Thread: Bandsaw mill for $220 - sort of!

A very impressive project. You can be proud of this one. The band being vertical will be of benefit too. You'll be able to resaw anything within it's height capacity.

What width band and teeth do you run for this work? In fact can you give some detail on the saw itself? Sorry if you have already done this elsewhere.

Regards
Paul

Love it.

Hi TTIT.

Goes without saying that that is excellently designed and executed.

When I saw your mitre slot pivot point, I wondered if that was enough to set it very securely once you have your angle ... but it looks like you have a rear out-rigger of some kind to secure it from pivoting in a cut?

The only other things I might venture ...

- do you think you might want to dog-in a large piece, maybe some bit of clamping to the front/rear near corners? Just thinking of a log where the back end isn't square to the cut you want to take, or sweeps up a bit.

- would there be any help in adding some sort of handle to the near side of the sled for pushing? When I made my very rough resaw table I noticed the difference between previously being able to push into the teeth of the blade, to having to apply forward pressure from the side now that the platform is "in the way".

Top job!
Cheers,
Paul.

Or a thin board with sand-paper/etc for the log to lie on ... ??

I like the one-way tipping safety catch at the starting end also.

Originally Posted by Ueee

..........Whats it like to feed, Could a weight and pulley system be beneficial?

If you have a close look at Pic.14, you'll see a bit of string attached to the front of the trolley - the finger of my left hand was on the other end pulling it through the cut while I held the camera in my right hand - it really is that easy so I won't be worrying about anything more than push/pulling it by hand. In fact if I wanted to tilt the saw and slope the whole lot towards the blade a little it could feed itself in on the slope

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

.............What width band and teeth do you run for this work? In fact can you give some detail on the saw itself? Sorry if you have already done this elsewhere.
Regards
Paul

I was going to do a review on it at one stage but as the Jet importers have decided not to bring any more in there didn't seem much point The saw is just a Powermatic 1800 with a Jet paintjob - absolutely awesome machine. The blade on it in the picture is a 1" 1.3TPI carbide tip - 1.3mm kerf and the cleanest cut I've ever seen from a bandsaw. When I'm cutting green timber I use a 1" 1.3TPI bimetal blade which slices through even our desert timbers with ease. Only downside (for me) of the saw is the roller guides - pain in the butt on green timber 'cos it just compacts all the crap on to the rollers which puts your tension and alignment out. One day I'll make a set of graphite guides for the top but the bottom will be a bit tricky.

Originally Posted by pmcgee

.......When I saw your mitre slot pivot point, I wondered if that was enough to set it very securely once you have your angle ... but it looks like you have a rear out-rigger of some kind to secure it from pivoting in a cut?

The only other things I might venture ...

- do you think you might want to dog-in a large piece, maybe some bit of clamping to the front/rear near corners? Just thinking of a log where the back end isn't square to the cut you want to take, or sweeps up a bit.........

The 'out-rigger' does nothing more than catch the boards as they drop in case I'm not in a position to. Once the outer legs are down with the weight of a log on them, it's not going to move anywhere. I was actually thinking about putting them all on castors at one point so I could steer the log to compensate for blade drift Still worth pondering
A clamp or 2 to attach to any of the three cross rails are on the drawing board to hold anything too tall to stay put under it's own weight but it's not urgently required - once the billets get that small, I can always finish them off the usual way

Hi TTIT,

I have a 21 inch carbatec bandsaw with just over 12" depth of cut and have spent some time designing a sled system to do what yours does. Mate I take my hat off to you. You have just saved me a heap of time refining my design. I am throwing out most of mine and adopting most of yours.

I was looking at a sled capable of 1.2 to 1.5 metres max, but now I can see the potential to easily expand on that out toa more useful 2 metres.

Do you mind if I contact you through the forum for advice along the way as I make mine?

It is strong, compact, allows for blade drift, has a very nice loading system and as you say it can hang from the rafters when not in use. Tht loading system is of great appeal to me as I have back problems andcant lift much, my trolleys are my best friends.

I love it

Doug

Originally Posted by doug3030

Hi TTIT,

I have a 21 inch carbatec bandsaw with just over 12" depth of cut and have spent some time designing a sled system to do what yours does. Mate I take my hat off to you. You have just saved me a heap of time refining my design. I am throwing out most of mine and adopting most of yours.

I was looking at a sled capable of 1.2 to 1.5 metres max, but now I can see the potential to easily expand on that out toa more useful 2 metres.

Do you mind if I contact you through the forum for advice along the way as I make mine?

It is strong, compact, allows for blade drift, has a very nice loading system and as you say it can hang from the rafters when not in use. Tht loading system is of great appeal to me as I have back problems andcant lift much, my trolleys are my best friends.

