A simple do-it-yourself tire sawmill. Tire sawmill. Workflow nuances

Jokers can say this: “Repairs cannot be completed, they can be temporarily suspended.” Irony comes in very handy here, since an economic person always has a reason and desire to build or improve something. If there was time for this, yes Construction Materials. The building materials market is saturated to the limit. But their prices can hurt your wallet.

The difference between a homemade tire sawmill and a conventional one is that the cutting element here is a tire and a chain from a chainsaw.

And if you think about it, you can make some of the materials yourself. You can definitely prepare lumber yourself. It is enough just to make a tire sawmill.

Required tools and materials

The tire sawmill does not have any special design tricks. It differs from an ordinary sawmill in that the cutting element here is a tire and a chain from the most ordinary chainsaw. The first versions of such sawmills were made on the basis of a chainsaw. Currently, craftsmen recommend making sawmills using more powerful gasoline or electric engines. Preference should be given to internal combustion engines. In this case, the sawmill will not require an electrical network and can be used away from communications. You can cut logs directly in the forest.

To make a tire sawmill you will need:

metal channels;
tubes (it is better to have rectangular tubes);
bearings;
engine;
two pulleys;
pulley belts;
gearbox;
chainsaw tire;
electric welding;
drill.

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Assembly order

First you have to collect cutting machine. For a tire sawmill, a frame is made that resembles a cube frame. The chainsaw bar should be located in the central part of this frame. The tire must be secured on both sides.

The driven sprocket is usually mounted on a vertical holder. The opposite part of the bar is attached to elements that allow you to adjust the chain tension. But this is optional.

It is better to securely fix the tire, and organize the chain tension by moving the drive sprocket. This is not difficult to do: the drive sprocket is attached to the gearbox shaft, which is mounted on a metal base with longitudinal slots. It will be enough to simply release the fasteners and move the gearbox in the required direction.

We connect the gearbox drive shaft to the pulley (to a key). The second pulley will be located on the engine. The place for mounting the motor must be organized so that nothing interferes with the movement of the sawmill cutting machine. Rollers are used to tension the belts. The design of the belt clutch may vary. It is not necessary to make this element yourself: any design from agricultural machinery will do.

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How to adjust tire height?

And now you have to think over a system that allows you to adjust the height of the chainsaw bar above ground level. The simplest solution would be to place the entire cutting machine on vertical stands. For this purpose, two pipes are used, on which pipe cuttings are placed. larger diameter. Movement should be free, but without play. The outer (movable) tubes have holes to which nuts are welded. By screwing the bolts into these nuts until they stop, you will get a reliable fixation of the height. For convenience, notches can be made on the supporting posts at a distance of 1 cm from each other. Thus, you will be able to accurately determine the lowering height of the cutting element of the sawmill and obtain lumber of the required dimensions at the output.

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How to arrange horizontal movement?

Now let’s solve the issue of moving the entire sawmill along the log. Unlike conventional band sawmills, where logs are fed to the cutting elements, tire sawmill itself should move along the line of the intended cut. Vertical racks To do this, they are welded to a metal base, in the lower part of which wheels (or bearings) are located.

There are chainsaw-based sawmills that move on rails on corresponding wheels. This perfect option, since there is no need to invent anything. In reality, it will be difficult to find all the elements to create such a movable sawmill base. More often used metal wheels, which move along guides. U-shaped channels are used for guides. The wheels in this design must be adjustable in height (minimum 2 adjustable wheels). This design of the sawmill base will allow all support points to be located in the same plane.

The guide channels must be welded together into a single structure. You can also make a collapsible design of the guides, then the bus sawmill can easily be dismantled and delivered to the place of intended sawing.

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The importance of secure fit

Now you need to take care of fixing the tree. To do this, you will also have to arrange a small structure. Usually a metal base is welded from two corners (a 5 by 5 corner section can be considered optimal). At the bottom of this structure, you need to weld a stop that has spikes in the direction of the tree. They will keep the tree from moving in any way.

In the rear part of the structure, the same stop is needed, but with a movable base (along the line of the log). This stop will allow you to cut logs of various lengths. Spikes can be made from ordinary bolts, passed through the holes in the stop and secured with nuts on the inside. Then the bolts are simply sharpened.

