Woodworkers Sawmill

[Carlos B]

I have wanted to build my own design of a home built band sawmill for as long as I can remember. Last summer I finally got to it. I have little need for construction length lumber. My desire is for shop project wood. For the occasional need for stud length lumber I set my maximum length to 8’6”. This will allow me to use a traveling carriage rather than a traveling arch and still limit the trailer to 18’ including the towing A frame. Here was the initial concept drawing, I like to build by the seat of my pants, according to the many salvaged parts I have collected over the years, so there is not a lot of detail, but the main features are listed.



Here the mill is finished except for the paint. Took it outside for a test run. First log is loaded on, with the built in hoist for log handling, a 12" Poplar log.



Cutting a board off of a 10" squared up Birch log.



How accurate is the carriage method? This is a 1/16" slice of Birch veneer. Could have gone thinner, still lots of strength.



The afternoon went without an incident. The result a little less than 200 board feet. Bottom thicker boards are Poplar and Spruce more than half are clear Birch.



All done ready for paint. The intention was to get it painted before the snow set in, but winter came early, and it will be one of the first "to do's" when the warm weather sets in.



This was a big project with close to 300 pictures. If you want to see the complete build here is the link on my blog Hobby Workshop Projects: Sawmill Build.

[Rustic Woodcrafter]

Wow! That 1/16 piece of Birch is beyond impressive! I have a large metal cutting band saw with transmission that I have been saving for just such a project so my interest/respect comes from the heart. Thanks for sharing!

[suther51]

I see some roller chain in one pic, Is it for adjusting the distance between blade guides? Great build should look real good with a coat of paint, not to say it looks at all shabby minus paint, just the cherry on top. Thanks for posting.
Eric

[Carlos B]

Thanks Rustic, good luck with yours.

Hi suther51, The roller chain connects two sprockets which lock the head to both columns after setting the cutting height. There is a handle welded to one of the sprockets so the head can be locked from the operating position. Heres a picture:

[stillldoinit]

Very nice work, before I moved from northern Illinois a year ago our little group of blacksmith guys started to build a mill. Project got put on hold. I like to turn bowls and want to build a bandsaw mill for my my own use. Still have a few more loads of stuff I just could not part with. You did a beautiful job.

[Carlos B]

Thank you stilldoinit, good luck with your mill, if you don't require construction length lumber you might want to consider the carriage system I talk about. It's easier to build, the cutting head is stationary for more accurate cuts and the carriage has a larger stance on the track also for less track defects transmitted to the cut. Like most things there is always a trade off though, for 16' + construction length lumber the trailer frame would be very long. With modern technology, sawmill machinery has changed, but older mills still run carriage systems running on heavy gauge RR tracks and powered by 20' long steam cylinders to feed the carriage past the giant 60" bandsaw heads.

Many years ago I operated the power house at such a mill, it is shut down and declared a historical site now. At the risk of boring you, here is a story repeated to me of an incident that occurred before I started there. The mill and power house were shut down one weekend for maintenance, for some reason the valve handle which controls the carriage feeds on one of the three bandsaw mills was not locked closed and sometime during the maintenance work the valve was opened in the control station. When coming back on line the power house always powers up first so when the crews start up Monday morning steam press., water, air and electrical services are ready to go. When the crews came in Monday morning they found one of the saw carriages hanging half out the side of the mill building. When the power house came back on and pressurized the mill steam system, the open valve control had started the carriage moving on the track gaining enough speed to snap the carriage connection to the steam cylinder and sending the carriage over the rail end stops and through the wall. The crew in the power house (a different building) was not aware of what had happened and there was no one working the Sunday night shift in the mill. No one was hurt so ha, ha, lol funny story, but boy lock those valves out.

[Altair]

Thanks Carlos B! We've added your Woodworker's Sawmill to our Bandsaws category,
as well as to your builder page: Carlos B's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Woodworker's Sawmill by Carlos B

tags: bandsaw, mill

[Jon]

Congratulations Carlos B - your Woodworker's Sawmill is the Homemade Tool of the Week!

It's very challenging for woodworkers to win when competing against all of the machinists and metalworkers on this forum, but this is an impressive build - and it never hurts to integrate a crane.

Some more nice picks from this week:

Extension Cord Repair Trick by rgsparber
Vise Integrated Bar Bender by Tuomas
Wire Stripper by jealpaul
Extendable Bar Clamps by diyfixman
Lathe Centering Punch by Cascao
Bandsaw Safety Puck by rgsparber
Bandsaw Fence by Toolmaker51
Boom Lifting Adapter by Frank S
Tractor Scraper Attachment by diacsn
Parts Washer Heater by ibdilbert
Forklift Boom Extension by Frank S
Drill Press Angle Tables by threesixesinarow
Center Line Marker by diyfixman
Saucer Routing Jig by woodenworldenic
Tiling Chisel by tsbrownie
Hand Tapper Modification by Shelly142
Scaffolding Braces by Frank S
Pliers Modification by SteveJustSteve


Carlos B - we've added your tool entry to our All Homemade Tool of the Week winners post.

You'll be receiving a $25 online gift card, in your choice of Amazon, PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and gift card choice and I'll get it sent over right away.

This is your 2nd Homemade Tool of the Week win. Here are both of your winning tools. Nice work

Twin Belt Sander by Carlos B

tags: belt sander, motor

Woodworker's Sawmill by Carlos B

tags: bandsaw, mill

[Carlos B]

Awesome Jon, Thank You.