OT: Sawmill Oopsie

[52 Ford]

I understand that is not what they are made for, but I think it might have stopped the roll into the blade for long enough for the board to tip off the saw structure.

The outfeed table on a sawmill like this is usually really big. There's supposed to be someone pulling the lumber off and stacking it as it's being cut.

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[52 Ford]

The thing that lingers in the back of my mind - as with many of this sort of video - is not one of safety, It's also not one of personal injury, or any one of a hundred things.

It's the simple, unavoidable truth that even if you set out with a $50 million R&D budget and a team of highly talented engineers and millwrights, you could never design and build a machine that so effectively launched a big, heavy slab of wood any more efficiently. In fact, you'd probably never be able to achieve the same results - not to mention the sheer terror.

When I was about 13 or 14 i built a crossbow out of a car leafspring, a 4X4 post, some cable, and a ratchet strap. Didn't work great, but it'd chuck a broom handle pretty far.

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[Tyrone Shoelaces]

About 15 years ago had about a one foot piece of 1 x 4 ride up an snag the top of my 10 inch table saw blade. The blade dug in and threw that piece my direction at 5000 sfpm (60 mph). I was, by habit, standing out of the line of travel. But it punched a hole in the drywall 15 feet away. I never patched the hole. I always point it out to someone new to table saws as a “good lesson.”

Denis

Yes, I learnt to always stand out of the direct line of fire. The energy stored in the blade is amazing.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[52 Ford]

Yes, I learnt to always stand out of the direct line of fire. The energy stored in the blade is amazing.

Regards Tyrone.

I don't even like standing in line with a belt grinder. Let alone blades and grinding wheels.

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[MrWhoopee]

That hurt to watch.

I exchanged the blade on my radial arm saw for a 9"x.075 abrasive wheel. Not much for cutting wood, but it sure is slick for light gauge sheet. Not nearly as scary as the wood cutting blade.

 

[52 Ford]

That hurt to watch.

I exchanged the blade on my radial arm saw for a 9"x.075 abrasive wheel. Not much for cutting wood, but it sure is slick for light gauge sheet. Not nearly as scary as the wood cutting blade.

The trick is to conventional cut.

I think the reason RA saws lost popularity is the sliding compound miter saw. Same thing applies to them, too.

I start the cut with the blade pulled towards me and push it away to make the cut.

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[PDW]

Yes, I learnt to always stand out of the direct line of fire. The energy stored in the blade is amazing.

Regards Tyrone.

I broke 3 ribs learning that lesson 30+ years ago. I've never forgotten it.

PDW

 

[john.k]

My old mate Bobby Addison had a commercial sawmill,but all the machinery was hillbilly made ........I helped him rebuild the big bench with a steel frame and ball bearings ,but we still used the steel 6"ft sawblade.....mainly for cost ,and partly as the carbide blades would self destruct if they hit a steel object,whereas a big steel blade would often shear off the bolt or AP slug core with damage to only a few teeth......He was across the road from the big army camp,and used to swap logs for booze with the caretaker. They never got caught.

 

[52 Ford]

My old mate Bobby Addison had a commercial sawmill,but all the machinery was hillbilly made ........I helped him rebuild the big bench with a steel frame and ball bearings ,but we still used the steel 6"ft sawblade.....mainly for cost ,and partly as the carbide blades would self destruct if they hit a steel object,whereas a big steel blade would often shear off the bolt or AP slug core with damage to only a few teeth......He was across the road from the big army camp,and used to swap logs for booze with the caretaker. They never got caught.

Big mills that use circle saws (yeah, circle saw) have insert tooth saw blades. A little like an inset for a parting tool at the lathe. I've got some in the shop. The ones I have are made by Simonds. They're tool steel. But I'm sure you can get them made of carbide if you're cutting really abrasive wood.

There are some portable blade sharpeners that clamp onto the blade to sharpen the "old school" blades.

I have seen brazed carbide on smaller blades (2 foot diameter) for gang saws. I think those blades were 5 or 6 hundred a piece. Maybe more. I still have one hanging up on the wall.

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[GregSY]

Kinda like how I tell people when they are near the lathe....never leave the key in the chuck, and never stand in the swing. When something exits the chuck, or just the hot chips, you don't wanna be catching it with your face.

 

[52 Ford]

These are the insert teeth i was thinking of.
Replacement Teeth – Simonds International

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[Big B]

Yeah. If it was ANY worse, I don't think it'd even be allowed on YouTube. That would be like getting hit in the chest with a sledge hammer. A big sledge hammer at that. You're right about luck. If it had hit him in the neck... yeah. Scary.

Lots of sectional density in a board that long. I could almost feel the pain just watching it and cringed when he got hit. I'd say they were probably done cutting lumber that day.

 

[52 Ford]

Kinda like how I tell people when they are near the lathe....never leave the key in the chuck, and never stand in the swing. When something exits the chuck, or just the hot chips, you don't wanna be catching it with your face.

It's generally a good idea to avoid catching things with your face.

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[Big B]

The trick is to conventional cut.

I think the reason RA saws lost popularity is the sliding compound miter saw. Same thing applies to them, too.

I start the cut with the blade pulled towards me and push it away to make the cut.

Sent using Morse code on - .- .--. .- - .- .-.. -.-

In spite of growing up in a home with a radial arm saw in the basement that I used frequently, I never knew until a few years ago that you're supposed to use a different blade for RA saws than for table saws. At least that's what I read and it makes sense. I read that blades for RA saws have less hook to the blade so they don't grab and dig in so much.

I haven't used a RA saw for probably four decades now but there are probably experts on them here that can verify or shoot down that bit of info that I gleaned from a machinists group.

 

[DDoug]

In spite of growing up in a home with a radial arm saw in the basement that I used frequently, I never knew until a few years ago that you're supposed to use a different blade for RA saws than for table saws. At least that's what I read and it makes sense. I read that blades for RA saws have less hook to the blade so they don't grab and dig in so much.

I haven't used a RA saw for probably four decades now but there are probably experts on them here that can verify or shoot down that bit of info that I gleaned from a machinists group.

There was a multi page discussion going on in the woodhacking section all about RAS's.

 

[scsmith42]

The carriage goes plenty far past the blade, you can see the log ends a couple feet from the last post, and that last post goes past the blade. But, the board stops as soon as it's cut free, because it's not on the carriage. That's what the pull-off man is for, if he would have done his job. A riving knife wouldn't have helped, as they are normally shorter than the blade so they don't get jammed up if the log is bigger than the blade projection.

Dennis

What Dennis said. A riving knife would not have prevented that - an off-bearer would have.

The board was leaning against the cant. Typically the off-bearer will flip the board down onto the conveyor as soon as it clears the blade. Since this did not occur, as the sawyer backed the cant up for the next cut the board leaned into the blade.