Home made band mill

[Railomatic]

Here she is finally, my home made band mill with the help of one of the forum members, who has made over 130 of these simple yet reliable performers.

The whole concept is based around two car wheels and a single cross
member to which they are mounted, she runs a 2" blade and the tyres give a good hold on things, the pneumatics allow the band to be run quite slack taking the shocks out of the system, without any breakages to bands.

The mill can be lowered down to within 4 inches of the floor for easy loading by removing the bogey, she can cut a full 25 inches wide and handle trees up to 30 inches.

On my first test run, she gave good accurate boards down to 1/8" and can cut up to 2000 FBD per normal working day, 8 Hours.

It has a been a most enjoyable experience building her and is going to be just as good using her, tomorrow I have some yew and apple to convert into planks, and some wellingtonia.

I will send more pictures of the lumber once it has been converted,

 

[wdchuck]

Very nice, can't wait to see some sawdust on it, and some lumber. Good on ya mate.

 

[dustytools]

Cool looking mill. I too would like to see some action shots. Please explain the recoil housing being upside down, is it reversible or something? Awesome job.

 

[dingo]

I like the looks of the mill; reflects pride in craftsmanship.
Is any provisions made for blade cooling or lube or is it necessary?

 

[parrisw]

was there plans around that you went off of to build it?? That looks very nice.

 

[Vern]

Nice job Rail ,looks great keep us posted.................

 

[curdy]

How many hours would you say it took to make it? $$$?

 

[irishcountry]

homemade mill

Great job looks very professional keep us posted on performance and pic of woods you cut. Did you already have alot of metal working experience (welding, cutting ect.) ? I know you've been posting info for awhile but maybe some more on specs. or where you got plans for something like that very nice like the finish!

 

[OOOlder Brother]

rail

Good looking mill, great workmenship. Your tutor may live in Alaska but he stil retains his good old okie know how.

 

[Railomatic]

How where and why

It took me 2 days to build the main frame and chassis then another two days to get everything lined up and cutting and another two days to paint it all and make the gaurd.

Now I have made one I could shave at least a couple of days off of that time by having the whole mill powder coated, painting by hand is a real pain in the preverbial.

Total costs for making it are in the $ 2000.00 region, and could be done for much less by using more second hand metal.

I served my time as a motorcycle engineer and welder of all metals, which has come in very handy for the project, but one could still make her with a basic knowledge of metalworking skills, the most difficult areas are in the understanding of how a band mill is set up, on this version I have fited a four way co-plannar adjuster on the drive wheel and conventional sideways tracking devise on the other wheel axle.

I got help in building her from a great guy in Alaska who offer his help to me, I can say with all honesty, that he has been an inspiration to me by doing this, and saved me many months of trial and error by doing so, and if he ever started selling drawings of his wares and I was in the market for a good saw, I would jump at the chance of getting some.

The whole project was very easy to follow, as the whole thing is so simple in design, and a pleasure to work with such a knowledgable guy, at 75 years old he is a real gentleman amongst men, never an off word, even with all my questions over the last month, a very enjoyable experience indeed.

The mill is a top performer in its own right, it cuts very accurately and can also do tapered boards and shingles no trouble, with a neat taper adjustment lever, at the flick of a lever.

The whole machine is tried and tested over the last ten years, with more than a 130 units being made to date, its real simple, but it works, if more people took notice of this and other home grown products, instead of going for the bigger companies wares, they would save themselves a heap of cash and get the job done just as quickly, this mill normally costs $ 4000.00 US Dollars, a snip when compared to some of the top names, a real bang for your buck as they say.

Dusty, the recoil starter plate was turned around for easy starting on the right side, instead of having to walk around to the other side to start her up, pulls towards the push handle.

The blade lube is done with the aid of a gravity fed water bottle not pictured, using common old washing up liquid dilluted, timbers like oak will cut with very little lube, worst timbers for resin are larch and most of the pines.

I will post some pictures of her in action, when the paint has dried off some more, I have a nice English Yew butt to convert very soon.

 

[woodshop]

WOW... I agree... very professional looking. Great job. Attention to detail. I too among many want to see this one in action. Keep us posted. Any plans of making and selling these by any chance over there?

 

[gene1605]

Older Brother

It takes one to know one

 

[Railomatic]

Milled boards

Here are some better pictures of my new mill and some yew boards I milled today, one is 1/8" inch rest are random sizes.

The yew log was over ten years old and cut through like butter with a brand new blade, no need for lube on this stuff, sold it all the same day.

More demo's and cutting tomorrow, I will be doing some Larch, will need plenty of lube for the sticky stuff.

 

[curdy]

That is good stuff! Well done!

 

[OOOlder Brother]

For lube get A sprey bottle from your wifes kitchen fill with 1/4 oil any kind
"bar chain oil moter oil' 3/4 diesel fuel. Set on fine sprey when pitch starts building up aim sprey nozzle at guide and sprey at band guide and band a few times . Will melt pitch and run quiter.

 

[Railomatic]

mill at ground level minus 750kg bogey axle

 

[infomet]

Awesome!
Can you post a picture of the rolling mechanism for the carriage?
I don't see sny wheels??
Thanks,

 

[infomet]

OOPS, now I see the little ball bearings.
I'm thinking you'll have to watch for sawdust buildup on the track?
Maybe a plastic scraper to run ahead of them, ala Woodmizer?
Are there any drawings available?

 

[ddhlakebound]

I'd really like to see drawings/plans also. This looks like a very effective way of acquiring a quality mill for an affordable expense. What engine is running the mill? Does it pull well? Maybe I missed it, but what's the approximate weight?

More info would be great.

 

[Railomatic]

The weight of the mill is around 650 LBS, driven by a Honda GX 390 13Hp, it is light enough to be pulled by an ATV bike right to where the action is and can be handled by one person, in all a good all rounder, and dare I say it, just as good as many of the top names in bandmills around today.

What I like about it is its simplicity of both manufacture and operation, she even cuts tapered side boards without any additional add-ons.

The drawings are still in the thought stages, if they are going to appeal to a few people who cannot afford to buy one, then the drawings will appear, if not its going to be too risky to let the secrets out for a few dollars, its just not worth all the hard work drawing them out.

But seriously the mill is a real contender at a very reasonable price, best buy one ready made, unless one has a lot of equipment and time to build it.

All those interested in drawings please PM me and I will have a think about it some more, [email protected]