Production ripping with bandsaw

[Bradley Gray]

I think the OP has checked out. This was his one and only post and he hasn't commented.

[John MacDougall]

I think the OP has checked out. This was his one and only post and he hasn't commented.

Sorry. I did check back on this but for some reason I did not get notifications. At that time I was also a one legged man at a butt kicking contest. Baseball season and all. My apologies.
Im still figuring this out as I'm still waiting on capital for new machinery. Starting a national sporting goods manufacturing business seems to be expensive. Go figure!

I do have to split the piece on the angle as using a moulder to do the initial shape would cut yield in half which would be WAY too expensive.

I have seen the Felder machines - very nice but VERY expensive. I have to build modifications anyway (as usual) so I think I will go as big as I can. Minimum 5 hp but perhaps 7.5. Also at least 1.375" blade capacity.

Thank you you all for the valuable input. No one else makes a bat like mine and not many people seem to have the machining requirements I do. I guess that keeps it more interesting! 😄
Cheers and Happy New Year!

[Rollie Kelly]

If you are not going the way of resaw specific machines, I would start looking for Tannewitz or better bandsaws.
Go to the OWWM.org site and ask about recommended machines.
Hope this helps, good luck,
Rollie

[Darcy Warner]

My 30" Yates Y30 will walk though anything I shove through it. It's only 3hp, but never been an issue. My old #16 Oliver us only 3hp and does almost as good as the Yates.

[John MacDougall]

If you are not going the way of resaw specific machines, I would start looking for Tannewitz or better bandsaws.
Go to the OWWM.org site and ask about recommended machines.
Hope this helps, good luck,
Rollie

No problem with re-saw specific machines per se, just have to be able to tilt table and feeder. I just have to get "creative" with it. I will check out that site. Thanks.

[Kevin Jenness]

For serious production you may want to look at something like this http://www.lobomachine.com/shop/item...and-resaw/420/

[peter gagliardi]

This is Basic Milling 101 for the most part. If your process is good until the splitting of the parallelogram pieces in half, all you need is a good 3-5 hp bandsaw of probably a 30-36" size with a 2 tpi x about an .030-.035 thickness carbide tipped band. Since all your stock is milled to one thickness, and you are doing only one rip, a regular 3 or 4 wheel stockfeeder is all you need.
Don't get talked into spending a ton of capital on a "new" old technology! Bandsaws haven't changed hardly at all in a hundred or more years.
A good U.S. made Tanny, Yates American, Crescent, Oliver, Moak, or Fay and Egan cast iron machine, or a good quality Italian or German machine- bigger Centauro or Meber type is all you need.

Here is the part that matters the very most-
Make a special fence or cradle out of wear resistant material - steel, or?? that leans ideally to the left at the 30 degree angle with a 15 degree base angle to hold the bottom edge. It can stop about 1/4-1/2" before the face of the blade teeth, and then maybe another piece just after the blade to catch the offcuts.
If you have a capable bandsaw already, and a feeder, it will be a few hundred dollars to make the cradle at a fab or machine shop.
If you are starting with nothing, you could get it all for probably $3-4k with just a tiny bit of looking.
This is easy, don't overthink it.

[John MacDougall]

This is Basic Milling 101 for the most part. If your process is good until the splitting of the parallelogram pieces in half, all you need is a good 3-5 hp bandsaw of probably a 30-36" size with a 2 tpi x about an .030-.035 thickness carbide tipped band. Since all your stock is milled to one thickness, and you are doing only one rip, a regular 3 or 4 wheel stockfeeder is all you need.
Don't get talked into spending a ton of capital on a "new" old technology! Bandsaws haven't changed hardly at all in a hundred or more years.
A good U.S. made Tanny, Yates American, Crescent, Oliver, Moak, or Fay and Egan cast iron machine, or a good quality Italian or German machine- bigger Centauro or Meber type is all you need.

Here is the part that matters the very most-
Make a special fence or cradle out of wear resistant material - steel, or?? that leans ideally to the left at the 30 degree angle with a 15 degree base angle to hold the bottom edge. It can stop about 1/4-1/2" before the face of the blade teeth, and then maybe another piece just after the blade to catch the offcuts.
If you have a capable bandsaw already, and a feeder, it will be a few hundred dollars to make the cradle at a fab or machine shop.
If you are starting with nothing, you could get it all for probably $3-4k with just a tiny bit of looking.
This is easy, don't overthink it.

Peter, you're onto what I'm doing. I just need a machine I can set up and leave to do the same thing continuously. I had similar thoughts on the fence but was thinking to build it at 15 degrees and tilt the table for the other 15. Is there a reason the fence should be (lean) on the left of the blade?
I did find a Comatic DC30 3 wheel feed that is fully variable speed that looks like it may be perfect for this.

[peter gagliardi]

John, no special reason for sled tilting to the left, except most saws have the main support to the left, and when the table is at rest against the 90 degree stop underneath, you can mount the feeder on the left of the blade, and extend the arm over the work, pushing the work left into the sled, leaving the weight of the feeder also at rest, rather than cantilevered out on the trunnion if u mount on the right.
If I have to do it, I would always choose to setup the sled to do all the tilting. That takes the possibility of table creep off your desired angle out of the equation.

[John MacDougall]

Peter, thanks for the great information. That all sounds perfectly logical to me! I was thinking of some sort of "permanent" steel fence anyway so just making it as a cradle sled at the full angle makes sense. The "vintage" world of saws looks like it would take up way more time than I have for something like that. Any opinions on the Minimax S600p?