Thread: Bobs Ironbark saw

And it works!!!

details, details!

how bigger blade?
verticle only, swing, double cut?
what size motor?

Hey Bob, that slice of timber is pretty bloody nice lookin wow

Originally Posted by Sigidi

Hey Bob, that slice of timber is pretty bloody nice lookin wow

It sure does,

The large blade that is on it in the pictures is 78cm, it is a double cut on vertical and can take up to three horizontal blades, no swing. The engine is a VW and I think around the 1400 cc.
In some earlier discussion I had in here I was saying I had cut some 15cm from the beams. I have now cut some 30 but it went a bit bendy after a week. (see photo) I cut it at 2cm thick which might be a problem but also did not stack / strap the cut timber.

Judging by the lovely green paint scheme, I'd guess it's an ex-Army piece of kit known as the Mobile Dimensional Saw.

Does it have the facility to automatically travel back along the rails to the start of the cut?

Hi Dion, yes that is exactly what it is, the green paint is a bit of a giveaway isnt it When cutting you set the saw in position and engage the drive at a desired speed and the saw travels along the rail until it hits the kicker and then returns back to the original starting position. It has a drop bar that brings the cut board back with it so it is pretty easy to use as a one man operation.

Thanks for the photos Bob.

I'm currently looking at making a mill but aren't sure which way to jump.

cheers, Lee

Hey Lee,
Glad you found the photos interesting.
There is not that much in them really, this mill has a few gadgets, self drive and auto return but not completely neccessary. I thought about making one from an old ride on lawn mower using the belt drive and pulley systems to have a blade drive and a auto drive. A lot of ride on's have a system that has full power to the cutting blade and geared down for the wheel drive and are setup to have a largish disc on the cutting shaft. The gantry that this mill runs on is pretty basic too but works pretty well and not hard to replicate.
The biggest problem I am having is with blades. They are quite expensive new and the secondahnd ones I have picked up are a bit dodgy, there is a lot to learn about sharpening and general blade manitenance that is for sure.
If you are a bit handy in the engineering dept. I reckon you can build a pretty good mill for a quarter of the price they ask for a new one but beware ...... this would have to be the most dangerous thing I have ever messed with ... if you are going to build one I would make sure I over engineered it a little with a lot of attention to safety. Any accident with one of these things is going to be really ugly.
Any way watch this space ... I am working on manufacturiing a slabbing attachement for it !!

Cheers
Bob