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Design Features

We can assume that the tire sawmill has acquired its final appearance and is ready for sawing wood. Don't rush and don't expect to do everything perfectly quickly and accurately. The sawmill must undergo further testing, and the operator must learn to work on it. On this path, certain negative aspects may await you:

The tire sawmill is heavier at the top. The center of gravity at a high altitude causes strong deviations in the direction of the tire. The lumber will have a noticeable “waviness”. The vibration is felt very strongly by the operator. There are two options: either place the engine lower from the sawmill, or increase the weight of the lower part.
The sawmill moves along the guides only with great effort from the operator. If the wheels of the sawmill do not have excessive friction with the guides, then the cause of the inconvenience lies, again, in the location of the center of gravity. The design needs a counterweight to the engine.
When sawing, the chain stops. A common occurrence when the clutch is adjusted incorrectly. You just need to tighten the clutch rollers or shorten the cable.

Initially, tire sawmills were made on the basis of a chainsaw.

This caused a number of serious inconveniences. Feeding wood and operating the chainsaw accelerator was only possible with the participation of two people. The design of the sawmill described above allows one person to work successfully on it. By moving the cutting part of the sawmill, the operator sees all the moments of sawing and can independently adjust the speed of feeding the bar onto the tree trunk. Typically, it takes about 5 minutes to cut a 4-meter log. A chainsaw will do this job a little faster, but the quality of the cut will not be as smooth as when using a tire sawmill.

A chainsaw sawmill can have a stationary tire arrangement. In this case, the log itself is served. It is not necessary for several people to be present. Supply is ensured through the use of chains from agricultural machinery. Such a chain is fixed to a movable cart on which the log is located. The chain is attached to sprockets, one of which should be located next to the operator and have a handle for rotation. Such homemade products work no worse than others. The only drawback is that such tire sawmills require additional load on the person’s hands and certain sawing skills.

Residents of suburban areas are often faced with the need to use various woodworking devices that are used for domestic purposes in personal plot. Today in the market of manual and stationary construction tools present wide choose devices for wood processing, but they are quite expensive. The most popular of them are sawmills. In this article we will talk about how to make a tire sawmill.

Purpose of the bus sawmill

Any construction works or maintenance of buildings is accompanied by enormous financial costs associated with wood processing, for example, sawing timber, preparing boards, manufacturing rafters, beams or furniture.

The main task of a homemade tire sawmill is high-quality longitudinal cutting of logs of any type of wood to obtain unedged and edged boards, veneer, slats, carriages, beams and thin-gauge cuts. The tire sawmill is designed for the production of small batches of lumber, processing of non-format blanks for the production of special-sized lumber.

A gasoline tire sawmill does not require a large area and can be easily mounted on a limited space. plot of land. There are stationary devices, operating from electrical network, and autonomous, operating on gasoline. The latter option is very convenient for going into the forest and harvesting the necessary lumber on site.

The maximum length of the workpiece that can be processed on a tire sawmill with your own hands reaches seven meters. In this case, the cross-section of the workpiece does not exceed 40 cm.

The average cutting speed for a board length of 3 m from a pine log with a diameter of 25 cm will be approximately 7 minutes on a homemade tire sawmill.

Types of tire sawmills

You can create two types of tire machines yourself:

with movement of the working unit relative to the workpieces being processed
with a longitudinal method of feeding logs.

It is impossible to say unequivocally that some sawmills are worse and some are better, because both types of sawmills have their pros and cons. For example, when moving a working unit along a workpiece, a person can control the applied forces, ensuring a smoother move and cutting wood at high speed. And if the workpiece is fed towards the sawing mechanism, control of the sawing becomes significantly more difficult. The smallest increase in the pushing force of wood causes a sharp increase in the load on the bar and chain. As a result, the chain may jam or the motor may overheat. However, this version of the sawmill does not have additional wires moving behind the main unit.

Of course, the final choice of device type depends on the individual needs of each person. However, regardless of the chosen type of sawmill, it is worth paying special attention to creating a high-quality base that ensures vibration reduction. Metal channels or rails are better basis, on which the tire sawmill will stand. Blueprints similar devices V large quantities are present on the Internet. You just need to decide on the type of machine and you can start creating.

Before starting the assembly process, you should purchase all the necessary materials and tools. In order to make a bus sawmill, the creation video of which is presented below, you will need:

accurate schematic drawing
metal channel or rail
pipes of various diameters
electric motor
tire and drive sprocket from a chainsaw
welding machine and electrodes
electric grinder and drill
hammer, tape measure and chalk.

To make a tire sawmill, you can use the components of a regular chainsaw. The working part includes a tire, an electric power unit and a clutch system, which are located in a separate housing.

