In woodworking a blade is often "skewed" on a diagonal to the direction of cut. This lessens the engagement forces. It might also help your machine because it would tend to push pieces against the side and keep them more constrained.
Yes! Plus maybe tilting the whole table 45° towards the side the angled blade would push the wood. This would largely prevent the logs from shifting crosswise.
I've seen the same video he referenced at the opening. While you're 100% right the blade should not be straight, and normally I would expect it to skew. But in the video the 1930s machine has a broad u shape rather than a skew. I think something like ¾inch/ 19mm further back in the center slowly back to full width of the blade at the edges. I can't prove it but I think the original builder did so too make the log self centering and self straightening along with easier cutting that a skewed blade provides.
Tim. If you're having to manipulate the log while the machine is running, make some kind of a little picaroon to keep your uands iut of the way. That way, if the picaroon gets caught in the works, it's just stuff being broken, not you. edit: You may want to think about a safety toggle in the power train. It's any easily breakable part that will fail before any expensive.
I like what you’re doing as I watch I keep thinking about a roller mill for your charcoal. two heavy rollers specific distance apart as you feed the charcoal through the space. I use a device called grain mill for my home brewing. If you can make a bigger one could be made interesting
Great work Tim! An incredible finger removal device you've made. My suggestions (free of charge!): 1. A simple weighted board or arm that just rests on top of the logs to keep them lying flat. 2. Angle the blade horizontally so it makes a stroke through the log. 3. Let the table lift to prevent other things breaking, just put weights on the far end to trim. 4. Keep the short throw on the eccentric, or go smaller to get more mechanical advantage, but add a ratchet mechanism so the blade moves in shorter, more powerful movements, potentially over a longer overall stroke.
Good ones there! I’ll add a few of my own ideas! If you just add more logs to the thing, they’ll keep each other aligned. Adding an engaging/disengaging system would be helpful, so you can turn off the machine while keeping the wheel going. Maybe some sort of hook on the sled that hooks the drive arm to it, with a rope to hook the drive arm of on the backup stroke. Adding an angle to the lubricating surfaces of the sled, to force grease into it. Potentially adding some holes to the surfaces too, to be able to lubricate the machine while it’s moving.
My comments on the suggestions: 1. Agreed. IMO, the movement of the wood is the main issue. If it was pressed down in some way, it wouldn't flip as easy. 2. I don't think it'd make a big difference, it's mainly on the initial contact, but it couldn't hurt. 3. Absolutely, anchoring both the table and the wheel would result in iron violently ripping apart. 4. That's a great idea. It would slow down progress a bit, but it'd make it extremely powerful.
I would advise a piece of spring-steel (still fairly flexy) holding something in-line with the log that keeps it upright as well as holding it in line. The front of whatever shape you build should angle up as to not catch on the blade when the log has been completely shaved off. Maybe an L bracket facing up ^ and the front that faces the blade would be tapered up ___\=====
Good ideas ! And a impressive build! Some ideas of improvement... Problem 1 :wood spinning Adjustable side bar that is pulled back by a handle an spring loads the wood side ways when let go. Problem 2 wood tipping up something that push the wood down and land on supports when wood is gone , to prevent It getting cut in the blade. Also the blade should ideally be flat on the upp side and grinded on th bottom side only , the cut depth is set by lowering the forward part of the stationary bottom plate. If you can find a blade from a big truck mounted wood shipper that can be used . They are flat on one side. When the blades get to worn the steel between the mounting slots and the cutting edge get narrow , and the blade gets scrapped. Mind that These machines spin very fast , so the centrifugal forces combined with the chock load on the blades when big logs are milled can be substantial. In your machine even a scrapped blade can work , no risk of flying blade going thru walls here. These roof shingle machines very dangerous, It's not a good idea to put hands an fingers even near where the blade works. Even if you dont get cut you can crush fingers and hands inbewen the log and the pusher plate. Any solution that means that you have to handle the log in the machine wit your hands when you have put it there is not a good solution. The fact that the operator is holding the log on a wood shingle machine is because they flip the log to regulate the wiht and the growth rings in the shingle, often they end upp with a triangle that's disregarded when it gets to small to handle safely. Also you don't want the "middel core "heart wood in the shingle to prevent cracks.
One more thing: I suggest that you make the connecting rod from two pieces to pipe where one can telescope into the other. With one of the two pipes connected to the eccentric and the other pipe connected to the carriage. Then cross drill through both pieces of pipe for a shear pin. Also, I think it is a good idea for the connecting rod to be in tension during the cutting stroke as a heavy cutting force will not bend the connecting rod and cause it to buckle.
It's works way better than I expected to be honest. Albeit that it's hard to imagine how much force is actually behind the flywheel from just looking at the images. I imagine that building a proper hopper that automatically feeds the logs into the cutting table will fix a lot of the issues you were having and already partially resolved. The hopper can secure and steer the logs into the proper position to prevent cutting cross grain and the flipping of logs. You could go as far as mechanically linking the table and the feed mechanism to only let a new log in when the current log has been finished cutting. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This is truly a great piece of machinery! I do cringe everytime you get your fingers close to it though.
For safety a shear pin in the connecting rod might work. It would have to be a two piece connecting rod, both pieces almost the full length of the current connecting rod with one piece collapsing into the other to avoid flailing about.
To prevent logs from hopping around you can make a sort of steel cover hinged on one side, heavy enough that it would prevent the log from moving around. Just imagine a commercial waffle maker, just your not pushing down waffles but logs instead.
Tim I think once its on a full machine and you keep pileing wood on top of it and build a hopper and keep stacking wood in to it say about a couple of feet it should keep everything in place and not allow any bits to bounce or move about. Such a cool idea. I have always wanted once of those shingle machines.
I don't think it's a good idea. Back when I was a child, mom brought home a similar veggie slicer machine. The hopper used to always get clogged for such designs. She wanted sliced almonds (for selling them commercially) and I remember it exploding rather than making slices. Almonds got caught in between the metal housing and the blade and due to extreme stress from the top, everything blew apart and the cast iron just broke. It was powered by a nice electric motor that had a similar eccentric design. It was reinforced and again used but again failed in a similar fashion. Eventually she left the idea and instead bought the rotating disc type slicer (of course that too broke at the pivot point). She eventually left the business idea.
Later model eventually had a very very thin bendable blade design. It looked flimsy and dangerous but sliced very good. Large scale model for wood I'm not sure. Hard woods would fail.
@@ErickBuildsStuff This blade is pretty thick and wood is pretty ease to shave off. As long as he keeps the blade sharp you should be able to pile on the logs to enough height to keep enough weight on it. Waxing the slider will also help. Adding wax block on either side of the of the fence will help to ensure that a slick movement happens all the time. You will need to keep enough weight on it and making a plate that sits in the hopper ( taper hopper so the plate does not hit the blade will make it easy to walk a way for a few moments.
