Shower      06/16/2019

DIY band sawmills (video and drawings). How to make a simple band sawmill with your own hands - instructions, drawings and materials Homemade mobile sawmill

When carrying out construction or carpentry work, lumber is always needed. These can be boards for various purposes, timber for foundations and floors, parts of building structures.

To have sufficient stock necessary materials, you will have to frequently saw untreated logs. Of course, you can already buy finished products, but financial costs will increase several times.

A factory-made sawmill is also not cheap. However, you can make a fully functional sawmill with your own hands at home, and the costs will be significantly lower.

Varieties

Depending on the design of the working part, a homemade sawmill is made of three types:

  • disc sawmill;
  • tape;
  • tire

Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Disk installation

Among homemade devices Disc sawmills are the most common type. They have gained wide popularity due to their versatility and ease of assembly.

Most suitable for one-time construction work or for small businesses that do not involve large volumes of production. The basis of this design is a circular saw mounted on electric motor or on the spindle.

In most cases, a so-called “circular” is made - solid foundation in the form on which the engine and the shaft with the circular saw are mounted.

The base is made of wooden or metal parts, which are fixed in a criss-cross position and secured with a board of a suitable size. Metal plates are fastened on top of the board using bolts.

In the resulting plate it is necessary to leave a slot for the saw and holes for mounting the engine. The holes must be additionally countersunk and then secured with screws.

The saw must be installed strictly in the middle of the resulting structure. The top plate is connected to the base with screws, and the disk insert is fixed in the hole between the plates. The last thing to attach is the thrust bar.

note: when assembling the sawmill, close attention should be paid to the reliability of fastening of all structural elements. An insecure saw blade poses a serious threat to human health and life.

Using a homemade circular sawmill you can make timber, slats different sizes and veneer. The rotation speed of the saw is sufficient to obtain high-quality products with smooth edges and cuts.

Belt type

Installations using band saws are used in the production of lumber on an industrial scale.

Private production in most cases is equipped with homemade sawmills, made on the basis of drawings of factory units. The main advantage of such devices is the ability to quickly cut large logs weighing up to three hundred kilograms.

Manufacturing a band sawmill requires special training and sufficient availability large quantity various building materials:

  • pipes of various sizes and diameters;
  • metal corners for mounting the rail system;
  • channel;
  • pulleys;
  • profile pipes for sleepers.

In addition, you will need tools for working with metal - a welding machine, an electric drill, a grinder and a set of fasteners (bolts, nuts, screws).

Work on the manufacture of the device begins with the installation of the stationary part - the frame. The shape of this design resembles the letter “P”; the material is two channels or angles 50X100 mm.

The standard length of the channel is 8 - 9 meters, the height is at least 14 cm. After installing the frame, holes are drilled in it, the gaps between which must be at least one meter.

Afterwards it is necessary to tighten the channels with pipes 25 cm long, fastening is done using bolts the right size and hairpins. After this, the racks on which the sawmill will be fixed are mounted. To increase stability, the structure is additionally strengthened with the required number of braces.

It is important to know: the proportions of all parts must match; for a sawmill 9 meters long, a saw measuring at least a meter is required.

A saw is attached to the trolley, and a steering wheel is installed on the side to control the operation of the unit. The clamps are made of pipes with a diameter of no more than 40 mm; movable hoses are installed inside. Clamps made of metal corners are installed on top of the pipes.

Lastly, the saw blade and motor are installed. It is best to build the structure directly at the site of future work, since the total weight of the band sawmill is very large.

You may also be interested in an article on how to make a vibrating table for paving slabs:

Tire (logosol)

A homemade unit is fundamentally different from other types of sawmills in its design.

The main task is longitudinal sawing of logs, production of high-quality veneer and slats. Numerous videos on the Internet provide comprehensive information about all stages of installation of a tire sawmill.

This type of sawmill is used in small industries to produce mini workpieces of non-standard shape and size. In homemade units, a chainsaw blade of a suitable size is used as the working part.

The design consists of a profile whose working height is just over a meter. The chainsaw is moved using a trolley.

The exact height is calculated taking into account the height of the worker in order to avoid prolonged stay in an uncomfortable position. A log is placed on the main profile, the saw moves and cuts according to preset parameters.

The main condition necessary for high-quality operation of such devices is sufficient weight and rigidity of the main profile, as well as the presence required quantity supports To obtain an even cutting line, you must have at least four stable wheels and a manual drive.

It is optimal to use a well crank with a drive wheel. To adjust the thickness of the product, rigid fixation jacks are installed.

Making your own sawmill of any type is a labor-intensive and complex process. Whether the waste of time and money is advisable is up to everyone to decide for themselves. In any case, when installing a unit of any type, one must not forget about safety precautions.

Injuries often occur while working with wood, and homemade equipment, assembled insufficiently well, poses a danger to the owner.

How to make a cheap sawmill with your own hands, see the following video:

Not everyone can afford the purchase of a ready-made sawmill, especially since it will only pay off with constant use (read commercial use). Is it possible to make a sawmill with your own hands? What difficulties will a do-it-yourselfer face if he decides to cut raw logs into industrial wood on his own?

Homemade band sawmill

Let’s agree right away - do it band sawmill very difficult for myself. It's not so much about the components, extensive turning and welding work ah, the need to sharpen and set the saw in a special way, but in the smooth functioning of the entire complex.

It is necessary to ensure loading and stability of movement of up to 300 kg of one log, adjustment of cutting thickness, and most importantly, safety precautions. But if the availability of free wood wins, we make a band sawmill with our own hands.

Let us explain the principle of tape cutting with an example: take two spools of thread, stretch a threaded thin tape between them. By forcibly rotating the belt, we cut the log, the distance between the belts is maximum size timber. Band saws are convenient for cutting boards.

We start with choosing a production area or premises - at least 3x6 m, verified. Second in importance - metal wheels trolleys and band saw, you need to find it or buy it. Order the frame of the belt mechanism with wheels, or it is better to buy a ready-made one. Self-production requires skills and a lot of high-precision tooling.

