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charlie b charlie b is offline
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Default unusual bandsaw question

No sarcasm intended but think it through some more.

If you're sawing "green" you'll need an oiler - the
sawdust is damp, sticky and there's a LOT of it.

So
- how are you going to keep it from gumming up
the works. Upright, woodworking, bandsaw's aren't
designed to eject saw dust BEFORE it gets to the
drive wheel. And they don't have, because they
don't need, an oiler.
- the "cabinet" of a WoodMizer type bandsaw isn't
as beefy as an upright woodworing bandsaw so
you've got a more weight to deal with - getting
to the log, setting it up, moving it (rather than
the log, which is normally heavier) along the log,
taking it down and getting it back to wherever
you're going to store it.
- full size logs, especially green, are HEAVY. You
don't want to move one any farther, or higher
than you have to. That means
- lugging your saw TO the wood.
- rolling rather than lifting the log onto a base
that's as close to ground level as possible
- moving the saw over the log rather than
the log passed the blade - with control of
both the depth of cut, and the flatness of
the cut. Trapezoidal boards are a PITA.

There are a lot more considerations but you get
the idea. BEFORE you go much further, find a
sawyer with a bandsaw mill, watch him set it
up, use it, clean it up and put it away. Pay attention
and if your lucky ask a lot of questions and
get a lot of answers. A bandsaw is a bandsaw
is a bandsaw ISN'T. Thin front wheel drive
family van. Now think Off Road Four Wheel Drive.
They both have wheels, an engine, etc. but the
details are quite different - for a reason. A
Swiss Army Pocket Knife can do a lot of things.
But you don't see a butcher using one at work,
nor will you see a mechanic using one. Dedicated
tools work better, with less effort and a lot
less cussing and swearing.

You can probably make your idea work. The
question is how much effort, time and money,
and how well will it do this new specific job?

If you've got the time and money and have a
Rube Goldberg streak in you - go ahead on.
And don't forget to report back with what
you did, what you shouldn't have done, what
you're going to do next time - and how it worked

charlie b