Thread: Wombat Sawmill

The Cost is mainly for steel RHS, flat steel & nuts and bolts.

As I live in the sticks I don't have access to the discount suppliers, but I think this is a reasonable guide.
At a guess about $150 to $200 for the simple version
and $400 to $500 for the fully featured version.

Time to build the simple saw about 2 days
The fully featured saw about 5 or 6 days.

It took me a month to build the prototype even though I had been thinking about it for a few years. But I was working details out as I built it.
With the plans in hand there should be very little head scratching.

As a slab planer I expect even the simple version would be adequate as you would place the slab on a bench, fine height adjustments could be done with the routers own inbuilt height adjustment. The auto feeder may be ok but you might need to adjust the weights so it doesn't pull the router into the timber too fast and overload the router.

Thanks Bob, thats well within my price range, not sure on skill range.....
What sort of price are you hoping to sell your plans for?
Also how does the chain saw actually mount to the unit. I was just reading on your website that a router could also be fitted for leveling large table tops, how would the router mount?

edit; woops just found the pricing page. lol. sorry
U just know i'm going to ask for the steak knives. lol

The plans show 2 different methods of bolting the chainsaw onto the mill.

The mill can be bolted to the studs that hold the chainsaw bar onto the chainsaw in a similar manner to a Logosol mill.

Or the chainsaw bar can be drilled and the saw bolted to the mill through the bar in a similar manner to a Woodbug mill.

The router attaches to a flat plate bolted to the cross rail end on the other side to where the saw attaches.

Bob what length bar are you suggesting this mill could use? - Yep i know how long is a peice of string.

I would think vertical probably longer than horisontal.

Cheers

I think you might have a bit of a problen pulling the starter cord if its got a bar much longer than a 4ft bar.

For a long bar in horizontal mode it would be necessary to fit an overhead outrigger frame to hold the bar from bending down. Probably only a 24" bar horizontal without an outrigger.

Originally Posted by echnidna

I think you might have a bit of a problen pulling the starter cord if its got a bar much longer than a 4ft bar.

For a long bar in horizontal mode it would be necessary to fit an overhead outrigger frame to hold the bar from bending down. Probably only a 24" bar horizontal without an outrigger.

It's not only bar droop at the end but bar sag in the middle as well.

I think maybe 30" max on the horizontal but I think you will run into problems well before 4 ft on the vertical if there is no auxiliary oiler available, especially in dry or hard wood. I run my auxiliary oiler on every cut over about 2 ft wide. On beam type mills without oilers its very common to see overheated bars and chains when the bar gets over about 30" in any orientation.

4 foot! thats a hell of a tree! lol

Originally Posted by BobL

It's not only bar droop at the end but bar sag in the middle as well.

I think maybe 30" max on the horizontal but I think you will run into problems well before 4 ft on the vertical if there is no auxiliary oiler available, especially in dry or hard wood. I run my auxiliary oiler on every cut over about 2 ft wide. On beam type mills without oilers its very common to see overheated bars and chains when the bar gets over about 30" in any orientation.

I totally agree with you Bob except I think 30" is stretching it a bit for horizontal, I will recommend a max of 24" horizontal without an outrigger.

Auxiliary oilers are definately warranted on big bars

As I'm cutting logs in my backyard I am considering directing a water jet aimed at the nose through the kerf. Not easy to do in a paddock but near a water pressure hose it may work successfully.

Rattrap,
I've got a couple of logs that are 3 to 4 ft and I'll do a video of a 22" bar sawing the big logs into dimension timber. I might try cutting one wide slab but the setup for that exercise will be time consuming. The videos won't happen for a few weeks.

Some of the people interested in the Wombat sawmill are woodies without metalworking experience so I'm going to post "Metalworking For Woodies" on my website in a few weeks.

If you are a woodworker I think you should have enough hand skills to do
the metal work involved in building a Wombat Saw Mill.

Apart from welding, its primarily a matter of using some different tools to
work with metal instead of wood.

As I expected woodies without metal working experience to be interested in the Wombat Mill, I designed it so that is mainly bolted together. There are very few welds needed so you could bolt one together and just get the small welding jobs done by a friend or local business or even maybe a nearby trade school.

Over the next few weeks I will show some simple metal working techniques that will make the job far easier.

Originally Posted by echnidna

As I'm cutting logs in my backyard I am considering directing a water jet aimed at the nose through the kerf. Not easy to do in a paddock but near a water pressure hose it may work successfully.

You may or may not know I have tried water cooling on the chain/bar. Initially I thought it helped because the temperature of the chain and bar was significantly reduced but what I found long term was my bars and chain started wearing faster than without water and just running the aux oiler. I suspect the water takes some oil off the chain. However, If there is no aux oiler then some water cooling may be better than none.

Someone mentioned using music to mask the sound of the CS. This is a sure way to lose your hearing since the music volume has to be increased over and above any external noise leaking through the muffs. Pumping music into muffs to mask an external noise should be banned unless the muffs are of the noise canceling type (and none of them are not good enough for CS use anyway). If you have normal muffs that play music the music level should be set with the external noise source switched off. If you can't hear the music properly with the external noise switched on, do not increase the volume of the music. It may sound like you are not damaging your ears but you are.

Aeroplanes are a classical example. The volume of those crappy headsets has to be increased so much to hear over and above the plane noise that if you pipe the same level of sound through noise canceling muffs it hurts.

Sometime soon airlines are gonna cop it in the neck over this one.

Originally Posted by BobL

You may or may not know I have tried water cooling on the chain/bar. Initially I thought it helped because the temperature of the chain and bar was significantly reduced but what I found long term was my bars and chain started wearing faster than without water and just running the aux oiler. I suspect the water takes some oil off the chain. However, If there is no aux oiler then some water cooling may be better than none.

I was aware of that Bob so I'm inclined to add some soluble oil to the water supply as I suspect that may at least partly overcome the problems you mention.

Originally Posted by BobL

Someone mentioned using music to mask the sound of the CS. This is a sure way to lose your hearing since the music volume has to be increased over and above any external noise leaking through the muffs. Pumping music into muffs to mask an external noise should be banned unless the muffs are of the noise canceling type (and none of them are not good enough for CS use anyway). If you have normal muffs that play music the music level should be set with the external noise source switched off. If you can't hear the music properly with the external noise switched on, do not increase the volume of the music. It may sound like you are not damaging your ears but you are.

Aeroplanes are a classical example. The volume of those crappy headsets has to be increased so much to hear over and above the plane noise that if you pipe the same level of sound through noise canceling muffs it hurts.

Sometime soon airlines are gonna cop it in the neck over this one.

For light aircraft you can buy headphones which cancel out the noise. The way they work is to sample the background noise and playback the negitive of it. Works realy well for the person wearing the head gear. Not so good for those next door. I have tried them for mill workers. they sort of work but would need frequency modifications and are a few $thou each.

However if you have the money you can do it on an industrial scale. I did some network wiring at a nightclub in London, UK where they where having problems with the late night noise form the nightclub down a back alley. When the playback system was installed the noise disapeared even when the rear door was open.

Hey that really sounds perfect for a woodies workshop Arthur.

Any tech details available?