[GSBN] Straw Bale Cutting Tool - Any Ideas

[Derek Roff]

A few other thoughts on the woodworker’s bandsaw as in David’s photo, vs. the bandsaw lumber mill.  The woodworker's bandsaw might have 3/4 of an alleged horsepower, whereas the Wood-Mizer standard model has 19 HP.  Even with the riser-block shown, many bandsaws don’t have the cutting height needed to trim a bale.  The widest blade that can be put on that bandsaw is probably 1/2” or 3/4”.  That is a very narrow blade, when you move the blade guides so far apart, and it is likely to distort and maybe twist when you push the bale through.

The bandsaw lumber mill makes it easy to set a consistent, repeatable cut height, and maintain it bale after bale.  On the woodworker’s bandsaw, it would be hard to get consistent and repeatable cuts at the desired dimension.  Finally, you will likely want a blade with very few teeth per inch- usually something like one tooth per inch.   I doubt if you can find such a wide tooth spacing for a blade that fits a woodworker’s bandsaw.

Derek

Derek Roff
derek at unm.edu<mailto:derek at unm.edu>




On Sep 13, 2017, at 12:06 PM, Sarah Johnston <sol_design at yahoo.com<mailto:sol_design at yahoo.com>> wrote:

Hi David.

We have also used a band saw mill similar to what Chris and Derek have used and highly recommend that approach.  While I love using chainsaws, the bandsaw creates very little dust, has no fumes, is fast and accurate.  Certainly a great way to go if you have a big job.

May it work out well!

Sven

Sarah & Sven Johnston
Sol Design, Ltd.
50A Connolly Street
Geraldine 7930  New Zealand
03 693 7369
sol_design at yahoo.com<mailto:sol_design at yahoo.com>
www.soldesign.co.nz<http://www.soldesign.co.nz>


________________________________
From: "David Arkin, AIA" <david at arkintilt.com<mailto:david at arkintilt.com>>
To: Global Straw Building Network <gsbn at sustainablesources.com<mailto:gsbn at sustainablesources.com>>
Sent: Thursday, 14 September 2017 3:21 AM
Subject: [GSBN] Straw Bale Cutting Tool - Any Ideas

Hello Global Straw Balers:

CASBA has a workshop coming up, fitting bales between studs in a large three-story office building.  While many of the stud bays are 22 1/2” wide, set to easily fit 23” wide bales on end, many other bays are of lesser dimensions, requiring the ripping of the bales to a narrower width.

We’ve successfully used electric chain saws to rip an occasional bale during bale-raisings, but the scale of this project suggests a better tool for this task.  One solution we’ve been mulling is a bandsaw (pic attached, covers off).  Thoughts on the pros & cons of this approach welcome.

Wondering if anyone out there has found or devised a good tool for this task?  I searched the archives (thanks again Bill) and didn’t come up with any prior discussion on this topic, surprisingly.

Thanks all,

David ‘must get ripped’ Arkin / ATA & CASBA

<IMG_9674.jpeg>

On Sep 12, 2017, at 6:32 PM, Bill Christensen <billc_lists at greenbuilder.com<mailto:billc_lists at greenbuilder.com>> wrote:

Yes, our archives (nearly 30 years worth!) can be a lot to sift through!  The good news is that a) the search engines regularly index the archives and b) there are very few other instances of our subject line identifier,  "[GSBN]", out there.

Go to Google or your other favorite search engine

Enter: [GSBN] followed by the topic/keyword(s) of your choice

for instance:

[GSBN] clay paint

or
[GSBN] chemical sensitivity

et voila, lots of results without digging through 30 years worth of posts.
_______________________________________________
Gsbn mailing list
Gsbn at sustainablesources.com<mailto:Gsbn at sustainablesources.com>
http://sustainablesources.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/gsbn

*  *  *  *  *
Arkin Tilt Architects
Ecological Planning & Design
1101 8th St. #180, Berkeley, CA  94710
510/528-9830 ext. 2#
www.arkintilt.com<http://www.arkintilt.com/>

David Arkin, AIA, Architect
LEED Accredited Professional
CA #C22459/NV #5030

Director, California Straw Building Association
www.strawbuilding.org<http://www.strawbuilding.org/>
CASBA is a project of the Tides Center

"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way."
— A. J. Muste






_______________________________________________
Gsbn mailing list
Gsbn at sustainablesources.com<mailto:Gsbn at sustainablesources.com>
http://sustainablesources.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/gsbn


<IMG_9674.jpeg>_______________________________________________
Gsbn mailing list
Gsbn at sustainablesources.com<mailto:Gsbn at sustainablesources.com>
http://sustainablesources.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/gsbn

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sustainablesources.com/pipermail/gsbn/attachments/20170913/fd0bdd10/attachment.htm>