View 1: 1 - stand; 2 - roller; 3 - plate; 4 - screw; 5 - chain; 6 — guide lug; 7 — movable comb; 8 - screw; 9 - fixed comb; 10 - remote control.
View 2: 1 - pulley for starting the motor (if a three-phase motor is connected to single-phase network); 2 - engine; 3 - pulley; 4 - shaft; 5 — housing with bearing; 6 - base; 7 - flywheel; 8 - finger; 9 — connecting rod; 10 - saw; 11 — M14x2 screw; 12 — roller; 13 — guide angle; 14 - stand; 15 — steering wheel; 16 — bushing; 17 — asterisk; 18 — nut M14x2; 19 — lock nut; 20 is an asterisk.

We install guides - any durable one smooth metal: I-beam, channel, angle, under them, through 0.5 m, a support or anchor for stability. The distance between the guides is the diameter of the big log with a margin of about 0.7 m. Maintaining the geometry, we weld everything together. We attach wheels, a belt mechanism frame, and an electric motor through a pulley to the cart.

Think over the mechanism of change horizontal movement saws relative to the log. Moving the cart relative to the fixed log, we cut off a horizontal layer of wood - we make boards.

Disc sawmills have received the greatest handicraft use due to their versatility and ease of manufacture. We will make a circular sawmill with our own hands. The most important thing is that we will need a circular saw - a disc larger than 500 mm (the larger the better). The propulsion device is usually an electric motor through a pulley that increases the speed.

1 - main sleeper ( steel pipe 80x80x3, 5 pcs); 2 — lining (steel sheet, 40x10x1.22 pcs.); 3 — guide blade (steel channel No. 8, L1750, 4 pcs.); 4 - trolley (telpher carriage); 5 — bottom bracket (steel channel No. 18, 2 pcs); 6 - plate - base (stylish sheet s5); 7 — M20 bolt) (4 pcs.); 8 — Grover washer (4 pcs.); 9 — nut M20 (4 pcs.); 10 — three-phase asynchronous electric motor (220 V, 5 kW, 930 rpm); 11 — upper bracket (steel angle 45×45); 12 — circular saw blade; 13 — protective casing (steel sheet s2); 14 — steel pin (8 pcs.); 15 — circular saw hub (St5); 16 — thrust handle (water and gas pipe 3/4″); 17 — cut-off slab; 18 — thrust gusset (steel sheet s5); 19 — comb (steel angle 45×45, L400); 20 - log; 21 — M30 bolt; 22- split washer; 23 — retaining washer (steel sheet sЗ); 24 — thrust crossbar (steel angle 45×45); 25 — shortened sleeper (steel pipe 80x40x3, 6 pcs.); 26 — overlay for lengthening the blade (steel sheet 250x180x10, 2 pcs.).

A welded frame is prepared, a metal (less often wooden) plate with a slot for the disk is placed on the frame. The gaps between the disk and the plate are minimal. The saw shaft is attached to the plate from below on bearings and a pulley. The electric motor pulley and the saw are connected by belts (reinsurance when the saw jams) - a homemade circular sawmill can work!

one of the options for a homemade circular sawmill

To tension the belt, use the weight of the engine with the addition of weights. Make the supporting platform of the electric motor movable coaxially with the saw shaft, deflecting under weight in the opposite direction. The wheel of a working tractor with a drive to a saw pulley without belts is often used as a propulsion device.

The principles of cutting are the same as in strip cutting - we feed the log to cutting disc. After a disc cut, the surface of the lumber is of higher quality due to the speed of processing. Disc sawmills come in vertical and horizontal types - they are easier to use in mobile installations.


Tire sawmill

We need to start by understanding what and how much we will cut. If you need to cut 100 - 200 rafters for a house being built from free logs, then 400 boards, it is better to use a hand-held professional chainsaw. Let's make a homemade sawmill from a chainsaw, an inexpensive, simple and effective method.

drawing the simplest sawmill from a chainsaw (download full drawing)

You will need any smooth metallic profile, welding and grinder. We start with the maximum length of the log - practically about 4 m. For this length you need to find a channel or I-beam, you can weld it from pieces with reinforcement - the main thing is that the resulting profile is even. We are starting to make our autonomous sawmill based on a chainsaw.

The design is a powerful profile at a working height - above the waist, along which a fixed chainsaw moves in a cart.

The height is determined by ergonomics; a prolonged knee-elbow position is not useful. A log is placed parallel to the main profile on a support frame, a running chainsaw moves along the log and makes the necessary trimming.

A few more details about the features. Main element– the main profile, which ensures the geometrically correct dimensions of the lumber, must be sufficiently strong and rigid, if the channel is at least 200. The profile rests on 3 or more supports connected to the support frame on which the log rests.

If you decide to make a chain sawmill with your own hands, be sure to look at the LOGOSOL sawmills. Drawings and documentation can be downloaded from the website and used as the basis for your homemade product.

The main errors when sawing are formed when the cart with the chainsaw oscillates, so the movement of the cart along the profile requires at least four firmly pressed metal wheels, it is necessary to provide manual drive. The simplest is a well crank with a drive wheel along the main profile.

To install a heavy log, slopes are usually installed along which it is convenient to push the log successively from side to side onto the support frame, wedging it on the frame.


The most difficult thing is the adjustment mechanism for the thickness of the product. The simplest way– installation along the edges of the movable vertical plane supporting frame screw or any rigid fixation jacks. We adjust the jacks - we adjust the thickness of the product. An example of the construction of a mobile tire sawmill based on a chainsaw can be seen in the photo.

Cutting wood can be done by one person: holding the chainsaw handle and adjusting the gas, we feed with the other hand.

Conclusion

A few thoughts on the feasibility of making a sawmill. Tested by time and practice - self-production makes sense with free materials. If you calculate the labor costs and materials, and the possible benefits, you will understand for yourself. The worst thing is when self-production– few people pay attention to safety precautions. This moment definitely needs to be thought through! Trouble-free operation and high-quality wood.

