Borrowed a Lucas Mill

boatman · July 03, 2012, 09:41:00 PM

I borrowed a Lucas mill for a few days. I have @ 13 Red Oak logs that I cut a while back. I have cut up a few with a chainsaw mill and I hope this mill will make quick work of what's left.

It is rather hot for this type of work but it is going well. The Oak will be for a new milk room with extra going to a horse shelter.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · July 03, 2012, 09:44:09 PM

DanG.....look at the heart in dem logs! Good job Boatman. How hard is it to borrow that Lucas? :D

Ga Mtn Man · July 03, 2012, 11:46:48 PM

The question should be "How hard is it to loan out your Lucas?" :D

boatman · July 04, 2012, 07:03:21 AM

86 degrees and 90% humidity at 6:45 this morning. Which reminds me of an old farmer I knew, Elmer Pavlis. He wrote a book called " Born Lucky", in one part he talks about clearing areas of forrest for farmland with a saw and axe. It was so hot he and his brother would work in the buff. But the way this mill throws little bits around I think I will at least wear chaps.

Indiana Robinson · July 04, 2012, 08:52:32 AM

Quote from: Ga_Mtn_Man on July 03, 2012, 11:46:48 PM
The question should be "How hard is it to loan out your Lucas?" :D

I have a sign that has been hanging in my farm shop for years that says "We loaned our last tool in June of 1879. If you still have it please bring it back".
Borrow my mill? I might even charge you to touch it. :D :D :D
You can look for free but you have to stay behind the purple velvet rope.

Sometimes horse clients want to borrow hand tools like pliers, a hammer etc. I keep a box of stuff I pick up for a buck or less at yard/garage sales and I will loan them those. Stay away from my working tools...
Other than my son who lives at the north end of the farm I do have one very good neighbor that I would loan anything to. Otherwise most of my tools are an extension of me. I did without a lot of things over many years to acquire them, also some of them go back several generations and are treated with great care.
I still have granddad's hammer... I have replaced the handle 4 times and the head twice but I am very proud to still have granddad's hammer.

.

boatman · July 04, 2012, 01:01:18 PM

When I borrow things they are returned in better shape. Cleaned and repaired.

Indiana Robinson · July 04, 2012, 02:02:29 PM

Quote from: boatman on July 04, 2012, 01:01:18 PM
When I borrow things they are returned in better shape. Cleaned and repaired.

You are probably that one good neighbor, like my good one, to somebody. ;D ;D

.

boatman · July 04, 2012, 06:55:49 PM

I love this truck

It seems 16ft logs won't quite fit.

I can get by with 8 ft.
Logs are heavy

boatman · July 09, 2012, 06:18:36 PM

I've cut @8 logs of 16-24" diameter do far.

Lot's of vapor lock problems the first few days. I went through the fuel system a few times, new lines, insulation.

I then switched blades as it seems the sharpener is at the wrong angle and the blade may have been working the engine too hard.

Sent that blade out and was told 1.5 to 2 weeks and $35 dollars to retip and service.

Just now I must have hit something upon entering the log as there are not carbide tips on the blade.

There was a small split with sap and dark staining but no other sign of metal, or carbide.

I cut a copper jacketed bullet in half yesterday with no damage to the blade.

Looks like I will be getting out the slabbing bar.........and looking for a place that can re tip faster.

Nomad · July 09, 2012, 06:40:30 PM

No tips left?!? Yup; you hit something harder than a bullet!

boatman · July 09, 2012, 09:12:21 PM

Looks like I lost more than the carbide. Didn't find the metal.

logboy · July 09, 2012, 11:42:33 PM

A metal detector is mandatory with a Lucas. Retipping isnt cheap, and new blades really arent cheap. Ask me how I know. ;D

Why cant you mill 16' long? Doesnt he have the extensions? I thought they came with every new Lucas so you can mill 20' long.

weisyboy · July 10, 2012, 07:00:13 AM

id say its more the operator than the mill.

you know the grinder can be adjusted, the angel of the tooth wont make the motor work to hard, if the angel is wrong the blade will just bind up. Pushing to hard will make the motor work to hard. looks to me like there were no tips before the blade went into the cut.

sigidi · July 10, 2012, 07:06:14 AM

Wholly Heck!!!! DanG!!!

Ya did some damage to that blade

the colour of it looks like ya kept pushing it once the teeth where gone too and ya took out a heap of the tooth pocket also, might have been why it took a while to get back - a lot of work to bring the blade back to life again ;D

I've been lucas milling for nearly a decade and don't have a metal detector - dont reckon they are mandatory. And down here I dont find re-tipping to be expensive. we pay more than $35 for a re-tip down here though. I used to use a 6-18 before getting Bo Derek and never had a sniff of trouble with vapor lock - where ya switching off at full revs?