It might have been proposed hundreds of times: what about adding in the mechanism a part which would slip (like a torque limiter) or break (like a mechanical fuse) ? It might protect the machinery from badly breaking, as was the case with former ones, when something goes wrong with the cutting. But, more importantly, it could protect the machine operator from the damage a broken machine can make.
a shear bolt is a common "mechanical fuse" in 2 stage snow blowers. They are not the best solution because damage still can occur before the bolts shears. The ideal would be some kind of manual and automatic decoupling system with an adjustable overload that would disengage the moving blade assembly while allowing the wheel to continue to rotate.
really nice machine :) Might I suggest if you make the tops of the end stops flat they can be notched on te top to take a pair of drop in 'anti twist bars' as you called them. with muti notches these can be adjustable.
I would put the slicer at an angle (relative to the length) an form a v-shape with another steel plate. That way gravity will make the pieces aline quite well orthogonal to the blade.
We will be watching on later my husband loves watching you seeing what you come up with.We want to see Sandra sometime as well with all the animals.Your so interesting and genius.Wish you all the best and love to Sandra.GodBless.We just love Ireland 🇮🇪.🎉
It’s great how you can solve all the problems! Sometimes I think you put too much effort in the optimization of a bad solution instead of finding a better way to do things but you prove me wrong every time. Keep up the great work!
Hi Tim , could you make the width of the cutting area adjustable to suit the diameter of the wood to stop it turning , or cut more than one log at a time to fill the cutting area.
What a lovely and deliciously dangerous machine! As I was watching how the logs were behaving I did think about a mandolin. Looking at my mandolin I see that the blade is on a 45 degree angle. (That way more of the blade would engage with the log through the cut. But the whole table would become a bit narrower) Now, what if you also tilted the table a little, so gravity would pull the log to one side? Just a thought…
The best mandolins have a slanted blade. A floating plate on top of the 'hopper' to prevent bucking and rotating maybe. Like a hand held rotary parmesan grater.
Have you considered tilting the whole bed 20-30 degrees to one side so the pieces of wood will roll down to the side and stay perpendicular to the knife? You could then extend the sides of the cutting chamber up to form a shallow hopper and load several layers of wood. the top pieces would hold the bottom pieces in place for proper cutting.
Saw Richard's machine and it makes beautiful shingles. Your new monster really is a beauty. Makes one appreciate what our forbears in the engineering field actually devised and built under conditions so unlike today's instant CAD world. Thanks for posting.
The suspense on this video was big! I wonder if some push rods like for a table saw would save those fingers (and my nerves!) Anyway I'm not moaning, it's fantastic what you've achieved here!
incredibly impressive as always Tim, a hopper allowing logs to sit 3/4 deep would keep the logs flat and keep your appendages from the blades (This is obviously already been suggested and no doubt thought of by you!)
Another successful video where I definitely feel like I learned something very valuable. What I like about your machines is that I understand them, and I can easily see myself building them. Thank you. Now, please be careful of your extremeties.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff* 3:00 I would suggest adding some softer metal (eg. brass, aluminum, etc) in a way that is easy to replace, placed on the underside as a gliding surface, this is the concept of making the machine fail in a easy to replace location, so you only need to change some strips, instead of re-weld another new carriage or frame. It can be a strip of softer metal fastened on the carriage-side, bent under the carriage & fastened again on the opposite side, or whatever you come up with :) 0:25 Nice to see that the videos was helpful :D
I didn't see the shingle cutter coming! Great idea. Perhaps a kind of weighted log holder to keep things from moving about? A board with sharpened nails or some such, like that vegetable mandolin holder to keep the vegetables moving through the blade at the correct angle. it will put some dents in the log, but should hold it steady.
I have to say that fitting this over a pit with hopper wagons beneath would be a great way of minimising the work of picking up the shingles after cutting them but by the looks of things you don't have the space for such major earthworks! Keep up the great work Tim!
The biggest problems your running into are due to using a shingle machine to split random wood. Shingles are made from very straight grained wood, and split along the grain, as any crosscutting results in avoidably exposed end grain, a pathway for moisture to get into the wood, and create rot, resulting in a shorter lifespan of the roof. As far as holding down the logs to prevent them from tilting up when thin, either a step in the push plat, allowing wood to slip under a hold down once it reaches a certain size or else simply welding some texture to the backstop(as some log splitters use) would likely work.
A "plane " type of wood shingle machine does not cut along the grain if the grain doesn't happens to line up with the cutting plane. To get true along the grain split shingle a splitting knife has to be used. And then the singles get shaped with axe for last adjustment. When the shingle machines was invented the prices of wood roof shingle , dropped, but also the quality of them , decreasing the life span of the roof surface.
You can also tilt the push plate slightly downwards, so when the blade pushes the log against the plate, the log wants to slide down on the angled plate which should prevent it from tilting up.
That blade looks like it came off a large rotary brush chopper that was towed by a tractor in the 200hp range or higher. Mass and speed of rotation meant the edge didn't have to be all that sharp. Only durable and somewhat blade edged. Good to see such a piece being put to a new use.
Hurrah! First very best wishes to Sandra for her recovery. Second the sideways constraints on the log seem essential. Then there's the lovely interplay of names between shakes and shingles. A chestnut coppice next!
Your setup is superb! Congratulation! But to make beautiful shingles, you need very dry cedar logs; with this on your machine, you will make very beautiful rustic shingles.
crazier than Colin Furze. You turned over the knife table and trapped an extension lead hidden under the straw. welding with straw and mountains of wood shavings let alone the risk of you losing a hand or worse with this machinery. Mad cap professor is what Tanya calls you. We're both screaming at you. Absolute nightmare. Keep it up 🤣🤣 R&T
Great video! Great how the blade cuts the wood in a butter -soft. If you want to connect all of this to the engine, I advise you to incorporate a target breaking point into the connecting rod so that if the wood wedges, only the target breaking point breaks and nothing worse happens.
Having fun in a workshop, brilliant. A telescopic connecting rod with a shear bolt through it, or some such, might not be a bad idea if you do connect it to an engine. Could stop all sorts of mayhem!
Looks better than I could have made it. One suggestion to stop the log(s) from moving is a some sort of a hatch so that when it is open you can put the log in, then close it and the hatch will hold the log down and prevent it from turning. Kinda like a vise, it should also help with the problem of the log going up and getting stuck
Love the Yesterday's Machinery channel, another of my favourites. It complements your channel though since he is a fixer not a maker like you. We can appreciate both skills
Great video! The process of concept to build and the failures-iterations makes for compelling watching. The part where you attach the table to the wheel had me anxious about explosive failure, although having a human drive (instead of diesel) for a concept piece really does prevent a lot of that kind of danger.
