Subnostr

I'm thinking about building a micro-sawmill this fall/winter. I'm thinking something light enough for a fit person to reasonably carry several hundred yards, but still be a 2-3x upgrade to a chainsaw mill.

I'm thinking something that could be built in a home/farm shop for say, a thousand to two thousand US$ in materials.

What technology would you consider and how would you think about this?

I want something I can carry to trees that are otherwise relatively inaccessible but where the lumber can still be carried out.

Maybe 15 or possibly 20 amp electric so it can be run off of a portable generator that can be carried separately.

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Discussion

LukeoftheOzarks 2y ago

#grownostr

LukeoftheOzarks 2y ago

#sawstr

Casey 2y ago

I don’t have much to add on this, but I am really interested in seeing how this project progresses. Please keep us updated. The amount of power that you have available will be the limiting factor. May want to consider a soft start circuit to handle the inrush. Thanks for sharing

LukeoftheOzarks 2y ago

I agree 15 amps is absolutely on the low end power wise. But honestly while the time of the cut is an attractive figure, it isn't really the limiting factor for home use. Set up, physical energy, and log handling is a bigger deal with these lightweight setups. But cut time matters for sure.

I do like the idea of having a power boost to up, say a 15 amp extension cord to maybe a 20 or even 30 amp motor. The power is available since it would typically only be running, say 50% of the time. That is to say maybe 5 minutes per cut then 3 minutes off with longer breaks periodically for a simple one person operation. Very roughly speaking.

I'm thinking that it would be out of the range of a capacitor to hold that long, but there might be ones out there that could.

A battery setup with inverter would certainly do it, but that's more weight, expense, and cost, by quite a bit. A lithium battery with inverter isn't completely out of the question though.

Anyway I guess a person could make that decision for their build.

Casey 2y ago

Just think of how much lumber was cut with a 2-man pit saw setup

LukeoftheOzarks 2y ago

Yup. The magic of big teeth.