First of all, you need to create a frame in the shape of a rectangle. There is a tire in the center of the base. Taking into account the fact that the frame will be subjected to high loads, it must be securely fastened on both sides. The drive sprocket often has a hole that is designed to mount elements to a metal axle made of a high-strength alloy. The axle makes it possible to avoid moving the tire in a horizontal plane.

To prevent vertical displacement, it is necessary to attach two bearings as tightly as possible to the tire on the axle on both sides. Next, you need to put on a sleeve that clamps the bearings, after which the axle should be welded to one side of the frame.

On the opposite side there will be an electric motor and a chain tension control system. You don’t even need to invent anything here, just use factory spare parts for the chainsaw. The main drum is mounted on the shaft of the electric power unit and secured with a longitudinal key.

The final stage of assembly can be called centering and reliable fixation in the body. Special attention When doing DIY work, you need to pay attention to installing the motor, which will vibrate strongly during sawing. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure a rigid frame.

Now you know how to make a tire sawmill with your own hands. This unit ensures high-quality sawing of wood. The main characteristics of the bus sawmill: accuracy, compactness, low price, simple design, reliability, light weight, ergonomics during operation, ease of transportation.

Homemade tire sawmill, video

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. You cannot store sawdust (for example, as fuel for a long-burning stove) - it begins 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 not poor in wood and Russian manufacturers of slabs/sheets 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 will it be? homemade sawmill, is mainly determined by the design of its working body. 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:

working body - saw (see above and below);
drive to it from the motor;
saw carriage;
rail track (guide) for it;
carriage (cradle) for logs;
grip holders for him;
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, the minimum 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.
Larger diameter discs in amateur designs 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:

Productivity – up to average, 2-3 cubic meters. m of wood per shift.
Saws both seasoned and raw freshly chopped round timber.
The cleanliness of the cut is as high as that of a rip saw blade, and the material waste is just as low.
The cutting accuracy is as high as that of a circular sawmill, provided that the saw blade tension is uniform and optimal.
It is impossible to saw logs immediately into pieces of measured materials.
Energy consumption per 1 cubic meter m of wood is 1.2-1.5 times lower than that of a circular sawmill.
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.
The full resource of the working body (belt) is 100-500 hours; re-sharpening is not possible.
The cost of the tape per hour of work is much less than that of a simple saw blade.
The cost of the entire machine is several times less than a disk machine with an angular carriage per cut.
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 is put on the working part. 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 protective casing 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 enough quality materials, 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

The working body of a chain sawmill is 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. The use of 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. The resource and mode of use are the same as those of a 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, hydraulic jacks with hooks are used for this purpose. 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:

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

The chain sawmill is an indispensable assistant for any builder. Not a single serious repair can be done without it. This tool is especially relevant for those who live in the private sector and often face construction and repair problems.

What is a chain sawmill?

The principle of operation of a chain sawmill is to a certain extent reminiscent of a band saw: the log being cut is firmly fixed, while the cutting is carried out by the saw. The saw is attached to a moving carriage. The difference between chain and band sawmills The only difference is that in this embodiment only a chain saw is used, and not a band saw.

The main disadvantage of a chain sawmill is its lower productivity and efficiency compared to band machines. Despite such disadvantages, people use such machines precisely because of their high cost and convenience, but real craftsmen create chain sawmills with their own hands. Some people want to save money, while others simply want to make a machine that fully satisfies all the individual wishes of the master.

DIY chain sawmill

What do you need to create a chain sawmill with your own hands? First, you should look at the drawings of a chain sawmill on the Internet. The drawings vary, but any such sawmill consists of a chainsaw, a steel frame and rail guides.

In order to create a chain sawmill, you need to firmly attach a metal frame to the saw bar. The gap between the chain and the frame will be equal to the thickness of the resulting lumber. For this reason, you need to decide in advance what kind of lumber you need. By the way, if you make the distance between the chain and the frame larger, you can create not only boards, but also beams.

An excellent frame will be made from two steel channels, 8 meters long and 0.14 meters high. In addition, you can use rails or metal corners. You need blanks of a perfectly straight shape. Along the entire length of the channels you need to make holes with a diameter of 14-16 millimeters at a distance of up to 1.5 meters.

According to the number of these holes, you need to make special ties from sections of water pipe. All parts are attached using threaded rods or bolts.

After this, you need to assemble all the components of the chain sawmill into a single device and install it on racks. The number of racks depends on the dimensions of the frame. The very last posts should be no more than 1 meter from the end of the rails.

To give greater rigidity, you need to fix the braces.

