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Poll

So which do you think ?

Woodland Mills
0 (0%)
Woodmaxx
1 (25%)
Frontier
2 (50%)
Save my money and buy lumber..
1 (25%)

Total Members Voted: 4

Voting closed: February 08, 2018, 03:01:27 PM

Author Topic: Baby mill reccomendations??  (Read 142904 times)

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #325 on: March 17, 2018, 03:38:38 PM »
How many hours do you have on the mill now? 

I agree it does not make sense that a light impact from the blade with a log stop would effect the tracking that much.   
The suggestion that it may not have been tightened enough is worth looking at. 

Are your wheels all steel or belted?  If they are belted inspect them carefully to make certain that there is no damage to the belts.  Your blade did not break or come off the wheels if I understood your post on the incident.   It just chewed up some teeth correct?

Correct, the blade did not break, just chewed it up a bit.


Not sure on the why, unless like has been said, something was not tightened all the way or something. I went through and got it tracking right, re-did the guides too. The wheels are belted and I did inspect them well when I put the new blade on and the belts look fine too.

Oh, 7.7 hours , last I looked.

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #326 on: March 17, 2018, 03:44:21 PM »
Take a look at the blade weld.  This is  COMMON problem with all of these imported sawmills.  The movement of tensioning the blade and the tracking on the right side of the head are directly dependent on each other.  They happen simultaneously because of the bolt the idle wheel assembly pivots on.

Even the slightest difference in blade length (at the weld) changes this relationship.  Slightly longer/shorter and you're chasing tracking/tension on every blade change.  Common problem with certain brands/sources of blades.   :-X

I was wondering if slight blade length made a difference.. I'm down to a new blade on the machine and 2 spares.. when I get to one spare I'll be calling.. or if I free some $$ up somewhere. Do you sell 5 packs?

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #327 on: March 18, 2018, 09:12:32 AM »
So, re-thinking this bad blade and tracking thing..

After I sawed that post, I ran that mill again with that blade in it , no load. But it tracked fine, wasn't till I put the new blade in did I have a tracking problem. So I don't think the event of hitting the post changed anything.. just the blade difference!

Offline Ox

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #328 on: March 18, 2018, 10:24:59 AM »
It's a good thing that the question about the tracking was solved so quickly.  Good job Richard!
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Offline furu

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #329 on: March 18, 2018, 11:43:50 AM »
So if I understand correctly you put another (different) new blade on and the problem went away? 
Then it must be the blade and Richard's description was the key. 
It would be interesting to look at that blade very carefully to see if you can verify the weld anomaly.
Integrity is not just doing the right thing.
Integrity is not just doing the right thing when no one is looking.
Integrity is doing the right thing when no one else will ever even know.

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #330 on: March 18, 2018, 03:57:06 PM »
So if I understand correctly you put another (different) new blade on and the problem went away? 
Then it must be the blade and Richard's description was the key. 
It would be interesting to look at that blade very carefully to see if you can verify the weld anomaly.

NO.. When I hit that stop, I throttled up the motor which spun that ruined blade just fine. Then I took that blade off and put on a new blade which is where my tracking problems began. So I just went through the tracking adjustment procedure on that new blade. It runs fine although I've not run it through a log yet, but don't anticipate any problems.

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #331 on: March 24, 2018, 09:50:10 AM »
So here's a bit of what I got going.

Building some drying platforms, off the ground for good air circulation, can pick them up with the tractor to move them around or just pick the wood off of them with the tractor. One with and one without wood..



Have the same type of thing for my take off bench along side the mill



and off in the distance..




Having fun with this thing, that's for sure. Going to need to cut some more trees before too long.

Where I used to see trees in the woods, I now just see logs sticking out of the ground! WTH??

Offline Ox

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #332 on: March 24, 2018, 10:21:58 AM »
Keeping things neat and organized makes for a better time all around.

I remember the first year after I started milling after a long winter of fabrication and how things changed in my little brain.  I used to be a woodcutter on and off and everything looked like firewood to me and now all of that looks like saw logs now.  You ain't the only one!  lol

Oh - and remember this:  the uglier the log the prettier the grain.  Straight trees make nice straight lumber but boring as far as character.  Find the most twisted up hot mess of a log and try sawmilling it.  You might be surprised!  Or completely disappointed because the middle is full of swamp water in a cavity that was not hinted at by the tree's growth...
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Offline drobertson

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #333 on: March 24, 2018, 03:13:18 PM »
Nice looking pallets A.O. , you know, every time I think of your user name, I think of Fonzy,  A o, O a,, what ever,, :laugh:

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #334 on: March 24, 2018, 03:19:37 PM »
Nice looking pallets A.O. , you know, every time I think of your user name, I think of Fonzy,  A o, O a,, what ever,, :laugh:

It actually stands for Agent Orange. Nothing to do with Nam. When I bought my Harley someone said you look all Agent Orange.. and it just stuck!


Offline drobertson

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #335 on: March 24, 2018, 04:24:27 PM »
yea, I forgot about the moto, your set up is rally looking good,

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #336 on: March 24, 2018, 04:49:07 PM »
yea, I forgot about the moto, your set up is rally looking good,

Thanks..

Offline starmac

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #337 on: March 24, 2018, 05:49:04 PM »
Your pallets are looking good, a little different from what I want to build.
Instead of legs I want runners under mine on the same spacing as the top, where the stickers will be, so the weight will be on the stickers if I stack pallets. Around these parts the ground can get pretty soft, and I would expect the legs to sink in, you may not have that problem.

