Remembering how to run a Wood-Mizer again.

Bibbyman · June 03, 2021, 03:48:18 PM

Mary and I have been seriously retired for 6 years. We still have the mill and all the equipment. The mill and support equipment sets idle most of the time. I fire up the mill every now and then to rip something down or some special project. I doubt if it makes a bushel of sawdust a year.

Recently, I took on a project sawing 4x4s for our son. I plum ran out of sharp blades. I was forced to relearn how to use the sharpener again. It had been 6 years since I last used it. After a few false starts and head scratching, I figured it out and got 3 blades sharpened. That will do me for a while. I probably should sharpen more while I have it up and going.

Funny, I step up to the Command Control on the LT40 and my hands just go into action like when I ran every day.

Bruno of NH · June 03, 2021, 03:51:43 PM

Good for you Sir
Its nice to hear from you.

YellowHammer · June 03, 2021, 03:55:08 PM

Ain't that something. I still remember watching your videos from back when. Good to hear form you.

alan gage · June 03, 2021, 03:58:16 PM

I'd say you're doing pretty darn good considering I thought you were dead.

I've only been on the forum for a few years but I've come across lots of great information from you in the archives and heard lots of people saying, "Bibbyman did this and Bibbyman did that." Just assumed you'd died and am glad to learn I was wrong.

Have fun making sawdust for a little while again and then get back to enjoying retirement.

Alan

Bibbyman · June 03, 2021, 04:35:55 PM

Reports of my death were greatly exaggerated!

I'm spending much of my leisure time working on old guns. The sawdust pile has become my shooting range back stop. It's slumped considerably. Fawns tend to hide out on top of it.

Colt Frontier Six Shooter made in 1881 - YouTube

sawguy21 · June 03, 2021, 04:54:42 PM

Welcome back, we've missed you! 8)

WV Sawmiller · June 03, 2021, 04:58:38 PM

Great to hear from you again. Sorry to hear you have not been using the mill more. I figured you were too busy running it to write here. (Well, loading logs and stacking lumber while Miz Mary sawed the lumber.) Sort of like a letter I got from an old HS buddy (I went to his wedding a couple weeks ago - 68 and never been married before. You of thought he knew better. :D) One time I heard from him after 6-7 years and his letter said "I'd have wrote sooner but the fish was biting." Who can refute logic like that?

Nice looking gun. Glad Mary has not used it on you yet. ;)

Andries · June 03, 2021, 05:03:55 PM

Good of you to check in, Mr Bibbyman.
Your posts were always a favorite read, back in the day.
Who'd a thought that you would park the sawmill and take up gun slingin' ? 😆

Bibbyman · June 03, 2021, 05:09:36 PM

We ran the sawmill as a business, not a hobby. I have always had the gun fixings and shooting bug. I just didn't have the time when we were running the sawmill. I told Mary this morning after sawing for a couple of hours, "I'm sure glad we're not doing this as a business.".

Mary shooting 44WCF rifle and pistols and hammer 12 gauge double.

Sawmill Mary Cowboy Action Shooter - YouTube

dgdrls · June 03, 2021, 05:26:07 PM

Great to hear from you and Mary

best

D

Chuck White · June 03, 2021, 06:34:00 PM

Good to see you on the Forum again Bibby!

We miss people when they're not here often!

Hope you and Mary are doing well!

Magicman · June 03, 2021, 08:38:53 PM

It's nice to see you poke your head up Bibby.

I'm not sawing as a hobby either, it's still a business. ;D

Larry · June 03, 2021, 08:43:23 PM

Glad to see you and Sawmill Mary having fun!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Southside · June 03, 2021, 08:47:25 PM

Ya know that whole event would have made for quite the video. I can see you there fussing with the sharpener, twisting your head to the side, biting your tongue while digging up old memories on how to run it, suddenly a smile comes across your face as we hear the familiar "zhinc, zhinc, zhinc" and sparks fly. The next scene you are walking up to the ole, trusty, 40, blow the dust off of the controls as your hands settle onto the setworks. One second of diesel crank, and dust rolls off the whole mill as she comes to life. Suddenly the "screech" of the drive belt engaging fills the air and the camera pans back to a wider angle as the head moves forward....

Heck - Wood Mizer would buy that and use it for an advertising video!! :D

barbender · June 03, 2021, 09:30:20 PM

Except there's no diesel cranking, just the quiet whir of the 25 hp 3 phase electric iirc, Southside😊

Bibby, it's good to hear from you but I'm glad you haven't been running your mill. Never been a better time to send it down the road from what I hear😉

thecfarm · June 03, 2021, 09:31:44 PM

I was hoping this was not an old thread.
Good to hear from you!!!

Southside · June 03, 2021, 09:36:36 PM

Quote from: barbender on June 03, 2021, 09:30:20 PMExcept there's no diesel cranking, just the quiet whir of the 25 hp 3 phase electric iirc, Southside😊

Artistic Liberty Barbenter, Artistic Liberty.... :D

Gilman · June 03, 2021, 09:51:38 PM

Lucky day for me to take a peek inside ForestryForum. Nice to hear from you.

I know what you mean about relearning the grinder. Years ago I decided to sharpen some blades again instead of using Woodmizer's Woodvillage, Oregon resharp service. After I had resharpened them a couple of times I sent them into WM for them to resharpen. They returned them to me unsharpened with a note, "Not Woodmizer Blades or Profile." I only bought WM blades at that time and was using WM's sharpener. smiley_dunce

Jeff · June 03, 2021, 10:05:30 PM

That is two dont be a strangers in one topic! Good to see both of you!

123maxbars · June 03, 2021, 10:24:04 PM

Good deal, that post made my day, learned a lot from you over the years,

Bibbyman · June 04, 2021, 02:24:47 AM

I did make a video of the sharpener running. Just to send to Electric Al in Iowa to prove that I got the sharpener going.

I tripped a breaker right off because it started off grinding too deep. I forgot there was a reset behind the control box under the oil pan. I forgot to turn on the oil flow valve on top of the grinder head and had to figure out why no oil was flowing. The wiring connection to the grinder motor came loose while I fiddled with the box under the oil pan and took a bit to realize why the grinder motor wasn't working.

new learning curve june 2021 - YouTube

It is remarkable that all this Wood-Mizer equipment still works (knock on wood) after all these years.