People whose budget is modest and does not allow them to purchase branded canopies and attachments like to come up with various homemade products from a walk-behind tractor with their own hands. In the basic configuration, this equipment has limited capabilities. But even the simplest unit is an internal combustion engine, which can be used as a source of energy for many mobile devices. On the basis of a walk-behind tractor, you can also assemble stationary installations, such as a water pump, an electric generator and a mulcher. By connecting an electric motor to the unit, you can make universal machine for wood processing. A homemade sawmill in your yard will be an excellent help on the farm.

Vehicle Upgrades

If your old bicycle, scooter or motorcycle breaks down, you should not sell the equipment for scrap. There is also no need to rush into buying a new motor. It can be replaced with a power unit from a light motor cultivator. There is only one restriction: such a car cannot be driven on public roads. But the Ant scooter with a walk-behind tractor engine can be used in the country for trips to a field or river. 5-6 hp engine quite enough to accelerate the moped to a speed of 50-60 km/h. Before installing the engine on a bicycle, it is necessary to install reinforced wheels on this vehicle that can withstand a weight of up to 100 kg.


In order to assemble a scooter with a walk-behind tractor engine, you will need the following tools and materials:

  • welding machine;
  • grinder with metal discs;
  • electric drill;
  • wrench;
  • screwdriver;
  • pliers;
  • level;
  • hammer;
  • dye.

In order to install the power unit on the Ant, you will need to create a frame for it.



This is done in the following sequence:

  1. Drawings are drawn up and made accurate calculations configuration of the frame and attachment points. It is recommended to check the calculations on soft aluminum strips.
  2. The mounting bracket is welded. It is treated with anti-corrosion agents and holes are drilled for the bolts.
  3. The engine is carefully placed on the bracket and secured with bolts. The installation accuracy is checked and the position is adjusted.
  4. The motor is connected to the chassis vehicle using a belt or chain. Gear shift cables and control levers are secured.
  5. Checking the functionality of the vehicle. The created homemade product needs to be run in so that all the parts get used to each other. You need to spend 6-8 hours on this with the engine running at medium speed.

If you have experience handling household tools and knowledge in electrical engineering, you can assemble an electric excavator with your own hands. This will require channels, hinges, cables and a working electric motor. The bucket is made of sheet steel, which can be purchased inexpensively at scrap metal collection points.

Tractor from a walk-behind tractor

Few people will like the process of walking around the field for many hours behind the machine. It is much easier to mow the grass, plow or hill up the soil while sitting on a comfortable chair attached to a trailed cart. There are many branded adapters, trailers and carts available at retail outlets. But they have a considerable cost, which many cannot afford. You can make a mini-tractor from a Neva walk-behind tractor almost free of charge, using the tools and materials that you have at hand.


The following devices and materials are needed:

  • differential from passenger car;
  • wheels from a small car;
  • sprockets and chains from a motorcycle;
  • hexagonal solid steel profile;
  • steel corners 50 mm;
  • tin for making wings.

The first difficulty that arises when making a homemade tractor with your own hands is a high center of gravity. It is impossible to lower it for purely technical reasons. The only way to increase the stability of a tractor is to expand its wheelbase. For this, a hexagonal profile is used, which is attached to the hubs with cotter pins. When the track expands to 120 cm, the walk-behind tractor will gain normal stability. Installing a differential will allow the unit to corner easily.


The mini-tractor is assembled in the following sequence:

  1. Welding the frame of the trailer part. Attaching the drawbar to the flange, making holes in it for the bolts (the connection must be made collapsible in order to be able to transport the walk-behind tractor in the trunk or trailer).
  2. Manufacturing of chassis. Wheels are installed on the trolley. To make all-wheel drive on both axles, sprockets are welded onto the axle shaft, and a tensioning mechanism and chains are installed.
  3. Assembly of body and seat. If necessary, a canopy is installed over the driver. The controls are being configured and adjusted.
  4. Electrification of the created machine. A tractor generator or battery is used as an energy source. For ease of driving, it is advisable to install 2 headlights - front and rear (for reversing).

During sea trials, the stability and maneuverability of the homemade product are checked. If the drive wheels lose traction with the ground, then they or the walk-behind tractor body are loaded with weights.

Snowmobile from a walk-behind tractor

In winter, moving around the terrain becomes much more difficult, and buying even a used snowmobile involves significant financial costs. The solution to the problem is to convert the walk-behind tractor into a snowmobile. Everything you need for this can be found at the nearest landfill or scrap metal collection point. If you have enough money, modular tracks are purchased, installed instead of wheels on the axle shaft.

Wood sawing machine (saw bench) – rather complex special production equipment that requires strict adherence to safety measures during operation. In the conditions of the Russian Federation, your own sawmill can significantly reduce the cost of wood construction and/or become a source of stable income. The purpose of this publication is to help the reader understand how to make a sawmill with your own hands, choose a suitable design for yourself and avoid insurmountable difficulties in its manufacture.

When is it needed?

Interest in the “do-it-yourself sawmill” actually came to RuNet from the EU. There, at a certain period of time (which has not yet completely ended), independent sawing of round timber into measured lumber turned out to be profitable no matter what. In the Russian Federation the situation is significantly different. First, price scissors wild log and timber in Russia have already been “divorced” a lot. Second, primary wood processing is a particularly dangerous job, just like logging. It is not realistic for a small individual entrepreneur to open a sawmill legally - Russian legislation on labor protection in this regard is draconian.

