The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: H60 Hawk Pilot on February 01, 2011, 04:29:23 PM

Title: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: H60 Hawk Pilot on February 01, 2011, 04:29:23 PM
I had some bad luck and had my shop robbed last year. I had my mills inside the shop and and they basically cleaned me out. The Norwood 2000 was broken down, and taken apart in the center.

These crooks were junk sellers I think & loaded everything they saw and loaded the two 4 foot rails that go in the center of the mill were I took it apart.

Here's the deal.. the angle iron rails are slightly different in height. When I installed the new rails from Norwood.. the new rails are about .023 " in height (lower). So, when the carriage rolls down the track and comes to the new section.... it will drop down about .023 " during the cut.

I was wondering about a possible fix. I have not called Norwood yet, was hoping to get a quicker answer here.  

(1) Should I take shim stock and stick under the new rails to make up the (.02x ") difference ?

(2) Is this .02x "difference a small matter and don't worry about it ?

I have not sawed with the mill. I don't know what I'd see during a actual cut. Perhaps, the difference will not show up on the log and not a big deal.


Thanks' in Advance,

Avery
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: ely on February 01, 2011, 04:33:12 PM
i would ether shim it or file it down , i think it will show up in the cut.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: H60 Hawk Pilot on February 01, 2011, 05:04:03 PM
The old rails are higher, so you'd file the end corner's down where the (higher) old rails meet the (lower) new rail's  ?

That seem's simple enough.

Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: ely on February 01, 2011, 07:36:08 PM
yes, just look it over and decide which would be best, the shimming or the file. i would want it to be a slower taper than just filing right at the discontinuity. maybe flat file it out for 10 inches either way from the joint.

if that too much filing i would use the shims. i know when i get some gummy crap on my roller track it shows up in the boards, i can feel it jumping over it as i push the head.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: H60 Hawk Pilot on February 01, 2011, 08:37:48 PM
All in all I need to find machine shop in the local area. I use to work in a machine shop years ago. I remember having sheets of shim stock... like 8 1/2 X 11" sized paper.

Thinking about this .023" difference, I'd buy  .020" or .025   as close as I can get to the size in standard sized shim stock.  I can remove the new rails from the bed and put down some (thin) glue stickem on the one side of the shims.  I'm not going to make a big deal out of putting bolt holes in the shim stock. I'll lay the new rails on the shim stock and bolt them back down in place. 

My difference in rail height should be close to zero, no filing or match up needed. Also, if the new rails would have been the same height... this would have been the way it all worked out anyway.. No Difference in Height from day one.

Thanks' for the advice, I like to see if I'm missing the boat (sometime's you don't see the forest for the trees (little jok'ee) :D  .   

Busy Beaver.. I'm only off .023" a tad more than 1/64",  .250" (1/4') is quite a jump up but thanks' for the idea.

Avery
   
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: Busy Beaver Lumber on February 01, 2011, 08:45:53 PM
Avery

How about something like dryer vent tubing. That stuff is pretty thin walled, or for that matter how about a few strips of duct tape under the rails. Don't image it would take many layers of that to equal a 1/64 th of an inch and at least you would not have to worry about it sliding around
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: H60 Hawk Pilot on February 01, 2011, 08:59:04 PM
Busy Beaver

Now that's a idea I can use and not expensive. I have that the  silver backed duct tape  that's used around dryer vent connections, and alu. (somewhere) in a roll that might work better yet.

Good idea, I was thinking a little too high tech. with running around to find a machine shop for shim stock and all that.

Thanks' again.

Avery
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: tyb525 on February 01, 2011, 09:12:23 PM
While it is a good idea to keep everything as properly adjusted as possible, keep in mind the sawmill is what breaks the tree down into manageable pieces for the planer and further processing. You may or may not notice the .02" difference in the cut, but even then, a ridge left by milling sometimes reaches that height.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: H60 Hawk Pilot on February 01, 2011, 09:28:18 PM
Tyb525

Rodger That,

I was trying to set the LM 2000 as close as possible. I'd love to mill a real thin 1/16" strip of wood from it.. just like the U Tube Norwood demo.

I'm here right now with the set up of this mill. If I can get it real close... it may or should pay off in the results. Some of the lumber I'm cutting will never see a planner for a log house (beams).

Avery
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: b dukes on February 01, 2011, 09:37:18 PM
I agree with Busy Beaver Lumber  or the HVAC foil tape

I think that would be the easiest too, but if you decide to go with shim stock you might try a tool and die shop, or a machine shop that works on dies. When I needed some I went to several regular machine shops and all that they had was to thick. It was harder to find than I thought it would be.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: bandmiller2 on February 04, 2011, 06:12:14 AM
Hawk,I'd shim it,get a vernier caliper and measure sheet metal find something close.Aluminum tape may pound out in use. Frank C.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: Jeff on February 04, 2011, 06:17:59 AM
Seems to me the tape is thicker than the discrepancy in height. Why are you messing with 2 hundreths of an inch? a dew specks of sawdust on the rail is thicker.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: metalspinner on February 04, 2011, 10:05:34 AM
The repetative thump at the transition to and fro would bother me more than a bump in the lumber.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: ely on February 04, 2011, 10:15:51 AM
i know i hate it when i get that black crud on my rollers or rails. i can feel it right away.
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: H60 Hawk Pilot on February 04, 2011, 11:06:26 AM
The drop down from old rails to new rails is .023" inches (75% of  1/32") and nearly one 1/2 (@ 1/32") of the 1/16" cutting  design of the mill. The drop down edge is very noticeable and the carrrage roller picks up the difference as you roll over

I have recommended fix from Norwood now.

They show a picture of he height difference and example to file the difference down to match the rail height from one to the other. I did not know about this fix until two days ago.  
Title: Re: How to Fix Rail Height on Norwood 2000 BandMIll, About .023" Difference in Hgt.
Post by: gizmodust on February 04, 2011, 11:36:52 AM
H60 Hawk Pilot, just fyi, you might be able to use aluminum flashing from the hardware or try Grainger or McMaster-Carr in the future.  I have a LM2000 as well and luckly not had to deal with your situation(theft).  You can cut 1/16 thick with it, and that is from personal experience.  Good luck in the future.