Big Cat Kit Sawmill Opinions on these kit Sawmills. DIY sawmill kit

06.06.2023 Boath opinions, sawmill, sawmills, these

Big Cat Kit Sawmill. Opinions on these kit Sawmills

Jeez, by the time you throw in the engine, trailer kit, and steel, you could by a used bandmill.

Guides are readily available from a number of sources.

As are Band wheels and carriage wheels. 19″ sheaves are sometimes available surplus for not a lot.

Many DIY designs have been posted on the web.

I can’t see paying 2000 for guides and wheels

gemniii

Addicted to ArboristSite

Joined Aug 2, 2009 Messages 1,502 Reaction score 166 Location va (but mainly own acreage in ms and vt)

Our kit includes: Tracking adjuster plate, tensioner with tracking, carriage wheels, pillow block bearings, blade guide roller system, shafting, drive wheel, 19″ Band wheels, raise/lower package, blade and nuts and bolts and instructions on how to build the mill and all the tech support you need to build the mill.

Similar equipment, well established business. Seems like a lot of skilled work required. weld, drill, grind and saw metal. with quality tools.

jvpski

ArboristSite Member

Guys, thanks for the info. Sounds like the Big Cat may not be such a deal when you throw in the engine for 1k or so.

Old Hilly

ArboristSite Operative

Well JVP, firstly, how good is your welding? Can you run a nice neat fillet of weld without having to grind the slag out a couple of times before it looks good? Do you have some sort of accurate cut-off saw to cut the steel frame to size? Near enough is definitely not close enough either. Do you have some sort of drilling machine that will drill holes exactly where you need them, square to the surface in both directions? Or,do you know someone that has some of this gear if you don’t have it at home and will they let you use it or do the work for you? If the answer to all of the above is “yes” then building a mill could be just the thing you could do to save a few dollars but from the price quoted the vendor of this mill is asking too much money for what you are getting. There are lots of mill designs out there and there are about twice as many prople that will help you with ideas and advice. I have 5 sets of plans for bandmills and a kind gentleman in Alaska sent me close to 200 photos of his mills. Out of all this info I have taken the ideas that I liked and am combining them in my muddled brain to come up with a mill that suits the work that we will have to do and the timber we need to cut. Personaly, I think that the mill you looked at is somewhat overpriced. There are other people out there who will do a better deal than that. You might also consider using compressed air as the tensioner for the blade. An airbag suspension booster comes to mind, as does one of those “Hi-Jacker” air-adjustable shock absorbers that people use to lift sagging suspensions in cars and station waggons. Well, at least that’s what we call them down here in Australia. Dennis.

Buyer’s Guide To Portable Sawmills

Via Woodmizer.com

Milling your own lumber can save you big bucks, and maybe even earn you a few. A portable sawmill comes to the log and makes it relatively easy.

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Lumber increased during the pandemic. Although came down when some lumber shortages were resolved, other factors, such as dwindling forest supplies, probably will be with us for the foreseeable future. That means are likely to remain volatile.

And that makes sawing your own lumber an increasingly Smart decision, assuming you have a ready supply of suitable logs.

A full-scale lumber producer has the means to transport the logs to the sawmill. But to turn your own fallen trees into lumber, you’ll need to bring the sawmill to the logs. There are plenty of portable sawmills on the market, but increasing demand lengthened wait times to a year or more for some of the most popular models.

In any case, most DIYers should choose a chain saw mill. These are far and away the least expensive portable option and the easiest to deploy. There’s no wait time if you order one of these.

What Is a Portable Sawmill?

A portable sawmill is a track that clamps to a log, allowing you to make straight cuts with your chainsaw. Bigger, more expensive and more efficient units come with a bandsaw or circular saw sized for milling logs. Some have cradles to hold logs, but some cut logs in place.

Users may have to load logs onto the cradles of less-expensive machines with a log peavey or cant hook. Both are long-handled log-turning tools. But top-of-the-line portable sawmills come with hydraulic log loading systems.

Why would you want a portable sawmill? For one reason: to mill your own lumber. The alternative is selling your seasoned logs to a sawmill for transport to their facility. That’s easier than milling them yourself, and while it might generate income, it isn’t as cost-effective.

A portable sawmill gives you a ready supply of lumber for free. Considering lumber prices, it can quickly pay for itself.

Types of Portable Sawmills

If you do a quick search for portable sawmills, you’ll find that most are chain saw mills. They are the least expensive, most easily transportable and most DIY friendly, but not the most efficient. Two other kinds work faster and produce better results. Here’s a rundown of the three types available:

Chain saw mill

This is merely a metal track that clamps to a log and guides the saw through the wood. You have to supply the saw.

A reliable model accepts saws with bars from 10 to 36 inches long (and longer) and costs less than the saw itself. It’s a great option for large logs, because it lets you do the milling without moving the log.

