# Cheap Sawmill



## bugman1954

I envy you guys with you Woodmizer and other various sawmills. The love of wood is in my blood and I thought I would share some pictures of my mill that I built for just over $1000. The saw is a 21" Grizzly 5hp purchased from an auction for $800. The rollers are hytrol capable of 1000 lbs per foot purchased off of Craigslist for $100. The legs cost me $100 to have made. I use Timberwolf silicone steel blades 1 1/4" 45 thousands. When I have to dismantle the operation I take the rollers out of my infeed table and tip it over and but the frame under the standing one. 

I really appreciate all the input I get from you sawyers. I thought I would share this with other readers that would like to have there own mill but just cant afford the production mills. I lubricate the blade and rollers with a combination of kerosene and chain bar oil. I use an engine hoist with a logging grapler hook or in some cases a chain to lift the quartered logs onto the rollers. I guess you figured out I use a chainsaw also.

Here is a video fo my operation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FZtIg5HeR0


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## Daren

I was surprised in the video how fast you could feed the wood to the saw.
No problems with blade wander ?


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## AZ Termite

Bugman, that is an awesome little setup you have there. I am not a sawyer but I have been considering doing something like that. I occasionally run across small logs and have given a little thought to getting a setup like yours.


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## Rick C.

Bugman,
Nice:thumbsup: I like it a lot,Most of the logs I get are under 24".I also can't find a sawyerthat will quarter saw or cut logs shorter than 7'6"and I get a lot of good looking shorties.
What do you use to get straight quarters?
Nice setup:yes::yes::yes::yes:
Rick
also is your saw 3 phase,this is some thing we don't have access to.


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## TexasTimbers

That's fantastic. I've been wanting to put something like together for a while. I sure need one. 

$800 bucks for that Griz was a good buy.


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## bugman1954

As long as the bottom is square and I good contact with majority of the rollers the cant runs true to the rollers. I keep bumping the fence as I try to set up for the next cut. A friend of mine recomended a small set of hydralic cylinders which would bump the log over. When a quarter is almost a 1000 lbs it is hard to get lined up just right. Its alot easier as it gets under 500lbs. The rollers allow the cant to litterally roll down hill. There is about a 4 in drop in my garage floor over the 24 ft length. 

I know I will never get a log over 28 inches again. They are just to hard to work with. The one on the driveway was 34" in the middle. It flared at both ends. Another mistake. Only get strait buck logs. I wish I had the resources that Daren has. But I have almost as good. I pay 30 cents a bd ft for scaled logs. I don't have to cut them just take trailer and get a load. 

I love quartersawn white oak. I build mission furniture and I love the look at the rays of a quartersawn board. The first cut was made by a freinds 36" Stihl. He just freesawed it, he has a good eye. The other cuts were by my 20" Husky 455 Rancher. I have a Boardmaster from Hudson but have not had to use it yet. I know I could handle a 28 inch log and hit it pretty well. The boardmaster only allows me to make a 16" deep cut. A larger saw is in the future. My Grizzly G0531 is a 5hp single phase

A friend today dropped off a 20" walnut that he asked me to saw for him. I halfed it and will quartersaw one half and plainsaw the other half.


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## jeffreythree

Have you thought of using a chainsaw mill to cut the log into a cant then use your bandsaw? Nice clean wood, already straight lined, might make things a little better.


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## bugman1954

The one inch wide line running down the middle of the whole log was unknown. The first day the wood was laying out it started seperating running some 14" wide boards. Now I will have to straight line them out after it is kiln dried. If you look at the edns of the quarters you can see the visible ring running all the way through all four quarters. So now I will have some beautiful 5 -6 inch boards. I still have to weigh it down and build a roof on top of the stack


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## jeffreythree

Appears to be ring shake. A fungal attack that causes the rings to separate. I have never encountered it myself, so maybe someone can confirm it?


