Useful sawmill mods

[Bibbyman]

YEA!  The sawdust chute does need to be more flexable in direction.

Did you just change the henged angle part or did you have to change the chute on the sawhead?

The only thing I can think of is to cut the whole thing off and put on a bolted flange that can be turned up, down or left, right.

[Gilman]

I straightened the hinged attachment by cutting a pie section out of the stock chute.  In the bottom photo you can see two weld tackes next to the rubber tube.  That's where I cut out the pie section.

I just tacked it because I knew I didn't like the stock design but wasn't sure if my modification would work well.

Adjustable will be attempt #2.

I'll post some pic's of how I did it.

Anybody out there already made an adjustable one?

I also cut out the grizzlies when I was sawing for the local commercial sawmill.  When you get to cutting fir fast you end up with some 4-8" long fibers that pack in there pretty quick.  This creates a big problem when sawing 30'ers.  You plug up in the first 5' and have 25' of sawdust to pack into your mill.

After reading more on bands breaking I'm going to put them back but I'm going to make them easily removable for either cleaning out on the go, or removing them when sawing fibery logs.

[WH_Conley]

22 1/2 degree 3" plumbing fitting with 2 or 3 ft piece of pipe gets dust out of the way and leaves everything original, could use the rubber hose but have not.

[Brucer]

I also cut out the grizzlies when I was sawing for the local commercial sawmill.  When you get to cutting fir fast you end up with some 4-8" long fibers that pack in there pretty quick.  This creates a big problem when sawing 30'ers.  You plug up in the first 5' and have 25' of sawdust to pack into your mill.

After reading more on bands breaking I'm going to put them back but I'm going to make them easily removable for either cleaning out on the go, or removing them when sawing fibery logs.

When I started sawing for Louis last year, the first thing he did was walk me around the mill and give me a quick safety induction. And the first thing he pointed out was a huge rip in the outside of the flexible sawdust tube. "Never stand beside the sawhead", he told me. "This is where a blade came out."

On the older mills the blade stoppers, or grizzlies, were made from 1/4" diameter rod. After stopping 2 or 3 blades, one of the rods broke off and the one beside it bent right over. It was after that that a blade punched through the heavy tubing.

Louis has over 5000 hours on that machine, and he's broken hundreds of blades (I contributed a few). Only half a dozen or so headed out the chute, but that's scary enough to make me want to keep those stops in there. The part of my anatomy that's level with the outlet isn't as strong as that reinforced rubber tube.

I've made myself a kind of fork with four prongs that fit between the stops. Ends are bent over at 90 degrees, and reach right into the band housing. Usually one push/pull motion cleans a plugged outlet. 'Course, I don't have a Super so I can't push through the wood quite that fast; don't have to worry about the chute plugging part way through a cut ;)

[Gilman]

Thanks Brucer,
I was going to use cold rolled 1018 1/4" diameter rods, but sounds like they aren't quite enough.  Or I could use the 1/4 inch rod but they are a wear item.  When a blade breaks and strikes it, I inspect the grizzly and either reinstall, or throw away and replace.  Gives me something to think about.

[Bibbyman]

I've made myself a kind of fork with four prongs that fit between the stops. Ends are bent over at 90 degrees, and reach right into the band housing. Usually one push/pull motion cleans a plugged outlet. 'Course, I don't have a Super so I can't push through the wood quite that fast; don't have to worry about the chute plugging part way through a cut ;)

Got a picture of that tool?

[Brucer]

Gilman:

I don't know when Wood-Mizer changed the design, but on my 6-month old mill, the grizzly / blade catcher is made from 3 pieces of flatbar that taper toward the bottom. Haven't measured them at the deepest point, but I'd guess they are 1/4" x 1" at the base -- considerably stronger than the original design.

Bibbyman:

No pictures. I just bent 4 pieces of metal coathanger to make the prongs of the fork. Then I twisted them together at one end to make a crude handle. Now that I know it works, I'll make something that looks a little more professional -- something I won't be to embarassed to post a picture of  ;D.

[Gilman]

Here's the first chute modification without the rubber tube. The triangle piece was cut out and then tacked back together.



I thought I took pictures of the steps to make this, but I must have just mentally took the pictures. smiley_whacko

Here's the chute in the UP position


Here it is in the factory position


Here's the chute folded up and ready to be tested at Firedog's place tomorrow.

[Bibbyman]

We had a minor breakdown this morning.  The cable that pulls the dragback broke at the end of one loop.

I knew it'd take a couple of days and some shipping cost to get a replacement from Wood-Mizer so I thunk of something to substitute for the cable.  My first thought was a piece of small chain.  Lucky I fund just what I was looking for at Westlakes hardware.  I got a couple of feet just in case it does not hold up.



I don't have the specs on the chain but I'd say the links were about 3/4" long and 1/2" wide on the outside.  This was what I found in Westlakes that looked strong enough to work and small enough to fit between the frame and the pulley whell.  It worked out just right although I did have to stand the last link on end and bunt it a couple of whacks with a hammer to get it to open up enough to accept a 1/4" bolt.



This bolt is a bugger!  It's about 1/4" too long to come out from between the pulley and the frame.  Rather than disassemble the whole kicker assemble (been there, done that,  don't want to do it again), I use a long screw driver to pry over the pulley.   Before re-assembling,  I cut about 1/8" off the bolt.  I should have cut more.  I assembled the bolt with clinch nut and washer but but found the extra thickness of the chain vs. cable left the chain link bolted too tight.  It's got to be loose so it can turn as the pulley turns.  So I took it apart and removed the washer. 