After this, the movable trolley is mounted. It can be created from a steel plate with a thickness of 4 to 6 millimeters and a length of approximately 0.6 meters. The size of the trolley depends on the dimensions of the electric motor.

Next, you can begin selecting gaskets and clamping plates for the trolley. The elements must ensure free movement of the mechanism. At the same time, the gap should be minimal. The gaskets should be tightened using bolts.

It is imperative to eliminate the transverse play by installing a thrust angle to the base of the trolley. The trolley can be placed on bearings or rollers. Please note that you should use new bearings; used ones are definitely not suitable.

The chain needs to be tensioned as much as possible. The steering wheel is mounted on one of the side sprocket bushings located along the perimeter of the guides.

In order to create a fixing device for a log, you need to take pipes with a diameter of 3 - 4 centimeters, insert movable rods into them, which fit into the stopper at the required height with an M8 screw.

Pressing parts, the length of which is at least 1.5 cm, as well as cam clamps, are attached to the rods on top.

After this, you can install an electric motor and a saw, the diameter of which is 1 meter. Choosing a chainsaw for a home sawmill is also not an unimportant process. The chainsaw must have high power and high efficiency indicators. In addition, its chain must be well sharpened. Making a chain sawmill with your own hands is not difficult. But remember that in addition to creating the device, it is important to guarantee safe operation.

This is how “home” chain sawmills are created. A video of the manufacturing process of such a sawmill is presented below.

Safety at work

Having high performance, sawmills are sources of increased industrial injuries. Many people have heard horror stories about “he turned his head away, but his finger was no longer on his hand.” There are many similar stories and they are all real.

Most reliable method reducing the number of injuries and accidents when using such equipment - scrupulous compliance with all safety regulations. Before starting work, you need to familiarize yourself in detail with the operating principles and operating instructions of such a device, as well as with the fire safety rules.

The highest level of safety is achieved when the sawmill is equipped with a reverse feed system due to its design.

Chain sawmills, video

It is not so easy to make a sawmill with your own hands, but if you wish, you can easily build this machine for sawing wood yourself.

Residents of small towns are well aware of the role any woodworking device plays in their lives, since many use tools in their work. Today there is a large selection on the market various devices for processing wood, the most common of which are sawmills. These products are divided into disk, frame and tape. Most stores sell frame construction. It differs in the type of cutting element.

Elements needed to make a sawmill:

saw;
chain;
electric motor;
walk-behind tractor;
metal plate;
channel;
water pipe;
electric drill.

How to build a tire sawmill?

Such a device consists of a frame, clamping elements, a trolley, rollers, an electric motor, a tire and a file. The sawmill frame is lightweight, so it can be easily transported in the trunk of a car. The sawmill can be easily moved and mounted close to the workpiece that needs to be sawed.

You can cut logs of almost any length on a tire sawmill with your own hands. If the design provides for the installation of a large section, then the length of the workpiece can be increased by several meters. It is advisable to use such a device in the process of constructing the floors of a house. The clamping stops have simple design. Clamps are placed at the end and beginning of the workpiece, and the log is attached with screws to the flags for emphasis. When sawing, it will be possible to lower the stop elements to the required level. Drawings of a tire sawmill can be different, but the simplest one is shown.

The steering wheel is installed on one of the star bushings, which are located in the outer parts of the guide elements. After this, you can begin to build a device for fastening the workpieces. To do this, you will need to insert rods into tubes with a diameter of 3-4 cm, which should fit into the stopper at the appropriate height. The elements can be secured using M8 screws. You will need to attach clamps and clamping elements more than 1.5 cm long on top of the rods.

The cart can be made from metal plate 6-7 mm thick. It should have a steering wheel and a corner for support. Next, it should be installed on rollers. You can use an element from a combine harvester as a chain to move the cart. By using a sharp saw, you can ensure a smooth base cut. Such a file should be mounted on a carriage, which will move along the frame thanks to the presence of rails.

This element can be made from several metal channels 8 m long and 0.14 m high. At a distance of 1-1.5 m along the length of the channels, it is necessary to make recesses into which ties from pieces of tube will be installed. The entire structure must be installed on racks. The power mechanism on the bus sawmill is a three-phase electric motor with a power of 6 kW. The sawing speed is 18 m/s. Electrical engine located on top of the corners, which are pre-welded.

The bar and chain on the sawmill use ordinary ones. During the cutting process, the rigidity of the tire eliminates the formation of various defects. Sawing accuracy can reach +/-1 mm per 6 m length. At the end you should install convenient device for fixing logs.

