Homemade Log Slicer Slices Logs Nicely!
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- Homemade wood processing machines usually split logs or chip branches, but mine slices logs into thin slices. They could be used as shingles, perhaps, though they are very short. But these ones will be made into charcoal - for sale as a soil additive...
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Like a paper slicer or a guillotine having the blade at an angle reduces the load of the blade but gives it a better slicer action
6:43 the behaviour of timber is such that to slice it in a controlled manner you need to have the blade cut on an angle. The way you have it set up is only able to chop the timber. You should realign your blade accordingly to get best results. Also try adding a heavy steel plate hinged onto the side rail to prevent the timber from jumping when feeding into the blade.
Have you considered adding a plate below the blade to stop your sliced piece of wood turning vertical and trying to cut across the grain
Or Shark-tooth shaped, which is just two angles with a sharp tip where they join.
Yes, but a single angle would put transversal constraints on the slider. You'd need a two-angled cutting edge to prevent the sled from tilting and jamming. And again, it wouldn't prevent one side of the blade being more loaded than the other (since the logs aren't centered). Moreover, any angle on the blade would reduce the cutting length: the amplitude of the mechanism is fixed, directly imparted by the eccentric, on the wheel.
Your shear pin can be made to shear at whatever stress you want by undercutting the bolt with two grooves from a parting tool on a lathe, you could also just use a brass bolt to lower the shear stress or aluminium rod, to reduce it more.
Without access to a lathe, you could achieve similar with an angle grinder and a steady hand too - it won't be as easy to control but it'll work well enough
or high tensile wire
I could legitimately watch these videos all day😅
Glad to see you've now installed a safety chair Tim. I'll sleep a bit easier tonight!
What a happy chore to work with such an ancient and quaint machine, the smell of cut wood must be nice.
Here's an idea.... take a good look at how the iron in a hand plane is set up. The blade angle, the bevel angle on the blade, which side of the blade the bevel is on, the throat size, the chip breaker, etc. You can probably glean some good ideas from that to make this awesome wood slicer even awesomer!
I don't think that will work very well with those thick slices, it only works on a hand plane because the shavings are extremely thin and flexible, if you try to set the cutting depth of a hand plane to 1mm, it will begin to split the wood instead of cutting it, depending on the direction of the grain.
Great video as usual, but I am really looking forward for more rail and rail related stuff. Thinking about making my own. :)
Soon, I hope!
Same here!
Granted rail stuff is expensive/ this is the use case *for* the rail, but i do love those videos as well. All in all it’s just neat.
Although perhaps if you get around to making your own, could you document/video it for us to enjoy?
Liked the reverse play back, when showing the container of charcoal!
I always curl up with some good vittles and watch your lives. I love it. I'm quite envious to be frank. A simple life in the country is my American dream. Maybe someday I can experience the happiness of self sufficiency. God's creation is so beautiful. I want to be immersed in it. I'm about over people.
Mmmm I hear ya.
I would first add a 1” board to the stop wall, dropping it all the way to the table. Let the blade cut the board creating a zero clearance cutting edge.
Then build a cheap hopper that can hold several layers of logs above the blade. The weight of the higher stacked logs will apply downward pressure to the logs being sliced. Maybe 3 logs high.
Just an idea, love the videos. Keep them coming!
Its so cool watching your thought process. I have no questions, comments or complaints. 😊 Thanks for sharing.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff*
9:55 Take a marker pen, and draw a line on ALL the bolts & nuts, draw the line from the nut onto the bolt-threads, so you can see if it has been turning because the line doesn't line-up then anymore.
Maybe also add double bolts where it's possible?
This video title is, instead of being clickbait as per youtube standard, accurate.
It is technically correct.
Best kind of correct.
Being a Tinkerer of some 5 decades, I tender my vast expertise:
A "Shim" placed in front of Flexing Plate will prevent log from traveling beyond cutting position. I suggest a 3/4 thick piece of wood. ( about 1.5 centimeters , for those still counting on their fingers )
Adressing "Flexing Plate": If a welder is available tacking a straight rod from dead center of Top of plate, then weld to each side angle iron frame ( 45 degrees-ish ).
Good morning guys and gals.
