Swing blade mills

[Dank11]

Hey!
I'm interested in a swing Blade
I see alot of talk about Peterson
does any one run a Lucas ?
I also found Double cut Eco saw
Can any one tell me about them ?
How about these
long URL

just fishing for info
Thanks!

[DonE911]

Well..... I have a Peterson 10" WPF... I am very happy with it.  Spent a lot of time researching before spending the money.


I think you might get a little more response if you would give a more specific question about the swing mills...  maybe gave us a little background on what you want to cut ...

[brdmkr]

I have a Lucas 618.  The more I use it the more I like it.  There are some things I'd change,  but I have been well pleased with the bang for the buck.  It is very portable, can easily be set up by one person, and does a good job.  To be honest though, I am already wishing I had bought the 827.  I would like the option of 8" boards without having to double cut.  I do like the concept of the swing mill.  If I ever get rich, I may buy one of the Peterson ASMs.  That is a cool machine.  Until then, I'll whittle away with the Lucas.

[Part_Timer]

I also run a Peterson 8"ATS. 

If your looking for good information on a Lucus send a message to either Sidigi or Dakota swinger.  Both of them were a big help when I was deciding to make the change from a band to a swinger they have a lot of good advice. 
The only thing I can tell you for sure is get more HP than you think you'll need.

I listened and am real glad I did.

Best of luck
Tom

[Part_Timer]

there's a Lucas 6" on ebay this week

[brdmkr]

That Lucas on Ebay could turn out to be a pretty good deal.  If it only has 36 hours, it is not hurt.

[twistedtree]

So, I'll make a fool of myself.

Can someone explain what a swing blade mill is?  I've seen band mills and circular saw mills, but don't know what a swing blade mill is.

Thanks

[Ernie]

So, I'll make a fool of myself.

Can someone explain what a swing blade mill is?  I've seen band mills and circular saw mills, but don't know what a swing blade mill is.

Thanks

Welcome twistedtree  Check out our sponsors Peterson and Lucas on the left side of the pages

[Part_Timer]

Twistedtree

Look at the Peterson site and go to the video gallery.  Ther are some real great video clips of their mills running.  The ATS video is about 3 minutes long.


tom

[Ianab]

Can someone explain what a swing blade mill is?  I've seen band mills and circular saw mills, but don't know what a swing blade mill is.

The Swingblade is a type of circle mill. It runs a smallish blade (~20") that pivots thru 90 deg so it can cut in the horizontal and the vertical plane. You run the blade down the log making a horizontal cut, then pivot the blade and return with it vertical. Offloader removes the relased board while you adjust the saw position horizontally or vertically and repeat the operation untill the log is all gone.

Easier to understand when you actually see one work but like Ernie said have a look at the Peterson / Lucas and Ecosaw links. They have more pictures and videos of the saws.

Cheers

Ian

[Todd]

I wanted to ask the swing bladers about the effects of metal strikes, mostly nails, on the blades of your mills.  I'm using a Baker to mill urban wood and have an abundance of large butt logs..(36"-52"dia and 4-6 feet long maple mostly), that are too large and too short to mill on the bandmill.  Could process a lot of pallet wood out of these, but I know there's gonna be metal in there. 

[DonE911]

I've cut some nails and didn't do much damage... maybe chipping of the tooth a little...  now I hit a spike and did some major chipping of the teeth...

I haven't had mine very long, so some one with more "nails" under thier blades will chime in.

[woodbeard]

I found it depends on the kind of metal and how you hit it. I have cut thru some nails with little blade damage, and others worse. Older nails seem to be harder, Drywall screws are real hard and will shatter teeth.

[Dan_F]

I have a 613 lucas and hitting metal is no big deal. It will actually cut through fence wire and small nails bigger nails will chip teeth and bigger stuff like spikes and large nails will take teeth off. I have lost all teeth on my blades countless times and have them retipped at a local saw shop. $1.50 per tooth to soder on is a heck of a lot cheaper than I could retip myself. They also balace the blade at the same time because metal will warp a blade just like normal wear and tear.
I can usualy get 5-7 thousand feet milled before the blade starts to go out of balance.

[aom]

metal in logs is a problem whatever type of mill you use, at our mill we use wide bands,narrow bands and a circular swingblade. It seems that when metal is totally fixed  within the log, there is less damage especially when using wide bands and circular. Regilarly you can cut through a piece of fencing wire/ fencing staples with limited damage to the swingblade, but having said that, at times you may severely chip or loose a tooth, dont know why? the difference. Try and use the manufacturers tooth tips and not woodworking tct tips, the tips supplied by Petersons are softer than standard wood cutting tct, but this is good , so that if you hit steel the peterson tips shatter less than standard woodworking tct, and they are easier to sharpen, where as standard woodworking tct is more difficult to sharpen due to its hardness, hence more problems in grinding out the chips on the cutting edge.  But in reality dont expect a swing mill to be profitable in logs full of metal, especially if your only cutting pallet stock, as you will experience downtime with its associated costs.
To summarise, swing blades will take considerable more abuse than wide and narrow bands,  but the blade has yet to be invented that will effeciently cut both steel and wood at the same time, so perhaps good to re-evaluate whether end product will justify cost.

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Hey Dank,

I have a Peterson 10" Winch Production frame swingblade, also.
I love it , which is a good thing, considering I had wanted one for
years on end before buying.

I have one blade on the mill and one on the UPS truck at all times.
Fortunately my saw servicing company is close and very reasonable.

:P     Here are some experiences I have had"     :P

             1.   In one pass cut thru three small nails - one chipped tooth
                       No problema.  Sharpened and kept cutting.
             2.   Hit one small hex-head hardened power drive type screw
                     - demolished several teeth.  UPS time!
             3.   Cut thru a soft 40 penny nail hit slow and easy - chipped two teeth slightly
                        Sharpened and kept cutting.
             4.   Hit a 3/8" screw eye right in the threaded portion - all teeth gone!
                      UPS time again.
             5.    Hit large nail near the head of nail whch was encapsulated in a hollow
                      rotted around the nail, so that severed head rolled in the kerf -  so sorry,
                       UPS time again.

I have hit as many as seven soft steel strikes and still was able to cut well, but hard steel
makes you pay.    Still beats the band blades, if you must contend with metal.

;D  I that's why I have a Swingblade mill, instead of a band!   ;D

Phil L.