Do-it-yourself tape sawmill assembly is quite real. If you look at what constituents the price of wood consists of, the need for such a device when working with wood becomes obvious. The price of wood includes the price of the tree itself, the cost of its processing, delivery. Almost all of these points can be avoided if you have at your disposal a sawmill.
General design information
It is worth starting with the fact that in the market of building tools and fixtures there are quite a lot of various modifications of this equipment. But since we are talking about assembling a power-saw bench with your own hands, only one option is available. In this case, the machine has a saw, which is fixed in a certain position, and the bed (trolley) moves with the workpiece located on it. This model is quite enough for a full-fledged work with a tree. All other modifications only simplify the work of personnel, automating the process.
Design features
When assembling a power-saw bench with your own hands, you should immediately think about its dimensions. They will depend on the place where the device will be located. This has some problem, since each private house or cottage has its own plot size, and therefore the dimensions for the equipment will have to be determined individually. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that the assembly of the power-saw bench do it yourself according to certain drawings. However, they serve only as guidelines for connecting the individual parts. The final model may vary depending on the raw materials you have to work with. Most often, such equipment is used to dissolve logs and trim boards.
What you need to know when designing
The very first thing that is worth highlighting is the possibility of continuous addition and improvement of the design, even after the completion of the assembly process.
Assembling a home-made tape sawmill is a block-modular scheme. If in the field of assembly of complex mechanisms there is no practical experience, it is recommended to start with the manufacture of the simplest option. If initially the device had a manual drive, then subsequently it is quite simple to convert it and increase the automation of the wood production process. For these reasons, it is initially worth collecting the simplest version of a home-made tape sawmill.
You need to approach the issue of assembly also from a certain side. The first thing to decide is in which plane the section will be cut. This will determine the position of the working tool. The second question that needs to be resolved right away is whether the equipment should be universal or will the work be the same all the time. In addition, experts recommend that the frame be mobile, that is, it can be reinstalled.
Beginning of work. Seat selection
It should be noted right away that if there is not enough space, then you can design a mini-tape power-saw bench.
Sufficient space to accommodate powerful equipment is considered to be 18 square meters. This is enough to dissolve even large logs. Since not everyone has a large empty building to accommodate the device, many simply install it on the street. However, constantly flying sawdust in large numbers force, in this case, to fence around the site with a fence, making it a small workshop. In addition, this greatly increases the relevance of the mini-power-saw bench type.
In addition to the need for a site to install the device itself, it will also require a place for storing finished wood.
A selection of materials and components
The basis of the entire structure, of course, is the engine. Most commonly used is either gasoline or electric. Of course, the main requirement is sufficient power to carry out the operations that the owner plans. It is worth adding that the leader, in terms of practicality, is an asynchronous electric motor. There are several reasons for this. The first is that the issue of connecting to a home electrical network is completely solved. The second reason is the lack of maintenance that the gasoline unit needs. The third reason is the maintenance of constantly high revolutions of the working tool, which guarantees a quality cut.
As for materials, only metal is used here. This is due to the fact that the weight of the structure itself and the weight of the logs are quite large. However, here you need to know what kind of metal will fit. As a moving part, that is, a trolley, a thick-walled profiled pipe of rectangular or square section can be used. For example, the support frame for the tape sawmill with your own hands at home can be assembled only from the channel. The rails for the trolley can be constructed from an overall angle of at least 45 0. However, a channel can also be used here, but with less linear characteristics.
Tools, equipment. Design Features
As for the tools, here everything is quite short. Do not use bolted connections or any other. Necessarily need a welding machine. Following the assembly according to the drawings of the tape sawmill with your own hands, assembling the finished equipment is quite simple. The main catch lies only in fitting the sizes to the desired parameters.
The assembly begins with the support frame. A cart with wood will also move along the same part. In addition, not only the moving part will be attached to the rails, but also the frame on which the working tool, the saw, will be located. The main requirement that must be met is the high reliability of the bed. In addition, its horizontal plane should be fairly even. To ensure high reliability of the device, it is necessary to mount it either on the foundation, for example, columnar or on racks dug in the soil.
Rail installation
A fairly simple model is one that uses wheels from a car. She is also the most common among self-made. The dimensions of the band sawmill will be slightly larger than with the bed.
It is important to know that if corners with dimensions of 50x50 mm will be used as rails, then they need to be laid, orienting the angle of the rib up. This increases the rigidity of the entire structure as a whole, and also helps to reduce the wear of parts. If metal rolling with shelves of 100 mm is used as guide rails, then the corners are installed in any convenient position. Here we can add that the channel is considered the most successful element for the manufacture of rail. In addition, a profile of a square section with a minimum width of 25 mm is used as "sleepers". Between each other, all components must be connected by electric welding.
Work with videos
As roller parts, you can use either components machined on a lathe, or conventional ball-bearing models. If the work is carried out according to the first option, then the bearing must have holes for the installation of the rotation unit, and they must also pass hardening. If the second option is used, then it is necessary to have one element of a larger size and two more bearings of a smaller size, but the same among themselves. Naturally, it must be remembered that the inner diameter of the bearings must be the same. The shaft must be turned with a stop flange on one side, and also with a thread for mounting the rollers on the other.
Saw frame
How to make a tape sawmill? The assembly process of the saw frame begins with the procurement of two vertical guide elements. Racks, as well as sliders, are best made from steel pipes, the gap between which should be the minimum possible. After that, you can start assembling the rectangular frame of the trolley. The upper and lower sliders must be welded to the sides of this element. Since the wheels will be attached to the lower cross member, it must be made of a channel or a rigid square profile.
The sawmill case itself is very simple to make, since it is a pair of vertical racks, as well as paired horizontal parts that are mounted at right angles to each other. Practice shows that a good strong bed will turn out if you use a steel square profile with a minimum width of 50 mm. Metal spacers are also used as spacers, but already with less thickness.
At the bottom of the frame, you must install the rollers. Before this, you need to determine the distance between the thrust walls. It should correspond to the width of the rail guides.
It should be noted here that if not a profile pipe, but a steel corner is used for assembly, then each connection point must be additionally strengthened with a steel brace with a thickness of 2 mm. Thus, it is quite realistic to assemble a tape sawmill with your own hands at home.
Some tips for using a sawmill
Correctly assemble the device - this is only half the battle. It is quite important to use the equipment correctly. It is important to know that you need to tension the saw blade very carefully and correctly. Tightening it too much will significantly reduce the tool life. In addition, it is not worth operating the saw for more than two hours in a row. After this period, the work should be stopped, remove the saw and suspend to relieve residual stress.
For a tape cloth it is necessary to use lubricants. In the warmer months, the usual mixture of water and detergent will come down. In winter, you will have to use a mixture of kerosene and motor oil, or diesel fuel with oil. The proportion for mixing is 5: 1.
After the work has been completed, you need to loosen the tension of the saw. This will help to avoid the fatigue phenomenon on its surface, which will increase the service life.
You can also add that it is possible to make a band sawmill from a chainsaw, that is, a working tool from this unit is used.