The sound of this machine makes me want to do stuff. :)
As some others have said, you might find a cleaner cut if you rotate the log retaining walls by a few degrees, so that the logs are being cut at an angle to the blade. This way, the blade initially only has to focus on penetrating a tiny corner of the log, and from there it can slice the entire sheet cleanly off.
Whilst watching this I thought I might treat myself and watch your recent video where you did that wonderful job on your louvred barn.
Great job 👌
To stiffen the "counter blade", you can replace the angle iron with a square tube.
Way better in torsion. It will flex way less, not so much hassle, and should work better without having to increase the stroke !
Channel iron would be even better 👍
@@johndowe7003 To resist torsional forces,
closed contour sections (square tube, pipe etc) are far better than any open section (U, I, H, T, L etc) !
@@AntoineGst yes i agree, it would just make it heavier than needed .
Super satisfying to see it slicing nicely!
Looks like a good way to get into making shingles.
In fact maybe you should think about a camping and working on the farm week, that would be wicked all your viewers get to meet you both and camp/meet each other and help out!!!
It works! It really works!!!
That's fantastic!!!!!!
Bravo Tim. Happy to see no important bits got sliced in with the tree bits.
Charcoals smouldering with the flame of ambition
At the start of the video, I thought things were looking a little hopeless for splitting wood. But with perseverance and some cogitating you and Will triumphed. Well done...............again. The mechanical advantage imparted by your magnificent wheel is truly impressive.
well done...shingles are 'go'
Just great to see it all working. My only suggestion would have been something to let you put pressure on the wood without fingers getting involved. You did that with the plank of wood.
Nice progress!
Two thoughts:
1) If you raise the bed closest to the wheel the angle of the connecting rod changes and I think you would get more stroke. I imagine the rod movement as the hypothenuse vs. one side of a triangle. The most stroke would be if the bed points right into the center of the shaft.
2) could you hand crank the wheel now and use the momentum as a starter for the engine?
That's a good idea, you just got it the wrong way round, you need to lift the rear end of the table to increase the stroke length, but I think it is better to build a simple "lever transmission": just an I-beam hinged at the ground, the conrod connected to the center of the lever and a second conrod from the top of the lever to the blade, now the stroke will be twice as long...
Of course the best option is to build a larger eccentric, but he will need to buy a huge steel plate to cut all 3 parts for the large eccentric, so that is probably too expensive...
@@Henning_S. Oh.. you are right. Back end it is of course.
@@Henning_S. a 'lever transmission' is what i thought of too.
@@Henning_S. I just left a comment and then came down and read this one. Same idea lol.
Advice to lengthen cut: attach push-pull rod to the mid point of a lever. One end of lever is fixed to a pivot point, and sliding guillotine to the other. Design the push-pull rod lever with many different attachment points, you can adjust the guillotine throw by moving the push-pull arm coser to the pivit point or closer to the guillotine.
Obviously trading torque for throw.
Add a diagonal brace on the legs closest to the big wheel to eliminate the flexing of the frame. Replace the stop on the same end with a piece of square tube to eliminate the flexing at that point too. You might consider running some sort of structure back to the big wheel foundation instead of depending on bolting the slicer frame down on the concrete slab. That would eliminate any flexing of the table.
Such a machine with no means of de coupling. Brave!
Every bit of upgrades will help in the long run bro, knowing when to stop the upgrades could be the tricky bit. Safe travels.
For green wood - angle the blade, reinforce cutting back stop, decrease clearance between blade and cutting back stop, ensure blade travels beyond cutting back stop... should be good 🙂
I know there is not a lot of money to go around, however might I suggest some nylon lock nuts for the bolts holding down the wheel bearings. That little extra added bit of nylon is to keep the nuts from shaking themselves loose due to high vibration applications. A cheaper option is to just use liquid Loctite on the current bolts you're using. Love the content and please keep it coming!
Hey Tim ..... now you just need to build some gondola cars to sit under the slicer and connect to the railway!
Put lock nuts on the bearing blocks. Greetings from Tasmania Australia.🛠👍🇦🇺
Keep up the great work! Really enjoy watching what you are doing from across the pond.
