Sawin up a few corbels

[Wade Jacoby]

I got into the woodworking business by accident. A friend of mine passed on an account he had to me, so I built a little shop and bought a couple things. Rikon bandsaw, Rikon Sander, Dewault miter saw, sander, blah blah blah.

Anyway, I've been thinking about buying a bigger bandsaw this year sometime. They've got me sawing up some big decorative beams that weigh a ton. Well, not quite a ton, but rough cedar at 8"X16"X14' is pretty awesome.

I was kind of thinking that Grizzly 24" single phase might work for me. I have to say that that Rikon BS (18") served me well. I managed to break the lower trunion and wear out some rollers on it in the last two years, but it went that long without a repair. Not bad!

My compliments to this site and its' posters. I've enjoyed reading here!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Welcome to the Creek Wade!

I'm sorry I can't answer your question about the Griz 24" B/S. Maybe some of the other members can.

[Wade Jacoby]

Thanks. Glad to be here.

[Jim Kountz]

I managed to break the lower trunion and wear out some rollers on it in the last two years, but it went that long without a repair. Not bad!

My compliments to this site and its' posters. I've enjoyed reading here!

Ok I gotta ask, how did you break the trunnions? Were they cast iron on that model of saw? Just curious!

[M Toupin]

Lemme see, at 30lb a cubic foot for cedar, your 8" X 16" X 14' beams are oh, roughly 375lbs each... I'm surprised your 18" Rikon lasted that Long. I'd look into large commercial quality machines, not hobby duty. Depending on your use, maybe a dedicated resaw machine? Or a large commercial BS in the 36" or so range?

Mike

[Steve Flavin001]

idea where you are located re size of lumber yards, our local lumber yard produces these things as a regular item. If your area has a yard doing that I would see about dropping in and simply seeing the general scale and size of the saw and related handling methods they use for starters.

[Wade Jacoby]

Ok I gotta ask, how did you break the trunnions? Were they cast iron on that model of saw? Just curious!

Well, actually it broke where the little hex bolt threads in to lock the thrust bearing in place. It's just kind of thin up there and I think it just got fatiqued. The piece is cast.

You know I would have thought that trunion would have been more expensive, but it was only $17.00 dollars.

[Wade Jacoby]

Lemme see, at 30lb a cubic foot for cedar, your 8" X 16" X 14' beams are oh, roughly 375lbs each... I'm surprised your 18" Rikon lasted that Long. I'd look into large commercial quality machines, not hobby duty. Depending on your use, maybe a dedicated resaw machine? Or a large commercial BS in the 36" or so range?

Mike

Yea, those things are heavy. Most of the time I get to cut them in half, thank God. Even then pushing an eight foot piece of it through a bandsaw isn't easy. Typically these pieces end up with either parallel arcs or some sort of decorative ends.

For sure they are not being cut here in San Antonio, but there probably is a mill around here that could do that sort of stuff. In fact my nieces boyfriends uncle owns a big mill downtown. I've been wanting to go down there with him some weekend and check it out. From what he's told me they've got just about everything down there.


My budget for a new saw is going to be around 3K. I might be able to find a machine as big as you're talking about, but it would definitly be used. I'd certainly consider that, but that 24" grizzly would I think be a big improvement over what I'm using now. More horsepower, faster blade speed and being twice the weight of the Rikon would be a step in the right direction, if not the last step.

It kind of depends how business goes too. Right now I am only cutting for one builder. They are a big builder and the houses they do are on average about 10,000 square feet. If I could land one or two more accounts like that, then I could justify the cost. Of course then I'd probably need to add an employee or two.

That's about when I'd be getting a headache. :-)

[Wade Jacoby]

Ok I gotta ask, how did you break the trunnions? Were they cast iron on that model of saw? Just curious!

I think they're cast aluminum. Too light for steel. Nonetheless next day air UPS was close to $80.00 for the lower trunion and the new bearings and four of the little plastic plates that go in the middle of the table. Basically the shipping was almost double the price of the parts!

Hey, let's "liberate" Iran so we can pay even more for fuel! LOL!

[Dave MacArthur]

I almost bought a 24" Jet bandsaw from a contractor who was using it to shape corbels and the ends of rafters. However, he told me they had started using the hand held milwaukee portable bandsaw instead... worked well he said, and much easier than holding that big beam up on a table. Give it a thought.

[Wade Jacoby]

I almost bought a 24" Jet bandsaw from a contractor who was using it to shape corbels and the ends of rafters. However, he told me they had started using the hand held milwaukee portable bandsaw instead... worked well he said, and much easier than holding that big beam up on a table. Give it a thought.

Hey Dave, thanks for the reply.

I've looked at the handhelds, and have ruled that out as an option for the beams I do of because on the one's I've seen, the throat is to small.

I'll certainly take a look at the links you've posted though, and thanks.

I have never done any rafter tails, these are being handled on site. For that stuff the handhelds would work. I'm sure that's what they are using to do that.

What I am doing on the big beams is putting one end of it on a roller stand which sits on a cart with 360 degree wheels and using my muscles as needed to move it like it's a small block. I've gotten the hang of this and it works okay for me, though my protogee who's worked in a real mill is having a time with this. He's doing okay, but like I said, this takes some experience to pull off.

Even as many of these as I have done, there is still going to be some hand sanding involved. Not a lot, but some.

With a handheld device, you are going to lose some control. There is no flat table to keep you straight. With some practice, I suspect that would become doable, but I haven't seen a handheld device capable of cutting as deep as I have to on these things, which is anywhere between 6 to 16 inches.

If the beam is really big and long and needs decorative ends, like say 8"X16"X24', the band saw gets replaced by a circular saw, hammer, chisel, sawzall, whatever. Chainsaw! yea!

I know that sounds hillarious, but if you stay outside the lines, you can finish that job with handheld sanders, and it will come out okay.

One thing about my little part time job is that they are always throwing something new at me and I have to figure out how to get it done, either with the equipment I have, or by buying something that will get it done.

Whatever it takes!

Right now, I think a larger bandsaw is going to be my best bet for my all around usage. I've considered building a wheel suspended on ball bearings hung from the cieling of the shop that I could chain the beams from. If that was done right, it might beat my little cart setup. It would certainly eliminate the possibility of a big ass beam toppling off the cart. Probably be easier to put in motion as well.

I guess I'll just have to figure it out as I go. Suggestions are useful, because you never know where someone's idea might lead you.

If there is one thing in this world that I am certain of, it is that the human race has ammased so much knowledge that no one person will ever be able to understand even a tiny percentage of it all, and it just keeps growing.

Wade

[Jack Briggs]

What's a corbel?

[Brian Weick]

They are architectural pieces that are used as an accent or as an actual platform for a entablature.
Brian

[Jack Briggs]

Thanks, Brian!