I love it

Doug

Would be happy to help!
Not much you can't move with a pair of hand-trucks eh!

Originally Posted by TTIT

Would be happy to help!
Not much you can't move with a pair of hand-trucks eh!

Indeed hand-trucks are a back-saver.

Mate do you have a cutting list for the base and sled?

It looks like the top of the base is made from 50mmx50mm angle iron but not sure if its 3mm or 6mm?

whats the wall thickness of the square section?

I am still analysing the pics.

When I ask this kind of question I hope that you will tell me if the thickness you used proved to be satisfactory or if you have identified a need to go to something more robust.
THnks in anticipation

Doug

Originally Posted by doug3030

.......
Mate do you have a cutting list for the base and sled?

It looks like the top of the base is made from 50mmx50mm angle iron but not sure if its 3mm or 6mm?

whats the wall thickness of the square section?
..........
When I ask this kind of question I hope that you will tell me if the thickness you used proved to be satisfactory or if you have identified a need to go to something more robust.

No cutting list - just a few scrawled notes to calculate some of the lengths but I can measure any bits you want - or a few are etched into the brain!

It's all 3mm angle - anything thicker would have made it too heavy.
The 'tracks' are 50x50x4400.
'sleepers' are 25x25x400 (for overall width of 420mm)
'legs' are 25x25x1.6mm RHS (to keep the weight down but I still blow holes in it with the arc!! )
'trolley' is 40x40 angle with 20x20x2.0mm RHS cross-rails
'mounting plate' is 50x6mm 'cos it needed to be stiffer (and it was about the right length already)
'catch-all' is more 25x25 angle with a single 25x25 RHS leg.

I wouldn't have gone any thicker on any of it and while it might feel a little 'flexible' when you're moving it around, it supports the load fine in all the right directions once it is in-situ.

Originally Posted by TTIT

In fact if I wanted to tilt the saw and slope the whole lot towards the blade a little it could feed itself in on the slope Me thinks you just want to copy BobL with his self feeding CS mill

The blade on it in the picture is a 1" 1.3TPI carbide tip - 1.3mm kerf and the cleanest cut I've ever seen from a bandsaw. When I'm cutting green timber I use a 1" 1.3TPI bimetal blade which slices through even our desert timbers with ease. Only downside (for me) of the saw is the roller guides - pain in the butt on green timber 'cos it just compacts all the crap on to the rollers which puts your tension and alignment out. One day I'll make a set of graphite guides for the top but the bottom will be a bit tricky. I had the same prob., I mounted a rubber flap on both sides of the blade as well as a brush on the outside side of the blade above the btm set of guides, works quite well at keeping the blade clean. I use the same blades as well

The 'out-rigger' does nothing more than catch the boards as they drop in case I'm not in a position to. Once the outer legs are down with the weight of a log on them, it's not going to move anywhere. I was actually thinking about putting them all on castors at one point so I could steer the log to compensate for blade drift Still worth pondering With my setup I haven't found compensating for drift necessary, track and fence are setup parallel to blade, I have never moved it, if I get "drift" type probs. (thicker or thinner pieces) I have a blade that needs resharpening. Resharpen and the "drift" goes away.
A clamp or 2 to attach to any of the three cross rails are on the drawing board to hold anything too tall to stay put under it's own weight but it's not urgently required - once the billets get that small, I can always finish them off the usual way

I generally only clamp rounds and over balancing pieces, here's a pic of my clamp, I have 2 clamps that I can position on the one sled or one on each sled, I have various extra bits I can add onto the clamp bar for extra reach and of course lots of holes for adjustment.
Attachment 221847



Pete

Originally Posted by doug3030

Hi TTIT,

I was looking at a sled capable of 1.2 to 1.5 metres max, but now I can see the potential to easily expand on that out toa more useful 2 metres.

Doug

I overcame the how long to make question by making 2 sleds, I can use the longer sled by itself or use the other sled for any length required,
Attachment 221850both sleds.jpg



Pete

Originally Posted by pjt

I generally only clamp rounds and over balancing pieces, here's a pic of my clamp, I have 2 clamps that I can position on the one sled or one on each sled, I have various extra bits I can add onto the clamp bar for extra reach and of course lots of holes for adjustment.
Pete

Thanks Pete but the pic wasn't necessary - I've still got copies of all yours in my stash from when you posted it up here way back when
Like I said in the first post, if I'd had the room, I'd have built one like yours years ago

Originally Posted by pjt

I had the same prob., I mounted a rubber flap on both sides of the blade as well as a brush on the outside side of the blade above the btm set of guides, works quite well at keeping the blade clean.

Worth a thought Already has a brush included but I'll have a look and see what can be rigged up

brilliant mate.