CSM skids vs wheels/rollers

[waynedb]

I'm considering doing another mod to my cheap Holtzforma mill by adding some wheels (maybe rollerblade or skateboard wheels) to replace the stock "skids" on the saw-end bar clamps.

I've noticed the steel skids can gouge the natural edge of slabs and also require the occasional bit of saw wrestling to get them over lumps.

Could anyone who has swapped to wheels comment on the pros and cons? Pics of setups would be great.

Plan B is to stick with the skids but add some UHMW PE plastic with rounded edges to decrease friction and remove sharp edges...

 

[kimosawboy]

If you use rollerblade wheels , you can just replace the bolts that hold your bar on the motor side with longer bolts (add an inch or so ), then add wheels. Cuts down on grabbing/friction.... easy and cheap upgrade.

G Vavra

 

[BobL]

The tyres on the cheap roller blade wheels I used eventually disintegrated from contact with bar oil. Urethane polyethylene or teflon wheels are better.

The following are specific to my mils but may give you some ideas

Here's my small alaskan with in invertible and adjustable position wheels
Here the wheels under underneath the bar, better for milling the top half of the log


And here the wheels are positioned above the bar - better for milling thickish slabs from the lower half of the log.


Here are the BIL Mill wheels
The green lines point to white Teflon wheels which run on brass collars which also enables these wheels to be positioned up and down the mill uprights.
The red lines point to Black poly wheels - turned from large irrigation fittings - they also act as feet so the powerhead does not touch the ground

 

[waynedb]

Hi Bob,

Great to hear from you.

I confess to lurking for a while, perusing many of your posts and getting inspiration from some of your ideas. A wealth of info for a new CS milling devotee, thank you!

I'm nearly finished gathering parts to upgrade the cheap and nasty mill now. I'll drop by a local industrial castors shop and grab some oil resistant wheels.

My upgrade plans amount to replacing pretty much everything but the rails. After a few redgum milling sessions I realised the cast cross pieces that hold the bar clamp uprights were manufactured way out of square (bewildering!) - makes it hard to get the bar to sit flat/parallel without all sorts of fiddly shimming.

I'll post a few pics of the upgrades once I get underway. I'm sure you'll recognise some of the inspiration.

Thanks also Kimosawboy for your earlier response - apologies for lack of reply.

 

[waynedb]

Update: I finally got around to finishing the build a few weeks ago

I started a new thread to show it off here

 

[BlackCoffin]

Good to hear you finished, the wheels sometimes are trial and error. I have some smaller wheels under my mill, and when they do contact it’s a dream compared to how it used to be. That being said in some situations they don’t contact and this is where Bob’s design is a great one. We learn as we go!