I just got home with a 2011 LT35HD - I need your counsel on how to succeed.

[LeeB]

Not OEM, but I made one from a welding rod. 

[terrifictimbersllc]

Or 1/4" steel rod bent into a 2" square with a gap at the ends.

[MikeySP]

Normally, I would fab the clips, but our living situation has me out of reach of many tools for a little while longer, so the easiest will be to take the one clip I have and ask for more.

However, as I considered my blade number about 15 ea 10 degree and 4 degree... now that I know how to read them ... I am going to pull the trigger on the 7 degree turbos. 

My question for anyone who uses turbo 7's on an LT35... how do you cut with them? It "SOUNDS LIKE" I need to go as fast as possible without killing the motor? @Southside and anyone else want to share their experience, please do. 

I am going to a promising customer's house this morning for an access evaluation. I really will need a 4WD sooner or later. 

Picked up a few sheets of foam insulation... shop, house, and solar kiln ?



 

[DWyatt]

I just cut with the turbo 7s this weekend,25 hp kohler on an lt40. I cut poplar, pin oak, and some walnut with them.

I set the speed so the motor bogged down a bit under the load. You will know the sound when you hear it. The poplar had been standing dead for awhile so it was a little soft, I set the speed to bog the motor down a bit as before and as I got more comfortable with the quality of cut I bumped it up another ~10%. Cut flat and true the whole time.

[doc henderson]

Mike, maybe you can fold your dull blades in thirds and you will know what is dull and what is sharp.  Or does anyone have a EDITED BY ADMIN load of extra clips and can ship some to Mike?  you do not want to "almost kill the engine"  but just hear it pull down a bit with the governor kicking in.  If it works well you can push just  a little harder.  learning curve and may change with diff species, blades, and grain.  If you push hard with a dull blade, it may break or go all over creation.

[MikeySP]

DWyatt, so you actually kept it at a slight bog? Good to know. I have never run it that fast and I wondered about that as it meant fairly slow runs. I guess the goal is too push it and find the limits of keeping it running as fast as you can with perfect cuts and not killing the motor. 

Doc, thank you for your thoughtfulness. But, I have the one clip. Also, I have a hundred of those HD boxes that MM mentioned (from our move to TN) so I can ship coiled for first time if I do not want to grab the clip I have. No need for anyone to trouble themselves, especially since I have that obstacle cleared. 

[Southside]

Personally I cut with them keeping the sharp, pointy side towards the log, but others may use a different technique.  :D

You definitely don't want to bog the engine, do not let the RPM's drop or you will loose performance and quality in a hurry.  You want to push the band to the point where you are right up against the governor, you will be able to hear the sound, and it's a fine line between just right and too much.  That is the happy zone for the Turbo 7.

[YellowHammer]

As Southside said, run the engine in the power band, you'll hear it get deep and mean.  I think DWatt is describing hitting the power band, as his description of "You will know the sound when you hear it" is a good description of an engine reaching down and grabbing horsepower.  If the RPM drop significantly, then its out of the power band and is about to stall.  Not good.    

As with any band, even my LT70 today cutting 36 and 40 inch cherry logs, the key is to run as fast as the motor and band will let you.  The motor provides real time auditory feedback and the band provides real time visual feedback.  So listen to the motor and watch the sawdust coming from the gullets of the band.  

Watch the little rooster tail of sawdust just as it exits the cut, and if it is in line with the band, then the band is cutting straight and flat, or otherwise in the same plane as the exiting sawdust.  If the sawdust stream twitches high or low, it means the band is not in the same plane as the exiting sawdust and since sawdust typically flies in a straight line the band must be off plane, which means its not cutting flat.  So slow down or speed up, whichever works for that cut.  The time to find out you have a wavy cut in not when stacking the board, but rather when cutting the board.  

[MikeySP]

Thank you gents. 

Do you enter the log at cut speed, 

or do you 

enter slow and once the blade is all the way in, pick up the speed? 

I have been doing the latter thus far, but am not sure if this is proper?

-Mike

[Mike W]

Well now that SS has fixed my issue by enlightening me with which direction the blade should face, I should start to make some sense out of all this  :D.  

You want to enter the cut at moderate speed, not full cut speed to allow the blade to balance out in the cut, once blade is in the cut, pick up speed to what SS and YH mention, you'll get the feel of it real quick with the tips given you by these guys.

looks great so far, just keep on keeping on, it just gets easier with time and more dust

Mike

[MikeySP]

Thanks Mike W. I am glad SS chimed in too. Here I had been doing it backwards all this time. You live, you learn  :D.

New question: WHY is sawdust being left on the lumber? It should be exiting the cut and this is not the case for me... yet; but, I do want to figure this out asap. A little help please :P.

[doc henderson]

that should improve as you increase your speed.

[Southside]

Forward speed, band speed too slow, band profile, excessive water use, and chicken karma will all cause excessive sawdust to remain on the lumber rather than exit with the band.  

[Woodpecker52]

I have always run my motor at full throttle  and slow feed rate when it starts to bog down on really large logs.  Majority of time lately just use manual mode and switch to electric feed just to see it work. Its just something about feeling the log cut that you can know how the blade is reacting  and losing its edge etc.

[Woodpecker52]

Sawdust residue is always left on the board,  I have a medium flow of water to the blade and the dust at the end is usually wet. After two logs I will open up the housing and blow out any wet dust on sides, bottoms and end opening, I use to clean belts but no more, brushes solved that problem. I also blow both tracks and bunks etc.  I have a air compressor nearby however and mill is stationary.  I may be overdoing it but it is no big deal on this mill.  I never want to be cutting dry, blades start heating up and get funky fast. To remove the wet dust from the boards I have a few HF long brushes to sweep them clean as I am stacking.