I know cedar isn’t exactly a native wood to Ireland, but in maine and across new england, cedar shingles made much like this are used to cover the walls and roofs of houses (roofs being a temporary hold over before putting slate tiles on or a rubber roof) and the shingles work great as they keep the rain and snow of the Atlantic coast out of the homes and protect from the strong gust. So you basically made a tool for making New England style homes. Say might as well take some inspiration from the WW&F railway at this rate!
Very satisfying to see these logs being reduced one slice at a time! Congratulations on your success Tim! I'm sure several people will comment the same thing and it's just a matter of time before you incorporate a weighted plate over the opening to keep the log in place and help push it down to get more evenly thick slices.
Hey Tim try to hold the log from the oposite site of the wheel at 13:31 You holding the log from the Site of the cutter try to hold it from the back of the cutter along the long site. In the video the log comes from the down left site bt if it woulf be comming from top left it would be cutted.
Awesome work. I think a one direction clamp is needed. Like a plate that holds the wood down and drops on a rachet type mechanism each time a layer is taken off but won't lift up causing the issues. I think some sash clamps have that type of feature that you could modify? Great job. Looking forward to developments cheers J
Your machine reminds me of log splitters, it commend for the stop end plate to have some welding bead to give it a bit of grip to keep the log from rolling and jumping about. You would only want to do it on the cutting side so it still drop down.
Amazing stuff Tim, look forward to your videos all week. Very satisfying when it works nicely and seems like you've figured a lot out so far! Maybe something pressing the wood down into the blade? Humm
What you're trying to prevent is primarily log misalignment since the power of the wheel is sufficient and the issues with knots are minimal. A log hopper with spring loaded side guides would resolve this by keeping the grain of the wood aligned for splitting with the vertical pressure of other logs in the hopper. Be careful not to have the vertical stack too high, maybe 3-4 average logs high and the downward pressure should be enough but not enough to jam the sled. Create 2 log magazines on the left and right but use one at a time, depending on horsepower and you have a redundant capacity for cutting. It's far too wide now unless you have Lumber greater than 60cm/2' in diameter. Really enjoy the video 😃👍 Really interesting idea.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff* Safety concerns: 13:08 risk of crushing the hands when the log twists or moves. 14:37 When extracting a log, I would recommend using some kind of tool, the simplest I can think of is a plank (baseball bat?) with a bunch of nails sticking THROUGH it, then just smash the nail-board onto the piece so it gets stuck on the nails & then lift up, don't put your hands near the blade or sled while moving .
If you look at all those other shingle makers, the wood is held by hand to steady it. It's not allowed to roll or move around on it's own. Of course, fences inside would limit the amount of bouncing around and keep the log straighter.
spring loaded top plate to hold the log in place. At full extension the plate would stop short of the blade. Would keep the log from jumping around. A simple lever would lift the plate for the next log. A kitchen mandolin has top pressure to keep it engaged against the bed.
I love the Yesterdays Machinery channel. I watched the video on the shingle machine. That machine was cutting straight grain wood, so much easier than your machine. Lots of progress and lots of challenges. The eccentric stroke may work well for splitting wood rather than slicing/cutting.
Brilliant and looks like you're on the right track, sorry bit of a pun 🤗 Nice to see family helping each other out. I watch the other guys channel as well, must admit I am a bit addicted to people bringing old machines back to life and using them as intended. That guy has some other really good rebuilds on his site.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff* 7:50 -ish. The easy solution (but not optimal), is to just stop cutting before the piece start to become dangerously thin. (but that is an multiple accident prone solution) Another solution would be to (somehow) rotate the log so it cuts either around the log continuously (along the grains of course), or when it starts to become thin, rotate it by 90 degree, so it slices the "slab" into "sticks" instead. (but that has also risks of many sorts of accidents). Further thinking is required...
Some thoughts about the shingle slicer vs what you built and what you want to accomplish. I know you are using a blade you got for free, but the shingle slicer blade bites each side first to begin the cut before the center starts to cut. This difference helps to start the cut because the whole blade is not trying to cut all at once. Also the difference between the edges and the center should be helping to keep the log from tipping up and creating the cross cut issue from developing. The shingle making system uses a person to hold the log in place, so maybe if you had a spring loaded rod or plate that could maintain some downward pressure on the log, that may help. Another option might be to have a hopper or chute that holds several logs and the weight of the logs on top will help the log being cut to stay oriented and held down against the blade.
Solutions fore your problems. Cut slots in to the front and back log stop so that they look like a comb. In this slots you than can put side guides that go down to just over the blade. With the slots you can ajust the guides to the log size. If you make than 2 slots in to each of the side guides you can make a heavy pushblock with guiding rods that hold the log down while cutting. It all will look in the end like a turned over food slicer machine with out the turning blade.
Awesomeness at its best as always. I made a can crusher as part of a college project using a scotch yoke. The calculations behind these is mind blowing.
It's very satisfing this machine, I think you can put a spring loaded lever on a hinge to press down the log, of course the lever can't get to the blade. It's a simple solution and the spring is safer than a lever operated by hand. You can put some spikes where the lever meets the log, so the log don't spin. Thank you for the content.
If you notice Richard's operation method, he lifts the pieces out before they are fully planed away. If you want your machine to do the same, you may need to cut a flat face first, and then handle the leftover scraps differently somehow. Perhaps a log splitter is more what you need anyway, since you don't care that the pieces are flat. I think flat pieces won't dry well anyhow, since they will tend to stack up in the hopper, leaving less room for evaporation.
Perhaps some sort of feed throat that widens after allowing a log to drop onto the working space would help. The dimensions of the space would prevent logs going end-over-end and rotating, but it would impose a limitation on the dimensions of wood to be fed into the machine. I'm thinking of a stepped throat that catches things that try to drop in. Alternatively, perhaps a rotary tool that has blunt 'chewing edge' akin to a fly-cutter? It could be built at an angle to use the weight of the logs to drive them into the cutter, which would be more like a splitting wedge than a blade and anything that jumps back will simply fall back onto the cutting face. Like some sort of tunnel boring machine, but for wood.
Wonderful! I suppose the only problem I can see with the cut stroke putting the connecting rod in tension is that it makes it more difficult to incorporate the necessary (and essential) shear pin into the system. I can't bear to think what a full snort bind up will do to that beautiful inertia wheel that you've created but i'm pretty sure that it will fold itself up into a taco and go walkabout right over whatever is in the way be it animal, plant or mineral. I suppose a telescoping shaft with enough insertion length will allow the reciprocal action to continue without letting an unconnected end flail around in death mode. The question is really what size, shape, or grade of material will shear the best in tension vs compression with the most predictable results.
