draging blade back through last cut

[Dan_Shade]

Do any of you guys drag your blade back through the previous cut, leaving the previously sawn boards sitting in the cant?  I've heard of this, but don't know if there are any tricks?

Do you stop the saw before the blade exits the cant?  how do you get the saw to stop in the right place?

[Tom]

I used to do it frequently.   You stop the head of the saw just as the teeth are exposed from the end of the cant so that the body of the blade is still in the kerf.  Then you brake the band and back up.

It's handy when you are by yourself and offloading two boards at a time, or if you have an off-bearer who is good and will take a board off while you are cutting a second one.   You can do that too and it speeds up your production.

[Brucer]

I've done it, sawing pine and hemlock 1x . I'd drag the blade back through each cut until I had a stack of 6 or 8 boards on the mill. Sometimes you have to lift the end of the stack as the blade approaches the midpoint on the way back -- just enough to take a little pressure off the blade.

For some reason it doesn't work very well with Douglas-Fir.

[Chuck White]

I haven't tried bringing the blade back through the cut, but quite often, I'll exit the end of the cant and raise the blade above the board I just cut and return that way.

Same as when I split a 12" cant for 1x6's or 2x6's, etc, I just raise the blade above the top cant and return to the head of the mill, then turn the cants and start sawing 2 at a time.

[Dan_Shade]

I'm trying to save the time of raising the head up while cutting.
I figure if I can drag back through the last cut, i can save the up/down time of the head.  My 40 up/down motor moves too slow for my liking.

[Dave Shepard]

On the manual LT40 I'd do that when I had an off=bearer. You get so you can stop the band at just the right spot. As you near the mid-point, you push down on the board(s) so that they don't get pulled back with the head. Saves a lot of time not raising and lowering the head. On the Super, I just raise up and bring the head back for the next cut, leaving the band running.

[wwsjr]

On my LT40HD, when using an off bearer or not I felt it was faster to raise above the cut to return. On my LT40Super, I use the board dragback the majority of the time. I raise the head slightly to allow the dragback to catch the board and return. One of the older versions of Accuset had a "bump-up" feature to preset the height to raise the blade with out affecting pattern settings, discontinued on later versions and Accuset 2.  I guess it is a matter of preference but I do not like to bring blade back through the cut.

[Papa1stuff]

The only time I tried that ,the blade came off ,raise the blade now ;D

[Chris Burchfield]

I raise each time.  I just bump down for the next cut and the blade goes to where the next cut is to start.  I don't have to figure for the blade and curf loss, it's nice.

[Brucer]

The only time I tried that ,the blade came off ,raise the blade now ;D

Yer supposed to stop the blade first  :D :D.

[Cedarman]

I am usually sawing ERC.  I want to leave as many boards as possible in place to keep the bottom cant from bowing up.  I get a  lot less thick and thin boards that way.  It is just second nature and I don't even think about it.  When I come back if the stack starts to move I grab the end and push it back.  If I have an off bearer I have them raise the stack a smidgeon. If I overshoot the end, I try to reenter the cut.  If it catches I raise head and bring back.  I don't have accuset.
Once in a while you will catch a splinter and you better be ready to stop or the blade will pop off.
Since we saw though and don't turn the cedar cant once it is cut it is much quicker to bring blade back through cut.

[Chuck White]

Most of the time I just slide the board off the cant and onto the loading arms and the off-bearer will take the boards from there.

I also use it as a safety issue, it keeps the off-bearer away from moving parts.

[Papa1stuff]

Yer supposed to stop the blade first   .

I did ,the blade was not turning and I went slow ,but still caught and came off.
It is much faster to rasie the blade and return

[Dan_Shade]

it may be fast with a super, but with a regular LT40, the up/down takes a lot of time....

i find leaving the boards on the cant keeps it pretty flat, to help alleviate the thicks and thins.

[backwoods sawyer]

I put the next size larger pulley on the up down motor and always clear the stack with the saw. Putting a saw back on and risking damaging the saw are not worth the time saved to me. But it is always good to look at the pros and cons of an idea before implementing.

[sigidi]

I'm not totally familiar with how you bandmill boys do it, but can't the offbearer/tailer, get the board from behind the head as it is about 2' from the end of the log and just tail out when it's cut off, sawyer, brings head back, drops for next board, starts cutting and part way through next board tailer could be back ready for next board? and if he isn't back tell him to start running? ;D

[Dan_Shade]

has using a larger pulley caused you any problems?  I like that idea....

[Tom]

Sigidi

It's more of a technique to be used when you are alone, but it also works for relieving some of the stress and anxiety from an off-bearer when his sawyer is so much faster than greased lightening.  :

[sigidi]

Thanks Tom ;)

so here's a question how fast would you slice out say a 2x6? so how quick does the tailer have to be to get the last one stacked so he is back for the next one?

[petefrom bearswamp]

I like to pick the head up and  return.
I haven't tried returning thru the cut, but will tomorrow to see what happens,
I saw alone a lot and if this helps i will do it.
pete

[backwoods sawyer]

For shorter board the tailor fold them together and the can keep up at a walk, longer boards and they need to pick up the pace a bit if they are taking them one at a time. I like to stay a couple passes ahead of the tailor so that it holds the bottom boards to the bedrails.
If you have a tall stack and are raising up and over because you are by yourself, cut half way thru and then clear the stack, then finish cutting the stack.

[ljmathias]

Well, can't keep quiet any longer so here's my 2 cents worth: everytime I've tried to pull the blade back through red oak or SYP, it hangs up.  If I wasn't watching for it (based on several blade pop-offs) and stopped immediately, I'd have spent a lot of time remounting blades.   So to make a short story longer: I don't even try anymore unless I have to because of hitting metal and loosing sharp with the blade diving all over the place, and even then, I pry up the board and SLOWLY walk the head back in fits and spurts.  I just don't see how popping a blade off even once a day is worth the time you might save pulling back through the cut, but then again, I never cut for speed, just quality (I say with a grin- if you've seen my lumber, you know that as an amateur it's not the quality that counts, just the fact that I can do it.     )

Sure would like to hear more success stories though- or even stories about crashes and blades popping off: makes me feel right at home here.

Lj

[Magicman]

While we are adding 2¢, here's mine.  I never drag the band back through the cut either.

I release the clutch, raise the sawhead to clear the cant/lumber, reverse to the front, bump the down lever, ( I have/use Setworks) engage the clutch as the sawhead lowers, and begin the next cut.

We all get into our own rhythm of sawing.  Manipulating the controls become second nature.  There isn't a "right" or "wrong".   We do what works for us individually and what we are comfortable with.