The third point is sawdust. There will be a lot of them from the primary processing of wood. Store sawdust (for example, for fuel for a stove) long burning) is impossible - they begin to ferment, releasing highly toxic methanol (methyl alcohol, wood alcohol). Sawmills are required to hand over sawdust for recycling. It’s easier with them “over the hill” - local MDF and fiberboard manufacturers will willingly buy the raw materials they need, maybe even with pick-up. The Russian Federation is by no means poor in timber and Russian manufacturers slab/sheet wood materials“left” parties do not take sawdust. Based on these conditions, it is possible to preliminarily determine cases when making a sawmill yourself in the Russian Federation may make sense:

  • An indispensable condition is if round timber is easily accessible in your area, and the nearest sawmill is far away. Renting a timber truck for Russian distances (meaning idle mileage from the garage) for Russian roads in the outback, per ton-kilometer of cargo is significantly more expensive than in Europe.
  • If the indispensable condition is met, then the first case is independent wooden construction in the event of a chronic shortage Money. Then, independent sawing of round timber into timber will reduce the construction estimate by 2-3 times and up to 5 times, taking into account the costs of manufacturing a sawmill. Resp. The construction period will also lengthen, but when there is no money, there is nothing to choose. With sawdust - do what you want, they will turn out once.
  • The next option is cutting wild logs to order at home, i.e. a foreman on call to the owner's yard. In the Russian Federation, this is probably best option: you can bring a mobile mini-sawmill (see below) to the place of work in a passenger car, so the cost of sawing is acceptable for both parties. Sawdust is the owner’s problem, and a small one, because... They are also thrown out to him on the site once. They don’t give the master a headache, i.e. you can register, for example. Individual entrepreneur as a carpenter and work “in white”.

Design Features

The main feature of the sawmill is that the cut in it is always longitudinal. It is well known how difficult it is to cut wood along the grain. Unlike circular saw The sawmill does not deal with measuring boards and beams, but with wild logs in general irregular shape. Therefore, in sawmills, a saw carriage with a working element (the saw itself) moves along the log being cut; Otherwise, it is very difficult to ensure the accuracy and cleanliness of the cut. Large timber processing enterprises also have sawmills for sawing very long logs (up to 30, and in the tropics up to 60-70 m). In them, the carriage is stationary, and the log is moved by a hydraulic system; The centering of the line is ensured by a computer with sensors. But at home, such a solution is unrealistic.

Note: The sawing of logs is always carried out in the direction of convergence of the wood fibers, i.e. from the butt to the top. If you put the carriage in reverse, then any saw (see below) will certainly get stuck in the tree and/or break.

What to cut with?

How affordable, durable, convenient and safe to use a home-made sawmill will be is mainly determined by the design of its working part. Another essential condition is the requirements for the productivity of the machine and its operating mode (regularly, from time to time). The third is the resource of the working body and the possibility of replacing it. And finally, the energy supply at the place of work is important: what is more accessible there – electricity or motor fuel? There are also less significant additional conditions, see below.

In sawmills with small and medium productivity (up to 3-5 cubic meters of wood per 6-hour work shift), the following are used. types of working bodies:

  • Reciprocating saw bar (old).
  • Saw blade (item 1 in the figure below).
  • Saw band (item 2).
  • Saw chain (item 3).
  • Chain saw bar continuous action(new, item 4).
  • Household chainsaw (item 5).

How to drink?

The orientation of the cutting surface can be horizontal or vertical. Resp. and the cut will be horizontal or vertical, and the sawmill will be horizontal or vertical. Vertical cutting, firstly, reduces material waste, because It is enough to level the log under it only in the horizontal plane. When cutting horizontally, a log needs to be leveled both horizontally and vertically to minimize waste, otherwise too much wood will go into the slab (“hunch”). Secondly, when cutting vertically, the cut (the part of the log being sawed off) does not put pressure on the working part and clings to it much less. Therefore, to saw the same timber vertically, the drive power required is 2-3 times less than horizontally, see the video below:

Video: homemade vertical chain sawmill

But, firstly, the risk of injury with vertical sawmills is much higher than with horizontal ones. Secondly, the transverse feeding of logs under the saw of a vertical sawmill is structurally and technically very complex, and ensuring the maximum permissible sawing accuracy according to specifications of up to 6 mm per 6 m of log length on a homemade vertical sawmill is extremely difficult or even impossible. Therefore, it is better to build a sawmill with your own hands for a horizontal cut.

Structural composition of the sawmill

We’ll talk a little further about the features of a particular saw for a sawmill. First you need to understand the design sawing machine generally. It consists of:

  1. working body - saw (see above and below);
  2. drive to it from the motor;
  3. saw carriage;
  4. rail track (guide) for it;
  5. carriage (cradle) for logs;
  6. grip holders for him;
  7. a frame that combines all this into a single device and ensures its overall strength and reliability.

Note: certain structural components of the sawmill can be made integral with the frame.

Drawings of the sawmill in full structural composition (layout diagram) are given in Fig.:

Its features are, firstly, a frame made of wooden beams. Secondly, a minimum of welding work during assembly. This important point: conducts metal structures during welding; Because of this, it is very problematic to specify the cutting accuracy of a welded sawmill. Thirdly, the carriage rail (item 13 on the right) is made of angle steel, cheaper than a channel; the necessary stability of the track is ensured by rigid fastening of the rails to the frame. As a result, the support shoes of the carriage are pairs of ordinary rolling bearings, and the smoothness and accuracy of its movement are high; trembling of the carriage is the main cause of sawing defects. Another consequence is the carriage feed mechanism without a gear (chain, screw, etc.), which also increases the smoothness of its movement. Finally, in a carriage of this design it is possible to install a drive with any of the saws listed above for horizontal cutting; disc, with a continuous tire and a chainsaw also for a vertical one.

The disadvantage of this machine is the comb log holders. It is impossible to make them from a channel less than 60 mm, as they will not hold the wood. That is, the last unusable slab will be no thinner than 60 mm. Additionally, material waste will increase because it is impossible to align the log vertically in this machine. However, it is not so difficult to get rid of these shortcomings by using a separate carriage for logs of a simple design, see below.

The operation of the cutting thickness setting unit (in the inset) requires some explanation, which in this machine is quite simple, accurate and easy to use. The nuts 5 in the insert are welded to the support plate 4 and locked. After the first cut, the adjusting screws (item 1 in the inset and 11 on the right) rotate synchronously, because they are connected by a chain drive (item 20 on the right). There is no need to loosen the locknuts (item 2 in the inset): they will loosen on their own. When the saw is installed in a new position below the previous one, the locknuts are tightened by hand.

