Logmaster edger blade source?

[Old Greenhorn]

My buddy just got a Logmaster edger a few months ago and finally has it (the engine and drives) tweaked in and running fine. We ran just a couple of boards through it today and realized the blades are pretty shot. Best start off with new ones. It appears that Logmaster no longer supports these?
 Does anyone have a good source and recommendations for good general purpose blade for this machine. It's a bear of a machine and looks like it will handle up to 8/4 material, perhaps more. I haven't gotten into it much yet. Also wondering about a manual source.
 Any help or advice on this would be appreciated.

[Bruno of NH]

Tom,
Check some saw blade supply business that sell bands and circle saw stuff.
They usually sell edger blades. You will just need the size and arbor diameter. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah Bruno, we haven't pulled one yet to get all the details off the blades. I guess that is next because my general searches turned up nothing and I can't find a manual either. That diesel runs a lot of HP and this thing will fly through but the blades are just shot and producing very poor results. Time to pull the covers and pull a blade and get some measurements. They look like about 12", but I need to know more than that of course.
 Whom do you use for your blades?

[stavebuyer]

There will be somebody local who sharpens and re-tips that can get you edger blades. If they are not split blades now would be the time to see about changing over.

Be prepared for sticker shock as they are quite proud of edger blades. If you use the machine much you really need 2-3 sets.

[customsawyer]

I get my edger blades from The Sharp Tool Co. INC 978-568-9292. Give them a call and they will ask all the right questions. Just make sure you have a blade in your hand and something to measure accurately with.  Get the split blades if at all possible.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I spent 1/2 hour going through the sharp tool web pages and could not find a single split blade listed. Also nothing called and 'edger blade' could be found. Perhaps they use a different term such as lumber sizing or something. I don't have a blade here to measure. I'll have to go down and pull a blade and make a drawing, then start calling around. 
 The guy that does local re-sharpening I do not believe does re-tipping but we can check that. You also made me think of another saw house that is about an hour from here. I should check them too as soon as I can recall the name. ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I finally located the thread I was originally looking for HERE and that gave me a lot of info. I remember the conversation but this was LONG before I would ever be messing around with edgers. I just thought they were cool. That thread gave me a lot of info to get me going and as soon as I get the dimensions I will contact either Cooks or Sharp and see what we can come up with. @YellowHammer , how are those new blades working out for you? still using them? I think we will look for a higher tooth count based on what I read from the other edger owners here.
 For what they are and what it takes to make these blades I don't think they are overly expensive. Before I retired I was buying metal cutting cold saw blades for slugging bar stock and those ran $300-800 each and we had a dozen in rotation. By comparison, these are cheap. :D

[Southside]

The split blades are also called Strobe blades if that word shows up in a catalog.  

[WDH]

You best have a SGU.  

[Wftmwd]

I have a logmaster edger as well. I spoke with logmaster about these blades and had some built by the original blade manufacturer. The blades are an oddball size at 13 or 13.25 inch or some mess. Other shops can build the blades for you as well. The business is southern carbide in Shreveport la. They have the plans on file already and can have you new blades made in a few weeks.
Southern carbide
4115 Curtis Ln, Shreveport, LA 71109
+1 318-631-7388

[Old Greenhorn]

Well thank you very much Wftmwd! What a unique way to enter the forum with your first post providing something useful and accurate right off the bat. I believe that is the first time I have seen such.  I may just give them a call Monday, but it sounds like these blades are a different size. What model is your edger? The one I am working on is a LM E 26D I believe. It has a 23 HP Perkins diesel. The blade diameter I will give later because I think I mis-measured, but it's either 14 or 15" on the mark.
I did go down this morning and after failing miserably trying to get the fixed blade off, I managed to get off the floating blade and get dimensions. I thought I got them all but I forgot the blade thickness and the cutter width.
I did call some of the companies I found that make blades, but nobody is open on Saturday. It's a little more difficult because there is no cell coverage for a few miles around where the mill and the edger are, not is there any internet. I can make a phone call, but not while standing at any given machine, only from the shop or house.
I appreciate all the info offered above and will let you know how we make out. I know we should have little trouble finding blades and I have a semi local house that can make blades and I have done business with before. They also provide pick up and drop off sharpening service, so that is appealing.
My concern right now is that I think there is little chance of getting my hands on a manual from what I can see. I like to know what the builders had in mind, look at assembly drawings and see how it was put together originally before previous owners made "improvements". Right now the drive belt path seems suspect to me and may have been modified.
I am going to run back there and do the 4 miles loop and get the missing dimensions and double check the diameter. Might as well collect some eggs while I am there and fill a growler with hard cider he is trying to get rid of. ;D I try to be helpful.

