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Author Topic: Hello  (Read 15726 times)

Offline cib

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Hello
« on: October 12, 2013, 01:30:24 PM »
Hello,

I've been poking around here for a while. I'm in NW Indiana just outside of chicago right now. I'm from central georgia and moved up here with the wife. We are looking at moving back to Georgia for me to take over the family farm, plus we hate the cold/snow.

I'm having to rebuild much of the farm as my father had to run it alone, for the most part, while I was gone working and moved up here. I'm needing to cut a large number of boards for some livestock pens etc....

I've also thought it would be a good side job. I'm considering building my own, I'm very good mechanically at making things. I make knives and other such things as well as doing some woodwork on the side now for something to keep me busy when I have free time.

I'm curious how difficult is it to do this as a side job? I enjoy manual labor so I'm more talking about actually making any money with it. Any advice on someone that is considering getting into this field?

Offline Kirk Allen

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Re: Hello
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2013, 03:32:08 PM »
I have been milling lumber as a side job/hobby for ten years.  Best decision I ever made.  My mill has paid for itself in the first couple years and its been a blessing to have around the farm! 

Welcome to the forum!
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Offline Stevem

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Re: Hello
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2013, 06:22:06 PM »
Makes a good part time business assuming you can make any payments on the saw.  And it can be a lot of fun.  I am still totally amazed how beautiful ugly logs are when sawn.

Had my mill for about 7 years now and feel it's paid for its self several times over.  And as a bonus I have all the wood I need for building and hobbies.  Sometimes drives the wife nuts because I commit to sawing on a tight schedule.  But hell, better to wear out than rust out.

There are lots of people that make their living doing sawing or just add to the life style with any income generated.
Stevem
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Offline cib

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Re: Hello
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2013, 09:43:27 AM »
I'd love to buy a norwood or woodmizer mill but the payment is a problem. That's why I think I'm going to build it instead. That way I can add hydraulics and other features at a power cost.

I wish we'd already moved back to georgia on the farm, I sure miss it.

Offline HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader

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Re: Hello
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2013, 08:28:39 AM »

 Welcome to the forum.

 You can build a very simple mill, if you have the skills. Adding things later is good, as long as you build with those things in mind in the beginning.
  IF you go to the Linn Lumber website, they sell plans for $50.00 and also parts to construct a mill. I think this will be your best bet to at least look and decide where to go from there. With all the photos on their site, you will see how mills are basically built and you can scrounge or trade for what you need.

 I have bought and am still buying cast wheels and shipping them down here with other machinery I have, in Fl.
 I am about to start building a multi head bandmill, using motorcycle wheels. We have a small tree farm and will be sawing 14" and under logs, as we thin the stand.

 If you have any questions or need assistance, start a new thread in the bandmill section,and we can all advise you.

 I AM assuming, you want a bandmill, correct ?  ;D :laugh:

Offline cib

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Re: Hello
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2013, 10:05:48 PM »
Welcome to the forum.

 You can build a very simple mill, if you have the skills. Adding things later is good, as long as you build with those things in mind in the beginning.
  IF you go to the Linn Lumber website, they sell plans for $50.00 and also parts to construct a mill. I think this will be your best bet to at least look and decide where to go from there. With all the photos on their site, you will see how mills are basically built and you can scrounge or trade for what you need.

 I have bought and am still buying cast wheels and shipping them down here with other machinery I have, in Fl.
 I am about to start building a multi head bandmill, using motorcycle wheels. We have a small tree farm and will be sawing 14" and under logs, as we thin the stand.

 If you have any questions or need assistance, start a new thread in the bandmill section,and we can all advise you.

 I AM assuming, you want a bandmill, correct ?  ;D :laugh:

Yeah it will be a band mill. I thought about a swing or circular but just didn't feel comfortable, bands look much safer.

I'm trying to figure out the head life mechanism. I have an easy one using acme rods but I'd like something similar to norwood where you can accurately go one inch with good repeat ability.

I can cast the wheels at 22-24" and have a friend machine them so that will cost maybe 100 bucks total. The expensive part will be the steel. I have a few engines around to use.

Man looking forward to cutting some wood and getting out of the house.

Offline HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader

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Re: Hello
« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2013, 11:52:36 AM »
 Did you look at the Linn Lumber site ?  They use square tube for the sawhead frame. We used a worm drive boat trailer winch an ran the cable from the winch, which was above the sawhead, down TO the sawhead,through a metal block pulley, and back up to the frame the winch is fastened to. After just a little practice, I could stop the winch, allow the sawhead to continue coasting down to nearly stopping, then, bump the switch a time or two, to right at whatever thickness I was sawing at. Don't try to get too precise. It's a sawmill, not a planer.

 We used trailer wheels and a car spindle on the idler side so the wheels bolted right on. The drive wheel was a different approach. I have some photos of our mill on the other computer which took a dump. Need to find some intelligent life form that can repair it.

Offline cib

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Re: Hello
« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2013, 10:41:25 PM »
Did you look at the Linn Lumber site ?  They use square tube for the sawhead frame. We used a worm drive boat trailer winch an ran the cable from the winch, which was above the sawhead, down TO the sawhead,through a metal block pulley, and back up to the frame the winch is fastened to. After just a little practice, I could stop the winch, allow the sawhead to continue coasting down to nearly stopping, then, bump the switch a time or two, to right at whatever thickness I was sawing at. Don't try to get too precise. It's a sawmill, not a planer.

 We used trailer wheels and a car spindle on the idler side so the wheels bolted right on. The drive wheel was a different approach. I have some photos of our mill on the other computer which took a dump. Need to find some intelligent life form that can repair it.

I was considering acme threads because you could get precise with it but a 90 degree gearbox ain't cheap. With that I could gear it so that one turn was 1 inch, with the winch setup I was worried it would be difficult to get close to the next inch and may require "bumps". Glad to hear it wasn't that bad.

Offline HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader

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Re: Hello
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2013, 12:47:43 PM »
I had a local print shop make up my "gauge", that we screwed to the sawhead mast column. We welded a sharp pointer at the right place on the bracket that moved with the sawhead and adjusted that by bending just a bit. That was an excellent idea, because it was as accurate as anything we could buy, and, the winch worked great. The winch was around $50.00 I believe. Look at Surpluscenter.com for parts. We bought a lot of stuff from them over the years.