Saw like a saw – longitudinal

A reciprocating saw bar is nothing more than a carpenter's rip saw blade. Its drawing, tooth profiling and wiring diagram are given in Fig. on right. The drive in the sawmill is from a flywheel to a crank mechanism through a slider - a smooth steel rod sliding in a cage with bronze or Babbitt liners (this is exactly what is shown in the figure above with the layout diagram of the sawmill). In former times, craftsmen used carpenter's bow saw blades instead of a saw bar; They also saw along, and you could buy them in almost any tool store. In this case, the tension of the blade during the reverse stroke is ensured by a fairly strong return spring.

The advantage of a reciprocating saw bar is a smooth, clean cut with a width of no more than 3 mm, i.e. low material waste. The resource is very solid, no less than that of a saw blade, see below. But there are also a lot of disadvantages:

  • Low productivity: if the feed of the carriage during the reverse stroke of the saw exceeds 1/3 of the tooth height, i.e. 4 mm, the saw gets stuck.
  • It is impossible to saw a log with a diameter of more than 300-320 mm - the blade immediately gets stuck and wrinkles.
  • Damp, unseasoned wood does not take, it also immediately gets stuck and breaks.
  • Very often gets stuck on knots and strands.
  • If there is insufficient tension on the reverse stroke, the cut sharply worsens - it becomes wide and torn.
  • The same applies to an excessively strong return spring.

In professional forestry, reciprocating saw bars fell out of use by the end of the 19th century, and among amateurs, with the advent of chainsaws in everyday life.

Disk

A saw blade from a circular saw will not fit into a sawmill: it is made of steel of poorer quality than required in this case. When sawing raw logs, the disk material from the circular saw will soon release itself due to heating, the disk will quickly fail or be completely blown apart. That's why saw blade For a sawmill, the pleasure is not cheap. In some sources you can find advice: they say, cut out a round piece from galvanized (!) or duralumin (!!!), attach 2-4 teeth to it, and saw. Judging by the fact that the authors of publications of this kind seem to be alive and not mutilated, they themselves did not do this and have no idea what could come of it.

Disc sawing of wood is widespread in professional woodworking because... allows you to cut several pieces of measured lumber from timber in one pass; For this purpose, angle and multi-disc saw carriages are used (inset at the top left of the figure). However, an industrial circular sawmill is a complex structure, see Fig., which does not work on the “do-it-yourself” topic.

If an amateur gets a sawmill blade (diameter from 600 mm, tooth profile the same as that of a rip saw, see above), he needs to keep in mind the following advantages and disadvantages:

  • Long resource – up to 5000 hours or more; up to 1500-2000 hours between teeth regrinding.
  • Required for sharpening sharpening machine, there is no way to do it manually.
  • The cut is not very even, 3-5 mm wide, i.e. material waste up to 10-12% by volume. A “clean cut” disc, which produces a waste of 2-5%, costs 3-10 times more than a simple one.
  • You can cut without any technical breaks for 6 hours. shift; Maximum performance in this class of devices.
  • High energy consumption, because the disc rubs against the tree both vertically and horizontally in a cut with the side surface of a large area. To obtain the required drive power in kW, multiply the diameter of the log in dm by 1.7.
  • The quality and condition of the sawmill being processed have virtually no effect on the productivity of the sawmill.
  • A disk with a diameter of 800 mm can cut a log with a diameter of up to 350 mm.
  • Discs larger diameter in amateur designs they are very dangerous, because require a high-precision drive to avoid runout.
  • The drive is only electric, because The disk should rotate absolutely smoothly at idle. In the tree he’s already got more than enough tugs.

In general, a DIY circular sawmill is definitely not an option. Let's look at the drawings in Fig. below. The first thing that catches your eye on the left is the carriage on rollers in channel rails. This is not a rail track made of milled profiles: a 1-2 mm misalignment of the rollers when moving the carriage is inevitable. The consequence is a disk misalignment of 6 mm or more. Right there he gets stuck in a tree. Considering the mass of the disk, its rotation speed and moment of inertia, the occurrence of an emergency and extremely traumatic situation is inevitable.

Next, the lower edge of the disk must fit into the groove of the log carriage, otherwise it will not finish cutting it to the end. And so, we sawed off the first top. What's next? In theory, you need several grooves in the carriage, depending on the thickness of the resulting boards. After each cut, either the carriage is raised, moved forward and lowered back to the working position, or the carriage with the log must be moved under it in the same way. Can you imagine such a design made at home? No need, your head will hurt a lot.

What if it’s simple? Just move the log on the carriage? No, it's not easy. It must be laid again so that the next cut runs exactly parallel to the previous one. And on the carriage there’s not a stick, there’s a huge, heavy block of wood.

Well, let’s say we have a strong family/staff, we don’t care about moving logs, and the loss of productivity due to this is acceptable. Then look at what is marked in red in the drawing on the right in Fig. Yes, this is a log holder. Without it, it will either roll off the carriage, or tip over when 2-3 blocks are sawed off (unedged boards of the entire timber for cutting into measuring boards). The holder is located in the very middle of the log. You can't cut on it. In total, the most valuable, wide, strong and most evenly drying core block will most likely go to waste, because Due to the repositioning of the log, the thickness will be unacceptably converging on a wedge.

Note: an amateur single-disc sawmill for horizontal sawing is no more convenient or more productive than a vertical one, but its design is much more complex and dangerous.

So, making a circular sawmill with your own hands is an option in one and only case: if you have come up with an improvement to it that is a commercially promising invention and you need to test the idea in hardware in order to apply for a patent. In all other cases, it’s not necessary.