[Old Greenhorn]

OK, I just got back from re-checking my measurements and adding the ones I missed, as well as picking up a growler of hard cider and handing up the odd board or two to the crew trying to get the shop roof done. Heres the specs for the blades on that saw:
 Diameter = 15"
 Bore = 3.0"
 teeth= 12 (would like to go to 16)
 Mounting bolts are 1/2" diameter x 4 equally spaced on a 4.500" diameter Bolt circle.
 Kerf = .162
 blade thickness= .114
 Other stuff: The shaft is 2" diameter with 2 1/2 square keyways (one for each blade).
Monday morning I'll start making calls. Thanks again everybody and if anyone has a line on a manual, please let me know. ;D



 

[YellowHammer]

I love the blades, they are working well.  They get a lot of use, still going strong.

[customsawyer]

That is a regular split strobe edger blade.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I know WHAT it is, the problem for now seems to be WHERE to get it. :D From the research I can do over the weekend it appears that 15" is kind of odd. It's larger than most standard blades. Also, these blades don't have the wipers inside the saw face and I think we would get a better finish with those wipers.
 I'll start making calls tomorrow morning and see what I can find. We may bring these to a local guy for re-tipping but I would want to check them for flatness first. There are indictors that tell me something may be off (warped). It's a nice machine with a lot of umpf, slowly we are getting things tweaked and fixed up. Once we get blades on order we will look into making a new dog for the floating blade, it has a lot of (too much) slop in it to hold the size where it is set. Another reason I am looking for a manual to see what the parts are supposed to look like.

[2308500]

try smith sawmill services in timpson  texas

[redbeard]

 
 
 


 
 
 when you do find some split/strobe type blades that will fit your edger having the long carbide on each half is really important cleaning up the edges from tear out. 
Also you can see that the corners are rounded or eased a bit in first picture, helps fitting the arbor easier. 
We have four sets now probably two too many but I had major problems getting them sharpened until we had a sandwich plate machined so our local sharpening business could treat blade as a solid saw blade with a 1" arbor hole.
We're on 3rd sharpening and they last alot longer than they did when I received them new.
These are 14" from Cooks that go on our Cooks edger.

[YellowHammer]

The place I recommended "designed" a specialty blade for me over the phone in about 30 minutes. He had his CAD running, asked me to make some measurements with a caliper of a standard Baker strobe blade to get the basic blade geometry, then he started making adjustments for my needs.  He changed the plate thickness, tooth count, and even the angle and sent the file to their manufacturing group, took my credit card number over the phone and that was it,

Rememberer that my edger was a prototype, first run for a custom Baker edger, and even Baker didn't have the blade it really needed.  Presto, next thing I knew, I had a couple prototypes blades, and they work great.  The company has since picked them up as stock numbers, so when I need more, I just refer to that number.  Too easy.    

