From: muratlanne@gmail.com   
      
   "Snag"  wrote in message news:10jv85g$3lmjs$1@dont-email.me...   
      
   ...  In other news , I'm working on some parts for a sawmill . It uses   
   hydraulics and the design of the control lever pivot mounts is weak .   
   I'm modifying the new pivot mounts to make them stronger .   
   Snag   
   -----------------------   
   What are you using for the wheels? They were the critical components of   
   mine, the only parts I couldn't make. Motorcycle wheels and tires worked   
   pretty well for me except that they aren't load rated for nearly the   
   recommended blade tension, which keeps the blade straight in wide cuts. 24"   
   diameter is large enough to avoid the gullet cracking my previous 10" wheel   
   sawmill suffered with 3/4" wide coarse blades. These are 1-1/4" wide, 3/4"   
   pitch as Timberwolf suggested. They can be lightly sharpened a few times   
   with a guided file without complaints from the regrinding service.   
      
   My roller blade guides are somewhat similar to Cook's but mount differently,   
   2" diameter for down force and R8 ball bearings behind. Cheap bearings   
   disintegrated, good ones have held up well. There's no lower guide, the   
   blade can deflect under sawdust that passes when the Al flashing scraper   
   needs readjustment. Cheap import bearings soon disintegrated, $5 good ones   
   have held up well.   
      
   My first blade guide mounts were simple to make but tedious to adjust. The   
   current version can be removed, repaired and replaced without realignment.   
   Removable spacers set downward blade deflection, the screw adjustments are   
   for slight contact at operating tension without them.   
      
   Downward deflection at the guide rollers is 1/4", on the high side of   
   suggestions, to compensate for lower tension. The slight bend greatly   
   stiffens the blade from twisting. Tension is 1000 - 1200 Lbs between axles,   
   a compromise between tire load rating and Timberwolf's recommendation of ~15   
   ksi in the band gullet. That would be 1500# for ~0.1 square inch.   
      
   It cuts 20" wide red oak pretty well when freshly reground or touched up   
   with a file but I think would need a wider blade, stronger wheels and more   
   than a $99 6.5HP Predator to cut wider. The feed is manual push, a gravity   
   assist was barely worth the extra complications. Pushing tells me when the   
   blade is dulling and beginning to bow in the cut.   
      
   The belt tensioner idler is the drive clutch. It needs to be slipped to let   
   the heavy wheels accelerate slowly. The blade speed is 50-55 MPH on the   
   motorcycle's repaired speedometer.   
      
   The frame is straight between the wheel axles instead of C shaped, thus   
   stiffer and simpler. Its 13" throat depth lets it cut through the center of   
   the largest log that fits between the uprights. Proven max capacity is a   
   chainsaw-slabbed cant 20" square by 20' long, which the centered overhead   
   gantry lifted to rotate and reposition. That log was 28" diameter above the   
   stump flare and 4500 lbs.   
      
   I had to modify the sawmill to handle it since I had designed for smaller   
   logs on the assumption that those giants wouldn't fall -- until one did,   
   luckily tipping away from the house.   
      
   Green logs dry with less cracking if the ends are coated. I brush on molten   
   wax, a mix of canning and more flexible toilet bowl ring wax.   
   jsw   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)