Useful sawmill mods

fred in montana · January 17, 2011, 08:28:51 PM

12 volt winch powered log turner. My first welding project so don't look too closely at the welding!

There is a rope attached to the vertical arm that I can pull to position it under the edge of the log before lifting.

Also am adding a winch powered clamp and winch powered backstops.

Magicman · January 17, 2011, 09:34:00 PM

Is that enough teeth?

pineywoods · January 18, 2011, 11:36:05 AM

I've been there. My hat's off to anyone who tackles a project like this. I just about gurantee you will bend or break something when you start using it. ;D Show us some pics after you mess up that nice paint job re-enforcing and adding stuff ;D

sgschwend · January 19, 2011, 11:40:16 PM

I added a saw luber solenoid valve between my lube tank and the saw blade. The solenoid is connected to the two speed engine rpm controller. High speed the lube is on, low speed off. Pretty simple just two 1/8" NPT to barb fittings, a short length of tubing and the valve.

I used it today, it was nice just to set the flow valve and not needing to change a setting or shut it off until the end of the work day.

terrifictimbersllc · January 20, 2011, 05:04:08 AM

Steve, can you give some id for that valve? can't find it with those numbers.

sgschwend · January 20, 2011, 09:27:36 PM

I picked up this one from Grainger. It is an Ingersoll Rand model number: P251SS-012-D

The remainder of the parts came from ACE hardware.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/INGERSOLLRANDARO-Solenoid-Valve-6JJ52

Brucer · January 20, 2011, 11:48:09 PM

I bought one from Wood-Mizer. I was too cheap to add a lubemizer setup, but I bought the solenoid for it. There's already bolt holes for it and the mill was prewired for it as well. I just had to hook up the wire to the feed switch and now the solenoid opens whenever the carriage is traveling forward.

barbender · January 21, 2011, 01:05:29 PM

That's how my '97 super is set up, just a solenoid that is activated by the carriage feed. I don't believe Lubemizer was available back then.

fred in montana · February 05, 2011, 08:36:31 PM

Well, I got the mods done.

winch powered:
claw turner
clamp
2 backstops

And a log leveling bracket that is powered with a 12v scissor jack.

I will get some photos later but I have a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he2a7eR8Uuw

Magicman · February 05, 2011, 09:10:05 PM

Another plan comes together. Looks good.

fred in montana · February 05, 2011, 09:26:49 PM

QuoteIs that enough teeth?

No it wasn't!

I had to cut them off and add bigger ones.

Magicman · February 05, 2011, 09:46:40 PM

I went back and looked. Those were larger unpainted teeth in the video. Well, it's perfection in progress.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · February 05, 2011, 10:13:21 PM

Quote from: slowzuki on July 30, 2004, 11:20:08 AM
I've been trying to think of a nice waterproof container to store spare blades in that can be attached to the mill, anyone have slick solutions?

Try an old or new cooler. You know the coolers you open up to get you a cold one. Coolers come in different sizes and will keep moisture out.

pnyberg · April 07, 2011, 05:38:04 PM

People are always saying that they like pictures. This post may test their patience.

Many other people have posted about modifying the WM Lube-Mizer tubing. This primarily involves adding more of it.

The factory configuration has the definite possibility of catching on a log or a cant. This hasn't happened to me, and on my mill there's an outer tube that protects the inner tube to some degree. But still, if there's a chance that I could improve things, I have to at least try.

So I tried just adding some tubing, but no matter how i arranged it there seemed to be an even greater likelihood that the tubing would snag on something.

Plus if there's nothing preventing the arm from running out to a full open position, the tubing will get pinched between part of the outer guide assembly and part of the C frame. This apparently happened to me before I started modifying anything, which is what started me down this road.

One way to avoid the pinching problem would be re-route the plumbing.

But this looks a little vulnerable to me.

So, I went to Home Depot and picked up some 'off the shelf' hardware. The vertical pipe is a 1 1/2" nipple, and the horizontal piece is 2" long. The last piece in the assembly is the original connection fitting supplied by Wood-Mizer.

If you were the inner guide, this is what it would look like to you.

With the guide arm all the way open, we just clear the C frame.

Another view with the guide all the way open.

And with the arm all the way in.