I mentioned them to Jake, and he got them to build a specialty blade for his WM edger, a split blade for an edger that didn't take split blades.  Excellent idea.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Well YH I have gotten a ton of great and useful advice here and when I finally found your thread (which gave me my initial introduction to these blades in the first place, 2 years ago), I re-read the whole thing. I am waiting for business hours to commence in the various time zones today so I can start making phone calls. My only quandary now is who to start with. :D
 This Log Master is a really well built machine, very heavy, but unfortunately lived outdoors it's whole life, so there is a bunch of rust. The company has removed any technical references for their web pages for this machine and just has a couple of references they missed. No parts or anything available that I can see, and I really want the manual. ;D
 I can't say at this point who I will wind up with, but it's not my machine and I just want to owner to have it easy going forward because he 'doesn't do internet'. He needs a part number and a phone number, money he has, time he doesn't.
 Do you mind if I ask what the ballpark price was on those blades? Not that it is a sticking point. He knows it won't be cheap and doesn't care, he just wants the machine running properly. My next step with him is to fix that floating blade dog to remove the slop, then I will try to work on him letting me fit some lasers to it, like yours. He is not grasping the concept quite yet so I need to sit him down and show him your video.
 Thanks for all your help, you are the one that got me started on this when I saw his problem I recalled your thread and said to him "why don't you just let me take care of that for you?" I didn't have to twist his arm.

[YellowHammer]

The blades were about $110 (last time I bought them) which was actually less than the Baker edger blades.  I hope you can get it right and tight again.  A well running edger is an indispensable piece of equipment, because it can run dry wood as well as green.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, right and tight is what we are shooting for. He runs a lot of dimensional lumber and for now mostly softwoods until this version of the shop extension is done. But he is also slowly building up a woodshop (that I think he has designs on me running for him) now that he bought another 60 acres that came with a steel building. He is picking up a 120KW 3 phase generator today or tomorrow that 'just needs some engine work'. :D SO eventually this edger will go under a 'yet to be built' shed roof extension on that steel building about 150' from the sawmill.
 When he got his first LT40 about 8 years ago, he went crazy milling up logs and stocking lumber, mostly 2x4, 6, 8, 10, 12" by up to 20' long, but he couldn't market it all and eventually the covers went away and the wood degraded. I built my first shop loft with some of that lumber. Now he has the new LT 50 and is milling to order only (when he can get a sawyer). Once the wood shop is begun, he wants to move the slabmizer in there and the planer and get bigger finishing equipment. He is 37 and has a long way to go but he seems to be getting there with a profit. I think he has adopted me as a 'smart old man that hangs out here and sets me straight when I need it.' But he hasn't said that out loud yet. ;D I don't mind, I am having fun playing with his equipment and fixing stuff the right way.

[Old Greenhorn]

@YellowHammer , do you have a contact name at Sharp? The fella that did the design work? Also, that pricing is a no- brainer, not bad at all.

[APope]

You might find that manual online at the Wayback Machine.
Wayback Machine

[YellowHammer]

Sharp Tool,
(978) 568-9292
7 Bonazzoli Ave Hudson, MA 0174
United States

I can't find his name anymore, but this is the number I have for them, and I think it went straight to the design guy.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I called Sharp yesterday morning and gave him all the dimensions except two I missed. He said he didn't need those to work up the drawing and quote and would have something for me in a few hours but I never heard back. I also called Log Master and got a return call late in the day from I think, Kevin? He is over 80 now and I enquired about spare parts. He laughed and said 'we designed and built that so that it is cheaper and fast to either makes the parts yourself or get them made locally, we never stocked any parts. If you called and wanted a part while we were in full operation, we would just make it and send it'. He suggested I take out the worn parts and make new ones ourselves, which is fine, but we thought if he still had stock we might buy up parts for spares to have on hand. We also found the manual in a pile of other forgotten manuals, it wasn't worth the search time except it did have the full engine book with it. There is no IPL in any way, the information on setting up and running the machine is extremely basic with little or no detail. No drawings at all. Nice fella though and gave me his home number for after hours calls. Said I should call if I had any questions on operation or anything.
 I just called Chris at sharp back, but he isn't in yet (before 8am). Hoping to get blades ordered today. Then I will go back down and try to get that floating blade dog out and get some measurements and see about getting a couple made up. It should be wearing out regularly with usage. Would like to make it out of bunting bronze instead of brass. The saga continues.....

[Ljohnsaw]

OGH, another great thread of yours I just found!  How about some pictures of the beast?

