CA1179578A - Portable power saw mill - Google Patents
Portable power saw millInfo
- Publication number
- CA1179578A CA1179578A CA000390032A CA390032A CA1179578A CA 1179578 A CA1179578 A CA 1179578A CA 000390032 A CA000390032 A CA 000390032A CA 390032 A CA390032 A CA 390032A CA 1179578 A CA1179578 A CA 1179578A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- bandsaw
- saw
- frame
- portable
- guide beam
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Landscapes
- Sawing (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
PORTABLE POWER SAW MILL
A portable saw mill has a light weight frame supporting a pulley driven by a hydraulic motor at one side and an idler pulley at the other, with a saw blade entrained on the pulleys, the lower run of the saw blade being exposed for cutting. The mill is moved manually, on parallel guide beams, the level of which is adjustable, by two operators, one at each side, with the frame spanning a log or the like to be sawn.
Alternatively, the spacing of guide rollers on the frame extending parallel to the saw blade lower run can be adjusted to control the depth of cut.
PORTABLE POWER SAW MILL
A portable saw mill has a light weight frame supporting a pulley driven by a hydraulic motor at one side and an idler pulley at the other, with a saw blade entrained on the pulleys, the lower run of the saw blade being exposed for cutting. The mill is moved manually, on parallel guide beams, the level of which is adjustable, by two operators, one at each side, with the frame spanning a log or the like to be sawn.
Alternatively, the spacing of guide rollers on the frame extending parallel to the saw blade lower run can be adjusted to control the depth of cut.
Description
1~795~8 PORTA~LE POWER SAW MILL
DESCRIPTIOM
The invention relates to a portable power saw mill.
It is known to provide portable power saws, driven by electric motors or small internal combustion engines, the cutting elements being saw chains. Such power saws are useful in a variety of ways but are not well adapted to rip sawing logs or baulks of timber into boards.
Moreover, the chain cutting element necessarily cuts a wide kerf so making uneconomical use of available timber and requiring considerable power to drive them.
The invention accordingly provides a portable bandsaw mill comprising a saw unit and a support unit for the saw unit, the support unit comprising means adjustably supporting two guide beam members in frame means so that the guide beam members extend substantially parallel to each other at a selected level along opposed sides of a piece of timber to be sawn, and the saw unit comprising means journalling two bandsaw pulleys on a saw frame about spaced substantially parallel axes adjacent respective ends of the saw frame with the pulleys substantially in a common plane, a bandsaw blade entrained on the bandsaw pulleys, drive means for rotatably driving one of the pulleys, manually engageable handles at each end of the saw frame, and roller means located at each end of the saw frame for supporting the saw unit on said guide beam members to span across the guide beam members, the saw unit engaging the support B
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.
1~795~8
DESCRIPTIOM
The invention relates to a portable power saw mill.
It is known to provide portable power saws, driven by electric motors or small internal combustion engines, the cutting elements being saw chains. Such power saws are useful in a variety of ways but are not well adapted to rip sawing logs or baulks of timber into boards.
Moreover, the chain cutting element necessarily cuts a wide kerf so making uneconomical use of available timber and requiring considerable power to drive them.
The invention accordingly provides a portable bandsaw mill comprising a saw unit and a support unit for the saw unit, the support unit comprising means adjustably supporting two guide beam members in frame means so that the guide beam members extend substantially parallel to each other at a selected level along opposed sides of a piece of timber to be sawn, and the saw unit comprising means journalling two bandsaw pulleys on a saw frame about spaced substantially parallel axes adjacent respective ends of the saw frame with the pulleys substantially in a common plane, a bandsaw blade entrained on the bandsaw pulleys, drive means for rotatably driving one of the pulleys, manually engageable handles at each end of the saw frame, and roller means located at each end of the saw frame for supporting the saw unit on said guide beam members to span across the guide beam members, the saw unit engaging the support B
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.
1~795~8
-2 unit only by way of the rollers.
Preferably, the means adjustably supporting the guide beam members in the frame means permits selective independent adjustment in the vertical direction of each of the guide beam members.
Thus the frame means can comprise two ground-supported end frames, with two supports carried on each frame, each support being connected to a respective end of a respective guide beam member, and the level of each support on the associated end frame being selectively adjustable. Each support can comprise an internally threaded bush received on a threaded shaft which can be rotated to adjust the level of the support.
