Bandsaw mill

[Scott85]

You buy it and I’ll bring it to the Reno area this week for a small fee.

 

[Redmt]

How many zeros in "small fee"?

 

[Scott85]

How many zeros in "small fee"?

You pay for the trailer rental and like $500 to make up the difference in fuel.

 

[Redmt]

I think I'll pass on that one. Thanks for the offer though

 

[BigHornRam]

I owned a good sized circle mill for years and I tell you that it would cut circles around any bandmill.. Many of my clients owned bandmill and I could just out produce them 10:1. I mean I could cut 10-15k/bdft per day with good trees and help tailing the saw and loading the deck.. My personal best day was just over 20k/bdft of 2" white pine structural lumber.. It didn't hurt that I was sawing with 165hp vs 15hp..

I would be looking for an old circle mill as they can often be had for less than a new cheap bandmill.. IMHO.

Where a bandsaw out performs a circle saw is in the saw kerf. Less than 1/8" kerf vs. 3/8" or more. That means more lumber and less sawdust per log. What did you do with all the sawdust? Have a market for it?

Can you imagine the carnage @Redmt could get himself into with a circlesaw? Makings for an interesting but short reality show right there!

 

[Redmt]

Where a bandsaw out performs a circle saw is in the saw kerf. Less than 1/8" kerf vs. 3/8" or more. That means more lumber and less sawdust per log. What did you do with all the sawdust? Have a market for it?

Can you imagine the carnage @Redmt could get himself into with a circlesaw? Makings for an interesting but short reality show right there!

Hey!! This is starting to border on senior abuse!!!

 

[BigHornRam]

Hey!! This is starting to border on senior abuse!!!

I bet you were even more dangerous when you were young.

 

[Redmt]

I bet you were even more dangerous when you were young.

You have no idea,,,,,,I was voted least likely to live through high school. There were 6 of us that hung together doing various activities. 5 are now dead. Somewhere along the line I got smarter.

 

[buck23]

Look at the small Woodmizer it's a entry level mill. It will cut up to 25 inch and 12 1/2 feet logs which is right big. I've cut oak, pine, poplar, walnut and a few others it does fine. It is all manual but that keeps you young! right? I have enjoyed mine its simple does not cost alot and will cut more than you will need. It is not made for a business but for farm/landowner it will be great. Operating the mill is easy getting the log to it is the work part.

 

[Fullquiver]

Where a bandsaw out performs a circle saw is in the saw kerf. Less than 1/8" kerf vs. 3/8" or more. That means more lumber and less sawdust per log. What did you do with all the sawdust? Have a market for it?

Can you imagine the carnage @Redmt could get himself into with a circlesaw? Makings for an interesting but short reality show right there!

Sawdust was an easy commodity to sell.. Horse people here want it for bedding. It was much more difficult to get rid of softwood slabs than anything else..

BTW my mill cut exactly 1/4 in kerf...

 

[Redmt]

Progress report,,,, I have decided pretty much to build my sawmill. I'm probably not going to build from scratch because sourcing all the components is a job in itself. There's a couple unassembled kits that are interesting , besides I think that I'm looking towards something in the 30-36" range. I have been bringing home some Black Walnut from a friend's place who's pulling a few acres of trees. I have maybe another 10 or so trunks and root balls to get. All the stumps are 8-10' and up to 30" in diameter. Some of the burls are almost 4'.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Progress report,,,, I have decided pretty much to build my sawmill. I'm probably not going to build from scratch because sourcing all the components is a job in itself. There's a couple unassembled kits that are interesting , besides I think that I'm looking towards something in the 30-36" range. I have been bringing home some Black Walnut from a friend's place who's pulling a few acres of trees. I have maybe another 10 or so trunks and root balls to get. All the stumps are 8-10' and up to 30" in diameter. Some of the burls are almost 4'.View attachment 254628View attachment 254629View attachment 254630

There’s a guy on YouTube, Matt Cremona, that built his own bandsaw mill. Long video series, but may be worth the watch if just to find out where he got everything.

 

[Redmt]

There’s a guy on YouTube, Matt Cremona, that built his own bandsaw mill. Long video series, but may be worth the watch if just to find out where he got everything.

Thanks. I'll check it out!

 

[Redmt]

I took delivery on a Woodland 130. It seems to work great.
I have been bringing home more Black Walnut stump and burls. Yesterday's load was excess of 10-12k.

 

[schmalts]

Those root balls look like a great way to destroy your blades

 

[Redmt]

I pressure wash them and trim all the snags on the root balls first. Then cut right at the start of the trunk. I'm fortunate to make my own chainsaw chains from bulk. Even with all that it's very tough on the chain. Eventually I'll figure a clean way to cut the burls without total destruction of a chainsaw or bandsaw blade.

 

[millerkiller77]

I pressure wash them and trim all the snags on the root balls first. Then cut right at the start of the trunk. I'm fortunate to make my own chainsaw chains from bulk. Even with all that it's very tough on the chain. Eventually I'll figure a clean way to cut the burls without total destruction of a chainsaw or bandsaw blade.

Turbo nozzle on the pressure washer gets 99% of the dirt off the root ball.
I use carbide chains when I'm cutting stumps or roots, they don't cut as fast as a regular chain but it's better than wiping out a dozen chains per stump

 

[Redmt]

I use a 4500 psi washer. It gets them pretty clean. I can dress out a couple stumps before changing chains.