Woodmizer MP100

[Cory]

I was on the woodmizer site and saw the mp100 that goes on the LT15.  Looked like a trick to me.  Called woodmizer and got a quote for $4495 for the MP100 Log Molder 5HP Elec 230V/60Hz 1Ph.  About $1700 for the clamps, T&G knive and the D face knive.  What are everyone's thought on this new product/price? Total set up would be around $14000 with LT15 and blades.

[zopi]

I have found that very often the multipurpose attchme.ts are more trouble than they are worth...of course, if one has a specific need for such a machine, the only real question is, is there a more productive solution which will do the job for a similar price...depends what you are trying to accomplish...if you are just doing tongue and groove, a bigger sawmill amd a used industrial shaper with a feed motor might be a more economical choice.
I will say, I believe wholeheartedly in Wm's products...their quality is incomparable, but is the expenditure in line with the economics involved with the labor, and rate of production justifiable?

[Brad_bb]

Zopi, why don't you expand on that.  What is an industrial shaper, where do you get one, how much would it cost?  How does it work? Any pics or links?

[r.man]

A friend was going to give me an old shaper a few years ago before I knew about phase converters. If I remember right it was a 3 or 4 sided planer type machine that was designed to use shaped knives to create profiled material. A common use would be flooring, tongue on one side, groove on the other and a destressing groove on the bottom. It used special high speed three phase motors so it eventually ended up getting scrapped. If I had only known then what I know now.

[Dan_Shade]

It looks to me like the woodmizer option would be the ticket for someone building a log cabin.

[zopi]

A shaper is just a big router in a table...either I dod not catch, or you did not say what you were making...or how much...I do concur that the wm molder would be da bomb for building a cabin...but it is a little pricy to build one building...at least a small one....I wonder what the economic break point is on that.
It is pretty well docume.ted that the mills pay for themselves,  and pretty quick...

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
I have one here at our locaiton. I have a customer coming tomorrow morning to see it in action. Would eveyone purchase one? I would say not. If someone wanted to plane a large table top, yes I think it would do the job. Do you need to make some tounge and grove beams, yep it would do the job. I am learning more about them as we use them. The work stays stationary and the planner / moulder moves. So you could do some long pieces.
I will let you know as we use it more. We planned a piece of Locust at the open house, it worked well as the planner.
It runs off 220V single phase.
Marty

[redbeard]

Not knowing alot about the functions of a portable mill planer molder but it would be nice if they had 3 sided capabilities in a single pass. Also will the WM MP 100 fit  other mill beds? I believe the Logosol Norwood one will adjust to FIT most mill frames.

[Dale Hatfield]

fits only the 15  frame. Only electric power no gas option. Get a gas powerplant on it . then it looks better to me.

[Darrel]

The reason for no gas option is probably because vibration from the engine would cause irregularities in the surface being planed/molded.

[WoodenHead]

This post goes back a ways! 

I believe Logosol has a gas version available.

[Brad_bb]

I bought the MP100 about 6 months ago and just finally got it set up and working two days ago.  I resurfaced two reclaimed timbers and boy was it slick! 
I would post the link of my video from Friday, but in it I dropped the F-bomb our of sheer joy at how well it worked!  Swearing is not allowed on FF, so I'm assuming that also applies to a linked youtube video.

[Gwhunter]

I bought the MP100 about 6 months ago and just finally got it set up and working two days ago.  I resurfaced two reclaimed timbers and boy was it slick! 
I would post the link of my video from Friday, but in it I dropped the F-bomb our of sheer joy at how well it worked!  Swearing is not allowed on FF, so I'm assuming that also applies to a linked youtube video.

I don't think YT has an issue with language, I'd love to see the 100 in real world action.

Matt

[beenthere]

YT isn't FF.. ;)

[terrifictimbersllc]

I bought the MP100 about 6 months ago and just finally got it set up and working two days ago.  I resurfaced two reclaimed timbers and boy was it slick! 
I would post the link of my video from Friday, but in it I dropped the F-bomb our of sheer joy at how well it worked!  Swearing is not allowed on FF, so I'm assuming that also applies to a linked youtube video.

Perhaps edit and update it?

[thecfarm]

Make another one!!!!!

