Useful sawmill mods

[Bibbyman]

I'm trying to eliminate one problem area of the LT40 Super.  Note the buildup of debris on top of the battery box and the rail cover.   That's just where the sawhead comes down within an inch or so of the battery box.  If that area is not kept clean,  the sawhead will mash against the debris and cause the head to drag.  The problem is aggravated when you saw old logs with lose bark as we tend to do a lot of.

I don't think this is nearly a problem area on the standard LT40 or the new LT28 and LT70s.  Most of the problem is caused by the location and size of the head drive unit on the LT40 Supers.  It forms a pocket for the debris to start collecting.

We're not ready for an LT300.  I'm just making this one into a prototype of an LT200.

[WH_Conley]

I don't know Bibby, the top of my battery box on the LT40HD is bent all to pieces. I can see where the drive motor on your mill would make it worse.

[Bibbyman]

I thought about turning the battery side ways.  This would give the debres an opening between the battery and the drive unit to fall through.  It'd work on our mill as we don't have an axle or tire but wouldn't work on a moble mill.

[Bibbyman]

Note the wiring is right in the way now – kind of dangling out there like a cloths line.



Yesterday's progress was to re-route the wires.  The wires to the head motor had to run back under and along the frame.  The existing wires were not long enough.   I didn't do my homework and when I got the wire,  I got #6 when #8 was what was on the existing connection.  In addition,  while I wanted to buy stranded cable,  all I had available on Sunday was some heavy cable with about 6 strands that would be used for a stove or water heater, etc.  But it already came with some shielding and the stiffness worked out well once it was trained into the right shape.  Mary even commented on how neat it looked.



To figure out the shape I needed for the cover, I made a template out of cardboard.  I subcontracted out the making of the cover to a neighbor with a plasma cutter.  While it worked,  not all was as planned.  For one thing, the old sheet of steel had been painted on one side and the other had been against the ground for a couple of years.  I intended to have the 'clean' painted side up but the neighbor got it upside down so now I have the 'rustic' side up.   Oh well.   After I got it back rough cut,  I still worked on it for an hour with the grinder to relieve it here and there for a final fit.  1/10" steel don't fold into places like cardboard.



This morning I fabricated an angle bracket and bolted it to the junction box.  The cover plate was then bolted to the angle with a couple of carriage bolts.

It's not done done but I'm ready for a field test.  I may have to come back and do some more mods before it gets painted.  We've got to get back to sawing.

One side note.  I had some input today from Sparks.  He was concerned that the distance from the alternator to the battery may be too far.  I checked and I was getting 14.9 volts at the alternator and 14.8 at the battery.  We think that's ok.  I think maybe because I have the alternator wire connected in the junction box and two big 1/0 cables running from the hot side to the battery from there. 

[Minnesota_boy]

My mill collects sawdust there too, but it hasn't always.  It really started when I replaced the track wiper when the felt got too worn to suit me.  The new track wiper has the metal extending on both sides of the track while the old one was extending on only the inner side.  This left more of a gap on the battery box side and most of the sawdust and bark would find their way down to the chain and out onto the ground.

I still don't clean that area all that often as I saw more 2" material and a little build up doesn't bother me much.

[Gilman]

I always thought of that extra sawdust binding up when the head was lowered as my, "emergecy brake."

[OneWithWood]

After setting up the dust collection system and using it while I milled out some sassafrass I had a brain fart and came up with this mod so that the fine dust that usually collects on the rail guard and battery box gets sucked into the blower.

Now this is only the proto type and it has not been sufficiently tested.  If it works well enough I will fab something out of metal with less duck tape 



That is a 6" line going to the blower and a 4" line to the under head collector.  I may need to reconfigure to a 5" and 3" or something similar if I don't get enough suction under the head.



What I did was use an old floor sweep attachment from a shop vac with a 4" to 2" adapter.  I made the extension for under the head out of cardboard for now.  There is only 5/8" clearance under the head at the lowest height so it took some figuring to get it right.  If I am satisfied with the set up I will fab it out of sheet metal and incorporate some tabs so it can be mounted using the existing studs and nuts on the head assembly. 

