Putting the "Hobby" back in my Hobby milling

[johncinco]

I have been wittling down my stacks of logs into lumber for awhile, and decided that was a lot of work. Decided to work on some pieces I had saved over in a pile and have some fun. Mounted some woodworkers "Pony" clamps to my log deck boards. Drilled some holes through the pipes and used screws to secure them. I can lock down as small as 8" long as as long as about 4'. I can turn the clamps and get down to about 1/2" thick piece. Works like a charm. I hated just tossing nice looking walnut chunks onto the fire, when I know there are a lot of hobby workers out there that would love to turn them into something nicer.

 

[johncinco]

Wow I didnt know we could go as large as 300KB, I really shrunk those pics down. Here are some of the after pics.

 

[johncinco]

I then cracked into a bigger piece. I had to work at it to take a limb off that I wanted the crotch from. I'll have to get some more of the finished pieces, seems I missed that. I have 2 more logs just about this size, so I should be set for ornamental walnut pieces for awhile.

 

[mtngun]

Thanks for the pics.

 

[betterbuilt]

Nice work.

 

[BobL]

Nice

 

[Rftreeman]

I like your helper, he's a mean looking dude.....

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

Thanks for the pics!

I like your sawmill set up! I've seen tires used before for band mills..........how well do they hold the blade? I've been thinking about building a band mill off and on.....

Thanks

Dan

 

[johncinco]

The tires work great. I could swap out to steel wheels, but why... the cost can not be justified for me. I am just playing around with this. I have probably 4000 BF out of it, going for "boards" and another 1000 going for odd pieces, trinkent wood, turning pieces and wood working stock. The most interesting thing was a 10' log cut on an angle, leaving the round ends in place. It was made into a big sign that hangs in a martial arts dojo. The students got a lot "sanda sand" time and then it was finished off by an artist with some lettering and inscriptions.

If you have a mind to make one, it would not be too hard. There are kits and instructions out there, or if your skillful you can follow the design of others. This is a home made mill, not by me but a engineer type guy with some assembly skills. I have made several improvements over the last couple years like sealed bearings, adjust-ability in the cut angles, etc. The blade stays in place no problem. I have had the band come off twice, both times when I was backing up out of a cut, which you should never really try anyway. It tracks nice and stays right in the center of tires no problem. There are guides that hold the blade in place when you are cutting. You can buy the key parts from Cooks if you want to build one without having super keen skills and milling machinery. The rest would all be cutting steel and welding. The guides are the high tech part, and they sell them from simple to very technical. You can buy all the rest from any hardware store.

The helper is a big baby. She crys if she can't sleep on the bed at night and will only eat raw meat. A cross eyed look at her and she will lay down with her belly up. Just don't get between her and the kids, then its a whole different story!

 

[BobL]

I like your mill and the helper too! I also like the idea of use the pony clamps - it would certainly help to get that last board or two off a light weight log or cant.

Sorry if this hijacks the thread but one problem I have not yet solved is related to the clamps. I often find myself making the last cut or 2 off big logs (mainly those with flared bases) on what are effectively "wedges" which are quite difficult to keep stationary when cutting. I'd be interested to hear what others do on these last few cuts.

 

[johncinco]

You can't really see in my pics, but I have posts that go up along the side that the wood moves towards when cutting, and I have sliding clamps with big turn screws that hold wood in place. These are used for longer pieces. I can go down to about 1" with those. Once it gets too low, and light weight, I just toss it on the firewood pile. If it gets loose, it jumps off the mill and causes quite a ruckus, broke a band that way. I have seen a set up using a jaw with spikes, that is mounted below the wood you are cutting. You can probably get down to 1/2' with that set up. I'll try and get some close up pics for you.

In re-reading your post, I think I see another problem you might have. When you have a flared log, you want to jack up the narrow end, so you are cutting straight through the center line. You dont want to cut across the log with the flare. I either trim the butt end, or jack up the small end, make a pass right through the center of the log, then roll off one piece and lay the other face down on the bed. Now you will cut off the flare and throw it out, then start making boards.

I am by no means an expert, there are lot out there though and I just read and follow what they say. My experience has been that wood cut across the flare will warp and bow like crazy. You also get a lot prettier wood.