MD enters the 21st Century

[DanG]

I really like my Mobile Dimension sawmill, but as with others, there are always some things that can be improved.  One of those things is the old guage wheel on the crossfeed.  It is a whole lot more accurate than you would think, just from looking at it, but still left something to be desired.  I've been cogitating about a solution, and played around with some options, but there was always something missing.  Then I remembered that I had this little laser level that I got at Walmart for $5.  It even has a magnetic base, so I plundered through the junk bucket and came up with a bracket that clamps on with a setscrew.  I have a number of old measuring tapes that won't go back into their housings, so I put one of them to use.  I cut off a 6 foot piece of one, and glued it to some strips I cut from an old magnetic truck sign.  I mounted that to the crossfeed beam, which goes up and down with the mill, but remains laterally stationary.  Then I clamped the bracket onto the part that goes up and down, and moves laterally, stuck the little magnetic laser onto it, and I'm in business.

Here's the old guage wheel.  As I said, it works surprisingly well, but it is merely a reflection of the sawyer's intent, not of the actual mill setting. The little blue rubber drive wheel tends to wear down, changing the ratio, too.




This is the junk bucket bracket with the $5 laser attached.




Here's what I will look at to determine how much I have moved the mill.  The laser beam show's up a lot better in person, and I can still see it in full sun.  The white dots are one kerf-width before each inch mark on the rule.  All I have to do is twist the laser a bit to set it on a white dot, then turn the crank until the laser rests on the desired point.  One complete turn of the crank is approximately one inch, so it is a brief process.




Not so bad for just 6 months of cogitation and 30 minutes of actual work, eh? ;D 8)

Edit note:  I forgot to punch the button to add the 3rd pic, so I came back and fixed it. ;) :D :D

[Tom]

^{Work ?!} 







Lou

[fat olde elf]

good WORK with the laser............I'll tell you about my drill press later !!

[DanG]

I knew I was pushing the envelope by using that term, Tom.  Shall we say, "somewhat productive activity?"  Actually, it took me about 5 minutes to cut the ruler off and glue it to the magnetic strips with Gorilla Glue.  Then I drank about 6 beers while the glue dried.  Then it took another 2 minutes to put it on the mill.  I had to go back and get the bracket, so I drank another beer while I was there.  It took 1 minute to put it on and stick the laser to it, so my whole "somewhat productive activity" period was approximately eight minutes.  Sizing the pics and getting them loaded onto this thread was about an hour of WORK!

[PawNature]

Ingenuity the things that make America great. If they could just teach that stuff in schools.Nice Job Dan.

[Burlkraft]

DanG......That was worth all the time and effort ;D ;D ;D

I was thinkin' about usin' some type of laser on the Peterson...and electric winches like GOI did.....I guess I don't have enough beer ta get things done around here :D :D :D

[OneWithWood]

Burlkraft,

I tried explaining that dynamic to my wife . . .


it didn't work  :D

[brdmkr]

I thought you were getting pretty good lumber before, but I could see where that would help.  I like simple solutions to complex problems 8) 8)

[tcsmpsi]

At first, I thought maybe there had been some sort of 21st century changes to Mad Dog (MD 20/20).  ;D

Does it seem to stay pretty clear of sawdust?

[Ron Wenrich]

I'm always impressed with ingenuity.  Don't you throw anything away?   :D  I mean, old brackets, old tapes, an old truck sign.  I guess you never know when you might need it again.   ;)

[Murf]

I've tried cogitating about a solution while enjoying a beer a time or three me'self......

But, since there's a hammock half way between the house and the shop, I end up getting very little done.

I do feel a whole heap better for it though.  :D

[DanG]

Me and hammocks don't get along that well, Murf.  I keep pouring beer up my nose. :-\

Ron, something has to be pretty useless for me to throw it away.  I got a buddy that likes to throw stuff away, then when he needs something he comes over here.  I finally got him to just stop by on the way to the dump and I can make sure he ain't messing up. ;D :D

Mike, I've been cutting decent boards, but always had to interpolate a bit with the old guage wheel.  It will slip sometime, and I have to reset back to the previous cut and start over.  If it slips and I don't notice it, I get a thick board.  All in all, it was a time-killer.

[Stump Jumper]

 8)  way to go DanG

[Corley5]

 8) 8)  We never throw anything away either ;D :D   You just never know when that little piece of whatever maybe just what the recipe calls for

[Mooseherder]

Don't it make you feel like you won the lottery when some piece a junk you been saving fer years gets you out of a bind or saves ya a trip to the Dang store!

[sawmill_john]

Dan! I've got one of those same lasers, I was thinkin I'd use it for lining up the first cut, but I may have to rethink that, or buy another one.  Are you headed to the sunbelt ag show this year?  Believe it or not I really miss going to all those shows.  Not to say I regret changing jobs I'm still enjoy the new work and I still have my sawmill, I think I told you about the one customer that used a $25.00 digital tape for his cross feed measurement.
talk to ya later

john 

[oakiemac]

Good going Dan, I think I will do something similar. We talked about this at the pig roast.
I just wonder why MD doesnt' come up with improvements like this? There are so many things like this that they could offer as accesorys to their mills but they are stuck in the 1970's. Last time I looked at their website, it was 4 years old. ???

Thanks for posting the pictures.

[DanG]

Thanks Oakie.  When we talked about it, I could only think of making the ruler movable and having a pointer that moved.  There just isn't a place to mount something like that that would be easy to use.  I hadn't thought of using the laser until it got in my way and I had to find a place to put it.  I had that one little moment of inspiration, and the whole thing just fell together.

I haven't had a chance to actually use it yet, as I'm having carburetor problems.  Had to order a kit. : :-\  It remains to be seen if the magnet will hold the laser steady enough on that skinny little bracket.  I may have to add a plate to it.  Only about one third of the magnetic base is actually touching the bracket.

[Frank_Pender]

Good show, Dan.  Like John mentioned I tried the digital tabe method for the crossfeed severa years ago.  I found tht the main problem for me was that the vibrations of the holing mechanism caused the tape to disfuntion.  I gave up the idea due to not fining something to eleviate the vibrations from messing up the tape. I just did not want to take the time to scrounge around the farm form something to solve the problem.