Laidlaw Bushmill?

[Old Hilly]

Does anyone have any experience using or building one of these mills? I have a full set of plans for one but some of the instructions are just a bit vague, if not bloody obscure. The design seems sound but if the devil was in the detail we are all safe because there ain't much detail in the assembly instructions.
Dennis.

[itsposs]

You can buy one on farm hub atm
Laidlaw Bushmill Bandsaw - Mobile Sawmill - FarmHub Australia (http://www.farmhub.com.au/DesktopDefault.aspx?ItemID=3161121&TabID=3432)
as well as a 8 " electric lucas

[Krunchie]

yeah have spent a fair bit of time working on one very similar (700mm)
Great for cutting wide boards

Any specific ???

[Old Hilly]

Well, I got this set of plans and they are fine in many ways but the details of how the bits go together is pretty thin on the detail. I guess what I need are some photos of a complete machine so I can see how things are suposed to work. I can see a couple of modifications I think I would like to make but it would be better to see how things are supposed to look rather than how I think they might look, if you get what I mean. The blade tension adjustment is a good example of vagueness.:?
Dennis.

[Krunchie]

will get a pic of it sometime over the weekend and post it up monday

[old pete]

Hi Old Hilly,

Forestry Tasmania's wholly owned subsidiary Island Speciality Timbers at Geeveston Tasmania have a Laidlaw mill. They bought it about 8 years ago when the Laidlaw family were making the machines themselves. They have a web site; just Google the trade name above to bring it up. They may be able to help with any queries and with images. Chris Emmett is your contact there.


Old Pete

[Old Hilly]

Thanks guys, I will give the folks in Tassie an e-mail and see what I can find out. Krunchie, I look forward to the pictures. Almost anything is better than what comes with the plans.
Dennis.

[Travis Edwards]

I saw kits to build them on ebay U.S. the other day were pretty cheap really between 1200 and 2000 american. would take some of the headache out of building one. They had all of the wheels, tensioner setup and bits and pieces, just had to make your own rails and add a motor I think

Whats a copy of those plans worth?

[Old Hilly]

Travis, I paid $80.00 (+Postage) for the plans. I have no complaints about that because there is a lot of work (and info) involved in them. Almost evry component is professionally drawn and labeled, it's just the hows and whys of putting all the bits together that poses some dificulty for me. The other problem is that very few of the parts are available "off-the-shelf". Almost evry component has been either custom-made or requires heavy modification with either a metalworking lathe, milling machine or both.:(
All I will have to do is take the best parts of the Laidlaw design and replace the specialised components with some that are readily available in my area.
Thanks, by the way, for the tip about E-Bay. I will go and have a look.
Dennis.

[bobsreturn2003]

Hi check out linn lumber in the usa ,they have kits, parts and plans ,along with a dvd on putting it together . sure are a lot of parts in a mill though.where did you get the plans from? cheers bob

[Old Hilly]

You are right about there being lots of parts in a mill, Bob! Just about all the parts in this mill, except for most of the smaller bolts, are custom made. The plans came from a gentleman up in QLD whose father was going to build a Bushmill but never got the project off the ground. Considering the amount of machining involved, I am not in the least surprised!
The idea behind the mill is great, it's just converting the design to use off-the-shelf parts that will be the fun bit.
Dennis.

[itsposs]

I ll photo copy the plans I brought off ebay its one of those tyre band saw mills and mail em to ya if you d like Old Hilly

[Old Hilly]

Thanks mate, PM. is on it's way.