Portable Sawmill
Turecut1000 SawmillThe Truecut saw mill has been developed over the last few years. It has come about because of a latent desire by the owner developer to build such a machine after using a smaller similar one. Also the love and fascination of logs to timber from discarded and often burnt farm trees and other fallen logs. There are other band saw mills on the market but non as robust reliable strong and accurate as the Truecut. OverviewThe Truecut is a rolling band saw mounted on heavy duty steel RHS 6 inch by 2 inch rails. A log is placed on the rails and the saw head drives itself along the rails automatically and hence along the log. The blade is raised and lowered electrically to the desired thickness of the timber required. The rails are mounted on an axle and wheels with drawbar for easy movement. Truecut BedThe bed of the mill is very important in that it must remain rigid and strong in view of the sheer weight of some of the logs that can be laid on it. The bed is 6 by 2 inch by 5 mm heavy RHS cross-braced for strength and alignment. It has a 50 by 12 mm steel rail on edge rail welded to the top to facilitate the rolling of the mill head along its length. The bed is 7 metres long and a log of up to 6 metres can be milled. Logs can be up to approximately 1 meter in diameter. With our Australian hardwood this can amount to over 2 tonnes. The bed is supported by 4 adjustable legs, 2 on each side. This allows for the bed to be easily levelled on site. The bed has an axle mounted underneath, equipped with brakes and a drawbar. The unit can be quickly prepared for travel and towed away including on public roads, as it can be registered with all necessary lights etc. Log HandlingThe log can be mounted on the bed in two ways. 1 is to use a tractor and forks to position the log onto the rollers and the other ,if there is no tractor or fork lift available, is to use the ramps in method 2. This way we use two ramps resting on the side the log is to be rolled up. Then we use an ATV winch mounted on a moveable post that slides over the rail on the opposite side to the log. The cable is passed underneath the log then back over the log to a hook on the winch post. The winch is then engaged and the log rolls up onto the log rollers. All very quick and easy, very large logs can be mounted in this way. The log is mounted on the log rollers for milling and these are a critical factor in managing the log once in position. The log rollers can be picked up and moved or slid along the bed to the appropriate position to suit the log. The log rollers consist of 4 spiked rollers that dig into the log. These rollers can be adjusted for width to suit the log and locked in position to prevent the log rolling once the log is where you want it. These rollers also facilitate the rolling of the log. After the first few cuts are made the log may need to be rolled say 90 degrees for the next cut. This is done by using a cant hook to roll, then lock up the spiked rollers with the lock bolts. If the log is very heavy we use the winch again. Place the winch over the rail and wrap the cable around the log from the bottom , hold the loose end of the cable, engage the winch and the log can be rolled to the required position, then lock the spiked rollers again with the lock bolts with a special easy and quick to use palm socket provided. | Mill HeadThe Mill head is the main part that holds the blade, the band wheels and the engine to drive it all. Starting from the bottom up, the frame is made of square hollow section with ball race wheels attached to roll along the rails on the bed. The vertical posts connect to each side across the top. The frame holding the band wheels etc. is slightly larger than the vertical posts and slides over them. This allows the band wheels to slide up and down to give correct board width. The band wheels are very large which is important for the life of the blade and they are adjusted for tension and alignment by large heavy duty screws. The band wheels are driven from the engine mounted at the top via a centrifugal clutch and V belts. The vertical lift is provided by another ATV winch through cables and at the push of the button can be lifted or lowered to the required height. The engine is a 15 hp petrol engine with electric start. The blade guides hold the blade steady either side of the log and are adjustable in and out to suit the log. Cutting fluid is applied to the blade via a flexible nozzle from a 20 litre tank mounted on the frame. BladesThe blades are 50 mm wide and approximately 1.4 mm thick. Most importantly they are tungsten tipped, anything else cutting Australian hardwood will not last more than a few cuts before they need sharpening. The blades are approximately 5250mm long. The large band wheels mean that the bands last for a very long time and can cut many of our tough Australian hardwood logs before sharpening. Sharpening can be carried onto on the machine quite quickly when necessary, which is not often. The number of teeth per inch and the hook angle need to be accounted for according to the type of timber being cut. An important feature is the ability for quick blade removal. Just release the tension, undo the guards (thumb screws) and the blade comes straight off. Summary
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