Sawing My First Log! [[Building My Own Sawmill Part 4]]

It has been a long road, but we are finally on the home stretch! Things are finally coming together and it is starting to look like a mill. I still have some tweaking to do here and there. For the most part just minor odds and ends. Getting all the parts and pieces back together. Along with making it run was not as bad as I thought it would be. It just took a lot of time to get set up.
Adjusting the band wheels was a 1/2 day project alone. I wish I would have had more time to make an adjustment system, but I can always do it later. Not knowing really what I was doing made it a slow go. I would get the wheels where I thought they should be. Then put tension on the blade. Once tension was applied it ever so slightly would pull the wheels in. Just enough to make it track unevenly. After going back and forth ten to twenty times. I finally got it running where I wanted.
Once the saw head was on the tracks it really looked like a sawmill. I was ecstatic to see it all put together. Through all the excitement was some nervousness. Who knew if it would all stay together? Would a wheel go flying, blade launch into the air, or would it even cut? This was a long drawn out experiment that was coming to its final test!
The first log was a junk Gum that I had cut the year before. Perfect to experiment on. When the blade went in the log it was a satisfying feeling to see the sawdust fly! To my amazement, it not only cut, but cut straight! I had my first board! It wasn’t good for much of anything, but I had turned a bunch of metal and parts into a sawmill.
Now that I have cut twenty or so logs. There are some things that could be improved. The band tension system leaves a little to be desired. It’s just not quite stout enough to get it as tight as it needs to be. If you push to fast the blade will dive a bit when it hits a knot in the log. With the clutch you can’t go fast anyway. It holds up to about the same speed you have to go for the blade to not dive. In my opinion, it still cuts pretty quickly in soft wood. When you dive into a really big oak log it’s a bit of a different story. I take it nice and easy and it does well. Once you have the log in smaller pieces it’s back to normal speed.
This has been one of the most exciting and useful builds I have ever done. It took a lot of time and planning, but in the end was all worth it. Now I have a mill to make my own lumber. It is a awesome feeling and I can’t wait for the boards to dry. There will be some much needed additions added to my property. Thank you for watching, following along, and commenting! There will be more sawmill videos to come!

[@sgtrod8807]

Awesome job glad to see it working for you

[@ShaunHaragan]

Good work!

[@makotanko2994]

Awesome video and awesome channel. Glad to see the mill up and running now. Sorry the editing sucks, just know there are many people who love watching your videos!

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

That is awesome to hear. Thank you for the encouragement!

[@donferguson2495]

Good job, just a suggestion you need to go ahead and add a water system. Going dry will kill your blade but also you will get a smoother cut.

[@FishHuntCookTinker]

I finally did when I sawed a bunch of yellow pine. The sap was clogging everything up. It made a huge difference! Thanks for watching and commenting!