Hi there! How exciting! A massive log splitter!! May I suggest something that I thought while watching the video? It seems that holding the log down would help so that back wouldn't flip up and fall through the throat. Of course that is not very ergonomic but, If you tilted the whole assembly a few degrees to one side and put a slanted cover on top (forming something like a hopper) then you could throw the logs in the wide end and they would fall down to the narrower end as they get thinner with every slice. This would also mean that you use the full length of the blade so it doesn't get dull only on one side. Also, tilting the top of the rear log stoper downwards ( the one closer to the wheel) would help the back end of the log not lifting up. Of course you may have already considered a bunch of these solutions, but I thought I would just say it in case it helps! Good luck and thanks for sharing!!!
I just watched this with my daughter (we like DIY shop videos) and her main thoughts after the video was “his son lives so far away, I bet he misses him. At least he got to see him for a little while.”
Here in North Carolina I heat my home with a wood stove. All my firewood is split with a hydraulic splitter. It runs of a shaft drive and belt powered by a stationary engine . The cutting blade moves back and forth. Works very well.
Perhaps to hold the logs in place you could use some kind of air bag? The thinking being it can surround all shapes and provide an equal force on it. little difficult with the blade but and idea perhaps. Great video, very enjoyable!
Why not move the log over the blade. With stationary blades you can have two opposing blades with cam action to raise and lower them based on the direction of the carriage. You need some kind of clutch to release the drive arm. You can also use a right angle reaction leaver to adjust the length of stroke. Very impressive wheel. Very cool!
The Swedish type of "shaver" is not, I believe, meant to cut along the grain entirely. At a smallish angle, it should cut across the grain too. The shingles, therefore, are never split, they are cut. This is also why the shingles have a curve to them. The cut is started at the back end of the log, i.e at the side of the log and not at the crosscut surface. You can see this very clearly in the video you are referencing. Look at how he started the cuts on each log. He made the cut at an angle and the log became slightly tapered. Perhaps this is not anything you can use, but I think tapered shingles perhaps are less prone to cause problems.
looks like you're on the right track. 1, stopping the log turning sideways, and 2, getting the cutting alignment closer to the ideal. So. Moving on, some kind of adjustable hopper idea to feed each log in at the right position, and room to park a wheelbarrow underneath, or a chute to drop the kindling into one.
First of all Tim, don't ever put your fingers into a cutting machine to fix the wood up as you might lose your fingers, use a stick instead. Unfortunately you're going to have to redesign the reciprocating section from 9 inches to 18 inches but the speed of it needs to be slower so that it has more torque to push the logs through. You'll also have to design an instant cut off & a disk brake on the large wheel so that you can stop the whole thing instantly rather than have things explode under pressure. I was thinking that you should put some vertical steel flat bars either side of the wood to prevent it from twisting sideways & also have a weight pushing down on the center of the log to keep it flat so that the blade can cut the wood. Also you might want to try turning the blade sideways like a guillotine that they used to lopping off ppl's heads in the distant French past. If the blade is on a 45 degree angle & the width of the box where you put the wood into is very slim then your blade should have no problems with cutting anything after that. Just remember no hands inside the cutting box, put a piece of perspex over the area to stop the temptation if you must.
I love the concept for this. watch that table buck was wild!! I would definitely do something to mitigate all the wheel force from causing a disaster. Doing something like creating some known weak points. Places designed to brake if bad things happen. This can be a purposely undersized pin or bolt. The easier to replace the better. Or a passive clutch/slipper plate. Modern RC cars use a slipper plate between the motor and transmission that might work great to allow that massive unstoppable wheel to not be allowed to supply enough power for the table to buck or things to break. Perhaps since it's so much uncontrollable force an active clutch system is the quickest way to stop a machine with out waiting or trying to slow the wheel down.
What about a board under the throat? So nothing can fall more than for instance 10mm down. The shingles would be pushed through that channel eventually. If something stands on its edge, at least not more than 10mm is on the under side and hopefully the right part will give.
You might try adding an angled infeed in line with the stroke, so that you can feel longer logs in and slice diagonally across the grain. Much line you tried form the side, but turn it 90 degrees. You could even Mouth it to one side, so that I’m the other side you could continue to feed in shorter pieces from the top as you are doing now.
Nice job Tim! You seem to have beautifully combined the British industrial revolution *and* the French revolution! Somebody suggested having two telescoping parts of the pull rod, and with a shear pin. I think it’s a great idea. I also wonder, since this isn’t a shingler, about having the blade at a slight offset so one side starts to cut in first rather than whatever part happens to touch first vs a slightly out of perpendicular piece of wood. You can test with no welding by finding some of those pieces and orienting them specifically so you know which side will touch first… Edited a part about making it a pull rod. Somehow missed that it is already a pull rod
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In woodworking a blade is often "skewed" on a diagonal to the direction of cut. This lessens the engagement forces. It might also help your machine because it would tend to push pieces against the side and keep them more constrained.
I think this is the right idea. Like how you angle a plane diagonally while you’re cutting to make it cut smoother.
Yes!
Plus maybe tilting the whole table 45° towards the side the angled blade would push the wood.
This would largely prevent the logs from shifting crosswise.
Tim your blade needs to be on an angle like a head chopper guateen
I've seen the same video he referenced at the opening. While you're 100% right the blade should not be straight, and normally I would expect it to skew. But in the video the 1930s machine has a broad u shape rather than a skew. I think something like ¾inch/ 19mm further back in the center slowly back to full width of the blade at the edges. I can't prove it but I think the original builder did so too make the log self centering and self straightening along with easier cutting that a skewed blade provides.
You can see it at an Giulotine... 🤪
Tim. If you're having to manipulate the log while the machine is running, make some kind of a little picaroon to keep your uands iut of the way. That way, if the picaroon gets caught in the works, it's just stuff being broken, not you.
edit: You may want to think about a safety toggle in the power train. It's any easily breakable part that will fail before any expensive.
I think the bolt on the far end of the connecting rod doubles as a shear pin.
yes also if possible a kind of clutch on the eccentric might help for safety
I like what you’re doing as I watch I keep thinking about a roller mill for your charcoal. two heavy rollers specific distance apart as you feed the charcoal through the space. I use a device called grain mill for my home brewing. If you can make a bigger one could be made interesting
Great work Tim! An incredible finger removal device you've made.
My suggestions (free of charge!):
1. A simple weighted board or arm that just rests on top of the logs to keep them lying flat.
2. Angle the blade horizontally so it makes a stroke through the log.
3. Let the table lift to prevent other things breaking, just put weights on the far end to trim.
4. Keep the short throw on the eccentric, or go smaller to get more mechanical advantage, but add a ratchet mechanism so the blade moves in shorter, more powerful movements, potentially over a longer overall stroke.
