I had a rare experience today and wanted to pass it on. My LT-40 had a warranty issue and when I called the Georgia office, instead of just mailing me the part, they asked if I would be available today so the service guy could show up in person to replace the part. After I got over the shock of that high level of customer service (I live 4 hours from the Georgia Wood Mizer office) I said sure, I'd be glad to take off work to get a rare chance to pick an experts brain.
So the guy showed up (on time) and it turns out he has sawed professionally for decades and also competed in the Wood Mizer sawmill shootouts. After replacing the part and tuning up my saw (it reminded me of a musician tuning up a guitar), he started doing things with my saw that a monkey couldn't do with a hot banana! He showed me fast movements with the controls I'd never heard of, he ran the saw and manipulated the logs at an incredible rate, he flipped slabs and flitches off the log onto the loader arms with only the hydraulics, faster than I could get to them by hand. He showed me competition moves like when to clamp, and when to just get the clamp close but not actually touching. He showed me how he watched the "rooster tail" of sawdust coming out of the teeth of the blade to tell when he was at max controlled feed rate to get a straight board. Basically the rooster tail would twitch when the blade would just start to wander, and would settle down when he backed off the speed a hair. I joked that I never even knew the rooster tail was there. Anyway, it was a truly impressive display of skill that left my jaw on the ground.
All I can saw is WOW!
YellowHammer
Now thats service. Do you think you can make that mill dance like he did in a few days? bg
That is very cool!!!!
Nothing like learning that way.
Nice, have the video camera out by chance?
I have seen a video of some of the "hot shots" with a WM. I don't think that my brain could work that fast. ;D
From what I've seen Magicman ... your brain works pretty darn fast as it is.
Good story YellowHammer. Now you know why Woodmizer has sold so many sawmills all over the world. I wish there were more companies like them outside the sawmill business. I've said before, if they built cars or trucks, I'd be the first in line to buy one. Orange of course. :)
I agree, I like to cruise Magicman's comment's to see what great info he has shared for the day. Alway's a great read imo.
Wow, you are very lucky YellowHammer, that is awesome new's.
It is always nice to see a good sawyer running a mill. When I was first starting out I would go over and watch the man that got me started. I spent hours over there slack jawed and mouth full of sawdust. I would not be surprised if it was Earl. ;)
Yea, a bunch of show offs... :)
We've been to a lot of shows and most every mill manufacture has a couple of guys that can really push a mill. I watched a guy run a Woodland mill once at a show. Looked like a chicken on a hotplate playing a pinball machine.
Care to tell the "Top Gun's" name?
Sure does sound like Earl. I have worked a few shows with him at MS locations.
Willie
Yep, it was Earl. He must have a good reputation for so many to guess correctly. As far as getting video of the action, I asked him if he minded, he just grinned and said he'd be done before I got the camera ready. He was right....all I filmed was a pile of settling sawdust.
He showed me a lot of fast log handling moves, but my favorite one is the reverse log roll using the powered backstops. I'll try to describe it, because I looked on You Tube, Wood-Mizer and other video sites and could not find a clip of it anywhere. Once he had sawn the first flat face on the top of the log, (with the feed mostly wide open) he wanted to rotate the log outward a quarter turn so he could saw into the clean cut he had just made and not use the debarker because it slowed him down. I'd assumed he'd use the claw turner, and would rotate the log 270 degrees until the face came back around to the blade. That was too slow....here's what he did. He would lower the backstops to almost flat down. Then lower the two plane clamp until it was just touching the bottom of the log, and using it, push the log onto the lowered backstops until it was not quite balanced on them. Then he raised the backstops, lifting the log off the bed, at the same time he moved the clamp inward more, under the log. The moving clamp would cause the log to spin and roll off the raising backstops and it would land back on the mill a reverse 90 degrees to where it was, with the sawn face now rotated and facing the blade. Before the log had settled, he had it clamped and was sawing full speed. It was one of those "what the heck just happened moments," and after another grin, he stopped and showed me the move in slow motion. I practiced it later, and it is as difficult as it is fast.
Give me a couple decades and I'll get the hang of it. Maybe we ought to have a thread titled "Best Sawmill Moves" so you experienced guys can teach us more of these advanced log handling techniques...
YH
I'd be picking a dozen logs off the back side of the mill before I got one turned like that!
Yup, I have done several of those tricks before, 'cept they were not planned. ;D
Sounds like I need to make it to one of these shootouts..... fascinating story!
Sounds pretty slick, but I don't understand how it is that the debarker slows him down.
--Peter
It slowed him down because it was a distraction. Instead of only having to concentrate on keeping the blade cutting straight and level at max speed, he was also having to control the debarker in/out adjustment down the log and at the beginning and end of the cut at a very high speed. So as soon as he could, he'd simplify what controls he had to juggle and stow the debarker. One less thing to worry about.
YH
The thing about Earl that I find impressive is that he is just as effective on any of the mills. It is one thing to master one of the machines but to master them all is very impressive. He sold me my first mill way back when and still picks on me every chance he gets.
Very Cool.
I stumbled onto that method when I first started sawing, but I never put much effort into perfecting it.
I will have to see if I can improve my speed by cutting with that method.
J
That would be neat to see, and see someone saw that fast also. I have sawed very little so far, and was wondering, without that first face turned to the backstops or the bed, how you keep it square sawing it this way? ??? thanks
Have a good eye for it, do it when not quite square is OK, or depend on trimming to square later.
We are putting the "reverse log roll" move into the next Wood-Mizer Way 8) With pictures too! :D Thanks to YellowHammer for bringing it to our attention ;)
Reverse log roll explained
Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on February 09, 2012, 05:35:04 PM
Have a good eye for it, do it when not quite square is OK, or depend on trimming to square later.
I wanted to try it, until I realized nothing but an eyeball to square it up. Besides, flipping the log over for the second cut still gives two faces where no debarker is needed.........and keeps it square.
hugs, Brandi