Band saw mill

Basically, this is a super-large and heavy-duty version of a shop Band saw, with a few key differences. The blade housing is positioned over a conveyor track and the blade oriented parallel to the track, so the saw cuts logs on the horizontal rather than vertical plane. The housing typically glides along a track to cut a stationary log.

Circular saw mill

Circular saw blades are faster than other blades at milling lumber, and most large-production sawmills use them. To make this technology portable, a circular saw is typically mounted on an overhead, moveable track and cuts through a stationary log.

An innovative example is the swing-blade sawmill, which lets you rotate the saw 90 to 180 degrees and slice boards of accurate depth and width without moving the log. That’s unique to this type of sawmill.

How to Choose a Portable Sawmill

Choose based on need. If you’ve got one or two logs you want to turn into beams or posts, a chain saw sawmill is fine. It works slowly, and the wide kerf (thickness) of the saw blade means it wastes wood. But it will do the job without moving the log.

People interested in actual lumber production, for their own project or for sale, are better off with a bandsaw or swing-blade sawmill. These tools cut faster and more accurately than a chain saw. Their blades with thinner kerfs produce less sawdust and waste less wood.

Of these two, the Band saw mill is the more popular. The blade has the thinnest possible kerf, it’s less likely to be damaged by metal in the wood, and you can send it to the shop for re-sharpening. (Typical cost is around 10 per blade, plus shipping.)

On the other hand, circular saws produce straighter, more accurate cuts. They excel with large-diameter logs, although they don’t work as well as a Band saw for milling small logs.

How Much Do Portable Sawmills Cost?

As you might expect, chain saw mills are the least expensive. They average around 100, although some models cost as much as 300.

Band saw mills start at around 4,000 for an entry-level model. A top-of-the-line machine, with a hydraulic loader and attachments for planing and sanding, can handle extra-wide logs. They cost as much as 70,000.

for a swing-blade sawmill can range from 6,000 to 40,000, with 20,000 about average. You’ll pay extra for attractive add-ons like a planer, orbital sander, and a router bit for producing tongue-and-groove boards straight off the mill.

Best Portable Sawmills

The best sawmill for you does the job within the parameters you set for it. If you’re milling lumber for personal use, here are some top choices:

Best chain saw mill

Via Amazon.com

The Imony 36-inch Portable Chain Saw Mill is easy to deploy and accepts chain saw bars up to 36 inches, suitable for pretty hefty logs. Made of aluminum and steel, it’s lightweight and strong.

Best Band saw mill

Via Woodmizer.com

The Wood-Mizer LX2515 accepts logs up to 26 inches in diameter. You’ll want this only if you’re interested in moderate to large-scale lumber production. The log clamps firmly into the cradle while the operator turns a crank to move the saw along a track to slice it into boards.

It’s a basic machine at an affordable price. One of its most attractive features is Wood-Mizer’s reputation for good customer service.

Best swing-blade saw mill

Via Petersonsawmills.com

It’s tough to find swing-blade sawmills at retail outlets. But if you’re prepared to go to the source, the Junior Peterson is worth the effort. Specifically for home and farm use, it sets up in five to 10 minutes and mills a log in place — no forklifts or winches needed.

Chris Deziel has been active in the building trades for more than 30 years. He helped build a small city in the Oregon desert from the ground up and helped establish two landscaping companies. He has worked as a carpenter, plumber and furniture refinisher. Deziel has been writing DIY articles since 2010 and has worked as an online consultant, most recently with Home Depot’s Pro Referral service. His work has been published on Landlordology, Apartments.com and Hunker. Deziel has also published science content and is an avid musician.

Homemade Bandsaw Mill

Hi All, Just though I would post some pics of a bandsaw mill my dad and I built out of scrap parts from the junkyard and a few yardsale tires. There was a lot of trial and error and disigning ideas until we settled on this one and it is always a work in progress, but I think we are close as we are getting great results. The motor is a HF 12 or 13 horse (the biggest expendature) and we also use their trailer winch for raising and lowering as well as pullies. The mill is very heavy (prob around 500) but rolls efortlessly on 3 inch angle iron track. There are three heavy duty v wheels on each side so that makes any small dip in the track negligble. Overall it works great, we are using a lenox 1.5inch blade that is 201″ long. They run about 42 bucks and we get a lot of sawing out of them. I am anxious to try a timberwolf on it as that is what I use in my shop with great sucess. The guide bearings are bulk lawn mower ones (i think) and are holding up great. The drip kit is just water in a gas tank that gravity feeds with a shutoff valve. We can cut up to about 38-40” wide. We have a couple logs that we will put that to the test. The motor has plenty of power, we are working on making the drive belt a better setup. The wheel pulley is a welded car rotor that the pulley run in. Some of the pics were taken before we painted it. in the pic there are some walnut slabs.

