Sawmill

[renewablejohn]

Do you run with a knife as I cannot see one on the video.

 

[Jsmith2211]

Do you run with a knife as I cannot see one on the video.

I assume you mean a metal peice the other side of the blade? We don’t never have done

 

[puppet]

We used to have a similar bench but thankfully long gone before it killed someone. The saw does not seem to be running smoothly and is quite slow. Without a knife to keep the cut open then is the log gripping the blade.
Other safety issue is that if the saw grips the log near the end then it can be thrown up quite forcefully. Other option is to put a wedge in when half way through

 

[Jsmith2211]

We used to have a similar bench but thankfully long gone before it killed someone. The saw does not seem to be running smoothly and is quite slow. Without a knife to keep the cut open then is the log gripping the blade.
Other safety issue is that if the saw grips the log near the end then it can be thrown up quite forcefully. Other option is to put a wedge in when half way through

You think it needs to be revved up a bit?

 

[puppet]

More thinking it was cutting quite slowly though we did more softwood than hardwood.
Any problem with 540 rpm?

 

[renewablejohn]

I assume you mean a metal peice the other side of the blade? We don’t never have done

I would recommend getting one made as could easily be part of the problem with the wood pinching the saw, Alternative is a wedge once the timber is through the blade but sods law dictates you will forget to take the wedge out as you run the timber back. Personally would not use a saw without one.

 

[Whitey !]

We’re abouts are you in Somerset the chap to chat with would be rich cambers used to run and maintain milverton sawmills ?

 

[Jsmith2211]

We’re abouts are you in Somerset the chap to chat with would be rich cambers used to run and maintain milverton sawmills ?

Have you got any contact details I’m not far from milverton. Perhaps he could nip over and have a look?

I would recommend getting one made as could easily be part of the problem with the wood pinching the saw, Alternative is a wedge once the timber is through the blade but sods law dictates you will forget to take the wedge out as you run the timber back. Personally would not use a saw without one.

I could probably make one for it. Where would it bolt to?

 

[Jsmith2211]

More thinking it was cutting quite slowly though we did more softwood than hardwood.
Any problem with 540 rpm?

Yes cutting slowly but at least it was cutting. I’ve always run it below 540 don’t want to break anything going too quick

 

[renewablejohn]

Have you got any contact details I’m not far from milverton. Perhaps he could nip over and have a look?

I could probably make one for it. Where would it bolt to?

On my rack saw it bolts to a steel plate which is bolted to the wooden frame underneath the carriage. Obviously adjustable width wise to line up with saw blade. The frame is the same frame the main saw bearing is attached to.
Sounds like you need to string the saw blade to make sure it is perfectly aligned with the carriage.

 

[Jsmith2211]

On my rack saw it bolts to a steel plate which is bolted to the wooden frame underneath the carriage. Obviously adjustable width wise to line up with saw blade. The frame is the same frame the main saw bearing is attached to.
Sounds like you need to string the saw blade to make sure it is perfectly aligned with the carriage.

I will have a look into the knife. On the alignment side it does need aligning, but i cannot remember the amount of lead the saw blade is supposed to have or which way it is meant to be facing if that makes sense. I know it isnt meant to be directly straight with the bed.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Any idea where I could buy some from? Also do you have any idea about the setting up of the angle of the saw?

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Rosin used by violinists might be similar to what I saw being used. Raw linseed oil is another and I believe sprinkling sawdust from high resin softwoods like larch works as well.

 

[renewablejohn]

I will have a look into the knife. On the alignment side it does need aligning, but i cannot remember the amount of lead the saw blade is supposed to have or which way it is meant to be facing if that makes sense. I know it isnt meant to be directly straight with the bed.

Dont think it matters which way the toe in is facing. Bit old fashioned but I was taught maximum toe in being 0.005 inch per inch of saw blade.

 

[cosmiccrofter]

When we ran the barn mill with a belt pulley on the 35, we used some molasses on the belt from a 45 gallon drum which was bought to feed to the cattle. Perfect stuff and very sticky. I've also used syrup on a bench saw when the molasses had finished.