Band saw

The band sawmill is one of the inventions that produce significant results with trivial technical solutions. The reciprocating rip saw has a lot of advantages, and its disadvantages are due most of all to the presence of reverse motion. This means that you need to get rid of it in order to get a continuous saw blade. As a result operational properties band sawmill differ significantly from those of the prototype and machines for similar purposes:

  1. Productivity – up to average, 2-3 cubic meters. m of wood per shift.
  2. Saws both seasoned and raw freshly chopped round timber.
  3. The cleanliness of the cut is as high as that of a rip saw blade, and the material waste is just as low.
  4. The cutting accuracy is as high as that of a circular sawmill, provided that the saw blade tension is uniform and optimal.
  5. It is impossible to saw logs immediately into pieces of measured materials.
  6. Energy consumption per 1 cubic meter m of wood is 1.2-1.5 times lower than that of a circular sawmill.
  7. To avoid self-release of the tape material, technical breaks in work are necessary: ​​after each wash for 5-10 minutes; after sawing 0.5 cu. m (2 logs with a diameter of 0.3 m and 6 m long) – 10-15 minutes; after 2 hours of work – half an hour to an hour; from 6 hour shift to next. the same - at least 2 hours.
  8. The full resource of the working body (belt) is 100-500 hours; re-sharpening is not possible.
  9. The cost of the tape per hour of work is much less than that of a simple saw blade.
  10. The cost of the entire machine is several times less than a disk machine with an angular carriage per cut.
  11. The drive is electric, because The idle speed of the belt needs to be as high as for a disk.

Due to these features, the band sawmill is most widely used in small sawmills. According to most advertisements: “We accept round logs/logs for sawing,” it is band sawmills that work. In Russia, band sawmills are produced in a fairly wide range (Taiga, etc.).

The simplest way to do rip saw– roll the fabric into a ring and place it on the pulleys, pos. 1 on next Fig.. To prevent injury from the non-working branch of the blade, a protective cover. Making a sawmill with a belt without it (item 2) is extremely dangerous!

The second stumbling block for DIYers here is the belt pulleys. The branded ones have a special slightly convex profile of the side surface (working surface). The belt slides off the cylindrical pulley; flanges (edges) do not help. Some craftsmen tilt the entire sawing unit upward by 1-3 degrees. However, as soon as the tension of the tape weakens (which is possible during one cut), the tape will fly off from above; without a protective cover, this is even more dangerous than sliding down.

Smarter craftsmen have found a way out: they put the tape on the wheels of cars and motorcycles with tires, pos. 3 in Fig. and rice at first. Their profile almost exactly matches the required one, and the elasticity of the tightly inflated chambers ensures optimal belt tension, at least enough to cut a whole log. In addition, if thin, high-quality materials are being sawed, then you can get by with a simple friction drive, also pos. 3 fig. on right. The manufacture of the machine is also simplified, because auto-moto wheels are already quite balanced, see video:

Video: DIY band sawmill

Transfer to saw

When sawing raw, untreated logs and knotty/twisty and sticky fine-grained wood, the transmission from the drive to the belt (the main one) is also a stumbling block. The mechanical characteristics of the belt are too soft: the belt is elastic and can slip. Gear gear, on the contrary, is too rigid: for a moment before jamming, the gears give a sharp, strong jerk. In both cases, it is very likely that the tape will get stuck in the tree and become crushed, which immediately creates a dangerous situation.

The best final drive for a band sawmill is a chain drive. Idling It provides a belt almost as smooth as a belt. And when sawing “bad” wood, the chain’s own inertia pulls the tape with small, frequent jerks, and the inhomogeneities of the wood are successfully overcome. This is the same property chain transmission used, for example in screw wood splitters.

Chain instead of tape

Working body chain sawmill– a chain with saw teeth stretched on rollers. Its operational strength, service life and reliability (not prone to getting stuck on wood defects) are several times greater than tapes, and the cost per cut length before wear is lower. The saw chain can be re-sharpened (you need a sharpening machine!) and does not require any technical breaks during the shift. The drive can be energy-independent from a 1-2 cylinder 2-stroke internal combustion engine: the saw chain itself dampens its vibrations. In terms of safety, the chain sawmill is the best in this segment of production equipment.

Disadvantages: firstly, increased energy consumption compared to tape - the chain casing rubs against wood, although not as much as the disk. The second is a wide (4-6 mm or more) rather ragged cut: lumber from a chain sawmill needs sanding (that’s why a surface grinder is not often built into it) or will be sold as a second grade. Consequence: increased material waste, up to 15% by volume. Third, in continuous operation it is necessary to supply coolant (cutting fluid, emulsion) to the saw chain, see fig. The fourth is a long technical break between shifts for self-healing of the chain properties: at least 10 hours. And, finally, the high labor intensity of maintenance: re-sharpening and/or replacement of chain teeth is required every 10-50 hours of work, and fiddling with them - mom, don’t worry!

Due to these circumstances, chain sawmills are used primarily. for primary sawing of timber at stock exchanges and harvesting sites. In the latter case decisive role The energy independence of a machine with an internal combustion engine plays a role: it is brought in on a truck or tractor, the wood is unraveled onto blocks and taken away. In remote regions of the Russian Federation and Canada, wood losses are often more than compensated by savings on round timber transportation by timber trucks. But this approach, of course, does not benefit the forest as a living community. Both from excessive cutting and from clogging with sawdust.

New tire

Continuous saw bar is cantilever chain Saw, i.e. does not require tension at the end farthest from the drive; it also does not require coolant supply. Do you recognize? This is the “blade” of the chainsaw. Application modern materials and continuous improvement of the design made it possible to create chainsaws that are suitable in all respects for household use. A sawmill made from a chainsaw at home is also much easier to make than any other; drawings of a frame with rails and a log holder can be taken, and carriages for a household chainsaw. Its performance qualities and features (except for the resource) will be approx. the same as for a chain sawmill. Changeover from horizontal to vertical cutting is carried out simply by rearranging the carriage. But please note:

  • The service life of the saw motor will be reduced by approx. doubled.
  • Full canvas resource best models will be no more than 20-30 hours, and cheap ones - 10-12 hours.
  • Every 2-3 hours you will need to re-sharpen, and every 4-6 hours you will need to replace the teeth (if possible for this sample).
  • The total operating time during the day is 2-3 hours.
  • Maintenance break until next shift – from 12 hours.
  • The saw must be designed for both transverse and longitudinal cuts.