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## TexasTimbers

I run into shake often, and you will too Jeff. I can't see it in the photos though. Ring shake, or "wind shake" as it's often called by old timers, is generally thought to result from a combination of what jefferey stated, a bacterial infection which weakens the tree, then another applied force which stresses the tree. Such as wind, felling them with heavy machinery, and in some cases steep growth angles. 

Shake is the separation of the growth rings, parallel to the rings. I see it here mostly in walnut, white oak, and honeylocust. A tree can have some separation but not have it throughout the tree wholly. It tends to occur more frequently where the sap and heart woods meet, but certainly not limited to that area exclusively. I have some logs in the yard with shake so bad I'm not going to mill them.


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## TexasTimbers

Pith wood is so tender and soft in most trees that it will dry out much quicker than the heart and that's why for most applications the pith is avoided at all costs. In timber framing, especially back in the old growth days when you could get several 12 x 12 beams out of a tree, the beams would not be cut from the center of the tree. These are known as FOHC or free of heart center. IOW no pith. 

But you're saying you see this characteristic in all the boards from the tree then it sounds like shake to me. Pith defects would only effect one or two boards.


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## woodnthings

*All us "little dogs" are envious!*

Having made a much smaller version for my Mini Max 18" I would love to have that setup, but My shop is on the second floor and I have no intentions of hoisting up 1000 lbs of tree up there. Besides, the floor load wouldn't stand for it. Bugman that work out is sweet! I can handle about a 4' quarter, which I run through/over my 13" jointer to get a smooth face on the table. Then I run it again each time I take a saw cut, keeping one good face at all times. Pictures:


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## bugman1954

*Applying a heat source.*

I built this roof with used glass panels from two sets of patio doors I picked up at a salvage yard for $5 each. The other day it was 80 degrees and it was 120 degrees under the glass. I may also have to roate the wood later to get the bottom equal. The wood at the top is 11% and 13% at the bottom. The green cloth is rain screen from a local fencing company they took off a fence at a construction site. Catches the rain but still lets the wind through. It has been 5 week since I cut this lumber. 

I noticed that the wood I picked up from the Kiln last month is very brittle. I think 7% is too dry. This wood has been in my garage and I was hoping it would draw in a little more moisture.


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## Julian the woodnut

7% is what you want for fine furniture. If you are over 10% you will have problems with shrinkage if you're not careful in prepping the joints, and allowing for the unavoidable contraction that will happen in the winter months.


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## bugman1954

*fresh video*

I thought I would post a new video I made of me cutting some hard maple.


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## JohnK007

Great video Bugman! Glad to see you bringing this thread back to life :thumbsup:


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## MidGAOutdoor

thats off the hook. love it. and the part about the shake was very helpful.


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## frankp

That thing is awesome. My 1 1/2 horse saw doesn't cut nearly that quickly but I sure wish it did. Of course I'm still holding logs the hard way too. One of these days I'll get some rollers or something to support the logs better. Until then they sit in my driveway pissing off my neighbors.


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## mike1950

Frank, you just have to do a better job of convincing them they are yard art.:yes:


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## bugman1954

*new motor*

I knew my bandsaw was under powered for what I was using it for. About a year ago I picked up a new 10hp 1ph motor off ebay for less than $500 including shipping. I knew I had to make an adapter plate and update the contactor and relay for the higher amperage motor. I found the contactor and relay at U S Breaker in Ga for less than $100. The larger metal enclosure cost be $35 from a local electrical supply company. 

The adapter plate cost $50 to open to appropiate size. A friend with a milling machine counter sunk the holes for the allen head screws and tapped the holes for the belt tensioner. 

I had to enlarge the opening for the shaft of the new motor. The old opening was less than 1 1/2 in with the new shaft being 1 1/2 in. A friend came over with a plasma cutter and made the appropiate cut. I cleaned up the hole and mounted the motor. The lower fins hit the balancer on the lower bandwheel axle. A little grinding and it all worked. Another friend is coming over Monday to wire the new contactor. 

