Firewood processor build thread

[woodchipper]

It's all those holes that take forever! How are you going to hold the poly to the sides of the guide?

By the look of it, you are using a hole saw for the larger holes -- what brand? I tried a couple 3/4" holes and just eat the teeth off after only a couple holes, seems they don't clean out enough (1 Mastercraft, 1 Dewalt) 1 1/4" worked much better thru 3/8' plate

And what drill press are you running? My Mastercraft one slips the belt way more than I think it should.

CDN Farm Boy:
May I suggest you go to L馮鑽e Industrial Supplies on Woodward Drive for your shop needs. For the hole saws, they cary Starrett brand. They have good quality drills (Dormer among others), cutting and tapping fluid, etc
I too had less success with the Mastercraft, Exchange-a-blade, and Dewalt brands. Better success with Milwalkey, DoAll, Morse and Starrett brands. Good quality tools do make a difference! Pay more upfront (not allways...), but save way more down the road.

Pointers given by kiotiken, and muddstopper are excellent! :thumbsup:

 

[muddstopper]

I have had good success with the Lennox brand of holesaw, more so than the dewalt. Lennox is easy to find, Lowes, Homedepot, etc all carry both brands. I havent tried Milwaukee or any of the other brands. Keep the saw oiled with the proper cutting oil and drilling a relief hole so the cutting can fall out, and it should last a long time.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I knew they left Morrison Dr, didn't know where they went. Thanks for the new location. Never liked the guys in there much, they always talked down to you like they were better. Some nice equipment though.

Never heard of Doall or Morse but I've tried pretty much every brand I can find in my 20 yrs in construction with no appreciable difference between any of them.

I'll be getting some proper cutting oil and trying the clearance hole mud suggested

 

[muddstopper]

When drilling the clearance hole, try to get as close to the inside dia of the saw as possible. That way the chips will just fall thru the hole as your drilling. Also if your sawing large dia holes, you might want to drill more than one clearance hole. In the one inch metal I was hole sawing, I used a 1/2 drill bit to drill the clearance hole with and a 2.5in hole saw.

 

[kiotiken]

Since there's been so much discussion about using hole saws here, I figured it was time to start building the rollers! I've never tried using a 4.25" hole saw in metal before, can't say I enjoyed it much. It was very easy to stall the bit so you really had to pay attention to the shavings coming off the piece and the pressure you were applying. It took a really long time and I just had to be patient and let it cut at it's own speed. It also took a lot of cutting oil. The first two I cut, I didn't have a pilot bit in the mandrel. As I was sitting there cutting way, wondering what the best way would be to find the centre of the circle would be, I had an absolutely brilliant idea, use a pilot bit! I used a 4.25" hole saw on 4" wide, 1/8" plate hoping the inside diameter, or the cut out, would be 4" (1/8" blade diameter on all sides). It was just a little too big so each disk has a little flat spot on it, which is really no big deal. Now I need to drill a 1.25" hole in the centre of each of the disks and cut 2" flat bar to form the teeth.

10 of these took a really long time.


I also finished the pusher plate. A few parts are still only tacked on, but the majority is fully welded.

I replaced the attachment for the cylinder since the original one was bent and distorted with the plate was pushed upward and capped the vertical piece to keep the rain out.


I added some plate to the sides and to the front and back to hold the nylon strips that it will sit on. Four screws will secure it on either side, but really, it wont be able to move anyway. This stuff is amazingly durable, I ripped a cutting edge into a 6' by 4" strip and bolted it under my 1500# blower 3 years ago. My driveway is paved and hasn't worn it down a noticeable amount.


The pusher plate took a really long time to re-engineer. Now that it's mostly done and I'm moving on, I should have more to show for an evening in the garage.

 

[kiotiken]

More fun with the hole saw last night, each of the 4" cut outs needed a 1.25" hole cut in the centre. So much nicer cutting with a smaller hole saw, I actually enjoy enjoy sitting and cutting holes. The saw doesn't stall and cuts much nicer and quicker than the 4.25" saw.


Since we've been talking about it here, here's my set up for cutting holes with a hole saw.


Next I cut a bunch of 2" - 1/8 flat bar. I then cut them into a V shape.


I cut some DOM tube to length and welded one of the disks to the end of it.


Next came the V shaped flat bar.


Finally it was capped with another disk. I'm building 5 of these rollers that will be chain driven.