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #338 on: March 25, 2018, 09:26:49 AM »
Your pallets are looking good, a little different from what I want to build.
Instead of legs I want runners under mine on the same spacing as the top, where the stickers will be, so the weight will be on the stickers if I stack pallets. Around these parts the ground can get pretty soft, and I would expect the legs to sink in, you may not have that problem.

Again, I'm just cutting for me, my own personal lumber yard if you will, wont have any reason to stack them (so I say now right). I'll probably sit them on 2x8-10-12 cutoffs or something, whatever I have laying around so I'm not too concerned, but thanks for pointing it out..
My ground is dirty sand.. pretty stiff actually and NEVER gets muddy, which I like. Got some muddy spots down by the river bottoms but I just ignore it when its wet.

Offline starmac

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #339 on: March 25, 2018, 01:54:31 PM »
Would love to have a few acres like that around here.
Oh yea, nice bike too.

Offline JrSawyer

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #340 on: March 25, 2018, 07:33:38 PM »
Would love to have a few acres like that around here.

I wouldn't mind that either.  I'm a little jealous seeing pictures of A.O.s mill up and running. 8)

I'm waiting on snow to melt + another month for the ground to dry up before I can really start getting after things.

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #341 on: March 26, 2018, 07:50:28 AM »
Would love to have a few acres like that around here.
Oh yea, nice bike too.

That dirty sand ground is good for a lot of things, growing stuff is not one of them! I've got a few food plots here and most look like the Sahara desert unfortunately!

Thanks on the bike, its a 2007 I bought new and has a bit over 85k miles on it, I'm also a retired MSF instructor, which adds some to the miles.

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #342 on: March 26, 2018, 07:51:57 AM »
I wouldn't mind that either.  I'm a little jealous seeing pictures of A.O.s mill up and running. 8)

I'm waiting on snow to melt + another month for the ground to dry up before I can really start getting after things.

Yeah, cold as heck here too, it was 39 when I got up this morning and only supposed to get to 59 today! ;-)

Offline Ox

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #343 on: March 26, 2018, 10:07:39 AM »
Wow!  You stayed above freezing over night!  I also enjoy temps in the 50s because one can work hard in a T shirt and not overheat or sweat too bad.  Just be sure to have something handy to throw on after you stop!
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #344 on: March 26, 2018, 01:27:41 PM »
So my sawmill came with instructions as to how to run it, along with lots of advice from guys like all of you, thanks!

BUT.. it doesn't come with instructions on how to cut wood! Been working on it... "How to slice up a log to achieve best results" , I have not figured it out yet. Normally I just go along and kind of cut what I need, 1x's 2x's whatever but end up with lots of odd thickness boards. Anyhow.. Wanted to start piling up some 2x4's to get drying today. Got my log mostly canted then sliced out a couple 3 1/2 inch planks, stood them up side by side and sliced them 1 1/2" thick and then finished with a couple 4x4's and a couple oddballs that were about 1/2 x 3 1/2..
Better ways to do this or is this about right?











And yes, those are de-lux hand cut stickers!!  ;-)   Rookie huh???

And those 2 4x4's are just there temporarily , I would NEVER put 4x and 2x on the same rack! ;-)

Offline Stevem

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #345 on: March 28, 2018, 11:58:29 AM »
Lots of ways to saw logs depending what the end product is to be used for.  Construction wood is pretty much the easiest.  All logs have taper and the taper has to come out some where.  I center the log to the saw blade relative to the heart, taper comes off the outside.  Best scenario is the pith comes out with the kerf of the saw blade. Hard to do with a band mill That keeps the "slope of grain" within the 12:1 ratio for strength.
In grade sawing the best wood (clearest) is on the outside so I try and cut parallel to the outside of the log and take the taper out of the center. 
Some woods are "best" cut based on grain or growth ring orientation.  Oak is a good example.  Quarter saw oak has a a distinctive appearance but to get the best showy grain you need to be less than 10 degrees off of vertical grain. Other woods need to be flat sawn to get the best grain pattern.
Quarter saw (vertical grain) is the most stable from a bending and twisting.  Door and window frames are generally sawn this way because of the stability.  Don't want a twisted doors.
On smaller logs cut into posts or beams the heart needs to be centered to lessen the effects of cracking and splitting.  Notice heart center on 4 x 4's from the big box stores.
PS:  Other sawyers do it different than me!
Stevem
Because you can doesn't mean you should!

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #346 on: March 28, 2018, 01:56:04 PM »
Thanks Stevem,
Most of what I'm cutting right now is construction lumber, and almost all SYP. I have been cutting some 1x stuff for shelves and stuff too but mostly just the construction lumber.

Offline starmac

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #347 on: April 13, 2018, 06:02:22 PM »
Well shoot, must have warmed up enough, to take that agent orange for a cross country ride huh.lol

We still have a lot of snow here, but the bikes have been out for a week or so. A buddy has his stored here in my shop, and said he is ready, but the first 100 yards would be real iffy for  a few more days yet.

Offline A.O.

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #348 on: April 13, 2018, 06:48:58 PM »
Well shoot, must have warmed up enough, to take that agent orange for a cross country ride huh.lol

We still have a lot of snow here, but the bikes have been out for a week or so. A buddy has his stored here in my shop, and said he is ready, but the first 100 yards would be real iffy for  a few more days yet.

80 degrees today, will take the bike out tomorrow for sure!

Offline furu

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Re: Baby mill reccomendations??
« Reply #349 on: April 14, 2018, 06:32:25 AM »
Glad to see you back.  Have not seen many posts from you as of late.  How is the milling going?
Integrity is not just doing the right thing.
Integrity is not just doing the right thing when no one is looking.
Integrity is doing the right thing when no one else will ever even know.