryote]

It's do able but it would take so much duct tape that it would be cheaper to just buy a band mill.

LOL!!!!

I'm gettin a Red Green vibe too..

I don't care what the smart guys are sayin. I WANT to see a Buick band Mill now!!


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Andrew96]

See I was thinking more along the lines of a do everything " lumber buick ". Weld up the spiders, block up the springs, tow hook on the back, cut the roof off. V blocks on the hood and trunk. Now..drive it into the woods...drag your trees into clearing, park uphill, move trees onto V blocks...turn the radio on and start CSMing. You'll have tunes...drink holders...you can grab a nicer seat during milling than Bob has. You'll have new memories to go with the car.

BCanin...Really....take a few photos...let it go....Memories are always better than it really was. You still have the wife don't you? See...better already. Loose the car...go play with the wife, figure out how to get your bandmill later.

 

[Banacanin]

See I was thinking more along the lines of a do everything " lumber buick ". Weld up the spiders, block up the springs, tow hook on the back, cut the roof off. V blocks on the hood and trunk. Now..drive it into the woods...drag your trees into clearing, park uphill, move trees onto V blocks...turn the radio on and start CSMing. You'll have tunes...drink holders...you can grab a nicer seat during milling than Bob has. You'll have new memories to go with the car.

BCanin...Really....take a few photos...let it go....Memories are always better than it really was. You still have the wife don't you? See...better already. Loose the car...go play with the wife, figure out how to get your bandmill later.

Awesome advice

 

[Andrew96]

Stoney Creek!....Hey...I'm just over the bridge (6N + 403). I didn't see any comments about 'who's game they were playing' around here... Nice lesson eh?