Good ones there!
I’ll add a few of my own ideas!
If you just add more logs to the thing, they’ll keep each other aligned.
Adding an engaging/disengaging system would be helpful, so you can turn off the machine while keeping the wheel going. Maybe some sort of hook on the sled that hooks the drive arm to it, with a rope to hook the drive arm of on the backup stroke.
Adding an angle to the lubricating surfaces of the sled, to force grease into it. Potentially adding some holes to the surfaces too, to be able to lubricate the machine while it’s moving.
My comments on the suggestions:
1. Agreed. IMO, the movement of the wood is the main issue. If it was pressed down in some way, it wouldn't flip as easy.
2. I don't think it'd make a big difference, it's mainly on the initial contact, but it couldn't hurt.
3. Absolutely, anchoring both the table and the wheel would result in iron violently ripping apart.
4. That's a great idea. It would slow down progress a bit, but it'd make it extremely powerful.
Check out those Eastonmade log splitters that have a rake to retrieve the log an drop it down ready for the next slice
I would advise a piece of spring-steel (still fairly flexy) holding something in-line with the log that keeps it upright as well as holding it in line. The front of whatever shape you build should angle up as to not catch on the blade when the log has been completely shaved off. Maybe an L bracket facing up ^ and the front that faces the blade would be tapered up ___\=====
Good ideas ! And a impressive build!
Some ideas of improvement...
Problem 1 :wood spinning
Adjustable side bar that is pulled back by a handle an spring loads the wood side ways when let go.
Problem 2 wood tipping up something that push the wood down and land on supports when wood is gone , to prevent It getting cut in the blade.
Also the blade should ideally be flat on the upp side and grinded on th bottom side only , the cut depth is set by lowering the forward part of the stationary bottom plate.
If you can find a blade from a big truck mounted wood shipper that can be used . They are flat on one side. When the blades get to worn the steel between the mounting slots and the cutting edge get narrow , and the blade gets scrapped. Mind that These machines spin very fast , so the centrifugal forces combined with the chock load on the blades when big logs are milled can be substantial.
In your machine even a scrapped blade can work , no risk of flying blade going thru walls here.
These roof shingle machines very dangerous,
It's not a good idea to put hands an fingers even near where the blade works. Even if you dont get cut you can crush fingers and hands inbewen the log and the pusher plate. Any solution that means that you have to handle the log in the machine wit your hands when you have put it there is not a good solution.
The fact that the operator is holding the log on a wood shingle machine is because they flip the log to regulate the wiht and the growth rings in the shingle, often they end upp with a triangle that's disregarded when it gets to small to handle safely.
Also you don't want the "middel core "heart wood in the shingle to prevent cracks.
Oh a replica of a medieval finger remover!
One more thing: I suggest that you make the connecting rod from two pieces to pipe where one can telescope into the other. With one of the two pipes connected to the eccentric and the other pipe connected to the carriage. Then cross drill through both pieces of pipe for a shear pin. Also, I think it is a good idea for the connecting rod to be in tension during the cutting stroke as a heavy cutting force will not bend the connecting rod and cause it to buckle.
Excellent idea
Damn, time to sit down with a cup of coffee and listen to words of wisdom with tim. Amazing!!
It's works way better than I expected to be honest. Albeit that it's hard to imagine how much force is actually behind the flywheel from just looking at the images. I imagine that building a proper hopper that automatically feeds the logs into the cutting table will fix a lot of the issues you were having and already partially resolved. The hopper can secure and steer the logs into the proper position to prevent cutting cross grain and the flipping of logs. You could go as far as mechanically linking the table and the feed mechanism to only let a new log in when the current log has been finished cutting. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This is truly a great piece of machinery! I do cringe everytime you get your fingers close to it though.
At the very least Sir, you have entertained thousands of people. Very impressive. Bravo
Engineer dads are the best dads, this looks like so much fun to build and tinker to get it just right.
That excentric is a thing of beauty!!!
For safety a shear pin in the connecting rod might work.
It would have to be a two piece connecting rod, both pieces almost the full length of the current connecting rod with one piece collapsing into the other to avoid flailing about.
Push-sticks, not fingers to rearrange logs! Goodness, Tim!
To prevent logs from hopping around you can make a sort of steel cover hinged on one side, heavy enough that it would prevent the log from moving around.
Just imagine a commercial waffle maker, just your not pushing down waffles but logs instead.
Tim I think once its on a full machine and you keep pileing wood on top of it and build a hopper and keep stacking wood in to it say about a couple of feet it should keep everything in place and not allow any bits to bounce or move about.
Such a cool idea. I have always wanted once of those shingle machines.
I don't think it's a good idea. Back when I was a child, mom brought home a similar veggie slicer machine. The hopper used to always get clogged for such designs. She wanted sliced almonds (for selling them commercially) and I remember it exploding rather than making slices. Almonds got caught in between the metal housing and the blade and due to extreme stress from the top, everything blew apart and the cast iron just broke. It was powered by a nice electric motor that had a similar eccentric design. It was reinforced and again used but again failed in a similar fashion. Eventually she left the idea and instead bought the rotating disc type slicer (of course that too broke at the pivot point). She eventually left the business idea.
Later model eventually had a very very thin bendable blade design. It looked flimsy and dangerous but sliced very good. Large scale model for wood I'm not sure. Hard woods would fail.
@@ErickBuildsStuff This blade is pretty thick and wood is pretty ease to shave off. As long as he keeps the blade sharp you should be able to pile on the logs to enough height to keep enough weight on it. Waxing the slider will also help. Adding wax block on either side of the of the fence will help to ensure that a slick movement happens all the time. You will need to keep enough weight on it and making a plate that sits in the hopper ( taper hopper so the plate does not hit the blade will make it easy to walk a way for a few moments.
It might have been proposed hundreds of times: what about adding in the mechanism a part which would slip (like a torque limiter) or break (like a mechanical fuse) ?
It might protect the machinery from badly breaking, as was the case with former ones, when something goes wrong with the cutting. But, more importantly, it could protect the machine operator from the damage a broken machine can make.
a shear bolt is a common "mechanical fuse" in 2 stage snow blowers. They are not the best solution because damage still can occur before the bolts shears. The ideal would be some kind of manual and automatic decoupling system with an adjustable overload that would disengage the moving blade assembly while allowing the wheel to continue to rotate.
Never would i have ever thought up a Wood Slicing Mandolin, Simply Delightful.
Keep up the great work!