They will fit onto a 1" axle and have spacers cut for each side so they remain centred in the trough. The one thing I forgot to do is drill a hole through the roller and axle for a pin (bolt). Turning the axle won't do a whole lot at the moment, it needs to be connected to the roller and for future maintenance, I don't want to weld them in place.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Looks like those flat spots on the 4" disk came in handy to clamp in the vise. Just like you planned it :thumbsup:

 

[kiotiken]

Looks like those flat spots on the 4" disk came in handy to clamp in the vise. Just like you planned it :thumbsup:

Yes, quite right, this entire project has been perfectly "planned" and executed :laughing:

 

[kiotiken]

I haven't had a chance to get to Princess Auto yet and I need to pick up flange bearings before I can cut the axles for the rollers and locate them along the trough. I should be able to sneak over there this afternoon but I'm off on a ski trip this weekend so not much more will get done till next week.

I did go out again last night to finish the 4 other rollers. The first thing I noticed was an oil mark on the garage floor under the Power Fist (Princess Auto brand) 15hp engine. I guess I should have expected it since it has 0.25 hrs on it so far :laughing: Upon closer inspection, it was coming from the drain plug. I cinched it up a little tighter so I'll keep an eye on it, but I wouldn't have though it was loose enough to cause a leak.

All the rollers are done so I stuck them on the axle and gave them a quick spin. I should have (and was going to) build a jig to fit the rollers up properly but was just too lazy. It's amazing how true they spin and how similar they all turned out for fitting them up by eye :thumbsup:

 

[mikefromnh]

I just skimmed this thread to get caught up again...but instead of hole-sawing 4" discs could you have just cut squares out of 4" flat stock instead? (I'm not seeing the reason for the outer part of the rollers needing to be round)

 

[kiotiken]

I just skimmed this thread to get caught up again...but instead of hole-sawing 4" discs could you have just cut squares out of 4" flat stock instead? (I'm not seeing the reason for the outer part of the rollers needing to be round)

You're absolutely right. Its more for the look. I've never minded sawing holes before but the 4.25" holes were a PITA, should have just done squares.

 

[wldrbob]

man quite a build,, sure am glad i have a plasma and a circle cutter and for something that need to be just right a lathe . i guess im spoiled

 

[kiotiken]

man quite a build,, sure am glad i have a plasma and a circle cutter and for something that need to be just right a lathe . i guess im spoiled

I have very basic tools but lots of plans for everything you mentioned plus a mill at some point in the future. First I need to move out of the garage and into a shop. That's in the next 5 years hopefully.

 

[wldrbob]

my pick for first big money tool would be a plasma that can cut at least 1/2 in then maybe a steel cutting skill saw mine is a milwalkie but my frend has a makita its a good saw.i can get computer cut parts pretty reasonable here, so a plasmacam was in the works but im not sure if i can justify 18 grand right now ( i run a mobile welding truck and custom build shop)im also in the middle of a tree length wood prosseser it will handle 19.5 x36in at 58000 lb pressure we dont have to many trees that big most 6 to 16 butt size we are aming for 1 cord an hr average with one person doing all the work felling ,skidding etc. migh be hard to get that production oh well we will try

 

[kiotiken]

my pick for first big money tool would be a plasma that can cut at least 1/2 in then maybe a steel cutting skill saw mine is a milwalkie but my frend has a makita its a good saw.i can get computer cut parts pretty reasonable here, so a plasmacam was in the works but im not sure if i can justify 18 grand right now ( i run a mobile welding truck and custom build shop)im also in the middle of a tree length wood prosseser it will handle 19.5 x36in at 58000 lb pressure we dont have to many trees that big most 6 to 16 butt size we are aming for 1 cord an hr average with one person doing all the work felling ,skidding etc. migh be hard to get that production oh well we will try

Plasma cutter is definitely my first purchase but I'm putting all those big purchases off until I build my shop. Start a thread about your build, I love watching other peoples projects take shape.

Just got back from Jay Peak last night. They've had something like 5 1/2 feet of snow in the last week. Skiing was incredible, powder, moguls and glades couldn't ask for nicer conditions. Back to work tonight. This HAS to be finished by the end of the weekend, I'm now out of time and need to move on. It'll happen and I'll have video to prove it...