I love this bodgery!! Maybe a steel tube from the wheels bearing assembly to the chopper bed? This will stop the forces from bending the table legs and the wheels legs. And some bit of angle iron from the front chopper stop that keeps bending - triangulate it down to the choppers frame to stop the waddle. With this the chop would be cleaner so you get less blade debris, and make it less likely to rip itself apart.
you could make a stroke length multplication lever, the con rod goes to a pivot point on a another con rod that itself pivots on the horizontal perpendicular axis, and the other end of which connects to another con rod which connects to the machine, the position of the pivot of the midle conrod determines the multiplication ratio.
Right. And it can be easily adjustable to get the right stroke length for the job.
Nice job. To increase the stroke length you will move the connection rod further from the center of the wheel. But like a lever you will gain distance at the cost of force. Keep experimenting! How fun!
You are doing it. Congratulations.
My 2 cents on the link. I'd add something like the "expansion link" from a steam train reverser, but simplified. This will allow you to control the stroke length. One end is fixed pivot point with the link from the flywheel attaching about mid way. Then a floating pivot to the link to the tool. The distance from the fixed pivot determines the stroke length. You can make this as simple or elaborate as you'd like from set before running to adjustable while running; i'd go mid way and put the floating pivot on a screw that could be adjusted from the fixed end where it moved very little if i put my hand on it.
Love it! If the issue is just that the blade isn't going far enough under the backstop, could you just bodge the backstop with another plate or two, to make it thicker? You'd be reducing the maximum length of the logs even more, but it would be a relatively simple modification until you can be bothered to increase the stroke.
Nice! You know the old "Pert-Machine" they have here in Sweden, when the made roof plates, they collected very fine pine wood with straigt grains and full of resin in it. They looks like they have saw out them! They came out exactly flat and smooth!
Yes, but we don't grow that sort of timber here : - (
Fantastic to see it being refined! I love watching the Eccentric in action, it’s such a fluid motion.
On a side note, I’d love to see Eoin Reardon get together with you guys to hammer some carpentry on the farm, would be entertaining!
I just saw this thing in your *"Railway Work - And Making A Sliding Tipping Hopper!"* video.
TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: This is the first time I have ever seen a powered cheese grater made for wood...😉
Well done. Working brilliantly 👍. Not that any of us out here in RUclipsLand had any doubt that it would
You have made a kitchen mandolin on a larger scale, not for slicing vegetables, but for wood. I agree with lengthening the stroke, but also consider making an angled blade, like the mandolin. Thanks for the video, and keep trying. you will get it. Jon (Sean)
I haven't read all the comments to check however in my experience I found it helps greatly if you know the growth direction especially with knots, one gets more tare out grain affect going against the growth dirrection, hope this helps, I'm aware you've rectified most factors already. It takes less effort the correct way regardless
8:12 I would suggest adding a vertical bar with a hinge at the bottom. The blade gets attached on one side and the rod get attached on the other. By adjusting the attachment point on the right, you can adjust the stroke length of the blade, depending on your needs.
I agree with a few of the other comments suggesting the blade be set at an angle, (you'll need a new blade), and the stroke increased, (a larger eccentric cam). I don't think the cam needs to be much bigger but large enough to allow a stroke long enough to facilitate the angled blade.
The blade will last longer and cut more efficiently without all the vibration you have now.
I agree 100% that this setup should only cut on the draw stroke as you have now.
Cheers folks. 🇨🇦
Add an intermediate lever. The wheel moves the lever(attached to fulcrum on the ground) back and forth. Then attach your slicer to that lever. By moving the attachment point further from the fulcrum, you can increase the stroke length. Above the point your big wheel attaches, the stroke length will be more. Below that point it will be less. This is kinda similar to the reversing lever on a steam locomotive.
1) Thicken the cutter backstop with another plate to ensure a complete cut.
2) Install some rails underneath the cutter so you can roll a rail car underneath with a bin to collect your cuttings directly
3) Mark the nuts and bolts holding that wheel in place so you can easily see if the nuts start to work themselves loose again. A simple line of nail polish or paint from the nut over to the end of the bolt will make it very obvious if any of the nuts have started to work themselves loose.
I love the Scrapheap Challenge bodged together nature of this contraption. It may not be perfect but it is at least functional and that I think is key! Love to see further improvements though.
The next step would perhaps be to improve the log-hold-down-clamper so that it is pulled down on it's own using weights, or a spring that you fasten to the machine, pulling the clamper down. That way you can load the machine up and do something else while it slices.