How to make a tire sawmill?

The bed is constructed from channels. Metal corners and rails are also used. The parts must be straight. Along the length of the channels it is necessary to make recesses with a diameter of about 15-16 mm at a distance of 1.5 m.

Based on the number of recesses, couplers are constructed from pieces of pipe for drainage. The elements are secured with bolts. All components are assembled together and mounted on racks. The number of racks is determined by the length of the device. Along the edges of the rack, guide elements should be placed at a distance of 1 m from the end.

To give the device rigidity, you will need to properly secure the braces. Next, you should mount the cart, which can be constructed from a metal plate. For the trolley, you need to select clamping plates and gaskets. These parts will be responsible for ensuring the smooth movement of the device. It is important to ensure that the gap is minimal. The gaskets should be tightened using bolts. It is recommended to install the cart on casters.

Pressed on the electric motor shaft metallic profile with several streams. The force from the motor is transmitted through 2 belts to a pulley, which is located on the cutting bracket. The driven pulley transmits force through a roller, which rotates on several bearings, to the sprocket and chain.

The chain must be used to move the trolley with the saw and the electric motor. The chain and belts on the tire sawmill with your own hands should be well tensioned. The elements must be secured with several bolts and nuts. Additionally, it is recommended to install a special bolt on the chain tensioner. However, in some cases, the force of the pliers may be enough to properly tension the chain. To facilitate its operation, the element must be lubricated with machine oil.

Constructing a tire sawmill with your own hands is a complex process, but if there is a desire, even a person without relevant work experience can make such a structure.

How to use such a design?

Next you will need to install the sawmill. It must be secured to the rails using several rollers for support. Rollers can be made from walk-behind tractor tensioners. It is worth remembering that the chain and bar must be designed for longitudinal cutting. Every day you will have to change 3-4 chains.

In order to be able to determine the thickness of the workpieces being cut, it is necessary to provide for the installation of a vertical screw, in which, during rotation, the frame will move with the cutting device.

At first, the size needs to be set using a ruler, and after a while it will be possible to set the thickness of the logs based on the revolutions of the screw. At the beginning of work, the workpiece must be secured according to the drawing. The force with which a homemade sawmill moves along the rail will be small.

How to build a chain structure?

Chain sawmill It is advisable to build it with your own hands for those people who live in a private house and often perform renovation work. First of all, you need to decide where the mini-sawmill will be located. This device is heavy, making it difficult to carry. It is recommended to place the structure in a workshop or in the yard.

A homemade chain sawmill has several metal channels at its base. Height and length depend on the personal preferences of the owner. Metal workpieces must be smooth. It is worth knowing that you can make a chain sawmill with your own hands from a chainsaw. A drawing of such a design is shown.

At a distance of 1.2-1.5 m along the length of the parts, it is necessary to drill recesses with a diameter of 15 mm. The distance between the holes should be the same. Next, you need to prepare 2.5 cm sections of water pipes. Bolts are needed to connect the ties to the channels. At the same time, you should assemble and fasten the racks, which consist of channels, tubes and corners. The number of racks may vary depending on the length of the device. For a structure 8 m long, you need to prepare 4 racks. The frame should be installed so that the outer posts are located at a distance of 1 m from the ends of the guide elements. To give the structure a horizontal position under the posts, you need to dig up the soil. Another option is to install the legs on slats or bars.

Next, you need to secure the corners on the carts in which the electric motor will be placed. After this, the chain is tensioned. In this case, the actions will be the same as in the case of construction bus design. It’s not difficult to build a chain sawmill with your own hands; you just need to follow the sequence of actions.

DIY band sawmill

The manufacturing sequence will be as follows:

First of all, you need to choose a room. The recommended workshop area is 18 m².
The file will remain stationary during operation. The log to be sawn is placed on a trolley, which is moved manually. Therefore, you must first install a metal frame to secure the saw. Under it you should lay rails from the corner along which the cart with the log will move.
Sawing will be done in a horizontal plane. You should think about how the height of the saw will change while cutting the log. To do this, the frame can be equipped with a special device that functions on the principle of a clamp.
Next, the base is made. Depending on the dimensions of the workpieces, you can use a metal corner or channel. It will be necessary to ensure rigid fixation of this frame structure to the installation site.
At the next stage, the wheels are attached to the bottom of the structure.

A budget structure of this type can be easily built with your own hands. To do everything correctly, you need to decide what type of sawmill will be built. If you follow the technology, you can make a sawmill with your own hands in a few days.