Board thickness with woodmizer lt-40

[Peder McElroy]

Is there any trick to getting each board the same thickness using the mill mounted scale,is it just by eye? Other than to buy the accuset attachment. I'm used to the Lucas set works that is the same every time. Any help would be great.
I'm loving the fact that I am lucky to have two mills,both with different uses.
Thanks  Peder

[T Welsh]

Peder McElroy,Its just bye eye! the trick is to use the pointer or indicator and use one spot as a constant reference. Tim

[Stephen1]

I agree, it is hard but it as I was told a little practice and you`ll get it.
I would also like to get some sort of automatic system. I also find mine head will drop an 1)8th . Maybe someone else has added a setworks to a 1993 LT40 like mine. And if so how much.

´

[zopi]

That is one problem I will have when I move up from the fifteen to a forty...had not thought of it...the setworks on the fifteen is very positive, and tells you exactly where you are, by feel...hmm...guess I better get a mill with setworks...lol

[bandmiller2]

Peder,prehaps you could afix a cheap magnifier to the pointer bracket.My  bandmill uses hydraulics to raise and lower the head most accurate moving down,have no problem holding 1/32" tollerance.I could see where electric could be a problem with the size of the increments. Frank C.

[zopi]

Was thinking about this one last night...not sure how you would go about adapting set works...but a carriage travel digital readout off a metal lathe to display head height as an absolute above deck, or relative to a reference point would be coool....not sure if they can he found in twelve volts, or of they could be adapted easily..

[Chuck White]

I've found that I must be consistant with the point where I adjust the saw height, and I must stay at the same attitude when looking at the pointer.

If I am level from my eye to the pointer, I'll get one thickness of cut, but if I duck a little or stand on my toes, I'll get a noticeable difference in board thickness.

I had thought about putting another pointer, perhaps a piece of wire in front of the pointer (about an inch) and using it in a similar manner as one would use the sights on the rifle.

You would line up the add-on pointer and the one originally installed on the mill and align them both with the mark on the scale.  It would have to be accurate then!  ;D

[Marc Thornton]

That is an awesome idea chuck and seems like it would be a pretty simple modification. 

[zopi]

That is an awesome idea, could make a small  box with lexan in each end and a pair of hairs placed a half in apart or so, and mounted to the original sight mount...heh...the geek in me is already thinking of ways to make it eliminate parallax without ducking, althoug it is probably not practical...

[dovetails]

If they have to be exact size,buy a planer to make them all the same thickness
It's called RUFF cut for a reason afterall!

[Marc Thornton]

If they have to be exact size,buy a planer to make them all the same thickness
It's called RUFF cut for a reason afterall!

I think the point is if you go 1/8" heavy on every cut, 10 boards later you have wasted a board in extra thickness. 

If you go light from what the customer wanted, that is worse as you lost the board. and you have another 7 chances to lose another. 

I would say that if there is a simple way to ensure you are getting what you desire, most people would implement it.  Heck, a solution this simple I would think the mill manufacturers would adopt. 

[DR Buck]

Was thinking about this one last night...not sure how you would go about adapting set works...but a carriage travel digital readout off a metal lathe to display head height as an absolute above deck, or relative to a reference point would be coool....not sure if they can he found in twelve volts, or of they could be adapted easily..

Zopi,   This wouldn't work.  You'd need to account for kerf loss.   That's the bigggest benefit of Accuset.  The manual scale by default allows "automatic" kerf compensation if you align the mark that same way on every board.  A straight linear digital readout indicating height above deck will not.

[Bandmill Bandit]

practice is the only way I got it to the point where I get consistant results. Have to make sure the line on the ruler is lined up with the little bar on the marker the same every time. I like it to show just a smidge of black above bar with eye level to the marker bar.

I used a  thin stick about and inch wide duct taped to the back of the control box, top leveled to the little bar for a few thousand BF to get the feel for eye level to bar.

Also I have found that stoping on the up stroke of the mill head makes for more consistant cuts as well.

My next mill will have the accuset system on it.

[sgschwend]

Using a clear lens of about 1/8-3/16" thick, scribe two lines one on each side of the lens. 

When you use this lens you move your eyes till you only see one line.  That will eliminate the viewing angle error. 

[zopi]

Oh you would have to do some mental math, but a Dro would not be without use..

A better solution might be a backlit crosshair projected onto the rule...LED light would do it, and aligned as the visual crosshair...or maybe a laser diode aligned the same way..