As a thought, where the wood is getting stuck in the gap in front of the blade, does the gap have to be in front on the cutting edge? If it was just under and behind the cutting edge it would still fall through and not allow it to get stuck vertically.....maybe. Fyi This has become my favourite channel on youtube its great to watch you puzzle your way through these inventions instead of another infomertial which alot of makers videos have become. Keep up the good work Tim!
Hey Tim, the horizontal gap between the blade and the "slide" would need to be greater than the vertical gap. What you really have is a reciprocating wood plane and if you try to increase the depth of cut it just jams in the throat. The hold down is acting to stop the log lifting and there for increasing the depth of cut. I think there are similar analogies with a table saw, without holding the work against the fence or using a riving knife you increase the chance of kickback.
So if I understand correctly, this would presumably be solved by a second shim sheet attached to the carriage that doesn’t allow the material to drop fully for most of the gap, but stops a little ways in front of the blade? Makes sense.
@@farmerboy916 I had a second idea I posted of having a sprung hinged bed so it started as a "plane" but as soon as the blade engages the wood turns into a log splitter. It is of course much easier having an idea than making or heaven forbid operating it, cheers.
I watch nearly all your videos and think your a genius engineer in disguise as a ordinary man! I pride myself in being able to diagnose and rectify issues however your on another level! Keep bringing these amazing projects to us!
Cracking job as always! Can't wait to see how charcoal production goes!
Great to see it working efficiently. Keep checking those bolts, don't want that wheel coming loose.
The glorious sound of that belt engaging never gets old!
Wow the hold down divce was what I said about 8 videos ago it will help a lot
If you add a plate of steel under the blade, at least the length of the input, and space it down just a hair wider than the pieces of wood are thick... I think it would prevent any wood from bending down and jamming. Basically, it would force the cut to remain horizontal. The next slice would push the previous slice out of the space. Maybe mount it with a lot of spring tension if you find slices get jammed. Also, yes, extend the stroke. :) Can't wait for the next video. Always a pleasure.
i commented this and then read comments
These videos are great ! Keep up the great work
Your videos allways make me cheer up, Thanks and continue making great content :)
Great for making char. John
I think it makes sense to look at what improvements you can make, but what you have works, and works far better than the current alternatives available to you.
So don't stress too much on fixing what isn't broke.
you have a nice storytelling voice.
and a nice machine...
If you make the front bar a bit thicker or slide it towards the wheel a bit so that the blade goes complete under it I think it would give you more complete slices.
Thanks Tim
What if you added a linkage between the wheel and the slicer, it could give you an adjustable stroke, have a fixed pivot at the bottom, the engine pivot in the middle ish and the slicer pivot above it. This would trade a bit of strength for more stroke but could be useful as by moving the pivot points you could change the stroke to suit your needs
locknuts / lockwashers possibly double nut the important bolts just to keep em from getting loose .. cheers for good content :)
It’s the Tim-co, Slice-o-Matic!
Where's the nearest high traffic narrowboat canal? This machine seems perfect for prepping wood, for narrowboat-sized woodstoves. In addition to charcoal, you could stack and bundle with twine, the slices. Easy to break into sticks, for stoves.
You could make the stroke adjustable by using a lever. On the side of the table add a lever that pivots at the ground. Add a con rod from that lever to the sled at about table height. Run the con rod from the wheel to the lever. If it is below the attachment point of the sled con rod, it will increase the stroke of the sled, but have reduced maximum force. If it is attached above, it will have a shorter stroke but increased maximum force. Can make a few different holes to have multiple stroke lengths of the sled.
well, GREAT for kindling. I mean, anyone that burns wood would be happy to have all that kindling.
The Shingle Machine - Lock washers below the nuts
This is the log equivalent of the slicer & shredder Attachment of a kitchen mixer which I used to cut carrots by pushing them down against the spinning blades.
You might be able to make a spinning grinder like the one Tim introduce in "NEW CHARCOAL GRINDER DESIGN.." video if it was installed as a attachment to the edge of the axle of the big wheel and depending on the size of the grinder for what kind of wood you can put in it the blade will spin in one direction making multiple cuts a second.