The other end was no problem.

[Gilman]

It's good to see you're earning your keep at your new job Bibby.  ;)


The adjustable sawdust chute has been working out great.  I keep it in the up position until the wind is not in my favor.  Then I just loosen the thumb screw and lower the chute and tighten her back up.

[Bibbyman]

Here is not so much a sawmill mod but a handy way I've found to work on the belt on the board dragback on the Wood-Mizer mill.

Over the past three and a half years we've had to work on the drag back a number of times.  Little by little we got a little smarter on how to work on it. 

Yesterday the little set screw backed out of the pulley on the motor that lifts the dragback arm.  You've got to get the belt off'n the pulley to get to the set screw.  It can be quite a tussle lifting the motor against the spring that provides tension for the belt.  We have figured out how to use a stick between the mill frame and the motor and lower the head to provide the upward push so to be able to remove the belt from the pulley.



Here is the stick placed on the mill frame and under the dragback motor - the head is lowered so to push up on the motor - thus allowing the belt to be taken off with some ease.



Here is a shot of the end of the motor.  The belt can now be jumped off the pulley. 

This little trick can save a lot of fight and use of bad words. ;)

[gmmills]

     Those of us with WM mills know what a pain in the butt adjusting the blade guide arm rollers are. Trying to get them aligned properly can be really time consuming. These two wrenches will make adjusting the rollers less frustrating.
   

                                     
                                                       

   

 The wrenches are Snap-on sizes are 15/16" and 1 1/8". They are a bit pricey, but well worth the money.  The angled heads on them allow you to get on jam nuts and cam bolt heads no matter what position they are turned to. 

[Bibbyman]

gmmills,

Great tip! I've not bought Snap-on so I don't know where to look for them but I'm going to check out the Sears tool selection the next time I'm there.

Are they also thinner than regular open end wrenches?  One complaint I have with Sears tools is that they are so thick it's hard to get them into some places.

It's 3:00 am and I got a wild hair and decided to read the thread from the start. 

What a collection of great ideas!

I got down to page 5 and found where I got the second back support on our Wood-Mizer linked in and working.  Happened to note the date was just a few days past a year ago. 



Not much to update on my mod but say it's worked great!  For the first few months I'd kind of check things out to see if anything looked like it was about to blow but have pretty much quite thinking about it. 

Wood-Mizer has come out with the retrofit kit and some have reported installing them.  WM has also made them standard on the LT40 Super and optional on the standard HD models.



Oh yea,  Mary's mod of a place to store the wrench is still just like it was in May.  It works so why change it?

[SawDust_Studios]

Bib,

I'm going to have to reread this thread.  Does that chain lift up the drag back?  I'm not familar with that part. I have a retro drag back on my LT40HD, but I don't remember those parts.  Was this one of your mods?

Dave

[SawDust_Studios]

I am not a welder or metal fabricator, I deal with wood.  One Mod I'd like to see

ATTN WOODMIZER

I'd like to see the board return have a lid on it so that it also serves as a tool box. It would be a great place to store wrenches, etc that I always seem to need and always seem to forget.  And it already has it's own place on the mill.   Of course, it is already heavy enough.

[Gilman]

I'd like the mill to come with a mounted fire extinguisher.  As an addition kit would be fine with me.  You can't insure the mill without one, at least with my agent.

[Bibbyman]

Bib,

I'm going to have to reread this thread.  Does that chain lift up the drag back?  I'm not familar with that part. I have a retro drag back on my LT40HD, but I don't remember those parts.  Was this one of your mods?

Dave

Just look up  : a couple of posts.  We broke the little cable that lifts the dragback.  It was on a weekend so I came up with the chain fix.

[gmmills]

 Bibbyman,

   No need to go to Sears. Just go to snap-on .com. You can order them on-line. They are called 4 WAY ANGLE HEAD WRENCHES. The Snap-On part numbers are VS30B for the 15/16"and VS36B for the 1 1/8". Just type in the part number in the search box and it will take you right to them. The width of the wrenches is not an issue. Just a little bit wider than the width of the jam nuts.

[SawDust_Studios]

Bib,

My dragback must be different, there isn't a chain or anything that lifts it. You pull a pin and let it drop.  If you want it up, you lift it by hand and put the pin back in.

Does the supers have a different drag back?  Mine is one of the retro kits they did this summer.

Dave

[Bibbyman]

Bib,

My dragback must be different, there isn't a chain or anything that lifts it. You pull a pin and let it drop.  If you want it up, you lift it by hand and put the pin back in.

Does the supers have a different drag back?  Mine is one of the retro kits they did this summer.

Dave

Hummm??  I've not seen one like that.  Ours comes with a switch on the dash that drops it and pulls it back up. Your's must be an improved model. ???

[DR Buck]

The retro fits are manual.  No motor  :-[    No switch  :-[  Just a pin to hold it up.

[Kevin_H.]

Well this isnt a saw mill mod but we added an extra blade to the gangsaw/edger, it's a stake cutting monster now, got me thinking about a moving up to a 15 hp motor and one more blade...

You can never have too much power, (insert tim taylor grunt here!)





This is an old timber king edger by the way.

[ElectricAl]

Kevin,

Nice mod ;)

All you need now is some blue paint and a "Binford" STICKER 8)

[Kevin_H.]

The binford stake o' matic 3000 with the optional turbo and first aid kit. ;D

[Radar67]

And don't forget the FIRE extinguisher!!!!! :D