The last circumstance, as Comrade Sukhov would say, is a delicate matter. Models from leading manufacturers (Stihl, for example) have both cuts provided by default, but the resource for the longitudinal one is given for normal use: 15 minutes of work, half an hour of rest. It is impossible to withstand it in a sawmill, because... You cannot stop the carriage while cutting is in progress. In this case, the resource of the saw bar is reduced by half or three times. “Alternative” manufacturers often have the opposite: the default saw is only a cross-cut saw. If the user manual says “transverse and longitudinal”, “also longitudinal”, etc., then the resource for a longitudinal cut is not specified. Keep in mind.

Special continuous saw bars are produced for sawmills. Due to the refusal of a transverse cut, their offset (length) is greater, up to 1000-1200 mm, the cut is thinner (3-4 mm) and cleaner; virtually the same as a band saw. Resource and mode of use - same as saw chain. A sawmill with a tire can be of a conventional design (on the left in the figure), but in the context of homemade ones, the Logosol type tire sawmill, center-right in the figure, is of much greater interest. Spring edge supports keep the log from rolling away. The elevators are adjusted separately, which allows you to level the log horizontally.

The history of Logosol is interesting and inextricably linked with ours. In the USSR, since the 30s, the export of unprocessed wood was strictly regulated and produced in large quantities through established channels. After its collapse, the former Soviet republics, which had forest reserves, literally flooded Europe with cheap round timber, with standards equal to the size of a log. In the EU, the main domestic logging is carried out in Germany and Switzerland in the Alps. There are plenty of smart woodworkers here and there, and they are accustomed to working with an acute shortage of raw materials. Given the prices for timber there, calculating the income from the purchase of wild timber and sawing it into boards in one’s yard gave results that made one’s eyes pop. Plus - there is no headache with disposal of sawdust, but there is a significant additional benefit from selling it. It was then that the Swiss Bengt-Olof Byström came up with a sawmill, which he called Logosol. Its highlight is the replacement of a technologically complex rail track with a smooth guide along which the carriage is moved manually with a clamp. This requires more labor and some skill, but the design of the sawmill is greatly simplified, and its cost drops significantly. Hobbyists have certainly developed many modifications successful development Byström. Their drawings of Logosols and components for them can be openly taken from here: //www.logosol.su/files.htm. How to make a Logosol sawmill with your own hands, see the video:

Video: DIY mobile-stationary Logosol “Terya”


The appearance of Logosol is the direct reason for the development of saw bars for sawmills. There are models available for sale that are compatible with household chainsaws: remove the standard blade, install the tire. Thus, the issue with the cost and labor intensity of the drive was resolved: a chainsaw on the farm is already a necessary thing.

Mini

A further development of Logosol’s idea is a mini sawmill without a frame, guide and rails, see fig. on right. Instead of a guide, an existing saw cut is used; With careful manual sawing, its accuracy within the log is maintained. In this case, in addition to the tire and drive, only the support platform and handles for holding and moving remain on the carriage.

The pioneer cut is made according to a template (a flat board, top right in the figure), a channel, a frame from an angle, etc., longer than a log. Subsequent horizontal ones are the same as the previous one, in the center on the right. If a vertical cut is necessary, place a channel (bottom right), because in this case, a flat lateral supporting surface is needed. However, all this does not eliminate the last problems: installing the log on the carriage, leveling it and holding it.

Carriage, grips, clamps

There remains such a problem as a frame with additional components. The one on pos. 1 pic. the left is far from optimal. For one-time sawing for self-construction, it is too complex and expensive. It is also not suitable for long-term regular use: even if the supporting frame is made of a 200 mm channel, it will not sag after the first or second dozen logs, which means the machine is completely unsuitable. A stationary sawmill should be made with separate concrete rail tracks and a carriage for logs (item 2; in this case we will not focus on safety precautions - the topic of this article is different).

The next tasks are leveling and holding the log. In industrial woodworking they use hydraulic jacks in hooks. The log is hung on the hoist, lowered onto the carriage without touching it, the jacks turn on and grab it tightly. In automated carriages, a log is placed on it and hydraulics, based on sensor signals, immediately levels the timber.

In amateur conditions, the first is not feasible; the second is in no way feasible. In many homemade sawmills, log grippers are made as shown in Fig. below. The log is hung on automatic jacks (see below), hooks are brought to it, sliding along a guide (pipe, thick rod). The hooks are tapped with a hammer according to the principle of “lightly tapping with a sledgehammer”, they are wedged on the guides and hold the log.

Firstly, such fastening is simply dangerous: vibrations during sawing can cause the grips to become wedged, and this is an accident most likely with serious consequences. Secondly, it is impossible to grab the wood by the very “bottom” in this way. This means that you will have to turn the log over before finishing it halfway. As a result, the cutting quality and material waste will be the same as on a vertical single-disc sawmill, see above.

Carriage

Let's try to develop technical requirements for a log carriage suitable, incl. for use with a portable mini sawmill when working on the road:

  1. materials – ordinary rolled metal without preliminary screening for evenness;
  2. for strength, reliability and durability - welded;
  3. the influence of the quality of welding and warping of the metal from it on the quality of sawing is absent;
  4. prepared base (support) surface – not required;
  5. weight and dimensions - suitable for transportation in a mini-truck, pickup truck and on the top trunk of a car;
  6. the maximum length of the processed log is 6 m;
  7. its maximum diameter is up to 1 m;
  8. leveling and hanging the log - in any way independent of the carriage, see below;
  9. the influence of the flatness of the carriage along the horizon on the quality of sawing - no;
  10. the reliability of holding the most clumsy, unrooted forest is absolute;
  11. the ability to dismantle the sawn blocks into edged measuring boards/beams without readjusting the sawmill - a must;
  12. security – sufficient for non-production conditions, when access to the site of untrained outsiders is easily controlled.

Drawings of a log carriage for a sawmill, incl. minis that satisfy the specified conditions are shown in Fig. (left/center – top view). Material – channel 120x60, rod 14 and 16 mm.

