That is, if you even owned a bland saw mill to begin with.
The occasional wide cuts,
otherwise nothing,
D
Didn't miss anything, I kept the band saw
I have both.
Usually I'm using the swing blade in conjunction with the dedicated slabber. For daily work, it's hard to beat a hydraulic bandsaw.
The swing blade is first choice for long timbers though.
Ok I never owned a manual band mill but I helped run one for one fall does that count?
What do I miss about the band mill?
Rolling logs by hand on the mill😧
Rolling them at least 4 times once on the mill😧
Stacking flitches and placing them back on the mill for edging😧
Messing with the band's and cost😧
Seriously after the manual band saw a experience I have not had the first reqret for buying a Peterson, it does everything I need on the homestead with a LOT less labor and operating cost than a manual band mill. But then I am not into wide edge slabs, 20" wide boards etc. And when I am done it takes 15 minutes to tear it down and put it in the barn.
Sawdust extraction system compatibility - don't underestimate the importance of a way to get sawdust away from the mill if you work stationary. Swing mills are just plain messy in a fixed setting and I am yet to see one that has any thought given to sawdust removal beyond drop it on the ground and shovel it out later, whether that be shovel by hand or with a machine or via scraper chain. You can build your own hydraulic deck (I have) to fix log turning/clamping/ loading shortfalls but that sawdust extraction issue (and resultant air purity problems) is a design limitation with the things.
The other side of the coin is what I don't miss.... bands, band maintenance, wavy cuts, edging, logs too big for the mill, and inflexibility in the cut pattern. I still have a bandsaw though, it's the right tool for the job sometimes.
I own a lucas swing blade, a mobile dimension two blade circle saw, and a woodmizer Lt15. each mill has its own use. I use the lucas mainly for the slabbing attachment and planning disc, the mobilen dimension is my main saw used for large logs, irregular shaped logs, quarter sawing, the woodmizer is used for wide boards, slabbing small logs, resawing, cutting one inch thick boards in walnut.
the constant flipping of the log with the band mill is aggravating and so is having to constantly trim the logs with a chain saw but the wide boards are great and so is the kerf and small amount of sawdust.
I own an older Peterson 9" swingblade mill. What I like about it is ease of quartersawing. I can cut from the outside of the log in vs cutting quarters and flipping them on a band mill.
I like the ability to cut from 3 sides of the log without turning the log. Also, if I don't like something on a face I can just cut it out and continue cutting from the same face. With a swingblade you don't need an edger.
No need to sharpen bands, change bands, or keep a pile of bands around. On a swingblade you can sharpen the blade right on the mill in 5 minutes.
The trade off is you are limited in width of cut vs band mill for general purpose milling but I have never had a problem selling the boards I make which max out at 18" for me.
The sawdust issue mentioned earlier is also an annoyance for me as it does create a larger area of mess and fills up the workspace inside the rails. It can also get packed in the grooves of the wheels that ride on the tracks making it more difficult to push.
Overall I'm very happy with my swingblade.