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I don't know about 'great'. I was just asking for help and got it! Smartest bunch of people in the world on this Forum.
 I don't have many photos except for hysterical reference, such as above. But here is a short video I shot last Friday when a guy needed a specific size board for a barn repair. Pay attention, it's pretty short:
Log Master LME24D edger running a test board. - YouTube

 When we get it running well and start feeding it boards, I will get something better. Or as soon as I hit another stumble point. ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, I heard back from Chris at Sharp: $125./blade for 2 pcs. Not bad at all. But the delivery is 15-16 weeks...UGH.

[YellowHammer]

That edger looks pretty nice. 4 months for a blade? wow, I had mine much quicker.  I guess that's the way things are these days. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Unfortunately yes. I didn't even flinch because I know they are having trouble getting the specialty steels, everybody is. There is no point in whining or beating him up over it. That's why he hadn't given me the quote yesterday and when I called him this morning he said he needed to give his steel supplier a kick to get that info. I talked to my buddy this morning and he will drop off his billing data in the morning for me to get the order placed. We will then see about doing a work around to at least get one of those blades rebuilt to get things moving. Life goes on, we have work to do. I know this machine will do a great job when we get it right, or even nearly so.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well just a quick update on this to let anybody following know how it went. I stated in the last post that I didn't whine at all about the 16 week delivery. That would have had them in our hands the second week of January as the latest. At the end of January I called once a day and left voice mails with Chris, the rep I was doing business with. Then I sent emails every couple of days and the only response I got was "I'll get back to you as soon as I check with the shop", but he never got back to me. Started to routine again in the beginning of February, most songs and dances but he never returned any update or status.
 Yesterday I called again and a different fella picked up the phone. For the first time I let some frustration out and told the guy how many times I had called and written and all I was asking for was the status they had told me would ship6 weeks ago. He put me on hold, then came back and told me they were in grinding now and would ship Monday. Also they had no billing information even though I had already provided that. So I had to walk out to the shop and get that for them, then called him back. He apologized for the delay and I explained that I understood the delay BUT there is nothing that will tick a customer off more than NOT telling him what is going on. Give me the bad news and lets move on, but don't force me to make 8 phone calls and 4 or 5 emails to find out what is going on. Tuesday it was 5 months or 20 weeks since the order. They now tell me any new orders are quoted at 20 weeks. Well duh.
 Everybody can make their own decision for themselves, but for us it really doesn't matter how good these blades cut when we get them. These folks took too much effort to do business with. I know a lot of our members use them and I hope you continue to get good service and products from them. But I just don't think they wanted our business and I will accommodate them in the future in this respect. We tried Sharp and it didn't work out.
 Now lets see if they show up when they said they would. I do expect them too. I think the guy I talked to yesterday is Chris's boss because he said he was going to 'have a discussion with him about this'.

 As an aside to this. Once I had the new blades on order and knowing how long it would be, I found a local blade company (well I did business with them for 20 years off and on when I was working) to re-tip and sharpen the blades we had in the machine. I sent them up and they turned them around in less than a week. We did one at a time to keep running. When I was talking to the rep on the phone he mentioned maybe we should get a second pair of blades so we could just swap them out. I told him we had them on order already but it was a long lead time. He said really? how long? I told him. He laughed and asked where I ordered them. Then he told me they could make those blades in two weeks because they stock all that material.  ;D I also found out these guys service a LOT of cabinet shops and wood products companies in our area. They will pick up and deliver if the business justifies it. Live, learn, and move on.

[Old Greenhorn]

Just for reference, another update: The blades arrived yesterday. 21.5 weeks after order. (9/14/21-2/24/22) I worked in manufacturing and cutter shops for nearly 50 years, and these blades look good, but I can see that the care in workmanship is going out the window in that shop. They never cleaned off all the grinder's reference marks or the inspector's marks, and for me that is a tell tale sign of hustling and shoving things down the line. If you do good work, you want the customer to see it when they open the box, not see your notes written in sharpie on the various points on the blades. Probably just a sign of the times, sadly.

 It will be a while before we load these up and give them a run off. The edger is blocked in by snow right now. I expect these to cut very well, the grinding work looks quite good on a quick pass without my inspection tools.