Useful sawmill mods

[Crusarius]

I would put it on both ends of the mill. Use automotive scissor jacks they are all over the place in junk cars everytime we would cut a car apart during drills I would scavenge the scissor jacks out of them. They are very handy when you need to hold something in place and you only have 3 hands

[lazyflee]

 
 @firefighter ontheside I put it up front. Bought a cheap scissor jack from napa, think it was like $25. Used thick steel square tubing and get no flex. Use it a lot. First jack I had was a through pin handle, this one has a bolt type head so a socket fits right on it, first one I had to weld a head on.

[caveman]

A couple of mods that may come in handy.  Recently, I made  something that should enable us to saw a few inches wider.  I could have used this yesterday on the cedar.  It is 1" square tube that fits over the stop on the mill and on the bunks that will let you cheat the cant a couple of inches towards the drive side of the mill.

Also, There is another jig that allows for cutting cookies out of short logs or cutting short boards out of firewood sized logs.

 

 

 

[trimguy]

@caveman I like that. You need to be able to move it over to take full advantage of your cut width. I need to make me a couple of them. Thanks for the pictures.

[Magicman]

It is 1" square tube that fits over the stop on the mill and on the bunks that will let you cheat the cant a couple of inches towards the drive side of the mill.

Most excellent!  I generally use a couple of 2X4's etc. but the cant is not secure.  I like that.....a lot. 

[terrifictimbersllc]

Yes, that's perfect very useful to get the most out of your sawmill.

[caveman]

but the cant is not secure.

I made these a few months ago but never checked to see if they would fit over the bunk stops.  They were close but did not sit down flat on the bunks.  They would have been handy yesterday when we were sawing big cedar but today I cut the holes a little bigger and now they fit.  Also, I should post in "Did something Dumb today".  I never put on shoes today as I was planning to kind of take it easy.  Well, I was using a grinder with a cutoff wheel to make the doodads that go on the bunks fit a little better and evidently discharged a 1"x 1/8" piece of molten steel on the floor.  I promptly stepped on it with my left foot.  It does smart a bit but I'll suck it up and walk it off.

[47sawdust]

My LT30 has a manual log clamp.At 74 that thing is starting to get heavy.Today I fabbed a stubby clamp that is 1/2 the weight of the factory clamp.
For $34.00 in parts and my welding,cutting and grinding time I think it will do the job,at least on most of what I saw.



 

 

[caveman]

This is not a high tech mod but it will hopefully save me from picking my tape measure or chalk up off the ground a few times during the course of the day.  I glued a couple of strong magnets to a box which rides on top of the controls.

[danxtro]

I recently added a horn/buzzer to my tractor so that I could get the attention of someone on the ground and this got me to thinking, what about the sawmill?  Often there are times when I need to get the attention of my tailgunner and my only option was to yell which was/is not very professional.  So what about a horn on the sawmill?


 
This $25 kit contained everything necessary to add the horn.


 
The horn is mounted below the control box.


 
And the horn button is mounted in the board dragback switch position.  I removed all of the board dragback before I completed my first year of sawing and I will not reinstall it so the position was available.

Can you hear me now??  ;D

Nice! Magicman. I did the same on my sawmill. Very usefull. No more yelling to get attention.


 

[fluidpowerpro]

Depending on log and height of the head, the key switch on my mill isnt always easy to get to so for that reason last week I added E-Stop switches to each corner post of the frame. I have not needed to use them yet, but I know there will be instances where I will.  
 

 
I also added an hour meter at the same time....

[VT-Woodchuck]

Not an original idea, but works for me. It's moveable, adjustable and is powered by a cordless drill. Makes leveling a log much easier than prying and trying to push the wedge under the log! Also, upgraded the clamps. Good move!

[danxtro]

I did a 2 in one i.e. a repair and a mod. Someone gave me an up/down electric motor for my LT-40. Told me that it was not working and was not possible to fix it. Contact studs were loose. I opened it and discovered that both parts of the brushes holder where the contact studs are normaly held in place are broken.

 

So I decided to create a part that will replace the missing portions of the brushes holder and make it with 3D printer

 

 

 

It is made of ABS plastic wich can sustain heat and is fairly sturdy. They fit perfectly with minimal filing on the outside edge. I had to adjust the lenght of the brushes holder area to fit properly with the printed parts.

 

 

 

The printed plastic parts hold the brushes holder in place firmly via the contact studs mounting nuts

 

 

I replaced the front bearing also and cleaned the collector


 

 

Motor works fine now.


 

[KirkD]

I did a 2 in one i.e. a repair and a mod. Someone gave me an up/down electric motor for my LT-40. Told me that it was not working and was not possible to fix it. Contact studs were loose. I opened it and discovered that both parts of the brushes holder where the contact studs are normaly held in place are broken.

