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My 12 sawmill mods

Started by arky217, July 24, 2020, 01:55:46 PM

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arky217

I made the following 12 modifications to my Norwood LM29 sawmill to make
milling a little easier:

1) Leveling the carriage.
   This mod. is the most important one that I made as it eliminated
   the problem that I was having of the blade divings due to the 
   downward tilt of the bandwheels and thus the downward tilt of the blade.
   I described this in detail in a June 30 post entitled 'How I fixed my Norwood sawmill'.
   You can see that mod by clicking the link below.
   
   https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=111236.0
   
2) Shimming the blade guide rollers to have more down pressure.
   As assembled according to the mill manual, the rollers had
   very little down pressure, about 1/16" or less. I shimmed both the
   stationary roller bracket and also the adjustable roller
   bracket to give each roller about 1/4" down pressure.



 



 
   
3) Guard to prevent the blade from cutting a log rest that was
   left too high. I was going to make this mod from day 1, but I
   kept putting it off. Don't ask what prodded me to not mill any
   longer until I made this mod. (On a brand new blade no less) :)



 

   
4) Felt blade wipe to help reduce sawdust buildup from getting between
   the blade and the bandwheels. I sanwiched the felt between
   the stationary blade guide roller bracket and the guard in mod 2.
   It really does block most of the sawdust.



 

   
5) Cut off the tabs from the log rests. I was having trouble when edging with
   the boards wobbling on the log rests due to having to put the rests low
   because the slant on the top of the rest. With the tabs cut off, I can now
   turn the rests 180 and get about 1.5" more support.



 


   
6) Repositioned the last bunk inward from the very end of the rails.
   As it was, the blade wouldn't even reach the bunk; now it's where
   a 12' log can rest on the bunk.
   


 


7) Throttled down the water valve. The water valve puts out way too much water
   when it's fully open. To adjust it to a reasonable flow, you had to make
   that adjustment at the beginning of every cut. So, I simply put a clamp on
   the tube to partially close the tube. Now, I can just open the valve all the
   way before each cut; saves a lot of time.
   


 


8- Log turner. Built a swing away winch log turner that cantilevers off a nearby tree.
   This puts no torque on the rails and works really neat. As I'm turning a log over
   onto a flat side, I use my cant hook to offset the winch so that I lower the log
   gently onto the bunks instead of letting it slam down.



 



 



 

   
9) Moved the log dog closer to the center bunk. This takes some of the stress off of
   the rails by putting it next to a bunk, and also, because the dog is now vertical
   instead of on an angle, it allows an extra 1/2" or so clearance when cutting the
   last board.
   


 

10) Cut out the end of the discharge chute to reduce sawdust buildup inside the
    protective cover housing. (I don't understand why Norwood has the end of the
    discharge chute with those four holes instead of it being fully open).
    
11) Added an elbow to the end of the discharge chute and hung a 5 gallon bucket
    on the elbow to catch the sawdust. Not only makes a convenient way to get rid
    of the sawdust, but also helps a lot to reduce air blown sawdust when the
    wind is blowing the wrong way.



 

    
12) This last mod, some of you younger guys may laugh at, but when you get 75 like
    I am, it may not be as funny. And that is, I added a 3.5" extension onto the
    crank handle that raises and lowers the carriage. (That cranking gets tiresome after a
    while for an old guy)



 



Hope someone will benefit from reading these mods on your sawmill. Some of the mods may
be applicable to other makes of sawmills as well.
Happy milling to everyone; make some sawdust! :)
Arky217

Gere Flewelling

Hi arky217,  Looks like some clever and well thought out modifications you made to you mill.  The blade guard is a great idea.  I hope someone from the Norwood engineering dept. is viewing this.  They would do well to consider adding many of these ideas to their mills to make them just a little more user friendly.  Though you are probably always thinking of more improvements to make, I hope you get enjoy your mill and making sawdust fly.  Into the bucket of course.  Thanks for sharing you ideas.
Old 🚒 Fireman and Snow Cat Repairman (retired)
Matthew 6:3-4

Southside

You may want to rethink mod #10. You will understand why there were 4 holes there the first time you break a band and 200 ish inches worth of cutting surface comes out the chute @5400 FPS and dances across the yard chasing you or someone else. 

Maybe try some fingers or another means of stopping a broken band. Even then they will stick out quite a ways sometimes.
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

RAYAR

Some nice mods to your Norwood. Your blade guard should extend under your blade, otherwise, you can still graze the top of a back stop. You can bend the end down ahead of your blade so it extends below your cut line about 1/4". If that's not easily done, you can bolt a piece under your existing guard with spacers to extend it under and ahead of your blade.

Let the sawdust fly ... Ray
mobile manual mill (custom build) (mods & additions on-going)
Custom built auto band sharpener (currently under mods)
Husqvarna 50, 61, 254XP (and others)
96 Polaris Sportsman 500
2006 Ranger 4X2 w/cap, manual trans (430,000 Km)

arky217

Quote from: RAYAR on July 24, 2020, 11:54:49 PM
Some nice mods to your Norwood. Your blade guard should extend under your blade, otherwise, you can still graze the top of a back stop. You can bend the end down ahead of your blade so it extends below your cut line about 1/4". If that's not easily done, you can bolt a piece under your existing guard with spacers to extend it under and ahead of your blade.

Let the sawdust fly ... Ray
Good catch; I did realize that but the piece of angle I had wasn't wide enough to go under the blade and still reach the bolt holes on the guide bracket.
Good suggestion about adding an extra piece onto the guard to extend under the blade.
I may try that approach.
Arky217

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