Exactly under the M14 holes in the upper flange of the channel, D15 holes are drilled in the lower flange for the passage of the shanks of the hook holders (on the right in the figure). The M16 holes in the bottom shelf (marked in green) are for threaded feet. The plan configuration and location of the grip holders make it possible to reliably hold both full-length logs and short logs. Use this carriage like this:

  • the log is hung and leveled on a pair of auto jacks. An option is to use one jack at a time: put something suitable under the raised end, rearrange the jack and lift the other one;
  • the carriage is slipped under the middle of the log with the widened part towards the butt and aligned along the axis of the timber. If the log was hung on a hoist, then the middle pair of legs should fall under its center of gravity;
  • the holder hooks are turned out until they touch the log so that their points look inward exactly at each other. A slip by one turn (by M14 thread pitch) does not affect the cutting accuracy;
  • the log is lowered onto the hooks. If the timber was hung on one jack and a support, then first release the jack, and then knock out the support with one sharp blow;
  • to securely hold a thin light log, you can sit on it and jump;
  • saw the log using any sawmill using horizontal cuts. The thickness of the last slab in the vast majority will not exceed 40 mm.

Clamps

Full functionality of this carriage will be ensured by 2-5 clamps (3 are almost always enough) for sawing blocks into dimensional lumber. The design of the clamp to the log carriage is clear from Fig. below. The clamps are bolted into the standard holes of the M14 carriage, so their bases and the distances between the axes of the mounting holes are different: unlike the hook holders, the clamps are not interchangeable! Before dissolving into boards/beams, the logs are first sawn into blocks. Then the blocks are sorted and collected into packages of blocks of a similar configuration to each other. The next package is clamped with clamps on a gun carriage and cut into boards/beams using horizontal cuts.

Bottom line

Let’s take a look, as they say, at a grandma: what kind of sawmill to make with your own hands and in what cases does it make sense.

If you see a range of clients for sawing and/or see a stable income from the sale of lumber - a band on motor-wheels. It will last at least until you have enough money to buy a “new, good” factory one. Then it will be possible to open a sawmill in its entirety and calmly work legally. If sawing wood is a side hustle for you, the Logosol sawmill will perform better - it is less productive, but structurally simpler and cheaper, and a chainsaw will come in handy on the farm anyway.

Dear site visitors " « From the presented material you will learn how to make your own band sawmill. Every craftsman dreams of having his own sawmill on his farm, because its presence will reduce the cost of lumber tenfold. Using this machine, you can cut the logs into boards and bars yourself, which is also an excellent option, that is, the boards can be produced directly at the site of construction of the future house. It is also possible to open your own private sawmill and cut boards for money and replenish the family treasury with additional income. In general, the machine is very good from all sides, and its independent assembly will again cost much less than a factory equivalent, because many spare parts can be used second-hand and available to the car enthusiast, for example: wheels from a passenger car, hubs, bearings, bolts and other things that you can get in the garage)

The design of a band sawmill consists of 1. a rail track 2. a frame with a power unit 3. a blade 4 adjustment and tension mechanisms 5. a carriage 6. a flat surface (preferably a foundation slab)

And so, let's take a look at the list of necessary components for assembling the machine. We will also analyze the whole process step by step.

Materials

  1. corner 100x100, channel, narrow-gauge rail (for the manufacture of rail beds)
  2. car wheels
  3. hubs
  4. bearings
  5. square corrugated pipe
  6. threaded stud
  7. jack
  8. IV
  9. power unit (gasoline or electric motor)
  10. fittings
  11. bolts, nuts, washers, engravers
  12. sheet metal 1 mm
  13. belt

Tools

  1. welding machine
  2. drill
  3. emery
  4. Bulgarian
  5. hammer
  6. roulette
  7. set of wrenches
  8. Laser level)
  9. ruler
  10. corner

The assembly process of a band sawmill.

And so, the first thing you should do is get acquainted with the drawings, because any business begins with markings, as they say, “Measure twice, cut once.





So we got acquainted with the drawings, and now I would also like to note that homemade sawmills there are several types

1 Band sawmill with electric motor.
2. Band sawmill with gasoline engine.
3 Tire sawmill.
Principle of operation band press for sawing wood. The canvas is stretched on 2 horizontally located pulleys, in this case they are ordinary car wheel with a tire and tube, the undeniable advantage of this design is that it is possible to tension the saw by inflating the tires. The limiter and support rollers are located directly at the bottom.
Well, I hope the principle of operation is clear, then you should take care of placing a rail track along which a carriage with a saw blade will walk and cut the logs into boards. The area must be at least 3 x 6 m in size, and most importantly, level! Therefore, it is necessary to pour a foundation slab under the sawmill and level it to perfection. flat surface. A recess is dug, a sand cushion is laid and a reinforced concrete slab is poured.
Next comes the installation of the rail track itself; at best, it can be made from rails from a narrow-gauge railway, but it is difficult to obtain, so you will have to make it from a channel or corner. Note!!! In the photo the corner is positioned edge up.
You can connect the corners to each other by welding, but when the metal heats up it can lead, and we need a perfectly flat road, you can also attach the rail directly to concrete base using anchor bolts.
Support rollers can be made from ordinary bearings, or ordered from a familiar turner.
After this, the saw frame itself is manufactured, using pipes of different diameters that can be inserted into one another. due to which the slider can rise up and down.
The frame is welded from a square-section corrugated pipe.
Support rollers are installed at the bottom. they must match the width of the rail track.
Next, the lifting mechanism is manufactured.



Then the pulleys and hubs are installed.

Connection to the power unit.
The saw blade is leveled and supported by bearings.

A protective metal casing must be installed on top. Safety precautions are paramount here, because the canvas can fly out.
The tension mechanism can be made from a small jack.
After the sawmill is fully assembled, a test run is carried out; if everything is in order, the engine is turned off and the log is laid and secured.

The log unfolds into planks. You can also watch the work of the sawmill visually on video.

In general, this is such a wonderful sawmill, now lay out the boards and bars for construction and repair as much as you like, just have time to throw the logs)

Thank you very much for your attention!