 

So I decided to create a part that will replace the missing portions of the brushes holder and make it with 3D printer

 

 

 

It is made of ABS plastic wich can sustain heat and is fairly sturdy. They fit perfectly with minimal filing on the outside edge. I had to adjust the lenght of the brushes holder area to fit properly with the printed parts.

 

 

 

The printed plastic parts hold the brushes holder in place firmly via the contact studs mounting nuts

 

 

I replaced the front bearing also and cleaned the collector


 

 

Motor works fine now.

Nicely done! Are you going to be offering these to others? I know there are a lot of those older motors out there I know I have one.

[danxtro]

Thanks KirkD,
         I don't own a 3D printer, a friend printed the parts for me. I only modelised  it with Solidworks and saved the .stl file. Not sure if I would have the time for a production but maybe. I assume that this problem occured to many owners of those type of motor, since the brushes holder are brittle and can break easily if the contact studs nuts are overtighten. 
 

          
          

[Magicman]

This is not an actual modification but it is correcting something that happens:


 
Notice that the sawdust/debris deflector has bent and is almost touching the blade guide roller.  This is the result of being continuously bombarded by sawdust and debris while sawing.  In 21 years of sawing this is the third time that I have straightened that pin.  It's not visible in the picture but the tip end is also nicely rounded.

[TimW]

This is not an actual modification but it is correcting something that happens:


 
Notice that the sawdust/debris deflector has bent and is almost touching the blade guide roller.  This is the result of being continuously bombarded by sawdust and debris while sawing.  In 21 years of sawing this is the third time that I have straightened that pin.  It's not visible in the picture but the tip end is also nicely rounded.

Mine's bent also.  Sometimes that blade turns thick SYP bark into projectiles.  Sometimes it hits a flat metal panel, shroud, or housing and I think something inside is fixin' to let loose.
Now I know and my heart doesn't skip a beat when it happens.
hugs,  Brandi
        hugs,  Brandi

[barbender]

Magic, I love ya but if I was tail gunnin' for you I'm afraid I'd club you after about the third honk!😁

[Magicman]

Funny thing is that I seldom remember to use the honker.  :

[Magicman]

OK, now my Debarker is in a bucket. 


 
This old Debarker cover is 23 years old and looks worse that a pair of my drawers.  :  Soooo....


 
Now it has a shiny new cover.  The little bucket was the exact size that I needed and already black.  ;D

A couple of zip ties and it is secured very nicely.  There is no issue about removing it because I have not removed the old cover in several years.

[TimW]

OK, now my Debarker is in a bucket.  


 
This old Debarker cover is 23 years old and looks worse that a pair of my drawers.  :  Soooo....


 
Now it has a shiny new cover.  The little bucket was the exact size that I needed and already black.  ;D

A couple of zip ties and it is secured very nicely.  There is no issue about removing it because I have not removed the old cover in several years.

Lynn,
  Your bucket reminds me of tin cans on Johnny Popper exhaust stacks.  Forget to take it off and it flies into the air when started.  
You are saying the motor doesn't get too hot with the cover ON?  I was always baffled why WM didn't put a metal plate over the fan exit to keep moisture out.  The guide motor is exposed to the weather after all, laying horizontal.
Mounting a metal umbrella over it should be a factory standard.   Or at least a bolt on option.
hugs,  Brandi

[Magicman]

Brandi, all three of the motors (power feed, debarker, & head) on my sawmill are the same and are sealed and only the Debarker has a cover.  There is nothing under that fan but the shaft with a sealed bearing.  Of course if that seal failed water would enter, but you would be into replacing that bearing anyway.  LINK  (Notice that I only had to replace the upper bearing so it probably was a victim of water intrusion.)

The question about heat has been discussed here on the FF and as a result I have not removed my cover in several years.  Actually the bucket will allow much more air flow than the cover did.

[Peter Drouin]

Have you replaced the brushes in that motor? I got to 4500 hrs and put new ones in. 

[Magicman]

I have replacement brush sets and have replaced some but no way to remember which ones Pete.  If the brushes are properly seated and the motors are not overloaded, brushes are not a big wear item.

[TimW]

Brandi, all three of the motors (power feed, debarker, & head) on my sawmill are the same and are sealed and only the Debarker has a cover.  There is nothing under that fan but the shaft with a sealed bearing.  Of course if that seal failed water would enter, but you would be into replacing that bearing anyway.  LINK  (Notice that I only had to replace the upper bearing so it probably was a victim of water intrusion.)

The question about heat has been discussed here on the FF and as a result I have not removed my cover in several years.  Actually the bucket will allow much more air flow than the cover did.

My power feed and head drive motors are under covers.  The guide arm motor is hanging out in the breeze.
hugs,  Brandi