Stenner price

[Mikesmill]

I keep noticing how cheap you can pick up a band and rack sawmill for, and one has come up local to me for £2k. The guy will work with me to install it, get it running etc.

It can be put on a stand, meaning that I won't have to dig a pit: bonus. But I'm still aware that by the time I buy a 3-phase motor (it had one before, but doesn't come with it), get it installed etc and set up a resaw next to it I could be looking at a fair old price. My alternative is to get a Trakmet horizontal bandsaw and the one I'm looking at costs around £22k. Does anyone have any advice on this matter please?

Am looking to go one way or the other by the end of summer as I'm in the process of cutting an order of cladding with my Peterson WPF and am finding it to be way too slow for static milling.

[Squaredy]

9 hours ago, Mikesmill said:

 

I keep noticing how cheap you can pick up a band and rack sawmill for, and one has come up local to me for £2k. The guy will work with me to install it, get it running etc.

It can be put on a stand, meaning that I won't have to dig a pit: bonus. But I'm still aware that by the time I buy a 3-phase motor (it had one before, but doesn't come with it), get it installed etc and set up a resaw next to it I could be looking at a fair old price. My alternative is to get a Trakmet horizontal bandsaw and the one I'm looking at costs around £22k. Does anyone have any advice on this matter please?

Am looking to go one way or the other by the end of summer as I'm in the process of cutting an order of cladding with my Peterson WPF and am finding it to be way too slow for static milling.

 

Look at blade cost both to buy and re-sharpen.  If the horizontal bandmill uses inch and a quarter blades these will cost less than a fifth of four inch stenner blades.  Cutting speed may be less but maybe not that much.

 

Also setting up a large wide bandsaw could be an expensive headache.  If it is not right it will eat blades and never cut true.  He may be willing to help set it up but that is no guarantee of success.

 

If you buy a new bandmill you should find it all works well and if not there will be comeback and hopefully support.

[Mikesmill]

Look at blade cost both to buy and re-sharpen.  If the horizontal bandmill uses inch and a quarter blades these will cost less than a fifth of four inch stenner blades.  Cutting speed may be less but maybe not that much.
 
Also setting up a large wide bandsaw could be an expensive headache.  If it is not right it will eat blades and never cut true.  He may be willing to help set it up but that is no guarantee of success.
 
If you buy a new bandmill you should find it all works well and if not there will be comeback and hopefully support.

Thanks Squaredy. Am going to look at it on Saturday, hopefully see it working. My local saw doctor says the blades are a doddle to sharpen and it comes with a few

[Graham w]

pics please! 

 

set up for a band rack is easy a few points 

 

when setting the mill on steel mount the headrig (pulleys) level and place the benches either side, tension up the blade and run a length of high tensile fence wire from end to end of the benches in the center (actually 3mm to one side(frontside)) of the cut line then move the benches so the wire touches the blade. you have a perfectly lined sawmill.

 

bands last forever. I have never bought new ones 

 

try and get the motor and starter if possible as they will match 

 

cut speed will not be as fast as you think

 

with a steel frame sun light can upset it if its unevenly heated up e.g. front of the bench is heated this causes it to expand and lockup against the rollers

 

all in £10k but could be done cheap £5k

 

trackmet will hold is value, the rackmill is basically scrap ?

[Mikesmill]

pics please! 
 
set up for a band rack is easy a few points 
 
when setting the mill on steel mount the headrig (pulleys) level and place the benches either side, tension up the blade and run a length of high tensile fence wire from end to end of the benches in the center (actually 3mm to one side(frontside)) of the cut line then move the benches so the wire touches the blade. you have a perfectly lined sawmill.
 
bands last forever. I have never bought new ones 
 
try and get the motor and starter if possible as they will match 
 
cut speed will not be as fast as you think
 
with a steel frame sun light can upset it if its unevenly heated up e.g. front of the bench is heated this causes it to expand and lockup against the rollers
 
all in £10k but could be done cheap £5k
 
trackmet will hold is value, the rackmill is basically scrap [emoji853]

This 3-phase Stenner vja 42inch bandsaw and dust extraction (first three pics) are up for £4725 locally and I'm going to have a look on Saturday.
They also have a larger saw (last pic) which I'm interested in too.
There's another option from a guy I know locally at £2k, but it doesn't have the 3-phase motor with it and that'll complicate matters - I'd like a simpler process in getting it up and running if possible - I think it's a Stenner 36 and he says it's got a four foot gob.

[Mikesmill]

My biggest problem seems to be that I'm not entirely sure what each saws capabilities are... Basically I want something that runs off 3-phase, pushes the log through (I'm fed up with pushing every cut) from the left (the layout of my barn makes that the best option)can cut over a metre at a time, doesn't make too much waste or noise, doesn't take as much time, and doesn't cost the earth. I don't ask for much! ?

[hplp]

Ive often wondered about this and I have a peterson as well (which I love).

 

From what I can gather the biggest cost in having these old saws is the installation and setup costs. Unless you are doing everything including the wiring yourself it is going to cost just as much again to set something up to working, a cost that there is no way of getting back. By this, I principly mean the groundworks and wiring. This is why mobile mills of any kind still have a resale value. I believe with a stenner, they were made mostly to order so had only limited specified capacity so its a case of looking at what is on offer and measureing each saw.

 

The larger the band saw blade, also the thicker the cut so it might not be much thinner than your peterson as there also can be some flex and blade deflection as it goes through the log. Some big saws are surprisingly inaccurate. Also, get them sharpened by a sawdoctor having a bad day and this is only exaggerated.

 

Any milling involves some pushing or stacking. If you visit some of the largest sawmills in the country, some of them even have guys manually stacking sawn product at the end of the line! Its a physical job regardless of the setup you use....

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by hplp

[rich crowther]

There’s one on eBay complete £2200, iv got a set of original set up plans for the base and pit etc kicking around somewhere

[Mikesmill]

Ive often wondered about this and I have a peterson as well (which I love).
 
From what I can gather the biggest cost in having these old saws is the installation and setup costs. Unless you are doing everything including the wiring yourself it is going to cost just as much again to set something up to working, a cost that there is no way of getting back. By this, I principly mean the groundworks and wiring. This is why mobile mills of any kind still have a resale value. I believe with a stenner, they were made mostly to order so had only limited specified capacity so its a case of looking at what is on offer and measureing each saw.
 
The larger the band saw blade, also the thicker the cut so it might not be much thinner than your peterson as there also can be some flex and blade deflection as it goes through the log. Some big saws are surprisingly inaccurate. Also, get them sharpened by a sawdoctor having a bad day and this is only exaggerated.
 
Any milling involves some pushing or stacking. If you visit some of the largest sawmills in the country, some of them even have guys manually stacking sawn product at the end of the line! Its a physical job regardless of the setup you use....
 
 
 

I do love the Peterson, and I'll be sad to see her go (am selling a WPF with 4 10" cut blades, clip-on Slabber, planing and sanding attachments and the Hi-Lo system, of you know anyone in the market).
But I'm finding that mobile-milling alone is not quite enough for me and I want to be able to complete orders in the yard a lot faster. I've still got the Peterson DWS for doing the odd couple of mobile jobs a month, and for slabbing or trimming down any huge logs that come in.
But I'm quite certain now that I need a static bandsaw.

[Mikesmill]

There’s one on eBay complete £2200, iv got a set of original set up plans for the base and pit etc kicking around somewhere

I think I saw that one, right up the other end of the country? I think it'd have to be a local one, as haulage would cost a bomb and I'd be miles away from whoever sells it and won't be able to pick their brains/ask around about if it's been running ok in recent years