Lumber Mill

If I could process my own lumber, woodworking would be quite affordable. This document is meant to estimate the costs for this.

Tree

Need chainsaw, ability to move ~8' logs. Moving the logs could simply be done with a winch. Slow, but cheap and effective.

Cost

• Chainsaw: ~$120

Mill

Cost

• Motor: ~$125

Twin Circular

• Large Blade: ~$150
• Small Blade: ~$20

Bandsaw

• $30

I'm going to get a much more powerful motor than is necessary so that it can be used in the CEB press later.

I really like this twin circular blade design, but it's a bit more expensive. It looks like circular blades run at least $50, but I actually wouldn't need them to be that big, if I could cut 6' at the widest, I'd probably be fine. The bottom blade needs the arbor to be flush with the blade. I think this could be done but drilling a few holes in the blade, using a hammer and jig to make a counter-sink dent and attaching it that way to and arbor mount.

I need to estimate the cost of all the steel to run the thing. I need a bed to mount the log, track to run along and the rigging to hold the blades. I'd like to use motors to move it so that I can be far away when it's cutting. Actually, I may not need the bed. The better bet might be to make the track longer than I plan to cut and build a basic structure from wood to stabilize the log. That way if I cut into it, it won't hurt the blade.

Also, get a tarp. Set that down under the work area and collect all that fantastic sawdust.

Solar Kiln

The "window" can be made from clear poly roll plastic (cheap). The whole inside can be coated with the stuff too to keep it moisture tight. I'll put two small PC fans at either end, one in one out, both powered by small solar panels. The "in" will blow across a small peltier cooler (first over the cold side then back over the warm). The water will drip into a funnel, the funnel feeds into a J tube with the short end outside. As water collects, it will just spill over, outside. Rather than the traditional angled window, I'll just do a box and make both the front and top "windows". These will also come off (completely) for easy load/unload.

This but smaller, simpler.

It's also important that it be small and semi-portable (some assembly) so that it's not a "structure".

Cost

• Plastic ~$1/20sqft
• Peltier ~$5
• Solar ~$15
• 2x4 frame ~$20
• OSB (back, bottom sides) ~$50

Later

After it's running and we've finished one round, I'll need to find a way to convert the scraps to chips and build a gasifier. That can be fitted to the engine for use.