Planer/Moulder

[Papa Bang]

I have about 40,000 bdf of intermountain red cedar (most still in the log) and I am thinking about moulding it for paneling, and siding etc. I don't have any experience with moulders or planers and would appreciate input from you folks. I have looked at the Logosol but do they work as well as advertised? I also have some very nice old growth larch as well as fir, spuce, and lodge pole pine. I don't have a kiln yet but I can air dry to about 12%.

Thank you

[beenthere]

Welcome Papa.
Your setup sounds interesting. Hope to hear more about how the sawing is going.

Check out the Baker sponsor (left column here) for their moulder for some good info.

Would like some pics, and some of your red cedar boards too. We like pics.  ;D

[spencerhenry]

i was in the market for a moulder last year. i looked at the one baker has, and the woodmizer, and the weinig. for any kind of production at all you need a machine of that size, and even that is small. but all set up with dust collection, 3 phase power, and cutters i was looking at about 50 grand. right now i can buy KD t&g lodgepole for about 70 cents per bdft, no way i would mill it for that. the markets are all so down right now that making money at it will be tough.

[logwalker]

I would start by asking you what you have available for power. The older machines available span a wide range of requirements. Joe

[Cedarman]

Papa, you said intermountain red cedar.  Is this something that is somewhat unique and you just can't go into a lumber yard and buy it?  If so then you won't be competing with the white woods.

I have a dedicated planer that quickly changes thickness and will plane up to 25" with a helical head.  15hp.
I have a small Dominion moulder that is a 2"x6".  That is as high and wide as I can make.  I can leave it set up for weeks at a time to run v groove paneling or in a couple hours can make a complete changeover to something else.  All the while leaving my planer to do other things.  Moulder cost 12 grand about 8 to 10 years ago and it was old but like new.  Moulder will run about 30 linear feet per minute or 700 to 900 square feet per hour of 6" or about 400 to 600 square feet of 4".  It is a cash cow.

My vote is for 2 machines.  I would go for the best used moulder you can get for the money.  If not trained in the use of a moulder, get some. MHO.

My vote is for 2 machines.   Put on paper the upsides and downsides of all alternatives and see what pencils best.

[Papa Bang]

Thank you for all the help. Lets see I do have 3 phase power and the cedar is western red but the intermountain version has more color and variation in color and it is hard to come by as it is too dry here for cedar. As far as the market conditions go I know that this is a poor time to sell products but when it comes back I hope that I'll be able to take advantage then... I hope.
Logwalker, do you remember Merrill & Ring in Port Angeles? I sawed on their 8' Letson & Burpee in 1983-84. I think I am getting old. Back to the planer, I have no experience with planers or moulders and any input on machines new or old would be very helpful. I will post some pictures (I'll have to figure that out) what would you like to see?

[Sawyerfortyish]

Papa we have a logosol we started out on. We found that to get straight lumber out of it you have to put straight lumber in. So we bought a straight line ripsaw. The Logosol does a fair job. I used to say it does a good job but we bought a new weinig moulder and what a differance in smoothness there is between machines. I don't remember how fast the logosols heads run but the weinigs run 4 times faster like 6000 rpm.But you get what you pay for 12 grand verses 80 grand with a few heads. A moulding machine will open new doors for you and you'll be able to get that last $$ out of your boards. You really do need to kiln dry the wood before it goes into a house 12% is still to much T&G flooring or paneling will shrink and leave gaps. The logosol does what they say it will and will get you started. We had no experience running a moulder but learned by trial and error and reading the book. The logosol is pretty simple. Our logosol sits over in a corner now collecting dust we used it 2 years and up graded to a weinig. One of these days I'll blow the dust off it and send it down the road if this economy gets better and used equipment becomes worth something again.

[Lil Badger Creek]

Sawyerfortyish,  I enjoyed reading your post! I would love to hear more about you and your Weinig! Any insights on owning and operating. Pictures of your set up ("we all like pictures" :D). How many feet per day do you actually run in average day. If you had it to do all over again (knowing what you know now), what would you do differently? How much training did the Weinig take to know how to run/set-up? Do you do more custom work, or for in house sales? Thanks for your help! Stephen