(of corse the downside is the wooden bits that come out will certainly be bent in some way)
I bought myself a kitchen mixer yet still find myself using a knife with my veg as it's easier to clean afterwards. I ought to use it on an industrial scale to get the benefit. 😊
You need to put a shallow railcar underneath sideways to catch the processed material, that way you can just slide another empty bin underneath the table.
I always find your videos interestin
When you cart the chopped wood off to the shed, make a cart that's taller, lift tub off into shed. Less bending.
Now you need a hopper under the bench to funnel all the cuttings onto a belt that can carry them into a wagon from your railroad.
Brilliant work you two! Keep the videos coming Tim 🎉
Set it up so there's two cutting ports in the one unit. One optimised for charcoal and the other wood.
Great job! A thought to the bending plate: Maybe if you cut out some steel triangles from leftover scrap and weld it between the blade and the steel bar it is connected to, maybe it won’t move as much.
Just posted about you making a reciprocating plane but I may have just got the solution Tim.
You have a plane but want a splitter that planes, make the bed the log sits on tilt as the knife goes though the wonky grain. It's only there as a guide and as soon as the knife engages with the log the work of the front of the bed is done and only the back continues to hold and guide the timber.
Make the blade end of the bed be able to move down out of the way of thicker bits of timber(knotty grain). The best I can think of is sit it on engine valve springs, they may allow half inch of downward movement to allow the thicker wood through the throat but spring back up for the next cut. Your hold-down can be changed to act more on the trailing edge of the log than across its full length.
Yes, maybe, but unless the springs were the right tension they would open the gap with each stroke and you'd end up with deeper cuts at one end of the log everytime - and a tapered log in no time?
Nice contraption. Really nice. Now TO THE KILN. :D
Thank you so much! With all the crap on RUclips, yours is one of the few channels that makes RUclips worth watching! And I love the comments and suggestions. People are thinking and actually helping instead of harassing and being stupid. You are bringing out the best in people!!
7.53 Another steel plate on the inside will ensure the travel changes without actually changing anything. Logs should still fit in the gap space. It should bring it a few mm over
You could use some lock nuts, or self-locking nuts such as Nylocks, to stop the bolts holding the bearings coming loose.
It's great watching this progress! I would probably weld a couple of angle irons on in a V-shape to support the stop. That should make it rock solid.
You could add a slight burr (or shim) onto the bottom of the plates holding the logs in position to aid in the final slice on each side. E.g. add some weld blobs to the bottom edge and file or grind them sharp. So encourage a cut instead of just squishing the bits in the gap. :)
Perhaps have the hinge end of the pressure plate in a slide to raise it about an inch or so. Should help to keep it pressing evenly. Good stuff all round as always.
Always nice to see these films :D Like balm on the soul.
(yes writing and watching at the same time.)
Next is to build a chute under there to have 2 Boxes. One on either side where the stuff can just slide in.
Or use a special rail Waggon
To increase the stroke you could attach a lever that pivots at the side of the frame and connect it to the blade carriage at the other end. Attach the crank lever to a point between the pivot point and the slide attachment end. The position along the lever will alter the length of the stroke and could be made adjustable along the length of the lever. This lever would have to be strong but should work ok.
Yes, i had the same idea
You ought to try some cedar, I don't know if there's much of a market over there, but here in the US a small bundle of cedar shakes (about 1 tree) is $80! And for the "premium" ones that come already primed..... They are $500 per bundle!!
Now that you have a shingle mill, might help your business to sell inexpensive shingles. They're great for siding and roofing, though not as "good" as asphalt petroleum shingles and vinyl junk, but they have been used for hundreds of years.
I really enjoy watching you build all of your equipment for the charcoal process. 1 thought, your wheel will continue to come out of alignment (causing the knocking noise) because the work being done by the blade is "pulling" that side of the wheel. Although the amount of movement is negligible, it builds up over time resulting in a miss alignment. You may need to add a brace to the side of the wheel with the eccentric to keep it from happening again. Keep up the good work, I look forward to seeing your whole process operational.
You need a much longer stroke and an angled blade. To get a longer stroke build a pivot above the bed, attach a rod between the pivot and the bed and connect the con rod half way down the rod (or a variation of the geometry) an angled blade will reduce the shock as the blade begins cutting or feed your stock in at an angle.
Tim doesn't even need an Al to be hilarious! :) #tooltime
Well, I'd say Tim's Al is Will 😀