A band saw mill according to the invention can be readily made sufficiently light in weight to be carried by two people. The driven pulley can be powered by an hydraulic motor, with the actual pressure fluid source separate from the mill. The mill can thus be readily employed for rip sawing logs into boards at any convenient location for example the felling site.
Sawing is efficient because the saw blade produces only a narrow kerf and convenient because the blade can be manually fed through the log with the frame guided by two operators, one at each side of the log. The guide support for the frame is easily erected on site around a log to be sawn and then dismantled for use on another by elsewhere. The boards or planks obtained, unlike the felled log, can be readily removed from the site without the use of heavy tackle.
'i'he invention thus provides all the capabilities of a static saw mill, in portable form.
The invention is further described below, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective rear view of a portable band saw mill embodying the invention; and -2a-Figure 2 is a perspective rear view of a band saw mill of the invention which is similar to that of Figure 1 except in having a modified form of guide support means.
li'795~78 The same reference numerals are used in the two figures to indicate like parts.
The band saw mill illustrated is a portable, horizontally cutting, band saw mill comprising ~ frame 2 having a pair of channel-shaped beams 4 of light-weight metal or other material connected together at their ends in spaced back-to-back relationship.
Pulley housings between the ends of the two beams 4 comprise spaced parallel front and rear walls 6,8 of substantial thickness and curved side plates 9, which can be of lighter material, received in slots in the edges of the walls 6,8. A planar guard plate 7 extends between the side plates 9 and is carried by supports extending upwardly from the beams 4.
On the left-hand side of the band saw as shown, the rear housing wall 8 mounts an hydraulic motor 10, the drive shaft of which is connected by means of a flexible coupling to a shaft journalled by the walls 6,8 and carrying a drive pulles 11 received between the walls. At the other side of the band saw, the two walls 6,8 again journal between them an idler pulley 12 rotatably mounted on a shaft 14 non-rotatably carried by the walls. A flexible steel saw blade 15 i8 entrained on the two pulleys. The pulley may typically have a diameter of about 45 cms, and the blade length may be about 430 cms to give an exposed cutting span of some 90 cms. The blade width can be say l0.5 cms., the tooth structure projecting by about 1 cm. beyond the pulleys. The blade 15 may have the saw tooth integrally formed with the material of the blade but preferably the body of the blade is a relatively flexible steel strip carrying a tooth structure of harder metal, the gullets between the teeth being provided by the steel strip. This facilitates reception of the blade on the rather small diameter pulleys.
As best shown in Figure 2, the shaft 14 is 179S7~3 .
adjustably carried by the walls 6,8 so that the saw blade lS can be tensioned, and its tracking adjusted.
The ends of the shaft 14 thus extend outwardly through slots 16 in the walls 6,8 and can be moved independently towards and away from the pulley 11 by screw adjustment means 18 extending from brackets 20 projecting outwardly from the walls. The distance between the axes of the two pulleys can thus be adjusted and because the screw adjustment means 18 can be operated independently, the angle between the pulley axes can be adjusted also.
The walls 6,g also carry guide means for the saw blade 15, in the form of upper and lower wear pads engaging with the saw band surfaces, and rolling ball elements bearing on the rear edge of the blade to resist the forces experienced by the blade as it is moved through the timber being sawn. Scrapers 21 are provided for removing deposits from the pulley drive surfaces.
A handle 22 projects outwardly from each of the walls 6,8, so that the band saw can be conveniently transported and operated manually by two operators.
As shown in Figure 1, hydraulic fluid for driving the motor 10 is supplied, by way of power and return lines 40, from a vehicle or trailer mounted source comprising a pump driven by a diesel engine which can be controlled from the saw mill. ~he hydraulic lines 40 connect into a by-pass valve unit 41 carried by the frame, from which further hydraulic power and return lines 42 extend to the hydraulic motor 10. When the diesel engine is idling, the pump provides low pressure fluid and the valve unit 41 is arranged to by-pass this fluid flow to the return line, in preference to transmitting it to the hydraulic motor 10, so that the saw blade 15 is stationary. A control device located adjacent one of the handles 22 permits the operator to increase the ~1795 ~t3 diesel engine speed, and thus to increase the fluid pressure to a level at which the fluid supplied through the pressure line 40 is not by-passed but is transmitted to the hydraulic motor 10 to drive the blade 15.
