Old Woodmizer

[rmack]

this video has been around for a while now, just wondering if anyone has an idea just what vintage this machine is?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZOmsz2Tx04&feature=BFa&list=PL159876A127E939B0&index=39

[rmack]

oops! says 1982 right under the video... where is the red face icon?
oh, there it is  :-[

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I went to the bathroom and came back and that 1 board was still being sawed.....Yawn.

Nice old mill. Thanks for posting it, Mack.

[Cutting Edge]

David, I would say something here...but....

[JustinW_NZ]

Have to say it makes be feel better about buying an "old" 1997 mill to see ones way more senior still making sawdust...
Perhaps slower, but still functional.

Cheers
Justin

[morgoon]

Whew that is slow

The Hummer recovery vehicle looks like a unimog of sorts?

I guess you could throw a log on the mill, rescue a stranded 4x4 and be back in time to see the cut finish.

The woodmizer "set it and forget it" model

On the up side, if you were going to hit metal, you would have time to react.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I don't think the head movement will break the sound barrier. :D :D :D

[bandmiller2]

Some folks cut much slower than they have to,don't realize they can go much faster. How do you blokes determine how fast you mill.?? Frank C.

[Jeff]

My Mill is an 86, still humming along, and MUCH fast than the one on the video. I used it just this weekend, however I chose to push my head through as I was doing some resawing within a fraction of an inch of the dog and backstops, so I didn't want a control between me and my ability to stop.   I gotta believe there is something going on with the blade or something to be that slow. I'd think most guys here could make that old girl zing along faster then that.

[rmack]

maybe the blade is the same vintage as the sawmill.  ;)

[WH_Conley]

If I had to saw that slow with the ole '97. I would pick up beer cans from the ditch, would make more money.

I sawed some cribbing blocks today. 250 of them for a total of 1066 ft, cut them 2' length, built the pallets to put them on, banded up ready to go. Back in the house in less than 7hrs. Oh, and loaded some lumber for a customer. At the speed that guy was going I am afraid the first ones would rot by the time they were all sawed.

[tyb525]

A lot of videos I see on youtube are by people that don't seem to know what they are doing with regards to a sawmill. Lots of times the bands are super dull.

Different note, I was at the local county fair, with a circle mill powered by steam. I stopped to watch, then left in disgust because it took 10 minutes for the guy to set the log dogs, then when he went to cut the log they came loose, he had no clue :

[dgdrls]

I like the Factory Woodmizer vise grips at about 1:36 :D

DGDrls

[corke]

This well could be a 1982, and if so, it's probably one of the first 10 or 15 every made.  The original Wood-Mizer engine was a Tecumseh, and this 14 HP Kohler was an option. 

This has the old 6 position power feed switch, which was the predecessor to the infinitely variable solid state version.  Yards and yards of copper wire were wound around an aluminum spool, and every so often at regular measured intervals, a loop would be pulled to solder to one of the six positions.  The longer the distance to the loop, the more resistance, and the slower the feed.  There was a big aluminum heat sink on the back to get rid of the heat that design generated.  The power feed also had a choice of three pulley ranges, so there were a total of 18 feed speeds.  This unit also has the double chain power feed, which WM replaced free of charge through a recall because of safety concerns. It also has the "high speed return", which was a lever and cam arrangement that always put it in "high gear" for the return (which was a pretty sweet option). 

If it is a '82, it would have come with upper and lower blade guide wheels, but the owner has removed the lower guides, and (hopefully) aligned it so there is some deflection in the blade.  The old blade guide guards as still on the machine, and they prevented you from going closer than 3" to the bed.  If you wanted to cut all 4/4" lumber, you'd have to put up to two of your previously cut boards under the uncut portion to lift it high enough to finish.  With stressed wood, that usually made accuracy a little hard to attain. 

The vise grips are to keep the head from dropping.  On long cuts (like this one!) it was common for the pulley to "creep", allowing the head to change position.  Some mills were more free than others, and eventually WM added a cam that you could use to keep the wheel from drifting after the cut was set. 

I'd think that very few machines are out there like this anymore - and I'm sure WM isn't happy to see the double chain still being used!