When things get scary, make tea.
really nice machine :) Might I suggest if you make the tops of the end stops flat they can be notched on te top to take a pair of drop in 'anti twist bars' as you called them. with muti notches these can be adjustable.
I would put the slicer at an angle (relative to the length) an form a v-shape with another steel plate. That way gravity will make the pieces aline quite well orthogonal to the blade.
As Crocodile Dundee once said, “Now that’s a knife!”… One of your best episodes yet! Love the creativity coming out of you shop.
as an Aussie I can say that Tim is definitely playing knifey-flywheelie with this
We will be watching on later my husband loves watching you seeing what you come up with.We want to see Sandra sometime as well with all the animals.Your so interesting and genius.Wish you all the best and love to Sandra.GodBless.We just love Ireland 🇮🇪.🎉
It’s great how you can solve all the problems!
Sometimes I think you put too much effort in the optimization of a bad solution instead of finding a better way to do things but you prove me wrong every time. Keep up the great work!
The secret to shingle making is wood species selection. Imagine doing that by hand with a shingle froe. Which worked quite well.
Hi Tim , could you make the width of the cutting area adjustable to suit the diameter of the wood to stop it turning , or cut more than one log at a time to fill the cutting area.
Yep! And maybe some kind of weight to prevent the log from jumping around when it's almost done
Thats cool that you ordered a son in China!
What a lovely and deliciously dangerous machine! As I was watching how the logs were behaving I did think about a mandolin. Looking at my mandolin I see that the blade is on a 45 degree angle. (That way more of the blade would engage with the log through the cut. But the whole table would become a bit narrower) Now, what if you also tilted the table a little, so gravity would pull the log to one side? Just a thought…
The best mandolins have a slanted blade.
A floating plate on top of the 'hopper' to prevent bucking and rotating maybe. Like a hand held rotary parmesan grater.
Have you considered tilting the whole bed 20-30 degrees to one side so the pieces of wood will roll down to the side and stay perpendicular to the knife? You could then extend the sides of the cutting chamber up to form a shallow hopper and load several layers of wood. the top pieces would hold the bottom pieces in place for proper cutting.
Saw Richard's machine and it makes beautiful shingles. Your new monster really is a beauty. Makes one appreciate what our forbears in the engineering field actually devised and built under conditions so unlike today's instant CAD world. Thanks for posting.
And I’m sure that Richard Andersson is equally jealous of your vintage static engine and your wonderfully made wooden wheel. As am I.
And the prize for the most over enginered wood chipper is... ;-)
The suspense on this video was big! I wonder if some push rods like for a table saw would save those fingers (and my nerves!) Anyway I'm not moaning, it's fantastic what you've achieved here!
I am still impressed by your ingenuity, keep up the good farm work.
incredibly impressive as always Tim, a hopper allowing logs to sit 3/4 deep would keep the logs flat and keep your appendages from the blades (This is obviously already been suggested and no doubt thought of by you!)
Another successful video where I definitely feel like I learned something very valuable. What I like about your machines is that I understand them, and I can easily see myself building them. Thank you. Now, please be careful of your extremeties.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff* 3:00 I would suggest adding some softer metal (eg. brass, aluminum, etc) in a way that is easy to replace, placed on the underside as a gliding surface, this is the concept of making the machine fail in a easy to replace location, so you only need to change some strips, instead of re-weld another new carriage or frame.
It can be a strip of softer metal fastened on the carriage-side, bent under the carriage & fastened again on the opposite side, or whatever you come up with :)
0:25 Nice to see that the videos was helpful :D
Ohhhh, two videos this week. Luvly. Tim you need a wood chipper and buzz saw. Watched a few vids on wood chippers. Impressive. Keep up the tinkering.
I didn't see the shingle cutter coming! Great idea.
Perhaps a kind of weighted log holder to keep things from moving about? A board with sharpened nails or some such, like that vegetable mandolin holder to keep the vegetables moving through the blade at the correct angle. it will put some dents in the log, but should hold it steady.
The ingenuity in your builds is inspiring!
I have to say that fitting this over a pit with hopper wagons beneath would be a great way of minimising the work of picking up the shingles after cutting them but by the looks of things you don't have the space for such major earthworks! Keep up the great work Tim!
The biggest problems your running into are due to using a shingle machine to split random wood. Shingles are made from very straight grained wood, and split along the grain, as any crosscutting results in avoidably exposed end grain, a pathway for moisture to get into the wood, and create rot, resulting in a shorter lifespan of the roof. As far as holding down the logs to prevent them from tilting up when thin, either a step in the push plat, allowing wood to slip under a hold down once it reaches a certain size or else simply welding some texture to the backstop(as some log splitters use) would likely work.
A "plane " type of wood shingle machine does not cut along the grain if the grain doesn't happens to line up with the cutting plane.
To get true along the grain split shingle a splitting knife has to be used. And then the singles get shaped with axe for last adjustment.
When the shingle machines was invented the prices of wood roof shingle , dropped, but also the quality of them , decreasing the life span of the roof surface.
You can also tilt the push plate slightly downwards, so when the blade pushes the log against the plate, the log wants to slide down on the angled plate which should prevent it from tilting up.
That blade looks like it came off a large rotary brush chopper that was towed by a tractor in the 200hp range or higher. Mass and speed of rotation meant the edge didn't have to be all that sharp. Only durable and somewhat blade edged. Good to see such a piece being put to a new use.
Hurrah!
First very best wishes to Sandra for her recovery.
Second the sideways constraints on the log seem essential.
Then there's the lovely interplay of names between shakes and shingles.
A chestnut coppice next!
One of my many regrets - I should have planted chestnuts as a child..
Sir, your humor is hilarious! It took months of work, and tons of steel! 🤣🤣🤣 keep on keeping on!
And I get scared by normal sized mandolins! Great work as always Tim, looking forward to seeing it set up with the other machines.
I love the way you talk!!!
And your clever projects!!!
Your setup is superb! Congratulation! But to make beautiful shingles, you need very dry cedar logs; with this on your machine, you will make very beautiful rustic shingles.
crazier than Colin Furze. You turned over the knife table and trapped an extension lead hidden under the straw. welding with straw and mountains of wood shavings let alone the risk of you losing a hand or worse with this machinery. Mad cap professor is what Tanya calls you. We're both screaming at you. Absolute nightmare. Keep it up 🤣🤣 R&T
Try some spikes on the front stop to prevent the log from tipping up
Great video! Great how the blade cuts the wood in a butter -soft. If you want to connect all of this to the engine, I advise you to incorporate a target breaking point into the connecting rod so that if the wood wedges, only the target breaking point breaks and nothing worse happens.
Having fun in a workshop, brilliant. A telescopic connecting rod with a shear bolt through it, or some such, might not be a bad idea if you do connect it to an engine. Could stop all sorts of mayhem!