For safety, provision may be made for operation of the hydraulic motor 10 from either side of the frame, so that either operator can st~p the movement of the saw blade.
Each of the four housing walls 6,8 has externally projecting flanges between which a roller 45 is journalled for rotation about an axis parallel to the saw blade movement. The rollers 45 extend below the lower edges of the housing walls, for rolling on a pair of parallel guide or support tracks on opposed sides of a log 48 to be sawn. The guide tracks are constituted by the upper surfaces of a pair of parallel guide beams 46, for example metal I-section beams, forming part of a cradle which has been constructed around the log. The guide beams 46 extend between rectangular upright end frames 49 which are ground-supported and connected together by ground-supported beams 50 beneath the guide beams 46. The log 48 is held in place by clamps 51 adjustable along transverse members 52.
In the position shown in Figure 1, the saw mill is near to the end of a cutting stroke effected by manual movement of the frame with the rollers 45 rolling on the guide track beams 46. The level of the exposed lower run of the saw blade 15 relative to the log 48 must be lowered for the next cut, and the beams 46 are connected to the end frames 49 so as to permit this adjustment. The beams 46 are mounted at their ends to the end frames 49 by means of internally threaded bushes received on vertically guided threaded shafts 55. The shafts 55 are rotatable by means of handles 56 at their upper ends. The end frames 49 11'7~578 carry fixed scales at each corner so that the level of the beams can be selectively adjusted by known amounts after each cut.
In an alternative arrangement, the beams 46 are fixed in position and the level of the saw blade 15 is adjusted by vertical adjustment of the rolIers 45 on the housing walls 6,8.
In the modified guide arrangements of Figure 2, the rear walls 8 carry at their inner edges rearwardly projecting flanges 32 between which a guide roller 34 is journalled. Similar flanges 35 project forwardly from the inner edges of the two front walls 6 and two leading guide rollers, of which only roller 36 is shown, are journalled between these flanges. The vertical spacing between the lower horizontal run of the band 15 and the rollers 34,36 determines the thickness of the saw cut and to render this adjustable, the height of the axes of the rollers is adjustable.
As shown, this is done by providing in the flanges 32,35 a series of vertically spaced holes 38, in which stub shafts 39 for the rollers can be replaceably received. The vertical spacing of the holes 38 determines the possible incremental adjustment of the cutting thickness.
Support for making a first cut on a log can be provided by fixing a portable rail or plank to the top surface of the log. After a first cut made in this way, the band saw cutting position is located by the rollers 34,36 relative to the top surface exposed by the previous cut.
It will be evident that the portable band saw described and illustrated can be modified in various ways within the scope of the present invention.
Instead of the hydraulic motor, an electric motor, a compressed air motor, or a light weight internal combustion engine could be employed to drive the saw blade.
Preferably, the means adjustably supporting the guide beam members in the frame means permits selective independent adjustment in the vertical direction of each of the guide beam members.
Thus the frame means can comprise two ground-supported end frames, with two supports carried on each frame, each support being connected to a respective end of a respective guide beam member, and the level of each support on the associated end frame being selectively adjustable. Each support can comprise an internally threaded bush received on a threaded shaft which can be rotated to adjust the level of the support.
A band saw mill according to the invention can be readily made sufficiently light in weight to be carried by two people. The driven pulley can be powered by an hydraulic motor, with the actual pressure fluid source separate from the mill. The mill can thus be readily employed for rip sawing logs into boards at any convenient location for example the felling site.
Sawing is efficient because the saw blade produces only a narrow kerf and convenient because the blade can be manually fed through the log with the frame guided by two operators, one at each side of the log. The guide support for the frame is easily erected on site around a log to be sawn and then dismantled for use on another by elsewhere. The boards or planks obtained, unlike the felled log, can be readily removed from the site without the use of heavy tackle.
'i'he invention thus provides all the capabilities of a static saw mill, in portable form.
The invention is further described below, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective rear view of a portable band saw mill embodying the invention; and -2a-Figure 2 is a perspective rear view of a band saw mill of the invention which is similar to that of Figure 1 except in having a modified form of guide support means.
li'795~78 The same reference numerals are used in the two figures to indicate like parts.