I'm not sure what my maximum clearance from the side supports to the outer guide assembly was before I started, but it is now 24 1/2".

This mod has been in place for several weeks, and seems to be performing well.

--Peter

Magicman · April 07, 2011, 10:28:07 PM

Now you have made me start wondering how mine is routed. It's a WM field added on unit and I re-routed it some myself. I know that I don't have as much tubing showing as you do, but your installation looks very professional.

Bibbyman · April 08, 2011, 04:59:44 AM

Before we upgraded to the LubeMizer we had a lot of trouble with the tube pulling off the slip-on connection point on the guide roller block. It was just an aggravation as it just slipped on and off so no real damage was done. I lengthened the tube and re-routed it a number of times to find some optimum length and routing to keep the tube out of the window area but still not droop or get caught behind something like the guide arm motor.

After we upgraded to the LubeMizer we've not (yet) had a problem. I'll look again but I think the tube on our LubeMizer is a bit longer than the one on your first picture.

SAWMILL BUDDY · April 08, 2011, 06:28:11 AM

Peter, Great job on the water line. What I would like to know is how you keep the mill so clean

pnyberg · April 08, 2011, 04:34:34 PM

Quote from: SAWMILL BUDDY on April 08, 2011, 06:28:11 AM
What I would like to know is how you keep the mill so clean

From the picture next to your post, I'm guessing you're stationary. One of the benefits of being portable is that most of the mess gets left behind when you leave the customer's site. Once I get home, a few minutes with a garden hose will clean things up pretty well.

There was some speculation somewhere back in the archives as to whether Wood-Mizer changed the paint they use on the mills at some point. The newer models don't seem to fade as much as the older ones. This one has been outside for the year and a half I've owned it, and it doesn't seem to be fading much, if at all.

--Peter

SAWMILL BUDDY · April 08, 2011, 05:04:47 PM

I'm portable, I just use the mill inside milling for myself plus keeps out of the weather. Only thing is I dont have running water on the backside of the farm where I'm set up. I've had the mill 5years now. Guess it probley looked a little cleaner 3 years ago.

Bibbyman · April 08, 2011, 05:51:57 PM

Our mill looks like it went through the War in the Pacific. :

This picture was taken in 2006. It's not got any cleaner. This picture does shows how I redirected the hose on the old gravity flow water system.

A view of the other side.

pnyberg · April 08, 2011, 07:50:10 PM

Bibby,

I can see how the hose goes in the first picture, but not so much in the second. But I have to say that the way you've got the blade mounted seems a bit unusual. But you've been doing this much longer than me, so maybe I'm doing it wrong.

--Peter

Bibbyman · April 08, 2011, 09:05:33 PM

Quote from: pnyberg on April 08, 2011, 07:50:10 PM
Bibby,

I can see how the hose goes in the first picture, but not so much in the second. But I have to say that the way you've got the blade mounted seems a bit unusual. But you've been doing this much longer than me, so maybe I'm doing it wrong.

--Peter

These pictures were taken of an eventfull blade brake. I just used it to show how much crud was on our mill. One just happened to show how the lub-tube was ran.

pnyberg · April 08, 2011, 09:33:29 PM

Quote from: Bandmill Bandit on April 08, 2011, 07:59:19 PM
If you go to my picture gallery i did a mod for that little problem too . there a few pics there. I tried to put the pics in here but this computer is smarter then i am.

Yes, I think we ended up with different approaches to a similar solution.

--Peter

Brucer · April 09, 2011, 01:37:25 AM

Quote from: pnyberg on April 08, 2011, 04:34:34 PM
... The newer models don't seem to fade as much as the older ones. This one has been outside for the year and a half I've owned it, and it doesn't seem to be fading much, if at all.

Wait a couple more years :( :(.

thecfarm · April 09, 2011, 07:39:18 AM

Bandmill Bandit,the hard part with the pictures is done. I like to open up my gallery first,than start a reply,

I like to hit the enter key a few times,than click on to a thumnail picture,it will get bigger,than scroll down a little,in green it will say,Click here to copy this photo code directly ........,click on to it,than click yes and you are done. Preview to make sure you like it.You can fix it if it don't look quite right.Posting more than one picture together,hit the enter key for some white space.
Nice gazebo by the way.