It seems ya mate didnt have the half depth extensions for each end of the mill, but with a 6-18 you'd still be able to cut 4.8m without them, big thing to remember is to put your endframes at the end of the rails, this will give you around 5.8m (19'4") between endframes.

Indiana Robinson - just like me mate, my tools dont go anywhere without me!

boatman · July 10, 2012, 07:29:21 AM

I couldn't get the 16' log in because I set up the frames too close and in between trees so it was not convenient to put the extensions on.

The mill has run fine since the temperature dropped into the 80's.

I don't think the teeth were gone before entering the cut as I had just finished a cut. Upon starting the next cut there was noise, I felt resistance, like the frame was hitting something. I pulled back a couple of inches and tried again twice then shut down. Didn't force it or lean on it.

This blade had been re-tipped by the owner and had @ one hour on it. I didn't find any metal but there is black staining around and a lot of dried sap around that split.

If the blade isn't fixable I will buy a new one.

sigidi · July 16, 2012, 03:47:45 PM

The blade will be fine with new tips - in a decade I haven't 'broken' a Lucas blade yet, yer they need re-tipping but thats all.

Do you know if the fella re-tipped this blade before you used it? sometimes if the tooth lets go it's because of the solder. If the whole tooth is gone then most often it is the solder, when ya hit something the tooth itself shatters and leaves something attached to the solder. If the whole tooth is missing its the solder to blame

boatman · July 16, 2012, 04:29:20 PM

The owner retipped it himself. It was his first try and rather rough. I think one tip came off and the others hit it.

sigidi · July 17, 2012, 07:33:09 AM

Seems a bit rough to have you pick up the bill if it was his bad tipping job.....

boatman · July 17, 2012, 07:53:26 AM

I have use of his mill for a few weeks. I will gladly pay a couple of hundred if that is what it takes to return it in better condition than as it came.

I had planned on having the blades serviced after I saw them. But I did't plan on it taking 2 weeks to get done.

sigidi · July 17, 2012, 03:13:02 PM

My guy down here for blades, seems to go through phases. Sometimes its weeks before you can get your blade back, sometimes it's like last week when I introduced Weisyboy to my saw doctor (he'd been having a heap of grief with his once good saw doctors) On our way back from a job 500k drive from home, we dropped the blades at his shop Friday at about 1800hrs, 2 x model 8 blades and 2x model 10 blades, then on our way back out to the same job, Wednesday morning we stopped in at his shop and picked them up - Weisyboy reckons they cut better than he can ever remember a blade cutting ;D but 2 working days is a great turn-a-round methinks

logboy · July 19, 2012, 02:54:09 AM

QuoteI've been lucas milling for nearly a decade and don't have a metal detector - dont reckon they are mandatory

I think its an American thing. People see a nice big tree growing here and they feel the urge to pound metal spikes or nails in it or tack a barbed wire fence to it. I curse every time I drive down the road and see a bird feeder nailed to a tree. After I almost ruined a blade on some lag screws (went through the teeth right into the shoulder, almost ruined it completely) I bought a detector. Its paid for itself and then some in sharpening costs. But I agree, from what my friends down under tell me you guys dont need them, at least like I do with yard trees.

sigidi · July 19, 2012, 06:24:58 AM

I tend to do a heap of yard tree's or tree loppers logs - so they have come out of yards, but it runs in fits and starts, haven't hit metal for a good little while and just came off 3 days milling for a tree lopper - luckily no metal.

I went my first 3 years without hitting metal in any logs, except for logs I was milling for myself

logboy · July 19, 2012, 01:06:42 PM

I'd say easily 90% of the yard trees I cut have metal in them. It has been my experience that if I dont scan them, my blade will find the metal.

sigidi · July 20, 2012, 05:29:50 AM

hahaha Logboy, I keep telling people "why do I need a metal detector? I already have the best one money can buy - my sawmill" hahahaha you can bet ya last dollar if there is metal in that log our blades will find it hey? doesn't matter the small percentage of log our blade actualy goes through in comparison to the volume of the log we hit it hey ;D

boatman · July 30, 2012, 07:53:32 PM

I picked up the saws today. Went straight to cutting and finished off the two logs that were laying there. it turns out there was no metal in the log, just a sap pocket that took all the teeth off. The brazing must have been bad.

I'll use one of the sharpened saws and leave the other with the wax on it for the owner. I have had the mill for 3 weeks now and will be returning it Friday. If I finish off the straight logs tomorrow I will break out the slabber and cut up the crotches that are laying around.