My old bandsaw blade speed was 4600 fpm. Timberwolf recommended 5200 for my application so I was able to purchase a larger drive pully from a local supplier. I went from 3 1/2 to 4 1/8 on that pulley. Follow along as things finally come together and I can start sawing again.


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## qbilder

Very nice!!!! That would be the nuts for straight lining one edge of a flitch, or for handling smaller, irregular logs. You can screw a straight board to the side of a small, odd shaped log, & run the straight board along the fence to get a straight cut through the log. Lots of things I could do with a set-up like that.


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## woodtick greg

thats a grizz on steroids, once again need = invention.


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## djg

Good heavens, that motor is a monster! As I've said before, I love your setup.


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## woodnthings

*so much for my 3 HP Grizzly*

I'll just hook it up to the John Deere PTO. That oughta do it. :laughing:


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## TexasTimbers

You never cease to amaze me Bug. I mean that. :thumbsup:


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## bugman1954

*Motor Update*

I finally have had some time on the new motor and made a new video. When I was cutting white oak I couldn't tell the difference between the 5hp and the 10hp. Yesterday I was cutting cherry and I could see the difference. The video was made after cutting for two hours and the blade was just showing signs of needing refreshed. (dremel and sanding disk) 

Today I am going to start with a new Timberwolf blade and compare the cutting ability of it and new blades that are made up locally. The timberwolf blades cost me $27 each shipped and the local blades are $17 each. I don't ship the blades back to Timberwolf for sharpening any more. They cost $7 to sharpen and about $10 for the shipping there and back. 

The wood in the video is cherry. After I cut a cant yesterday evening I went back to look at the wood and I saw the tiger in the wood. To bad this is for a friend and not my own.


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## Dominick

That's a nice band saw. But I'm surprised 
You don't have a longer fence on there for milling long logs. I don't have a band saw so maybe I don't know. 
Just wondering. Great video.


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## bugman1954

*tiger cherry*

I've never seen tiger cherry before but it looks like there is tiger all the way through the buck log. I hope it becomes more prominent as the wood is dried.

There is a 5ft fence that is aligned with the fence on the bandsaw. It is hinged so I can flip it out of the way when I spin and flip the cants when I am quartersawing. Depending on what thickness I am cutting, I set the fence on the bandsaw and then push the bandsaw in or out to align it with the fence on the infeed rollers. Then two vice-grips secure the bandsaw to the rollers. I have over 7ft of fence to bump the cant up against.

It is 12 ft to the back wall and if I move the mill over I can open the storage door and get another 3 ft. Last time I checked no one uses 15ft boards to build furniture. I can only only load 10ft boards in my kiln build with Daren's Kiln Plans. I would post Pictures of the Kiln but Daren told me not to. My kiln is built out of a 12 ft insulated garage door with 2ft wide panels. Maybe Daren would upload the pictures of my kiln on his plans he sells.

In the video I have another cant straddling the rollers waiting to cut on the infeed roller.


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## bikeshooter

I don't understand - what is "tiger cherry"?


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## woodtick greg

bikeshooter said:


> I don't understand - what is "tiger cherry"?


It's a natural figureing of the wood like quilting or curly figure.


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## woodnthings

*hey Tom*

waddaya up to these days? Millin' any more logs? :blink:


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## bugman1954

I reckon things change through our life. I have turned to bowl blanks and wood truning. I sell blanks to the local club and a local wood supplier here in MO. I will be on vacation next week and I am looking for two really nice white oak logs to mill for my own use. We were at a festival yesterday and there were running an old mill. It was a white oak log, man do I love the smell of white oak.


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## Post Oakie

Bugman, thanks for posting. Lots of ways to get a job done. I'm over in Neosho, MO and have a portable band sawmill. Drop me a line, if I can be of any help.


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## qbilder

bugman1954 said:


> man do I love the smell of white oak.


Oooh yeah! Me too. Reminds me of whiskey ... in a good way :laughing:


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