Milo

rance

HalDougherty

Great job on the sawmill. I’m impressed. Opening a log is like digging for treasure. What are you going to make with the lumber?

mojapitt

bryguy22

I like building small end tables or small projects for family, im learning a lot and having fun too. thanks for the Комментарии и мнения владельцев. The mill was fun to build, we used to have a small portable mill we bought, it was to small for what we wanted and we could not afford a commercial unit so we built one because we really wanted to saw some logs we had gotten.

lanwater

A lot of good engineering went into it.

derosa

Very cool, I keep wanting to build one of these and the wife keeps giving me dirty looks over it. Maybe one day if we buy a couple acres of forest and need a house.

yrob

Amazing ! This reminds me of a show I watched recently. Hillbillies Gypsies where those guys from the mountains of North Carolina eek out a living in cold mountain. They had an episode where they go get their lumber milled at a neighbor’s mill. The mill was homemade in the 1930’s and it was using an old truck engine.

I am intrigued at the fact that your blade does not slip off the tires. On a bandsaw, there is a crown on the tires to force the blade to stay centered once it has the right tension. On car tires there is no crown. How does that work ?

The Leading Bandsaw Mill Alternative from Turbosawmill

Here’s a question: do you trust and rely on bandsaws so much you would never consider using an alternative to a bandsaw mill? If that’s you, we’d really appreciate a few minutes of your time to explain why a cutting-edge portable swing-blade sawmill from Turbosawmill is superior to the bandsaw.

Step away from using a bandsaw sawmill

A swing-blade sawmill from Turbosawmill beats a bandsaw sawmill every time for its unmatched design, safety, production and lumber recovery.

You won’t have to rehandle the slabs to resaw into usable timber. With its single, pivoting blade, swing-blade sawmills can handle logs of all shapes and sizes and produce more lumber with a single operator than a bandsaw.

Unlike short-lived bandsaw blades, Turbo blades last for years. They take only 60 seconds to sharpen, and their costs are negligible in comparison to bandsaw blades. When the blade needs sharpening, your feed rate will slow down, but your cuts will remain straight and supported.

For maximum performance with minimal handling, a swing-blade sawmill from Turbosawmill is the only choice.

Why choose a swing-blade sawmill over a portable bandsaw mill

Turbosawmill swing-blade sawmills can go anywhere with you, ensuring a high lumber quality no matter how remote the location is. Bandsaws are only portable in smaller sizes, which could compromise your standard of work.

The simplicity of the Turbosawmill design means it won’t take long to learn to operate our swing-blade sawmills comfortably and cut accurate lumber. Learning to operate a bandsaw takes considerably longer as you’ll need to understand the various blade options, tensions and teeth angles.

Cut lumber as and when you need it with a reliable swing-blade sawmill on-site. With 180-degree access, you can retrieve heavy beams easily and have them ready to go. Turbosawmill swing-blade sawmills will boost the efficiency of your entire operation.

Want to dive deeper into the differences between a Turbosawmill portable sawmill and bandsaws? Head to our Swing-blade advantage over bandsaws page for more comparisons.

Just some of the quality timber a village in the highlands of PNG have cut using their automated mill.

Bandsaw mills are a waste of money. Here’s why:

It’s simple. Bandsaw mills lack the speed, accuracy, durability and versatility of a swing-blade sawmill.

There’s no doubt that a swing-blade sawmill can produce lumber faster than a bandsaw. Turbosawmill’s highly durable blade will withstand regular use and require minimal maintenance.

Before you purchase a bandsaw, consider what it will cost you long-term. From blade replacements to the number of people required to operate them, bandsaws become increasingly costly over time. For a bandsaw to compete with Turbosawmill’s minimal handling design, they need to be fully hydraulic. Just another cost to add to the list!

Includes:

An electric start 13hp Honda vertical shaft engine.
2 x RX27 chain loops.
Accurate worm gearbox with dial for lift and sideways motion.
Hand crank winch.
Increased output speed (5,500 RPM) for faster cutting.
Centrifugal clutch for easy start-up.
Large ATV jockey kit.
180-degree easy access for removal of slabs and loading logs.
Easy belt and chain tension system.
Easy bar alignment adjustment.
2-year warranty on the mill framework.
3-year warranty on the motor.
Angled bar providing for:

Smooth entry and exit of the log.
Easier feed as the chain tends to pull the saw through the cut.
Reduced tendency of frame sway.

Sources:

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/big-cat-kit-sawmill-opinions-on-these-kit-sawmills.130846/
https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/portable-sawmill-guide/
https://www.lumberjocks.com/threads/homemade-bandsaw-mill.346040/
https://turbosawmill.com/bandsaw-mill/