Thanks guys for the kind words. I started this project about 4 years ago and got frustrated with not having a shop, so it got mothballed. My original interest, and still is I guess, was being able to cut custom slabs for furniture, tables, gun stocks, etc. I wanted to be able to use a bigger variety of wood than the local Lowes has in stock. Just for my use, not really to make any money with.
Well, as for the design, I was looking at some of the cheap import mills like HF and Woodland Mills. The are all using a 2 post design with a cable lifting system, so that's kind of what I did too. I did utilize an ATV winch to raise and lower though, instead of a hand crank. The base of the mill is a repurposed natural gas skid. I used it pretty much as I got it, with the exception of welding on angle iron tracks, log bunks, and clamps. The length was predetermined by the skid, so I can cut a 14' log max. I got the actual bearings, wheels, and axles, etc. from an old pallet factory. They had some kind of a stationary re-saw machine that they had thrown out. I cut a chunk of junk out it and based my saw around what I got.
I machined some very accurate V-groove casters so the carriage would roll accurately and easily. Gobs and gobs of welding and grinding, kind of sick of it! As for safety, that was a big concern to me too. I did not want a blade to come off and go scooting around. So, I got some trailer fenders on ebay and made guards. If you are standing at the controls, I can see no conceivable way that you could get hurt, and I've really thought about that a lot. I probably only spent about $750 building it, but if I were to start over right now, I'd probably just go buy one. This was a ton of work!!!