My Sawmill Kit

[biziedizie]

Hey Deadheader what do you say that we have a bet that Mark cuts the dogs by the weekend! :D


     Steve

[Fla._Deadheader]

As soon as he feels comfortable with the mill, and concentrates on the logs more, THAT"S when that Zinggg will sound off !!  I cut the tips off my clamp and the blade still cut pretty well. It took more "push", but, still cut straight. I used standard grade steel for the clamp head, and Timberwolf blades.

  Mark, I tried Woodmizer blades and had the same diagonal grooves. It HAS to be too fast when feeding OR tension. I finally quit in the middle of a cut, and carefully backed out of it, changed to a Timberwolf, and finished the cut. Immediate difference. Suffolk will send a free blade if you call them. I tried to dress one with a NEW small file. NOT HAPPENING !! They are tough.
  I sawed near 600 ft of SYP with one blade and it was the one that hit the clamp, near the end of the session.

[chet]

Way to go Mark.      I was begining to wonder I you were ever going to fire that new saw up.   :D   How did your neighbor like the fine coating of sawdust on his car?    ;D    

[Mark M]

By-golly Chet I didn't check their car  . Cindy did a good job of sweeping up the sawdust in the yard and we got the idea of clamping a piece of rubber belt to redirect the sawdust down onto the driveway so it would be easy to clean up.

Cindy is my "secret weapon" to keep me from sawing into the dogs, she's really good at spotting my mistakes  :-/, especially when it comes to driving  ;).

I am surprised how much power the saw has, it doesn't seem to slow down at all and really cuts this wet wood like it was butter. I put some windshield washer fluid in the water tank but don't think I need it. The solenoid valve really works slick and I like the way the centrifugal clutch works too. Sure beats pulling a lever.

I still have to build my log loader, have been trying to get some close-up picture of Norwood's but no luck yet. I got a couple pieces of 4 inch channel 6 foot long but I'm not sure how to go about hooking them to the mill so they don't slide around. Would like to hear from others who have to load logs manually to get some ideas.

Mark

PS - I definitely have saw dust in my veins (some in my pants too) :D

[Kevin]

Can you take the mill off the blocks, put it on the ground and build a set of ramps to load the logs onto the bed?

[Mark M]

Hi Kevin

That's what I plan to do. The drive way is sloped so I have to have it blocked up to make it level. I'm trying think of a good way to fasten the ramps to the track so it doesn't come off. Also I am thinking I should have something to keep the logs from sliding down the ramps, perhaps I can just weld a bead every 6-8 inches or so.

Mark

[chet]

I attached a boat winch to a 5' section of 31/2 x 31/2, and loaded the winch with light cable. I made pockets out of 4 x  4 tube and attached them to the rails, spaced so they would be in the center of 8', 12' & 16' logs. I made 2 temporary  5' ramps from 4x4 elm, with small notches cut in the end so they won't slide up the mill when winching. The ramps work so well i havn't bothered to come up with anything else.
Small logs we will just roll up the ramps. Larger ones I put the winch in the aproprite pocket, run the cable over the center of the log, under it, and back attaching the cable back to the winch post. This way the log will roll, rather than be pulled up the ramps. I have loaded 36" whitepine very easily myself with this setup,   ;)   the tuff part is flipping the big cants.    :-/   For me working with the mill up off the ground is a lot more comfortable.

[Mark M]

Chet, do the notches in the wooded ramps just hook over the track?

[whitepe]

Mark,
I knew that I would get the LT 15 out of mothballs
for the winter and milling before you cut your first boards.  :D
Milling your first boards is kinda like the first date
you had as a teenager isn't it?
I did some milling of cherry and hard maple
in Indiana on March 28th and 29th at the father-in-law's.
The polka dot mill is now safely back in Illinois.  
The in-laws spent a week in March at Pinetop Arizona.
The father-in-law said they had lots of huge Ponderosa
pine.  I think that Pinetop is near where Noble's family used to
mill in NM and Arizona.

Whitepe

[chet]

The notches sit on the track. Cut them just deep enough that the ramps sit even with the bunks.

[Kevin]

LT-15 ramps ...

[Jason_WI]

Mark,

I get those diagional grooves at the begining of the cut too. I usually ease into the cut so my marks don't quite go as far as yours do. I use Woodmizer .045 9 degree for everything I saw. If you ever notice a washboard effect on the boards decrease or increase the tension a half a turn. The blade is resonating causing the washboard effect. I usually tension my bands to the max setting. Seems to help keep the blade from wandering when hitting knots. That solnoid valve is slick isn't it. That was the first thing I added to the mill after I got it. It is definately a water saver.

As for a sawdust catcher, a piece of sheet aluminum fabricated as a downward snout and then hang a 5 gallon bucket on a hook or sumpin to catch the sawdust. It won't get all of it but at least you can contain it.

I took me by my 5th log to saw into the dog on my mill . Good thing I was using some el-cheapo Morse blades when I did that. My dad nearly sawed off the crank handle on the dog. He left the handle up and caught it. Took a bunch of teeth off the blade. It happens to everybody sooner or later ;D

Jason

[Mark M]

I posted a few pictures of the log loader I made for my Norwood saw. I can also mount my Lewis Wench to this arm since it is made of 2" reciever tubing. I'll post a picture of this later.

The big pictures are  Here

[AJ]

Hey Mark,

That's pretty slick.  Looks almost factory with the paint job and all.  ;D  

What's the rating on the winch, and does it pull the larger logs up OK?  

We milled a 24" oak log last weekend, and sure could of used something like that to load it.  

Andy

[biziedizie]

Mark very cool pic. Did you design this by yourself or did you get some help? Do you have some plans that I could get from you?  

     Steve  

[Mark M]

Hi Fellas

The design is my own, I just started holding pieces up and sticking them together until I got what I wanted. The winch is a Warn 1700 lb (straight line pull) that cost about $150. The piece that fits into the axle tube, the upright with the bolt and pin holes, and the piece the winch is mounted to is made of 2" receiver hitch tubing. If you haven't worked with this type of tubing before it has a smooth bore so 2" tubing will slip right in. Most square tubing has a weld on the inside that makes this difficult. This is 2" id with a 1/4 wall so it is 2.5 od. The vertical tube that extends to the ground is is made of 2" (od) x 3/16 square tubing. I had the metal supplier cut me a couple of 3 x 4 x 1/4 inch gussets for additional support. I can't remember the length of the axle tube insert but if you insert it all the way until the gusset hit then it just sticks out the other side, I can get the actual length if you want.

The winch has plenty of power and easily rolled this log without trouble. You could always use a snatch block for the heavy ones.

I still have a little work to do on the ramps and sling but all in all it works very well.

Mark