My latest project....not a knife

Self Made Knives

Well-Known Member
Here's a project that I started and stopped a few years ago. After getting whacked by a tornado earlier this summer, blew off the dust and got back to it. Maybe this will produce some knife scales someday.
 
Dang Anthony, now that's a saw, but I got to tell you, I'd be scared to come within 100' feet of that thing. I have visions of that blade snapping and whipping out like a snake and cutting my head off !:eek:
 
WOW!!! Anthony - I'm IMPRESSED!!! That is slick for sure. I wish you were my neighbor! {g}

You did a good job with that sawmill - it bears repeating.... I"M IMPRESSED!!! I had to watch that video a couple of times and send the link to my brother.... and cousin..... and a buddy.
 
Anthony, I love it. I have thought a couple of times of building one of these. I don't have equipment to handle the logs and the ole back doesn't like bending over with a chainsaw anymore. Folks now days are recovering the old logs lost in the rivers and streams. You know the stuff that was probably 300 yrs. old when cut. That specialty cut wood is worth some money!

I had a client one time when I was still doing a lot of trim work, cabinet making and some furniture pieces. Anyway the guy called up and wanted an entire fireplace surround and mantel out old growth material. So after contacting a company in mid Florida that recovered and cut that kind of wood. They gave me brochures on what they sold as standard and what they could do with (special cuts). I sit down and sketched out what he said he had in mind. They OKed the drawings and when I priced out the old growth wood they had recovered off of one of the rivers, down there. Materials and shipping he was looking at around $4500, that did not include labor. He soon decided he would have to think about. That's called my Champagne taste had overloaded my Beer budget. He never called me back!!

There is money to made with one of those band saws like that. Did you fabricate off a set of plans, or just from looking at one??? Either way it looks like you got a good machine. However like you said running in a closed in space might be a real bad idea!!
 
Thanks guys for the kind words. I started this project about 4 years ago and got frustrated with not having a shop, so it got mothballed. My original interest, and still is I guess, was being able to cut custom slabs for furniture, tables, gun stocks, etc. I wanted to be able to use a bigger variety of wood than the local Lowes has in stock. Just for my use, not really to make any money with.

Well, as for the design, I was looking at some of the cheap import mills like HF and Woodland Mills. The are all using a 2 post design with a cable lifting system, so that's kind of what I did too. I did utilize an ATV winch to raise and lower though, instead of a hand crank. The base of the mill is a repurposed natural gas skid. I used it pretty much as I got it, with the exception of welding on angle iron tracks, log bunks, and clamps. The length was predetermined by the skid, so I can cut a 14' log max. I got the actual bearings, wheels, and axles, etc. from an old pallet factory. They had some kind of a stationary re-saw machine that they had thrown out. I cut a chunk of junk out it and based my saw around what I got.

I machined some very accurate V-groove casters so the carriage would roll accurately and easily. Gobs and gobs of welding and grinding, kind of sick of it! As for safety, that was a big concern to me too. I did not want a blade to come off and go scooting around. So, I got some trailer fenders on ebay and made guards. If you are standing at the controls, I can see no conceivable way that you could get hurt, and I've really thought about that a lot. I probably only spent about $750 building it, but if I were to start over right now, I'd probably just go buy one. This was a ton of work!!!
 
Anthony, you really did a good job of designing that sawmill. All the sawmills I've ever had any dealing with in the hill country ran a big circular saw blade, not the bandsaw like you're using. I understand the bandsaw has LOTS of advantages over the circular blade. Again, I repeat - you did GREAT !!!!
 
Anthony, you sound like me. My wife used to say I was a packrat. I would say what's wrong with that. Everytime I throw something out I end up needing it a week or two later! :eek:
Being in the right place at the right time and having an eye for re-purposing is a good part of something like that. It appears to work well and there is always a few things you want to beef up or change with a project like that. but after watching the video I am impressed! Two thumbs up!!
 
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