[deanbrock]

Simple idea. Take a junked/rusted vertical band saw from ebay, get it in working order, mount it horizontally over track. Waa laa. Eletric band sawmill, on the cheap.

But I haven't seen anyone do this yet. Can anyone think of any reasons why it wouldn't work?

Thanks,
Dean Brock
Knoxville, TN

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

It's been done and they are also commercially available. Often the people who sell log splitter kits sell band type sawmills, usually they are portable as well. When portable, they are normally powered by IC engines of some type.

Your idea of "doing it on the cheap" is appealing though.

Dick Z

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

Dean, You piqued my curiosity so I googled "portable saw mill". They are available from $199 to $$$$$$$$$$$$ Some look like your idea and some are like chainsaws in a horizontal frame. Seems like a popular machine.

Dick Z

[BobF]

You would need a stought saw for that. Most vertical saws dont have the guts to cut a whole log. Most common saw is a 14", but they usually only have about 6" vertical clearance. You have to a add a riser block to get 12" clearance. You would also have to choose the blade to suit the task. Get a 3 or 4 tpi blade with a "skip tooth" configuation. Since you will mostly be cutting with the grain you need all the chip clearance you can get.

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

I still like Dean's idea. What if you rigged up one of those combination vertical/horizontal band saws and squared the oversized log. After you remove the rounded "caint's" (cain't use em fer nuthin), the log might fit the throat. We had such an old band saw that had a 16" throat and used 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" blades. If my fuzzy math is correct, you could start with a 22 1/2" dia. log. If that would work, why not? Might be fun, expensive, waste of time, PO the significant other or all the above. lol

Dick Z

[Oakley1975]

Theres lots of info on diy builds and homemade mills here....

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?board=7.0

I've been a member for years.. Lots of info and good people.