 

[kiotiken]

More cutting holes with a hole saw, this time for the flange bearings. I obviously couldn't use the drill press, so I went at it with a hand held drill with brand new hole saw. Unfortunately, I only have one corded drill and it is way too fast. I ended up fighting all Monday night and only got 3 holes drilled. Only 1 and 1/2 of those holes was using my corded drill, I finally decided to try a cordless drill and switched to the hole saw I'd drilled a bunch of holes with already. I finished the 1/2 cut of the second hole in a minute and did the 3rd hole is 3 or 4 minutes. Unfortunately, by then it was really late and I killed the battery on the drill and 3 holes was all I got done. The higher rpm drill destroyed the hole saw in seconds and it completely stopped cutting before it would cut 2 holes in 3/16" mild steel where the hole saw used at a lower RPM (exact same brand, I bought them together) cut the remaining 5 holes after having cut dozens of holes in material up to 1/2". I used generous amounts of cutting oil with both.

Last night I went out and finished up the holes. I had both batteries charged up and ready to go. I got through 2 more before having to switch batteries and then by the end of the next 2, the drill started smoking and was almost too hot to touch! I relented and gave the poor thing a break while the batteries charged again. By the end of the night, all 8 holes were cut, the flange bearings installed and the first roller roughed in so I can do some more figuring. Still need to decide how to mount the hydraulic motor and I'll have to use my idler sprockets to clear the trough supports. I was hoping the chain would pass over and under the supports, but no luck and I had no options with the placement of the flange bearings.

I'm only using 2 out of 4 bolts for the bearings. They're 3/8" grade 8 bolts. I think that's fine and I'm not going to bother mounting a piece of angle under the bearing for a 3rd bolt as I originally planned.

Here's where it stands now.

 

[kiotiken]

I'm disappointed and getting frustrated, no video to show this morning and my car was out all night in the beautiful -26C (-40C with wind), it was really happy to get going this morning! I made some progress this weekend, but my plans to have it finished by Sunday night fell short.

Started off installing the rollers and building the chain system for them. There are now 4 out of 5 rollers installed.








Next, I built a bracket to hold the hydraulic motor. I also made a little plate to allow for adjustment when installing the motor.







Finally, I figured out how to run the chain. Once I add a little extension in front of the trough, I'll be able to install the last roller. I'll then finish the chain system with two idler sprockets to get the chain low enough on the return and add two tensioning idler sprockets to keep the whole mess tight.

 

[kiotiken]

...I then got sick of farting around with the chain system since I was doing way too much thinking (who thinks on the weekend!). I decided it was time to get the pusher plate and cylinder back together. I also wanted to do more bracing.

Pulled out the plastic (nylon, teflon... not really sure)


All contact surfaces got covered.












The whole thing together. Unfortunately, I let my guard down and didn't keep an eye on the angle of the cylinder. It's off by 1" so the cylinder is pushing on an angle. I'll have to take the pusher plate off again, cut off the attachment point and lower it by an inch. PITA, but it needs to be straight.



Finally, I added some more bracing to the attachment point of the cylinder. Yes, this is an absurd way of building this, I should have just started with an I beam, but I didn't, so I'm adding more bracing. The new cross member is 1.5" X 2.5" - 3/16 and it's braced using 2" X 4". I really hope all of this bracing adds up to being strong enough, it is now my biggest concern.

 

[kiotiken]

... Still to do:

1) I'm going to add some bracing to the lower trough to make sure my new guides aren't pushed apart.

2) The hub for the hydraulic motor doesn't fit, the shaft doesn't seem to be 1 1/4 as I was told and the key is larger than the 1/4" keyway on the hub. I'll have to figure that out.

3) Also, they sold me the wrong fittings to connect the new hydraulic motor, I even told him I didn't think they were right, but what do I know... I finally got so PO'd at Princess Auto, I went to a specialized hydraulic shop (Parker dealer) and they still sold me the wrong fittings. I also almost fell over when I stopped by on Friday and had them make me two 2' hoses for the motor. They charged me $140 for the hoses and 4 fittings! The list price was over $300! As much as I want to support the local shop, that's just not OK.

4) The chain system needs to be finished

5) The last roller needs to be added

6) The log deck needs to be re-attached

7) The extension for the trough needs to be added and I need to build a support for it.

8) Attachment point for the cylinder needs to be lowered.

9) Need to build a out feed trough so the wood is pushed up and away from the machine.

10) Paint

 

[woodchipper]

Ken:
I do admire your perseverence and your beleif in your project! Also, you are truly of the patient nature, and this is to commend. As patience is a very high loving vertue. Stay focused, right things down, and make some quick hand drawn sketches whenever possible. I keep following your thread and build with interest. You have gone a long way from the start, and like the long winter we are having, you are slowly seeing the end.
So think about the fun you will soon have at making fire wood at the tip of your fingers, without braking much sweat!!
Your gained experience will be very valuable to others entering a similar project.
Thank YOU for posting Sir!:thumbsup:!