[Bibbyman]

Sure works good!  I can't see a speck of sawdust anywhere!   ;)

[OneWithWood]

It is amazing what can be accomplished with a shop vac and leaf blower!   :D

What you can't see is the dust piled up on top of the rafters and blower exhaust pipe.  ;D

check out the wannabe thread for my philosophy on a clean shop . . . 

[jpgreen]

Gotta love the orange crew..  ;D

[dad2nine]

Ok first sawmill mod, well not really, put some trans fluid in a cheap spray bottle, makes coating down the mill easier than soaking a rag.

I do have a question, is it cool to weld on a wood mizer, is the frame hardened? would welding make it weaker?

[jpgreen]

I heard WoodMizer's were titanium so better be careful..  ;D

It certainly can be welded on, and weakened, or flexed out of plumb by heat if you don't know what you're doing.  Hardening that monster would be expensive fo sho, so you don't need to worry about that.

For instance, I'm going to update the end supports where they went to a larger box tubing.  To keep heat down, I'm grinding, not cutting on the main rail.

Also, I took pictures of exactly where they made their welds.  Copy cating it..  ;D  8)

[dad2nine]

JPGreen thanks much for the laugh (titanium)  :D - you made my evening.

We will weld away...

[Gilman]

Bibby mentioned a long time back that he wanted to see mod's to mills other than WM's.  Here's a little one that makes reading the height scale a little easier.

I got the opportunity to run a MD mill for a friend of Frank's.  He's building a Swiss Chalet and ran out of time to mill his logs.  I hated bending over to read the scale once the head got down to 12" and below.  I like to read scales at standing eye level.

It's pretty simple to make, two 1/2" diameter set collars, some 1/2" dia rod, a thumb screw & a smashed wire.


The other thing I added was some flat magnets and a metal scale.  If I go back and saw again I'm going to take my 18" ruler instead of the 12"


The scale  addition simply mounts to the stock needle mount.  If it were my mill, I'd weld the rod to the 3" dia pipe to beaf it up a bit, and add a "L" piece to the top of the 1/2" rod to protect the needle from the scale.  The scale flaps back and forth quite a bit when you start the head forward or when returning it.

Hey Pender, I've got an extra scale extension for sale if you need one  ;D

[Bibbyman]

I've been having some off-line conversation with a Forum member about how well the four powered back supports were working out and any disadvantages I've encountered.  Since it's been almost two years since I made the mod I thought it time for an update.

The following is my report after using them a couple of days.  The only thing I can add is that I've never unhooked the middle two back supports.  In short, they continue to work well.

The only problem I can think of is...

Sometimes (well,  more than sometimes)  you get a rough log where you have bumps and knots sticking out.  And sometimes these bumps and knots will now have a chance to hit on the middle back supports – thus pushing them to the loader side of the mill.  On logs – say up to 30" – this should not be a problem.  On really big logs that may make it more difficult to get the blade through without bumping into the outer blade guide – if this should happen.  I think this would be a small chance and nuisance.  You'd just have to trim off the swell or knot or turn the log to another face.

The way I have this one linked,  it'd only take a couple of minutes to run the nut off the tie rod link and take the rod off.  I even thought about setting up with a clip style pin used on 3 point hitch so it'd only take a second to disable.  But I think I'm going to try it this way for awhile.

Another reason to bring this mod up again is that I've noted that Wood-Mizer has lowered their price on the back support mod kit.   



Here is what the kit looks like - at least one of the first ones.

[Gilman]

Mine still work great Bibbyman, I'm even on my second set.  :-\

Could you design a quick release model for the lt70's?   ;D

[Bibbyman]

Second set?  Why would you need a second set?

I've looked at the LT70 and can't come up with a way to link in the manual supports. (At least yet.)  We've dreamed about someday having an LT70 but Mary says the four working back supports are more important than all of the improvements the LT70 has to offer.

Maybe if Wood-Mizer would loan me one for say a year,  I could come up with some useful mods for it also. 