Looks better than I could have made it. One suggestion to stop the log(s) from moving is a some sort of a hatch so that when it is open you can put the log in, then close it and the hatch will hold the log down and prevent it from turning. Kinda like a vise, it should also help with the problem of the log going up and getting stuck
Love the Yesterday's Machinery channel, another of my favourites. It complements your channel though since he is a fixer not a maker like you. We can appreciate both skills
Use a strip of old inner tube to hold the log down safely.
Looks like a great kindling cutter!
I love how all these channels find each other!
Great video! The process of concept to build and the failures-iterations makes for compelling watching.
The part where you attach the table to the wheel had me anxious about explosive failure, although having a human drive (instead of diesel) for a concept piece really does prevent a lot of that kind of danger.
That lifting of the table actually works as a safety feature. It prevents other things from breaking.
I know cedar isn’t exactly a native wood to Ireland, but in maine and across new england, cedar shingles made much like this are used to cover the walls and roofs of houses (roofs being a temporary hold over before putting slate tiles on or a rubber roof) and the shingles work great as they keep the rain and snow of the Atlantic coast out of the homes and protect from the strong gust. So you basically made a tool for making New England style homes. Say might as well take some inspiration from the WW&F railway at this rate!
Very satisfying to see these logs being reduced one slice at a time! Congratulations on your success Tim! I'm sure several people will comment the same thing and it's just a matter of time before you incorporate a weighted plate over the opening to keep the log in place and help push it down to get more evenly thick slices.
Hey Tim try to hold the log from the oposite site of the wheel at 13:31 You holding the log from the Site of the cutter try to hold it from the back of the cutter along the long site.
In the video the log comes from the down left site bt if it woulf be comming from top left it would be cutted.
Awesome work. I think a one direction clamp is needed. Like a plate that holds the wood down and drops on a rachet type mechanism each time a layer is taken off but won't lift up causing the issues. I think some sash clamps have that type of feature that you could modify? Great job. Looking forward to developments cheers J
That eccentric is mesmerizing to watch in action, great job.
Your machine reminds me of log splitters, it commend for the stop end plate to have some welding bead to give it a bit of grip to keep the log from rolling and jumping about. You would only want to do it on the cutting side so it still drop down.
Amazing stuff Tim, look forward to your videos all week. Very satisfying when it works nicely and seems like you've figured a lot out so far! Maybe something pressing the wood down into the blade? Humm
You sound like the Inventor Cedric Lynch - very articulate and really rather wonderful
What you're trying to prevent is primarily log misalignment since the power of the wheel is sufficient and the issues with knots are minimal.
A log hopper with spring loaded side guides would resolve this by keeping the grain of the wood aligned for splitting with the vertical pressure of other logs in the hopper. Be careful not to have the vertical stack too high, maybe 3-4 average logs high and the downward pressure should be enough but not enough to jam the sled.
Create 2 log magazines on the left and right but use one at a time, depending on horsepower and you have a redundant capacity for cutting. It's far too wide now unless you have Lumber greater than 60cm/2' in diameter.
Really enjoy the video 😃👍
Really interesting idea.
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff*
Safety concerns: 13:08 risk of crushing the hands when the log twists or moves.
14:37 When extracting a log, I would recommend using some kind of tool, the simplest I can think of is a plank (baseball bat?) with a bunch of nails sticking THROUGH it, then just smash the nail-board onto the piece so it gets stuck on the nails & then lift up, don't put your hands near the blade or sled while moving .
So much creativety, I am still amazed. Keep the videos comming
If you look at all those other shingle makers, the wood is held by hand to steady it. It's not allowed to roll or move around on it's own. Of course, fences inside would limit the amount of bouncing around and keep the log straighter.
spring loaded top plate to hold the log in place. At full extension the plate would stop short of the blade. Would keep the log from jumping around. A simple lever would lift the plate for the next log. A kitchen mandolin has top pressure to keep it engaged against the bed.
Lovely machine you've created. The logs that got sliced kinda reminded me of chips for some reason. Can't wait to see more. Great job.
I love the Yesterdays Machinery channel. I watched the video on the shingle machine. That machine was cutting straight grain wood, so much easier than your machine. Lots of progress and lots of challenges. The eccentric stroke may work well for splitting wood rather than slicing/cutting.
Brilliant and looks like you're on the right track, sorry bit of a pun 🤗 Nice to see family helping each other out. I watch the other guys channel as well, must admit I am a bit addicted to people bringing old machines back to life and using them as intended. That guy has some other really good rebuilds on his site.
Poetry in Motion. It’s a Beautiful thing. 👍
*@Way Out West - Workshop Stuff*
7:50 -ish. The easy solution (but not optimal), is to just stop cutting before the piece start to become dangerously thin. (but that is an multiple accident prone solution)
Another solution would be to (somehow) rotate the log so it cuts either around the log continuously (along the grains of course), or when it starts to become thin, rotate it by 90 degree, so it slices the "slab" into "sticks" instead. (but that has also risks of many sorts of accidents). Further thinking is required...
Some thoughts about the shingle slicer vs what you built and what you want to accomplish. I know you are using a blade you got for free, but the shingle slicer blade bites each side first to begin the cut before the center starts to cut. This difference helps to start the cut because the whole blade is not trying to cut all at once. Also the difference between the edges and the center should be helping to keep the log from tipping up and creating the cross cut issue from developing. The shingle making system uses a person to hold the log in place, so maybe if you had a spring loaded rod or plate that could maintain some downward pressure on the log, that may help. Another option might be to have a hopper or chute that holds several logs and the weight of the logs on top will help the log being cut to stay oriented and held down against the blade.
Solutions fore your problems. Cut slots in to the front and back log stop so that they look like a comb. In this slots you than can put side guides that go down to just over the blade. With the slots you can ajust the guides to the log size. If you make than 2 slots in to each of the side guides you can make a heavy pushblock with guiding rods that hold the log down while cutting. It all will look in the end like a turned over food slicer machine with out the turning blade.
Awesomeness at its best as always.
I made a can crusher as part of a college project using a scotch yoke. The calculations behind these is mind blowing.
Wow, that is incredibly useful and absolutely terrifying. But most good machines are at that. As usual I am impressed and fearful of your digits.
It's very satisfing this machine, I think you can put a spring loaded lever on a hinge to press down the log, of course the lever can't get to the blade. It's a simple solution and the spring is safer than a lever operated by hand. You can put some spikes where the lever meets the log, so the log don't spin. Thank you for the content.
