Meadow Miller finds the Northwest

sgschwend · July 29, 2011, 11:45:25 AM

Meadow Miller was spotted driving up and down Whidbey Island, in search for a place to make land. If he is stopping by your place make sure he has your address and phone number. I did loan him my GPS so he could navigate that way. He does and can check the forum for messages.

We had a great time, running both sawmills, this was the first time I saw a Lucas setup, along with the switch over to slabbing. It was really helpful to see this as it relates to my different mill, since we have similar requirements. I got to say, that 10" deep cut is really impressive, going up from 8" to 10" does change what the mill can do!

Here are a couple of pics.

Magicman · July 29, 2011, 11:51:15 AM

I'm looking forward to meeting him next weekend. He is then supposed to to make a trip through my neck of the woods. 8)

redbeard · July 29, 2011, 12:50:07 PM

He is likeing whidbey island. He is sawing at my place today. Going to give the lucas a test on some big doug firs. I will post some pics later.

redbeard · July 31, 2011, 05:52:10 PM

Friday we had a great turn out of folks to come see the Lucas in action. I had some big Doug Fir buts that averaged 450 bft each Chris captured 3-4 10"x10" cants out of each and some 2x6"-8"-10" side lumber. One fellow had some a nice large maple with a wide crotch that he had Chris slab up too show the slabber attachment. and a nieghbor had a big Fir log with lots of big knots that he wanted slabbed into 3" x 24" slabs for his chicken coop. There was alot of contagious sawmill fever spreading and i was getting nervous if a couple of Lucas were to hit the island i could be out of business! I was very impressed with the performance of the mill and Meadows Miller made it look easy, I was amazed that Chris never used a level and only pulled his tape measure out twice on each log. The show was a success and we smoked up some ribs,chicken and pork and one of the guests brought over a bunch of Dungeness crab so we had pleanty to eat. A big Thanks to Chris ( Meadows Miller) and Baileys for making it all happen.

Jeff · July 31, 2011, 05:55:14 PM

He's going to have to be behind the wheel for awhile now I bet. Pig Roast is getting really close!

sparky · August 03, 2011, 11:54:53 PM

Update: Meadow Miller finds Minnesota

Chris arrived in Dalton mid-afternoon on Monday. He sawed up some logs to Demo his Lucas 1030. I gave him a tour of our antique tractor show grounds and equipment on Tues. A friend fired up his 1918 Minneapolis 40-80 and allowed Chris to take it for a joy ride. Today, I took him to see some large red and white pines at Itaska State Park, which is also the headwaters of the Mississippi River. We also visited a site where some logging friends were cutting pulp. We continued the day with a look at another antique tractor show site to see their sawmills. They are in the final stages of installing a large, verticle, bandmill that will be powered by steam. Final event today was a quick look at the world's largest open-pit iron mine in Hibbing, MN.

First thing tomorrow, Thurs., we tour the MN Forestry Museum in Grand Rapids and look at the "Lost 40". The lost 40 is a 40 acre tract that was not cut during the logging era, 100 years ago. We are 80 miles from Duluth and Chris should be in position to arrive at Jeff's Friday afternoon.

Sparky

PS: I only had to remind Chriw one time to drive on the right side of the road!

Meadows Miller · August 04, 2011, 12:36:21 AM

Gday

Thanks for having me it was an awesome three days I spent with you fellas thanks for having Me and I loved spending time with you and milling those logs

;D ;D 8) ;D ;D

I got to Dalton MN in 38 hrs with afew rest stops on the way

;) ;D

Jeff I am in Grand Rapids MN and will be in Duluth tomorrow morning and will be hiting your place on friday evening ineed you to pm me your adress so i can punch it into steves gps ;) Also did you get hold of afew logs for that project Mate ???

Regards Chris

redbeard · August 04, 2011, 02:05:13 AM

Glad you have made it to your next stop, that was a lot of driving. this is my first video post lets see if it works. Chris cutting some 10"x10" cants off a big Doug fir. http://youtu.be/DenRNiAFEQw

Edited by Admin to make the video work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DenRNiAFEQw

Chuck White · August 04, 2011, 08:49:13 AM

Nice Demo showing the Lucas in action.

Just wondering though, could you saw octagon posts with the lucas?

While it turns 90°, could it make stops in-between to make octagon posts or is it strictly the horizontal and vertical cuts?

sparky · August 04, 2011, 10:29:50 PM

Chris left Duluth, MN around 5 PM today heading east into WI with Jeff programmed into the GPS. I forgot to mention in my earlier post that we stopped to see statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe in Bemidgi. Speaking of babes, Chris seems to be infatuated with a young lady at a convenience store in MN! I enjoyed showing Chris some of the higlights of MN! I will post some photos when I arrive back home.

Sparky

beenthere · August 04, 2011, 11:24:28 PM

Is Chris getting enough rest? Sounds like he hasn't had much but road driving in between visits. Don't want him crossing the UP while asleep. ;) ;)

sparky · August 05, 2011, 02:10:45 AM

Chris may have pushed himself on the drive from Seattle to MN, but we kept a easy pace while in MN. The daily travels, here, were relatively short. We might have swapped lies somewhat late into the evenings, but we got plenty of rest. The distance from Duluth to Jeff's is about 550 miles. I suggested that he drive for about 3 hours before turning in. The balance of the trip to Jeff's would be easily made by late afternoon when Chris planned to arrive. (As this 30 year old Aussie would say, "no worries".)

Sparky

WildDog · August 05, 2011, 05:14:38 AM

QuoteWhile it turns 90°, could it make stops in-between to make octagon posts or is it strictly the horizontal and vertical cuts?

There is a jig for cutting weatherboards that angles the blade but thats about it. I have the jig but never used it.

Ianab · August 05, 2011, 05:20:16 AM

Quote from: WildDog on August 05, 2011, 05:14:38 AM
QuoteWhile it turns 90°, could it make stops in-between to make octagon posts or is it strictly the horizontal and vertical cuts?

There is a jig for cutting weatherboards that angles the blade but thats about it. I have the jig but never used it.

Lucas Demo'd a "log lathe" sort of gadget at the NZ Fieldays a few years back.
Like a "pig on a spit" thing, which had notches to set the log at various angles. Then you just ran up and down to saw off everything that wasn't an Octagon. So yes, that sort of thing can be done.

Ian