The band saw mill illustrated is a portable, horizontally cutting, band saw mill comprising ~ frame 2 having a pair of channel-shaped beams 4 of light-weight metal or other material connected together at their ends in spaced back-to-back relationship.
Pulley housings between the ends of the two beams 4 comprise spaced parallel front and rear walls 6,8 of substantial thickness and curved side plates 9, which can be of lighter material, received in slots in the edges of the walls 6,8. A planar guard plate 7 extends between the side plates 9 and is carried by supports extending upwardly from the beams 4.
On the left-hand side of the band saw as shown, the rear housing wall 8 mounts an hydraulic motor 10, the drive shaft of which is connected by means of a flexible coupling to a shaft journalled by the walls 6,8 and carrying a drive pulles 11 received between the walls. At the other side of the band saw, the two walls 6,8 again journal between them an idler pulley 12 rotatably mounted on a shaft 14 non-rotatably carried by the walls. A flexible steel saw blade 15 i8 entrained on the two pulleys. The pulley may typically have a diameter of about 45 cms, and the blade length may be about 430 cms to give an exposed cutting span of some 90 cms. The blade width can be say l0.5 cms., the tooth structure projecting by about 1 cm. beyond the pulleys. The blade 15 may have the saw tooth integrally formed with the material of the blade but preferably the body of the blade is a relatively flexible steel strip carrying a tooth structure of harder metal, the gullets between the teeth being provided by the steel strip. This facilitates reception of the blade on the rather small diameter pulleys.
As best shown in Figure 2, the shaft 14 is 179S7~3 .
adjustably carried by the walls 6,8 so that the saw blade lS can be tensioned, and its tracking adjusted.
The ends of the shaft 14 thus extend outwardly through slots 16 in the walls 6,8 and can be moved independently towards and away from the pulley 11 by screw adjustment means 18 extending from brackets 20 projecting outwardly from the walls. The distance between the axes of the two pulleys can thus be adjusted and because the screw adjustment means 18 can be operated independently, the angle between the pulley axes can be adjusted also.
The walls 6,g also carry guide means for the saw blade 15, in the form of upper and lower wear pads engaging with the saw band surfaces, and rolling ball elements bearing on the rear edge of the blade to resist the forces experienced by the blade as it is moved through the timber being sawn. Scrapers 21 are provided for removing deposits from the pulley drive surfaces.
A handle 22 projects outwardly from each of the walls 6,8, so that the band saw can be conveniently transported and operated manually by two operators.
As shown in Figure 1, hydraulic fluid for driving the motor 10 is supplied, by way of power and return lines 40, from a vehicle or trailer mounted source comprising a pump driven by a diesel engine which can be controlled from the saw mill. ~he hydraulic lines 40 connect into a by-pass valve unit 41 carried by the frame, from which further hydraulic power and return lines 42 extend to the hydraulic motor 10. When the diesel engine is idling, the pump provides low pressure fluid and the valve unit 41 is arranged to by-pass this fluid flow to the return line, in preference to transmitting it to the hydraulic motor 10, so that the saw blade 15 is stationary. A control device located adjacent one of the handles 22 permits the operator to increase the ~1795 ~t3 diesel engine speed, and thus to increase the fluid pressure to a level at which the fluid supplied through the pressure line 40 is not by-passed but is transmitted to the hydraulic motor 10 to drive the blade 15.
For safety, provision may be made for operation of the hydraulic motor 10 from either side of the frame, so that either operator can st~p the movement of the saw blade.
Each of the four housing walls 6,8 has externally projecting flanges between which a roller 45 is journalled for rotation about an axis parallel to the saw blade movement. The rollers 45 extend below the lower edges of the housing walls, for rolling on a pair of parallel guide or support tracks on opposed sides of a log 48 to be sawn. The guide tracks are constituted by the upper surfaces of a pair of parallel guide beams 46, for example metal I-section beams, forming part of a cradle which has been constructed around the log. The guide beams 46 extend between rectangular upright end frames 49 which are ground-supported and connected together by ground-supported beams 50 beneath the guide beams 46. The log 48 is held in place by clamps 51 adjustable along transverse members 52.
