Any owner of a suburban or summer cottage knows that construction and repair work is a continuous process throughout life. Moreover, wood in this work occupies, if not the main, then certainly an auxiliary value. It is used everywhere and most often in processed form. Therefore, a home-made sawmill, made with your own hands, is a good help in chores. And the cost of self-made equipment will be much less than factory designs, which is an important fact for a zealous owner.
Types of sawmills
Depending on the design features of the cutting tool, do-it-yourself sawmills at home can be divided into three types:
- Disk sawmills are most often found among home-made designs. They gained their popularity due to the ease of assembly and wide versatility in work. The basis of such a do-it-yourself sawmill is a circular saw that rotates with an electric or gasoline engine.
- Band sawmills are most often used in the preparation of various wood materials in large volumes in industrial enterprises. Almost everything madedo-it-yourself band sawmills in home workshops are based on factory-made drawings and designs. The advantage of such equipment is the possibility of fast and high-quality sawing of large logs weighing up to three hundred kilograms.
- Tire structures, the main task of which is the longitudinal sawing of wood into boards, as well as the production of slats and high-quality veneer, are mainly used in small industries. In a self-made sawmill, made by hand, the cutting tool is a chainsaw blade of the appropriate size.
The choice of the type of sawmill depends entirely on the preferences and financial capabilities of the owner of the suburban area.
Hardware requirements
Depending on the availability of raw materials, do-it-yourself sawmills can be made in various versions. The main thing is that the device meets the following requirements:
- Quality and accuracy of work. This indicator is significantly affected by the ability of the device to make both a horizontal and a vertical cut.
- The functionality of the equipment is characterized by the ability to perform the required operations: from the dissolution of logs into boards to the production of various finishing materials.
- Efficiency determines the ability of the equipment to carry out technological processing processes in the required volumes and the required speed of operations.
Fulfilling all these requirementswill allow a home-made sawmill to become a reliable assistant in construction matters.
Disk device design
Actually, this tool is a simple structure, which consists of a work table, a rotating cutting disc and a drive device.
All these parts, assembled into a single mechanism, are a circular saw.
By the number of cutting elements, hand-made sawmills can be divided into single and multi-saw. Several discs can be placed on the same shaft, while performing the same operation at the same time, which greatly increases the productivity of the sawmill.
There are also angular disc devices that cut at a certain angle. Sawing with such structures is carried out in both directions, since they do not have a reverse motion. Angle sawmills can also have one or two cutting saws.
Manufacture of a sawmill disc type
You can make a sawmill with your own hands, even without significant skills in using such a technique. For this you will need:
- construction goats;
- boards;
- fastening parts (screws, screws, nuts);
- metal plates;
- tools (hammer, screwdriver, wrenches);
- electric motor.
The base of the sawmill is made of metal or wooden construction goats by fastening them togetherboards. A table is installed on top of the base, which is assembled from metal plates with a thickness of about four millimeters and a width of about 200 mm.
The cutting disc is installed from below, strictly in the middle of the guide gap. In addition, when creating a sawmill with your own hands, a very important structural element will be the bracket to which the engine with the cutting disc will be attached.
Features of cutting discs
The easiest and most reliable option for selecting a suitable saw blade is to purchase it in a distribution network. Still, the factory fixture has more precise processing and high reliability.
But if there is a steel sheet about three millimeters thick, then you can make the disk yourself. The cutting disc should have a diameter of at least 500 mm, if you get a larger one, this will improve the quality of work.
Saw teeth play the most important role in cutting wood. In order for the disc to saw with the same efficiency all types of wood, it is enough to have two or three teeth. The main indicator of the quality work of a do-it-yourself sawmill is the correct angle of cutting wood. Therefore, the correct inclination of the straight cutter will be about 30 degrees, and in the opposite direction - about 15 degrees.
Poorly balanced cutters can cause friction against the walls of the cut, which also affects the quality of work.
The principle of the band sawmill
The design of such a sawmill consists of two rotating pulleys, between whichcutting blade. Cutting wood is due to the reciprocating movement of the saw blade, which is carried out due to the rotation of the pulleys.