 

[Kenham]

I think you definitely need a riving knife for a start, when you had the blade hammered, they should have told you what rpm the blade was hammered for. I would think 500 - 750 rpm for that size of blade but really you need to know what it was set for. If you have heated the blade, then there will not be much hope for it to cut right as it has probably altered the tension in the centre / rim /middle etc. You might have to have it hammered again, finding someone who can actually do the job correctly will be a task in itself, plenty of firms say they can but in reality most of the good saw doctors have retired or gone to a distant place unfortunately. I think on that size of blade you won't want a lot of lead into the log, perhaps 16th inch, is it a 36 in blade? There is a need for good saw doctors in this country, a good business opportunity for young people if they can find someone to teach them the skills needed before it's too late. I have had two firms try to hammer a four-foot blade of mine without success, even worse with bandsaw blades, one firm totally ruined 5 blades at £140 each so don't think if you've had it done it is ok. To set the blade I always use an inch thick plank, and not a log as you can see what is happening along the blade and the fence etc. Hope this might help you a bit, please fit the riving knife though before it throws a lump of wood at you, (it hurts), and it can heat the blade. Yes, Stockholm tar is good, from most horsey type shops, not the liquid thin stuff though. If I were you, I would not use the fence when sawing the log at first, mark the table as if the fence is not parallel to blade / table it will cause all sort s of problems, get the blade to table right first, let us know how it works out.

 

[Jsmith2211]

I think you definitely need a riving knife for a start, when you had the blade hammered, they should have told you what rpm the blade was hammered for. I would think 500 - 750 rpm for that size of blade but really you need to know what it was set for. If you have heated the blade, then there will not be much hope for it to cut right as it has probably altered the tension in the centre / rim /middle etc. You might have to have it hammered again, finding someone who can actually do the job correctly will be a task in itself, plenty of firms say they can but in reality most of the good saw doctors have retired or gone to a distant place unfortunately. I think on that size of blade you won't want a lot of lead into the log, perhaps 16th inch, is it a 36 in blade? There is a need for good saw doctors in this country, a good business opportunity for young people if they can find someone to teach them the skills needed before it's too late. I have had two firms try to hammer a four-foot blade of mine without success, even worse with bandsaw blades, one firm totally ruined 5 blades at £140 each so don't think if you've had it done it is ok. To set the blade I always use an inch thick plank, and not a log as you can see what is happening along the blade and the fence etc. Hope this might help you a bit, please fit the riving knife though before it throws a lump of wood at you, (it hurts), and it can heat the blade. Yes, Stockholm tar is good, from most horsey type shops, not the liquid thin stuff though. If I were you, I would not use the fence when sawing the log at first, mark the table as if the fence is not parallel to blade / table it will cause all sort s of problems, get the blade to table right first, let us know how it works out.

The table is marked and I started off using that. Later switched to the fence for sawing the thinner planks as it worked ok without the fence and it still worked ok. We had a bit of a fiddle with the alignment and set it to have 1mm on the tractor end closer to the belt drive. Seems to cut OK, not the fastest and it is heating the middle (not bearing or the nut just the saw blade) but not the outside. Stockholm tar didn’t seem to do a lot of good as I couldn’t get it to go on the belt, just stuck to the stick like glue… linseed oil seems to have helped the belt no end though, and it seems like with use it’s getting grippier and more flexible. think many years of never having any oil and not getting a lot of use didn’t do it any good. I will ring up Mr Chambers and ask him if he’s got any advice, as I still think it’s not quite perfect, however it’s definitely a lot better than it was and it’s usable for doing what I need it to do at the moment. Thank you all for your help. I’ve attached a couple of photos of todays attempts. I’m assured by father that no riving knife is needed, you just knock a wedge in it. We don’t really resaw any planks with it, the smallest we cut would be what we are doing with it now which is a 6”x12” slab cutting down to 2”x6” boards. I can’t see anywhere that there would’ve been one, or really where you’d mount one so I’m sure it is fine for now. Having said that if I was to use the little resawing blade I’d want a knife… although it’s unlikely I will as it’s a bit rusty and would want a good going over first I think. the big blade on it is a 55” insert toothed blade apparently from America. Seems to not wobble about at just under 540 on the pto which roughly works out to around 450 rpm, though could be higher or lower I don’t have an RPM guage. I’d like to learn the skills in getting these things running properly and keeping them like it, more of an art than a science but needs to be preserved like the machines themselves.

 

[puppet]

Lovely job. Good to see timber being used rather burnt

 

[Jsmith2211]

Lovely job. Good to see timber being used rather burnt

Well i'd rather use the good bits in the middle and burn all the offcuts. Ideally i'd have a steam engine to run it and burn the offcuts and sawdust in that, be cheaper to run and fully sustainable then!

 

[X344chap]

You can get belt dressing spray tin at most bearing and belt suppliers.

 

[AlCapone]

Is the saw blade square in bench?