Newbie first mill HM126 questions..

[Agman55]

Hello all,
I'm getting ready to use my new HM 126 mill, but being this is my first one, I wanted to see if anyone had any tips they could give me before starting? Any things I should check or adjust, anything to watch out for, or any guidance would be greatly appreciated! 
I've read thru the manual but I must admit some of it is a bit confusing to me, I've had people tell me the mill is set up by the factory to begin with so I shouldn't need to adjust anything, is this true? The manual really doesn't say one way or the other, the blade is on and it appears to be ready to cut but I never like to assume anything!
Thanks in advance for any help given!
Best wishes to everyone,
Agmsn55  (Jeff)

[beenthere]

Agman

I've read thru the manual but I must admit some of it is a bit confusing to me

Post what you find in the manual that is confusing. That gives us a place to start to help. 

[Menagerie-Manor]

Hello all,
I'm getting ready to use my new HM 126 mill, but being this is my first one, I wanted to see if anyone had any tips they could give me before starting? Any things I should check or adjust, anything to watch out for, or any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
I've read thru the manual but I must admit some of it is a bit confusing to me, I've had people tell me the mill is set up by the factory to begin with so I shouldn't need to adjust anything, is this true? The manual really doesn't say one way or the other, the blade is on and it appears to be ready to cut but I never like to assume anything!
Thanks in advance for any help given!
Best wishes to everyone,
Agmsn55  (Jeff)

The saw head on my HM126 was basically ready to go I only adjusted the guide blocks and originally torqued the tension with my torque wrench but they're suggested 2-1/2 to 3 turns has worked well. Just get the base setup on a stable foundation and get everything leveled, squared and aligned. The elevation cables will need to be adjusted to get the blade parallel to the bunks.

[Agman55]

Thanks for the info, one of the things confusing me is I purchased the 14 hp motor, with that upgrade the head comes with a " adjustable blade guide arm", the manual manual just says to make sure it slides in and out smoothly, and how to adjust the ball plunger, but I can't find anything that says where to set it or how to set it. Again, any help would be very appreciated! 

[Agman55]

Hey Managerie-Manor, did you set the torque at the max 25 ft. lb.s or halfway between the recommended 20-25 ft. lb.s?
Thanks for your help.

[rusticretreater]

They do set the mill head up to be usable when received.  Did the shipping company handle the mill well during transport?

Check the level of the rails often during your early use of the mill.  Lengthwise and across the rails.

Drop the head to its lowest level and check the blade for being level with the beds.  Raise the head a foot or more and check for level with the beds.  Adjust the left or right cables as needed.

Roll the head to various points on the rails and see if it stays in that position.  My head used to move abit at one spot even though I thought it was level.  I ended up taking a piece of rail, turning it 180 degrees and installing it at the end of the other rail to control the runout. Apparently the angle bend was slightly off.

Set the blade guide clearance.  Open the doors and look at where the blade is setting on the wheels. Close the doors, fire it up and start the blade moving increasing to full speed.  Shut it off, open the doors and see if the blade is holding to its tracking. Recheck the blade clearance.

It is wise to check the tension with a torque wrench.  The manual suggests that a sight setting is to get the inner sleeve  edge level with outer sleeve at 25 ft lbs and to remove/add shims to adjust it to that setting.  My sleeve stuck out about 1/4" at 25 ft lbs.

Put a log stop at full height and make sure your blade protector bar hits the log stop before your blade does.  Also make sure the set screw for the protector bar is tight.

Check the valve on your lube tank.  Mine seemed a bit loose and would not stay where I wanted it to.  I ended up opening it fully and putting a pinch valve on the line on the section between the distribution block at the engine and the outlet on the blade guide.  It should be a low volume dribble and not a splashy stream.

Cut some low value logs to see how it does.  Hopefully it does not vibrate much.

Recheck levels, blade tension and blade guide clearances to see if things have moved.  Only by checking often do you get to know your machine.

There are two technical bulletins on the Woodland Mills website.  Under Blades and Blade Maintenance, Technical Resources heading.  One is blade tension guide, the other is blade tracking guide.

I got annoyed with the set screw for the blade protection bar being on the outside of the mounting where there is less clearance to access it.  I took it off and drilled/tapped it on the other side so it is accessed from the inside. 

[Menagerie-Manor]

Hey Managerie-Manor, did you set the torque at the max 25 ft. lb.s or halfway between the recommended 20-25 ft. lb.s?
Thanks for your help.

I originally used the wrench to hit the 25lbs but found the instructions for 2-1/2 to 3 turns by hand works fine. The blade guide should be set to expose the minimum amount of blade to the log by looking down the log and extending it to fully clear the cut.

[Agman55]

Hi Rusticretreater, thanks for all the great information, I will definitely put it to good use! It is greatly appreciated!

Thank you Minagerie-Manor, that info also helps a lot, I'm going to torque it first then see if the 2 1/2-3 turns puts it in a similar spot. I was really kind of perplexed on how to use the blade guide bar so I am very thankful to you and Rusicretreater for giving me some good info on that!

On my farm here I mainly have white oak, locust, along with some black walnut and cherry trees, I'm going to try and find some other species or just some poorer grade logs to do some test runs on. I'm thinking the locust will be the hardest on my blades, but I'm glad I bought extras right out of the gate. I'm going to have to see if there is any place around me to get them resharpened otherwise I may have to pull the trigger on getting my own.

I'm sure looking forward to start milling my own wood, I sure have enough projects to keep me, and my mill, busy for quite a while! Thanks again for all the help and expertise, hopefully I can figure out what I'm doing wrong so I can post some pictures.

[Agman55]

@ Rusticretreater, sorry I almost forgot, the packaging and shipping of my mill actually wasn't too bad, they do really cram the pieces in that carton but other than some punctured boxes I was lucky not to have any real damage that I know others have experienced. I think it would be better if they shipped in 2 cartons to try and avoid the damage, especially considering how heavy many pieces are. Like maybe ship all the track pieces, head cross bar, hardware, etc., in one carton and ship the motor, tank, and lighter pieces in another carton, but that's just my opinion.

[Wlmedley]

You will probably need to get a couple cans of spray silicone to spray box tubing that head slides up and down on and log dogs .It will make things work a little bit easier.Don't use oil.I made that mistake once.I will gum up with sawdust.