If you notice Richard's operation method, he lifts the pieces out before they are fully planed away. If you want your machine to do the same, you may need to cut a flat face first, and then handle the leftover scraps differently somehow. Perhaps a log splitter is more what you need anyway, since you don't care that the pieces are flat. I think flat pieces won't dry well anyhow, since they will tend to stack up in the hopper, leaving less room for evaporation.
Perhaps some sort of feed throat that widens after allowing a log to drop onto the working space would help. The dimensions of the space would prevent logs going end-over-end and rotating, but it would impose a limitation on the dimensions of wood to be fed into the machine. I'm thinking of a stepped throat that catches things that try to drop in. Alternatively, perhaps a rotary tool that has blunt 'chewing edge' akin to a fly-cutter? It could be built at an angle to use the weight of the logs to drive them into the cutter, which would be more like a splitting wedge than a blade and anything that jumps back will simply fall back onto the cutting face. Like some sort of tunnel boring machine, but for wood.
Wonderful!
I suppose the only problem I can see with the cut stroke putting the connecting rod in tension is that it makes it more difficult to incorporate the necessary (and essential) shear pin into the system.
I can't bear to think what a full snort bind up will do to that beautiful inertia wheel that you've created but i'm pretty sure that it will fold itself up into a taco and go walkabout right over whatever is in the way be it animal, plant or mineral.
I suppose a telescoping shaft with enough insertion length will allow the reciprocal action to continue without letting an unconnected end flail around in death mode.
The question is really what size, shape, or grade of material will shear the best in tension vs compression with the most predictable results.
Hi there! How exciting! A massive log splitter!! May I suggest something that I thought while watching the video? It seems that holding the log down would help so that back wouldn't flip up and fall through the throat. Of course that is not very ergonomic but, If you tilted the whole assembly a few degrees to one side and put a slanted cover on top (forming something like a hopper) then you could throw the logs in the wide end and they would fall down to the narrower end as they get thinner with every slice. This would also mean that you use the full length of the blade so it doesn't get dull only on one side. Also, tilting the top of the rear log stoper downwards ( the one closer to the wheel) would help the back end of the log not lifting up. Of course you may have already considered a bunch of these solutions, but I thought I would just say it in case it helps! Good luck and thanks for sharing!!!
I just watched this with my daughter (we like DIY shop videos) and her main thoughts after the video was “his son lives so far away, I bet he misses him. At least he got to see him for a little while.”
Thanks, guys. Yes, I miss him very much! Maybe one day he will move closer. : - )
Here in North Carolina I heat my home with a wood stove. All my firewood is split with a hydraulic splitter. It runs of a shaft drive and belt powered by a stationary engine . The cutting blade moves back and forth. Works very well.
Perhaps to hold the logs in place you could use some kind of air bag? The thinking being it can surround all shapes and provide an equal force on it. little difficult with the blade but and idea perhaps.
Great video, very enjoyable!
Utter madness, looks wonderful!
Why not move the log over the blade. With stationary blades you can have two opposing blades with cam action to raise and lower them based on the direction of the carriage.
You need some kind of clutch to release the drive arm.
You can also use a right angle reaction leaver to adjust the length of stroke.
Very impressive wheel. Very cool!
The Swedish type of "shaver" is not, I believe, meant to cut along the grain entirely. At a smallish angle, it should cut across the grain too. The shingles, therefore, are never split, they are cut. This is also why the shingles have a curve to them. The cut is started at the back end of the log, i.e at the side of the log and not at the crosscut surface. You can see this very clearly in the video you are referencing. Look at how he started the cuts on each log. He made the cut at an angle and the log became slightly tapered. Perhaps this is not anything you can use, but I think tapered shingles perhaps are less prone to cause problems.
Great shot at english, mycket bra, tappered.
Indeed! It's actually 'tapered', I believe (not tappered). Updated now. Happy?
@@bjornek2 Oj va du är en kaxig liten skit.
looks like you're on the right track. 1, stopping the log turning sideways, and 2, getting the cutting alignment closer to the ideal.
So. Moving on, some kind of adjustable hopper idea to feed each log in at the right position, and room to park a wheelbarrow underneath, or a chute to drop the kindling into one.
First of all Tim, don't ever put your fingers into a cutting machine to fix the wood up as you might lose your fingers, use a stick instead. Unfortunately you're going to have to redesign the reciprocating section from 9 inches to 18 inches but the speed of it needs to be slower so that it has more torque to push the logs through. You'll also have to design an instant cut off & a disk brake on the large wheel so that you can stop the whole thing instantly rather than have things explode under pressure.
I was thinking that you should put some vertical steel flat bars either side of the wood to prevent it from twisting sideways & also have a weight pushing down on the center of the log to keep it flat so that the blade can cut the wood. Also you might want to try turning the blade sideways like a guillotine that they used to lopping off ppl's heads in the distant French past. If the blade is on a 45 degree angle & the width of the box where you put the wood into is very slim then your blade should have no problems with cutting anything after that. Just remember no hands inside the cutting box, put a piece of perspex over the area to stop the temptation if you must.
Well done! That machine is mesmerising to watch. 👍😁
Simply brilliant and equally terrifying. Greetings from 🇸🇪.
I love the concept for this. watch that table buck was wild!! I would definitely do something to mitigate all the wheel force from causing a disaster. Doing something like creating some known weak points. Places designed to brake if bad things happen. This can be a purposely undersized pin or bolt. The easier to replace the better. Or a passive clutch/slipper plate. Modern RC cars use a slipper plate between the motor and transmission that might work great to allow that massive unstoppable wheel to not be allowed to supply enough power for the table to buck or things to break. Perhaps since it's so much uncontrollable force an active clutch system is the quickest way to stop a machine with out waiting or trying to slow the wheel down.
Work that makes your hands dirty, i love it.
What about a board under the throat? So nothing can fall more than for instance 10mm down. The shingles would be pushed through that channel eventually.
If something stands on its edge, at least not more than 10mm is on the under side and hopefully the right part will give.
Yes, that might work. Thanks
You might try adding an angled infeed in line with the stroke, so that you can feel longer logs in and slice diagonally across the grain. Much line you tried form the side, but turn it 90 degrees.
You could even Mouth it to one side, so that I’m the other side you could continue to feed in shorter pieces from the top as you are doing now.
Nice job Tim! You seem to have beautifully combined the British industrial revolution *and* the French revolution!
Somebody suggested having two telescoping parts of the pull rod, and with a shear pin. I think it’s a great idea.
I also wonder, since this isn’t a shingler, about having the blade at a slight offset so one side starts to cut in first rather than whatever part happens to touch first vs a slightly out of perpendicular piece of wood.
You can test with no welding by finding some of those pieces and orienting them specifically so you know which side will touch first…
Edited a part about making it a pull rod. Somehow missed that it is already a pull rod