In the position shown in Figure 1, the saw mill is near to the end of a cutting stroke effected by manual movement of the frame with the rollers 45 rolling on the guide track beams 46. The level of the exposed lower run of the saw blade 15 relative to the log 48 must be lowered for the next cut, and the beams 46 are connected to the end frames 49 so as to permit this adjustment. The beams 46 are mounted at their ends to the end frames 49 by means of internally threaded bushes received on vertically guided threaded shafts 55. The shafts 55 are rotatable by means of handles 56 at their upper ends. The end frames 49 11'7~578 carry fixed scales at each corner so that the level of the beams can be selectively adjusted by known amounts after each cut.
In an alternative arrangement, the beams 46 are fixed in position and the level of the saw blade 15 is adjusted by vertical adjustment of the rolIers 45 on the housing walls 6,8.
In the modified guide arrangements of Figure 2, the rear walls 8 carry at their inner edges rearwardly projecting flanges 32 between which a guide roller 34 is journalled. Similar flanges 35 project forwardly from the inner edges of the two front walls 6 and two leading guide rollers, of which only roller 36 is shown, are journalled between these flanges. The vertical spacing between the lower horizontal run of the band 15 and the rollers 34,36 determines the thickness of the saw cut and to render this adjustable, the height of the axes of the rollers is adjustable.
As shown, this is done by providing in the flanges 32,35 a series of vertically spaced holes 38, in which stub shafts 39 for the rollers can be replaceably received. The vertical spacing of the holes 38 determines the possible incremental adjustment of the cutting thickness.
Support for making a first cut on a log can be provided by fixing a portable rail or plank to the top surface of the log. After a first cut made in this way, the band saw cutting position is located by the rollers 34,36 relative to the top surface exposed by the previous cut.
It will be evident that the portable band saw described and illustrated can be modified in various ways within the scope of the present invention.
Instead of the hydraulic motor, an electric motor, a compressed air motor, or a light weight internal combustion engine could be employed to drive the saw blade.
Claims (9)
1. A portable bandsaw mill comprising a saw unit and a support unit for the saw unit, the support unit comprising means adjustably supporting two guide beam members in frame means so that the guide beam members extend substantially parallel to each other at a selected level along opposed sides of a piece of timber to be sawn, and the means journalling two bandsaw pulleys on a saw frame about spaced substantially parallel axes adjacent respective ends of the saw frame with the pulleys substantially in a common plane, a bandsaw blade entrained on the bandsaw pulleys, drive means for rotatably driving one of the pulleys, manually engageable handles at each end of the saw frame, and roller means located at each end of the saw frame for supporting the saw unit on said guide beam members to span across the guide beam members, the saw unit engaging the support unit only by way of the rollers.
2. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 1 wherein said means adjustably supporting the guide beam members in the frame means permits selective independent adjustment in the vertical direction of each end of each of the guide beam members.
3. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 1 wherein the frame means comprises two ground-supported end frames, and wherein the means adjustably supporting the guide beam members comprises two supports carried on each end frame, each support is connected to a respective end of a respective guide beam member, and the level of each support on the associated end frame is selectively independently adjustable.
4. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 3 wherein each of said supports comprises an internally threaded bush and wherein the means for independent adjustment comprises a rotatable threaded shaft extending through said bush.
5. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the roller means exceed the width of the guide beam members in axial length thereby facilitating manual selection of the attitude of the bandsaw blade to the piece of timber to be sawn.
6. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the drive means for rotatably driving said one bandsaw pulley comprises an hydraulic motor mounted on said saw frame.
7. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the other of said bandsaw pulleys is an idler pulley journalled by the saw frame for adjustment in respect of at least one of its angular relationship with, and its lateral spacing from,the rotational axis of said one bandsaw pulley.
8. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 2 or 3 having independent control means for stopping movement of the bandsaw blade at each end of the saw unit.
9. A portable bandsaw mill according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the bandsaw blade comprises a saw tooth structure carried by a band of more flexible metal.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000390032A CA1179578A (en) | 1981-11-13 | 1981-11-13 | Portable power saw mill |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000390032A CA1179578A (en) | 1981-11-13 | 1981-11-13 | Portable power saw mill |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1179578A true CA1179578A (en) | 1984-12-18 |
Family
ID=4121401
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000390032A Expired CA1179578A (en) | 1981-11-13 | 1981-11-13 | Portable power saw mill |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1179578A (en) |
-
1981
- 1981-11-13 CA CA000390032A patent/CA1179578A/en not_active Expired
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |