Sawmills

[Night goat]

Well..... I found something that opens up a whole world of possibilities.

Always known about portable sawmills and Alaskan sawmills...

But a 2000$ harbor freight sawmill?

Either sounds like the worst idea in the world, or an awesome budget tool for making my own lumber....

I'm going to be building a small cabin in the woods, and have plenty of trees, primarily a stand of alders...... Seems the perfect candidate for making up 2x4s and 4x4s, not to mention resawing whatever I scrounge.....

Downside is that the track seems to only hold 8 foot logs, I'd need to make 16 and 20 foot long beams, but that seems easy enough....


Any thoughts on this?

Can't afford a different option, unless I find something used, but for under 2000$ what else is there?

Never been to a harbor freight, but, I've heard mixed things about Chinese stuff...

Seems to be that anything that could break on the harbor freight one could probably be replaced with American stuff...

[highside74]

I wrote and erased a whole dissertation on the use of the $ symbol. I will just say this...

The $ symbol will always and forever go before the number. 2000$ is 2000 dollar signs, not $2000

I hope if you buy your $2000 mill you cut some great stuff with it..

[carpsniperg2]

I have some central machine stuff from them and for the money don't have to many complaints. However I watch the reviews. Seems like that has a lot of solid ratings around 4.5. It says some coupons excluded but not all. If you are not in a hurry I would play with some of there coupons and you could maybe get it for even less.

[Mudman]

Friend has a 1960's Mobile dimension circular blade saw mill for sale. $3k.  VW engine. cuts up to 22+ft.  Oldie and tricks to using it but it does do the job.  I have ran it over the years.  On a trailer to boot!  Harbor freight is much better than used to be but still not pro quality.  I would consider it with an extension?

[Seahawk12]

Have you considered a chainsaw sawmill?
Here is a link to what I'm thinking:
http://www.norwoodsawmills.com/products-sawmills/portamill-pm14-chainsaw-sawmill

Or the slightly more expensive chainsaw sawmill:
http://www.logosol.us/sawmills/m8/

[SteelheadTed]

Can't say much about mills but I do know alder makes poor building lumber.  Cut up some fir instead, alder will be nothing but trouble.

[jmscon]

Can't say much about mills but I do know alder makes poor building lumber.  Cut up some fir instead, alder will be nothing but trouble.

Alder does make nice mill work (cabinets and trim) and good smoking chips.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

I've been running the Alaska Sawmill MKIII for two years. Very versital and easy to use. Get a big enough power head and your good to go. One huge plus side is you don't have much to store when not in use. And you have a big chain saw for other chores.

[Special T]

Do you have equiptment big enough to move a 16' log? If not I'd stay with an Alaskan then you will likely be able to move the boards.

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[trapp01]

I built my band saw mill last year. 20' track w/ a 18hp and trailer tires. I can stuff  a 3' diameter x 18' log in it. It gets to be a lot of work to push through the log so I'm planning on automating it with a gate opener. I shopped the prices on everything and ended up getting most stuff offline and it ran me $1400 to build it. x2 on the equipment, moving those logs is no joke.

[Shrimper]

Ah a sawmill thread...

I have owned a chainsaw mill and now I own the harbor freight band saw mill.  The band saw outcuts the chainsaw mill 10-1. 

So far the harbor freight mill has exceeded my expectations.  There is a big learning curve but once all the kinks are worked out this mill will cut superb lumber.  Looking at comparable mills I think the HF mill is the best bang for the buck.  The biggest weakness IMO is the two piece track and getting that perfect for straight lumber.  I also built an extension so I can mill up to 15' but I'm now in the process for building a new one piece track out of 21' 4"x3" steel angle.  Wish I would have just done this from the start instead of building and third piece extension.

I think the woodland mills have a very similar model to the HF and are probably built by the same manufacturer but cost more.  Below is a link to a thread dedicated to the HF mill and there is a ton of good advice.  The people posting on this site have done some really neat things with their HF mills and this thread was what finalized my decision to buy the mill.  There was a coupon offered that brought the mill down to $1,799 and it came to just over $2,000 with shipping and tax for me.
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f26/harbor-freight-tools-band-mill-7801/

One other item is to get good blades for the mill.  Cooks makes blades just for the HF mill and they are really reasonable at around $15 a blade.
http://store.cookssaw.com/

A piece of equipment is a must when moving logs around for milling.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Hhhhhhmmmm

[Special T]

Everyone I know with a bandsaw has a tractor, excavator or forklift that can pick at least 1k lbs or more.

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[TheHunt]

I built my band saw mill last year. 20' track w/ a 18hp and trailer tires. I can stuff  a 3' diameter x 18' log in it. It gets to be a lot of work to push through the log so I'm planning on automating it with a gate opener. I shopped the prices on everything and ended up getting most stuff offline and it ran me $1400 to build it. x2 on the equipment, moving those logs is no joke.

Do you have any pictures of your mill?  I will be building my own in a few years. 

[Night goat]

Ah a sawmill thread...

I have owned a chainsaw mill and now I own the harbor freight band saw mill.  The band saw outcuts the chainsaw mill 10-1. 

So far the harbor freight mill has exceeded my expectations.  There is a big learning curve but once all the kinks are worked out this mill will cut superb lumber.  Looking at comparable mills I think the HF mill is the best bang for the buck.  The biggest weakness IMO is the two piece track and getting that perfect for straight lumber.  I also built an extension so I can mill up to 15' but I'm now in the process for building a new one piece track out of 21' 4"x3" steel angle.  Wish I would have just done this from the start instead of building and third piece extension.

I think the woodland mills have a very similar model to the HF and are probably built by the same manufacturer but cost more.  Below is a link to a thread dedicated to the HF mill and there is a ton of good advice.  The people posting on this site have done some really neat things with their HF mills and this thread was what finalized my decision to buy the mill.  There was a coupon offered that brought the mill down to $1,799 and it came to just over $2,000 with shipping and tax for me.
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f26/harbor-freight-tools-band-mill-7801/

One other item is to get good blades for the mill.  Cooks makes blades just for the HF mill and they are really reasonable at around $15 a blade.
http://store.cookssaw.com/

A piece of equipment is a must when moving logs around for milling.

I might have to bring over a can of gas and some beer when I get back from fishing in Alaska in the fall...