The bracket with the cutting element is mounted on a mobile trolley. Moving along a fixed log, the cutting tool cuts the material. The length of wood processing depends on the length of the guide rails, and the width depends on the distance between the pulleys.
To make a quality cut, you need:
- firmly fix the log;
- adjust the evenness and accuracy of the cut;
- saw blade teeth must be well sharpened and set;
- The cutting blade must be properly tensioned.
The tension of the band for a sawmill, made by hand, is most often carried out using a spring system.
DIY Assembly
Since such a structure is heavy, it is advisable to arrange a concrete foundation at the place of its operation or place bars under the support posts.
Then guide rails about 8 meters long are assembled. To exclude the possibility of deformation of the structure, you need to fasten them with pipe ties.
The do-it-yourself mobile trolley for a homemade sawmill is made of a steel monolithic plate 60 cm long and 80 mm wider than the distance between the rails.
Then, the pulleys are mounted on the assembled movable carriage, with one pulley being made movable and the other not. To prevent the blade from falling duringcutting, position them at an angle of 4° relative to their vertical axis.
The next step is to install the log clamps. And finally, in order to avoid damage, the electric motor is strengthened and connected, the cutting blade is stretched.
Features of tire sawmill
The design of a tire-type sawmill has no special tricks. The cutting device here is a chain from a conventional chainsaw mounted on a tire. The first types of such equipment were made on the basis of a conventional manual chainsaw. Currently, the independent device of such units is made using more powerful electric and gasoline engines.
Do-it-yourself tire-type mini-sawmills are most often used in small enterprises for the manufacture of parts of non-standard size and shape. The small size of the tire device and the use of a gasoline engine make it possible to use such a sawmill as a mobile equipment that is easy to move to the place of work.
Installing the structure
First you need to assemble the sawing unit of the unit. A U-shaped bracket is made. In the central part of it there is a tire, which is fixed on both sides.
The chain tension is better to arrange due to the movement of the drive sprocket. The principle of adjustment is simple: the leading element is mounted on the gearbox shaft, the shaft itself is mounted on metal plates with longitudinal slots. Due to the movement of the gearbox in the right direction, there will bechain tension change.
The gearbox shaft is installed on the key, and the second pulley is fixed on the engine. The design of the clutch belts can be different, while their tension is carried out by rollers.
The bearing base is similar in design to a band sawmill. Here you also need to arrange guide rails along which the bracket will move, as well as clamping devices for the log.
A chainsaw assembly
Do-it-yourself chainsaw sawmill is made on the basis of a portable construction saw with an internal combustion engine. A special advantage of this design is the ability to use the chainsaw for its intended purpose. To do this, just remove it from the clamp of the unit on the bracket.
During the installation of a sawmill from a chainsaw with your own hands, you must strictly follow the technology and assembly steps:
- The base of the structure is assembled from metal corners of equal size. Welding can be used to fasten all parts, but bolting is more often used. In order for the cutting device to freely reach any point of the log, the length of the frame is taken 0.3–0.5 m longer than the blanks.
- To eliminate the effect of vibration and displacement, the base of the sawmill must be stable, strong and sufficiently rigid.
- The moving block is made from a steel plate on which the chainsaw is mounted.
Sawmill Operation Tips
Operation of hazardous equipment, which includes sawing devices, must be carried out in compliance with basic safety rules. Therefore, the basic provisions of safe work cannot be neglected:
- The room where the sawmill is installed should be well ventilated and have sufficient lighting.
- The apparatus installed outdoors must be equipped with a canopy that will protect not only the mechanism, but also the material being processed from moisture.
- Before starting work, it is necessary to lubricate the main components of the sawmill, as well as carefully check the moving parts and cutting devices.
- All work on the operation and maintenance of the sawmill must be carried out in a protective suit, gloves and goggles.
Before you make a sawmill with your own hands, you need to carefully familiarize yourself with the device of this equipment. The choice of the type and design of the sawmill, each owner should be based on the functional need, the quality of lumber and financial feasibility.