[YellowHammer]

Some sawdust is alwaysbleft in the board, but it should be coarse and flaky and simply fall off when the board is tilted or bounced.  The type of sawdust left on the board is a good indication of how well the band and for that matter, the how the saw is working.  Remember that a log is usually green, therefore full of water, so coolant is not needed but blade cleaner is.  So with a green log, the faster you saw, the cooler the band and much less blade lube/coolant/cleaner is needed.  
When you have everything dialed in, there should only be a light sawdust residue.  

[doc henderson]

custom sawyer Jake had about a 12 inch wide sheetrock plaster knife and it came off well.  it is hard to sweep wet sawdust, takes about 3 passes.

[YellowHammer]

Yes, a wide Sheetrock knife is the best way to clean sawdust IMO if it's sticking, but if possible, the goal would be to not have to clean it at all.

For those who were at the Project, when we were quarter sawing the three sycamore logs, although we had to brush the sawdust off the top half of the cant, (beacause we didn't flip it) I only had to turn the actual boards over for Jake and I to usually asses the rays and dump the sawdust off for the guys stacking.  If some did stick, it was minimal.  

Jake is an expert at sawing fast, doing about 2.5 million bdft per year, with minimal lube and that is a great example of how it can be done.  Imagine if he had to clean the sawdust off each board, what a time issue that would be.

I'm not saying having sawdust stick to the board is bad, anytime a good straight board comes off the mill, it is a good thing.  However, sawdust can be reduced from a total pain to a virtual non event as a useful goal. My saying, "Take steps to save steps" addresses this, because if I can keep from having to clean sawdust off boards, one less thing to do.  Saving steps doing less but producing more.  

When I use oil and water emulsions, for example, or even diesel in rare instances, I try to only get the lube to spray maybe once, sometimes twice, per 8 feet of travel.  This reduces the smell of diesel in the boards and still keeps the band clean.  It also keeps the sawdust from absorbing oil and packing in the board.  

Remember for sawdust to eject cleanly, it must be held in suspension by the air trapped in the gullets of the band. If it falls out of suspension or gets spilled, it will get trapped between the band and the wood and get pressed onto the board surface like spackle.  Lots of lube will wet the sawdust and cause it to fall out of suspension.  

I'm not telling anyone how to saw, I'm just saying how I do it, and what my goals are.    

[MikeySP]

Thanks gents. I am going to push my speeds to avoid timidity which I may be prone to because of a lack of confidence. I have the 12" putty knife because I see it in pics; but, as YH pointed out, this sawdust can be minimized with proper setup/operation. On my fist job, it was covered all over the wood surface and to see the grains meant using the putty knife. I tried, fast, slow on the same cut a few times just to see if their was a difference. No joy thus far.

I sent in my 15 10degree and 5 of my 10 4 degree for sharpening yesterday. I told resharp to replace any bad blades with 7 Turbos. I was going to get a box of 7 turbos, but realized I am not in a position to let my 10 degrees go unused. I imagine I will slowly phase all other blades out until I land at the blade for me, and as I learn which specialty blades I may need for certain jobs.

[MikeySP]

Here is some of the oak from my first job. I was cutting with 4 degree blade, it was fresh blade too. I tried changing speed, but no joy. Anyone have some advice?

-Mike



 

[Southside]

The stringy fibers on the edge of the board?  Yea, you will see that, happens with poplar a fair bit, had some pine do that the other day.  I suspect it has something to do with the age of the log and the time of year it was felled as to how brittle the fibers are.  On big band saws (like the 10" monsters you see) there are a back set of "teeth" that actually break those fibers off so that almost never happens.  

Oh - and as far as advice goes - get rid of the hex bolts holding your rollers onto the back stops and replace them with carriage bolts, your new bands will thank you for that.   ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

Here is some of the oak from my first job. I was cutting with 4 degree blade, it was fresh blade too. I tried changing speed, but no joy. Anyone have some advice?
-Mike


 

Grasshopper,

   The scrolls of antiquity often contain pearls of wisdom that you my find apply to the trials of the present. I.e. Here is a thread addressing the strings left behind when sawing certain woods. Some woods are worse than others but they sneak into others when the conditions are right. 
   http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=96001.0

[Magicman]

Be very sure that you have the correct tension on your drive belt.  It can slip which slows the blade down and you may not be aware of it.  The blade slowing down will cause waves.

[MikeySP]

SS.... yes, grasshopper failed to hearken to master's advice about 20 pages ago... and on his first job... hit the dreaded hex bolt  :(... He will try to make you proud and his blades happy, by getting this done asap.  :D

WV Sawmiller, indeed the scrolls of antiquity can contain wisdom and I thank you for bringing these out of the deep mines of mordor. 

Magicman, drive belt tension is of concern to me. I did purchase the tension gauge and it is dead on as far as I can tell. However, it is not overly impressive the amount of tension. I would think it should be a little tighter; but, WM engineers certainly know more than my imagination. 

On a sharing note for other new guys, I am slowly working through the following two threads and if there are any MASTER threads that are recommended by the Jedi Knights, please do share the precious.

A Day Cutting Wood

and 

General Sawing Tips for Portable Sawyers

[MikeySP]

Reference waves, I was sawing some trim for my son earlier and since it was a 3.5" wide cant of pine, I tried FULL SPEED ahead. All was straight and true 4 degree blade; but, I did notice when a significant knot was present North bound deflection of 3/16" occurred. After pulling the board, I went back and cut the same height... SLOWLY, and it repaired the hump. How do youu men deal with sawing for production and dealing with this sort of drama. Of course, of you little/no knots, it may be a non issue; but, what do you do when it does exist: 

Go slow period?
Go slow, when you see knots approaching?
Whatever it takes, meaning both of the above?
Other?