![]() ![]() ![]() In fact, if I were to build another mill, I would literally start from the ground up and focus first on log handling and making a solid foundation for the rest of the saw. I will eventually replace it with a welded metal frame that has built-in clamps for holding the logs. This has worked pretty well, but it’s slow and the rails are getting beat up. I roll the logs and then screw them to the wood. The screwed together 2×8 lumber worked surprisingly well, but the whole thing will probably only last one season. My very next step before cutting another board is going to be installing guards around the blade and drive belt. I eventually came to my sense and acknowledged that this saw has almost zero safety features. I started milling wood and just couldn’t stop. The cedar log that I cut up next revealed an awesome purple heartwood. I just wanted to try it and ended up milling an 18″ diameter, 6′ long log of spalted maple into over a dozen 6″x1″ boards. The result is a little sawmill that just tears through trees! I was very surprised at how well it works. It was also the thickest, cheapest, and the one I thought for sure wouldn’t work. I was lucky to find one that works great. ![]() This started to get expensive, but I chalked it up to research. It turns out there are only a few blades on the market that will work with a small saw like this, so I ordered one of each. In hindsight I know how crazy it was to not begin my design with the part that does the actual cutting. In terms of cost and weight per horsepower, gas wins hands down over electricity. The first thing I did in my second revision was to replace the motor with a “small” 6.5 horsepower gas engine. Because the first blade I bought was too narrow, there was no hope for the blade guides to do their job. The blade I did buy wandered badly in the cut, or rubbed against the wood and fell off several times. I had done no research on blades up until that point. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even order a blade until the saw was almost done. Well, the first time I used the saw this motor overheated and almost caught fire! I have a much better understanding of horsepower now.Īlso I didn’t understand the intricacies of bandsaw blades well enough. I had assumed a 1 HP AC motor was more than enough for ripping 20″ logs. However, some of my intuition was way off. I felt that most DIY sawmills used way too much metal and were too heavy, so I built mine with the least amount of steel that I could, and ended up with a very capable lightweight machine. I figured out a way to make the blade guides using just simple bearings and some scrap pieces. I came up with a clever design for tensioning the blade based off milling machine ways. I designed on the fly using my own experience and intuition as a guide – something I refer to as “eyeball engineering.” The only calculations I made were for figuring out pulley sizes to get the right blade speed (2800 fpm) and determine how far apart the wheels should be for a certain blade length. No CAD designs or paper sketches went into building this. There’s something to be said for having theories and plans, but too often I get bogged down in design. There are some tricky parts, but I ignored those at first and just jumped into building. When looking at a bandsaw mill, there are really only three parts: the bandsaw, a gantry that holds it horizontally, and rails that the whole thing can slide on. ![]() Showcasing amazing maker projects of 2022 Gift the gift of Make: Magazine this holiday season! Subscribe to the premier DIY magazine todayĬommunity access, print, and digital Magazine, and more Share a cool tool or product with the community.įind a special something for the makers in your life. Skill builder, project tutorials, and more Get hands-on with kits, books, and more from the Maker Shed A project collaboration and documentation platform.Initiatives for the next generation of makers. Membership connects and supports the people and projects that shape our future and supports the learning.A free program that lights children’s creative fires and allows them to explore projects in areas such as arts &Ĭrafts, science & engineering, design, and technology.Microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. Maker-written books designed to inform and delight! Topics such as.A smart collection of books, magazines, electronics kits, robots, microcontrollers, tools, supplies, and moreĬurated by us, the people behind Make: and the Maker Faire.Together tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators across the globe. A celebration of the Maker Movement, a family-friendly showcase of invention and creativity that gathers.The premier publication of maker projects, skill-building tutorials, in-depth reviews, and inspirational stories,. ![]()
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