[schakey]

Watch Traditional timber building in Scotland with Wood-Mizer LT15 on YT
I need to learn how to post YT videos ;D

[Brad_bb]

Ok, Here's my MP100 in action.  I took the time to carefully edit the audio. Enjoy.  Hit me with any questions.

http://youtu.be/vqrN4dzH8uI

Things I learned during this test:
-Make sure both you and your helper are wearing hearing and eye protection.
-This planing produces a large volume of chips.  It's mostly air and is light weight, but takes up a lot of volume.  Surfacing 4 sides of one beam will take up 1-1.33 bags of the dust collector, or about 55 gallons.  I'm planning to build a 4'x4'x8' box from 2x3's and osb with a sturdy pallet type frame under it so I can pick it up with my forklift and load it in the back of my pickup to go dump it.  It will be like the back of a chipper truck blowing the chips into the box.
-I need to mount a swing arm to the wall with a rope that will hold the hose of the dust collector up so it doesn't drag or catch the outrigger or tire of the mill.
-The height of the mill bed makes it difficult to see the scale for setting depth.  I need an elevated walkway, or a periscope.   I bought the LT15GO in case I ever wanted to take it anywhere to saw.  Most of the time it will be stationary though.  I added extensions on the bed by making support leg extensions.  Woodmizer doesn't specifically endorse adding bed extensions to the LT15GO, because they don't want anyone trying to tow/move the mill with any extensions attached.  The weight distribution would be all wrong and dangerous if someone tried to do this, so they have to advise against it for liability reasons.
-If I put the timber against the bed stops, the MP100 blade won't reach all the way over the stop.  It can leave a 1/16" strip on the edge that is not planed.  So I shimmed the timbers out with some small spacer blocks of uniform thickness.
-I need additional log clamps due to my extensions. When buying bed extensions, also buy a clamp for each one.  I also want to buy the cant clamps made specifically the MP100.  They did not come with because I bought just the head unit, using the LT15GO as the bed.
-Make hardwood wedges to shim the timber(which I did).  For timberframing, unless you are scribing, you need two faces square to each other to layout dimensions from.
-This is a lot of fun.  We'll see if it's still fun after I do a lot of timbers.

[jim blodgett]

Nice.

[Peter Drouin]

Looks like that went well, Good job 8)

[Gwhunter]

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

[redbeard]

Really puts a nice finish on the beams.

[Brad_bb]

Well, since the dust collector bag would fill up from doing just one beam, we built a bigger receptacle.  4'x4'x8'.  the blower motor will blow the large chips into the box and it should be good for 8 to 10 beams.  Then we have to dump it.  It's designed to fit in my pick up bed so I can take it out to the burn pile or spread it to decompose.  I can load it into the pick up with the forklift or carry it to the dump location with the forklift.  I wish I could find somebody who could use the chips.


 

We put air relief holes on the sides near the top and stapled 1/4" wire mesh.  For fun we want to stencil "Danger, live animals", and get my buddy in the box, then have another buddy come over and have him look at what I got.  Then the guy inside can roar and beat on the inside of the box when he goes to peek in and scare him!

[Brad_bb]

Here are some of what I'm producing with the LT15go with MP100 Beam planer.  FYI, I've got the planer head adjusted and my technique down and these are coming out dead square on two faces and nearly dead square on the others.  It has taken longer than I thought to do each beam, but our technique is getting honed and we are getting faster.  Right now we are at 1.27 timbers per hour.  I want to get at least to 2 per hour.  It all depends on if we find anything while wanding them with the detector before putting them on the mill(we denailed them, but we've also found that we occasionally have missed one).  From left to right, a beech beam with a bunch of knots, a surprise black walnut beam, and a clear straight grained beech beam.  These are 8"X10"x12feet.  The first 10 beams I've done including these came from an old grainery that was dismantled by some Amish fellows in central Indiana(that I bought them from).    It is clearly a mix of quality.  One beam had an ant or termite nest in 70 percent of it.  I could tell from one face.  I tried sawing it hoping I'd salvage some boards from it, but it was junk and there was powder dust everywhere.  The Black walnut beam looked like nothing special from the outside, with some insect damage in the sapwood on one side, but as soon as I stared sawing, I saw the brown dust coming out and I was ecstatic! I realized what it was.  what you see is the one check it has and one bit of wane.  the other faces look great.  The remainder of my Beech timbers came from the Krell French Piano factory that was built in New Castle IN in 1901.  The quality of those is more consistent.  I'll post pics as I get some.


 

[rjwoelk]

Brad I have this same equipment in mind. I have lt15 37 ft track, am looking at a 100. I get out your way now and then, (long haul trucking). Would like to see your set up.send me a email.