[Magicman]

Or you could build an electronic gizmo with a sending unit telling it how far it was from the log deck.  You could just program it for board thickness and kerf thickness.....oh wait, Accuset II.   

[Peder McElroy]

I moved the pointer to the back side of the bracket that holds it on and it is about 3/16" closer and easer to see. I think that it will work. Peder

[zopi]

Yeah, magic, but accuset won't adapt to older mills...

[Magicman]

Yup, tongue in cheek only, sorry.  I was needing a cup.

Seriously, the newer WM indicators are skeleton metal instead of Plexiglas with a line scribed on it.  I'll bet the two of them could be used in tandem with a spacer between.  That way, you could adjust for your standing height and should be very accurate.

With SetWorks, I have to look at the scale to determine my starting point.  I quickly found that the newer metal indicator was more accurate for my use.

[zopi]

Lol...'s ok...what I was thinking of is a small box with two pieced of plexi, and a scribed line
On both sides...but with a housed reflector inside which reflects Led light onto the scale, and happens to center to cast a shadow onto the scale at the height of the head...no parallax...if the led goes out, just line up the two marks visually and keep sawing...good for those last late evening logs too.

[Chuck White]

ZOPI, I think either the pointer or the plexiglass box you're talking about would work very well and not an expensive mod either.

I also like the idea of an LED shining through the plexi and casting a shadow onto the scale.

[Dan_Shade]

I put my chin on the flip up cover from the console.  that keeps my eye in a pretty consistant spot to reduce parallax problems.

[zopi]

ZOPI, I think either the pointer or the plexiglass box you're talking about would work very well and not an expensive mod either.

I also like the idea of an LED shining through the plexi and casting a shadow onto the scale.

I thinks so too...originally, I envisioned something like a compound bow swing sight aperture, and when they were x raying my arm today I was looking over the machines aperture, with its backlit crosshairs, and it occured to me that that was probably the answer to this problem, couple of ways, the box with the crosshairs makes a failsafe that allows the led to fail and you can keep sawing...have really not figured out the mechanics yet, the electronics are easy, but I am not sure how it should go together. I am thinking a piece of uhmw or teflon plastic sandwiched between the two peices of plexi, and a hole bored in the side for an Led....the other possibility is making a mount for a laser...which appeals to me, but powering amd switching an inexpensive laser is something I have yet to delve into...and the grand or so the laser from wm costs is a bit much.

Something else occurs, a projection dot lens sight made for a paintball gun would certainly give the desired accuracy amd eliminate parallax, but still requires the operator to stoop or stretch.
Whatever the device, it needs be simple and easily replaceable...

[caveman]

Our lt 28 came with a magnetic 1/4 scale.  I just ensure that it is lined up with a mark, then without moving my head, lower the saw head to the next desired mark.  It works well enough.  For dimensional lumber, I got a piece of magnetic strip and stuck some white tape on it and made a scale to make 2x4's, 2x6's, etc.  It takes into account for saw kerf.  Caveman

[Brucer]

I've never had a problem with consistent board thickness --- except when the cant moves due to changing stresses. Consistency is the key.

Always raise the head up to your reading. This means each time you drop down for the next cut you have to lower the head "too far" and then raise it to the final reading. If you overshoot and go to high, drop down below the reading and come up again.

This is based on a common principle for all mechanical systems -- adjust against the dominant force (which happens to be gravity with a sawhead). If you lower the head to the final height, friction between the head and the mast may keep it from sinking all the way down. That leaves a little slack in the support system, whether it's a chain, screws, or even a cylinder. When the sawblade hits the wood,the vibration will slowly take up slack and the head will sink slightly.

Keep your head at the same height relative to the mark on the indicator. You can minimize the effect of having your head in the wrong place by moving the indicator as close to the scale as possible (without actual contact).

While it's true that having your eyes too low or too high with respect to the indicator can throw you off a little, it shouldn't have that big an effect. Say your indicator is 1/16" away from the scale, and your head is 24" away from the indicator. That means varying your head up or down over a 6" range will give you a vertical error of 1/64".

Often the real culprit with variable thickness is our ability to stop the head exactly where we want it. If you're off a little, drop the head down and try again. Do it several times if you have to. Eventually you get a feel for how to bump the head up just enough.

Mills with faster head adjust speeds are harder to get just right.