# Swing mill



## cody.sheridan-2008 (May 23, 2010)

I have decided to leave the bandmill for my year 12 project at school and make a swing mill this year. I have a few questions though:

1. Does anyone have any good links to usefull information?

2. Where is a good place to go to find parts such as blades, pulleys, rollers ect?

3. I have not been able to find close up images of how the blade works. So if you have any close up images they would be greatly appreciated.

4. What are the main advantages to a swing mill when compared to other types of mills?

5. Are they better for quarter sawing?

6. Can you add anything else?

I already have two 13hp honda engines to run it from so that is a considerable cost gone from the build.

Thanks in advance
Cody


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*What about electric?*

An older large 14" + RAS head will have the necessary strength and the rotating mechanism for your swing saw. If nothing else
look at the head mechanism for ideas. Just throwin' that out for Ya.  bill
BTW What turned you away from the BS mill?


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## cody.sheridan-2008 (May 23, 2010)

thanks for that bill. I had a full thread typed up with the reasons I went to the swingmill intead and then pressed back on my mouse:furious:.

The main reason I am going for the swingmill is I feel it will not be as expensive to build mainly because of the wheels along with the time it will take to build and the fact that a swing mill is more portable and can be set up over logs as opposed to moving the log onto the bed of the mill. Also most Australian hardwoods need to be quatersawn for stability anyway. Plus I expect to be dealing with a fair few large logs. Though I still plan to make the band mill in year 12 when I want a larger more impressive project anyway (for the marks).

Just so everyone knows I will have to document the project for school anyway so I may give a week to week or month to month update on the build.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Either way, it's an ambitious project.*

I'll assume that you've watched these videos on You Tube:









Many ideas out there...best to ya, bill 
You can click on the arrow to go to the video, or click on the title bar and to go right to You Tube.


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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

Here is one of the few I have run across that were homebuilt and actually finished with sawdust for proof: http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,17100.msg246313.html#msg246313
There are other threads out there but are mostly talk or just started and not finished. Bailey's should have the blades. The hardest part for you may be finding a gearbox unless that Honda can run vertically and horizontally.


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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

This will be pretty nice for anyone building a swingmill, open source cad drawings for one when they are finished: http://openfarmtech.org/wiki/Sawmill . They already have 8 other tools finished, including a homemade tractor. I like the idea of the homemade CNC torch table if I had room, but that is because I like cutting stuff up .


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## Echo415 (Apr 3, 2018)

Swing mills baffle me and are way too much math to find the pivot point where the motor swings perfectly to line the outer blade diameter when it is both perpendicular and parallel to the log. Track saws confuse me similarly on how they stay inline to the rubber strip at any cutting angle. I'd love to see how this project evolves.

Do you have any Lucas sawmill dealers in your area?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*not being a math expert .....*



Echo415 said:


> Swing mills baffle me and are way too much math to find the pivot point where the motor swings perfectly to line the outer blade diameter when it is both perpendicular and parallel to the log. Track saws confuse me similarly on how they stay inline to the rubber strip at any cutting angle. I'd love to see how this project evolves.
> 
> Do you have any Lucas sawmill dealers in your area?



Bear in mind this thread is almost exactly 8 years old without a response until today ....


It would just seem practical to make the carriage height adjustable, trial and error will determine where the correct position is, no math involved. 

Track saws use a "track" which the base of the saw straddles to maintain constant contact as it's pushed along. No mystery there either. You can lift the saw off the track at any point in the progress of the cut if need be. It's not "locked on" by the shape of the base or the track itself.

The 2 axis panel saw I built did not require any math greater than a tape measure and possibly a calculator for addition substantiation ....? Honestly, there are times I amaze myself at what I did and can't remember how I did things if I had to do them again. Like how did I get the saw carriage the correct distance off the table? I remember milk crates and blocks for some reason.... :nerd2:


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## Echo415 (Apr 3, 2018)

Wow...I never looked at the date...it showed up as an active topic for some reason.

I shall go flog myself for disturbing the dead.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

LOL woodnthings!!!!! I built something similar to cut panels using a slightly tilted upright I-beam and used a garage door opener as my up and down drive...now this was multi block and tackled to get the correct feed speed (slow it down).

Sorry no pictures.

I like thinking out of the box ******* style!!!!


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