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Tell us about yourself: “I am a welder/fabricator by trade for the past 34 years. I worked for a fabrication company designing and building overhead cranes and material handling equipment. I now have my own shop and work for myself, doing some contract work and small projects for clients. My shop is CWB certified with one other employee besides myself.”
Being able to weld opens up all kinds of possibilities; whether you use it to build a simple frame of some kind, a go-kart for the kids (or the young at heart, we won’t judge), to something larger and more practical, like the band saw mill that George built. One interesting feature is how the bandsaw travels along the platform, instead of remaining stationary and having to feed the log into the blade.
Great design, George! Thanks for sharing your project with us!
What is it used for? Used for milling your own lumber. It’s 20 feet long and will cut a 16 foot, 6” log as thin as 1/8”.
What is the main power source for your project? (e.g. electric motor, gas engine etc.) A 15 horsepower Powerfist gas engine with electric start.
How do you control your project? (e.g. hydraulic control valve(s), electric switches etc.)Hydraulic control valves.
What components are used to perform the work for your project? (e.g. hydraulic cylinder(s), hydraulic motor(s), sprockets, pulleys etc.)Hydraulic motor and reducers. Sprockets, drive chains, belts and pulleys. The mill head travels down the bed with the use of a hydraulic motor and speed reducer which were both bought off the shelf at Princess Auto. The blade assembly also raises up and down with the use of motor and reducers.
What design/build challenges were overcome? Figuring out the hydraulics required and the blade-tensioning device. The mill took about 4 months to build over the winter working in the evenings and weekends. At the time, I was working for a fab shop in Fredericton, and one of the challenges was getting all the parts I needed. There was no Princess Auto in Fredericton at the time, so I had to go to either Moncton or Saint John for supplies. The design is mostly mine, using different variations that I have seen on the internet.
If you had to build it again, what would you do differently? Research hydraulics a bit more and use smaller hydraulic lines. The mill worked fine, and since then I have built two more for other people.
Which Princess Auto location do you visit most?Moncton and Saint John, NB