[Gilman]

I was sawing for a customer that has a MD mill.  He's used to being a little rough loading logs with his forklift.  He was a bit puzzled how a 9,000 lb forklift could damage a 5,000 lb mill. 

I'll talk to my people at WM and see what they can get you Bibby. ;)  Too bad they didn't have an LT70 toy, I'd send you one of those to sleep with.   ;D

[ElectricAl]

A couple years ago we added a WM Lazer to speed production. At the same time we added an aluminum splatter shield to keep the Lazer clean.


The Splatter shield is getting pretty beat up with all the sawing we do.


The biggest problem we have with the Lazer is the wet sawdust that sticks to the lens of the Lazer.

Today was the day for a new Splatter Shield.


A new Lazer cover was bend and fitted.
We also added a piece of flat stock that sticks forward of the lazer lens. This should keep the lens cleaner. At least until a big piece of bark hits it

If we like this set up, we'll make one out of heavier stock.

Time will tell ;D

[Bibbyman]

Two days ago I made a mod to a mod.  I installed a 500 watt heater in the oil tank on the pump unit we had built last summer.  The builder and I talked about it when it was put together and decided to wait to see if it was really needed.  He did go ahead and put in the bung coupling for the heater just in case.

I sure wish I'd had it install when the unit was built.  It was no real problem but draining out all the oil took time.  I've got it temporarily wired in.  The junction elbow they provided couldn't be put on without removing the drain valve.  I'll make a run to the hardware store and get something that will work. 

I was worried at first because it was 40f outside when I got it installed and turned on.  I could not tell it was working.  I checked an hour later and the temperature hadn't come up.  I put a call into the company that made it and got transferred to someone that didn't answer the phone.  I left a message.

The next morning I went out early and the oil temperature gage was reading 80f.  It works!  We sawed until noon and when I came in there were three messages from the tech support guy.  I called him back and told him it was working ok that I'd not waited long enough.

It has a built in thermostat that kicks in at 50f and out at 80f.  This morning the temperature was down to 7f and the oil in the tank was 80f.

Now even on a cold morning the HD will ZIP,ZIP,ZIP....   ;)

[beenthere]

Bibby
Now what ya doin with all the heat radiatin from that tank? Melting the snow?  warmin the saw shed? or ya goin to wrap the tank with insulation?

How warm does the oil get on a 70° day when you are sawin a lot? 

Just wonderin here. 

[Bibbyman]

The builder explained that this tank has the intake on one side and the return on the other side.  Down the middle is a baffle so the oil will circulate.

It's also got a combination oil level and temperature gauge.  I noted today we ran it about 4 hours and it got up to about 120 degrees F.  It was 80 when we were running it.

[WH_Conley]

Not as complex as Bibby, but I have a 150,000 heater pointed at my mill, with hydraulic tank built in, if it feels slow, stand a little closer :D. Makes a big difference on a cold morning.

[Bibbyman]

Bibby
Now what ya doin with all the heat radiatin from that tank? Melting the snow?  warmin the saw shed? or ya goin to wrap the tank with insulation?

How warm does the oil get on a 70° day when you are sawin a lot? 

Just wonderin here. 

I came back and noted I hadn't answered all your questions.

I don't see too much radiation heat from the tank.  Keep in mind that the heater is just 500 watts.  That's not very much heat.  Think 5 100 watt light bulbs.

I hadn't planned to insulate the tank.  Most of the time it'll need the exposed surface for cooling the oil.  That's one reason it hold 20 gallons of oil.

[derhntr]

Well, I just read the whole thread Wow lots of info. I made one simple mod that is really a help to me.

I seem to saw lots of small logs 12" and smaller. Cherry and such. At my dads suggestion I ran a strip of duct tape on my log stops facing the command station. I marked them of in 1/2 inch messurements with a black marker. This lets me get a quick reading of where to make my opening cut and where to make the first cut on fletches.

It is also a quick taper gage for using the toe boards.

This simple mod has saved lots of time with a tape measurements and walking back and forth. Has save many useless cuts and run out on tapers.

It only take 5 minutes and .03 cents of duct tape.

Brian