Lucas blade overheated

[Joey Grimes]

I'm not shure what I did wrong but in the process of learning to run my mill I had a board pinch the blade and stalled the engine after I wedged the board and got the blade out and it wouldn't cut right afterwards. I was running water on blade .After installing another blade haven't had anymore  problems. Can the blade be fixed ?

 

[Savannahdan]

I'd contact Menominee Saw.  They're a FF sponsor and a link is on the left.

[YellowHammer]

That's a bummer.  All part of the learning curve, I guess. 

[longtime lurker]

95% chance it just needs to visit an anvil and get hammered. Finding a good saw doctor is half the battle with circle mills.

[Stuart Caruk]

When it overheated, you lost the tension. Without the proper amount of tension the saw will snake all over and cut poorly.

I actually build and market a Saw Tension Analyzer to several major sawmills. With gang saws, it's critical for maximum recovery that all saw blades perform the same. This means they need they exact same amount of tension.

It's easier to explain for a bandsaw. Consider a vertical bandsaw blade. As the log enters the saw each tooth bites into the wood and tries to stretch the blade on the tooth side. this would allow the blade to wobble or snake. So, to compensate, the backside of the blade has tension or it's stretched. In ideal conditions, as the blade enters the wood, the forces across the blade are equal and the blade runs true.

A roundsaw is the same as a bandsaw, only it's wrapped around a center. Blades are stretched in the inside to build tension, that is balanced by the tooth during a cutting operation.

Our tension analyzer graphically displays the accoustic signature of the blade on a screen, overlaying the saw being checked to an embedded master blade profile.

I'd be willing to bet that your blade that runs well rings if you hold it on a string and thwap it with a hunk of wood. I'd also bet that the one that performs poorly goes thunk, and doesn't ring. If so it's lost it's tension.

Any decent round saw shop can roll tension (or hammer it) into your saw.

In our area I'd contact

Jim Myren
Benchmark Knife & Saw
760 Commerce Ave.
Longview,WA 98632
B) 360.577.4361
F) 360.577.0899
C) 360.430.8321

[dgdrls]

Hi Joey G,

I run a Lucas as well,  were you in a vertical cut or horizontal cut.?

Agree with Savannahdan, let Menominee work the Voo-Doo that they do!!  8)

(A skill I hope to have time to learn,....soon)

Best
D

[RALFF]

Joey, contact Chris Alexander at Tuscaloosa Saw Works, which is actually located off U.S. 82 in Duncanville, Al. He does all types of repairs and sharpens circular saw blades, plus he sharpens all types and sizes of band blades.

Joe

[Joey Grimes]

Hi Joey G,

I run a Lucas as well,  were you in a vertical cut or horizontal cut.?

Agree with Savannahdan, let Menominee work the Voo-Doo that they do!!  8)

(A skill I hope to have time to learn,....soon)

Best
D

I was in a horizontal cut

[fishpharmer]

Joey, there are several things you may want to consider in solving this problem with horizontal cuts in particular.  1) How deep was your cut, I think its best not to cut more than half the depth of the blade at one pass.  Less on especially dense wood like live oak or hickory/pecan.  2) Is your log moving at all while in the cut? Even a slight shift can bind the blade enough to cause overheating on a shallow cut (learned that the hard way). 3) Check rails so they are the SAME/EQUAL distance down from the winches on BOTH sides.  One end can vary some from the other, but side to side need to be exactly the same.  I count chain links.  If not equal, the slight twist causes the blade to bind like a shifting log(and it can be both). 4) check the blade adjustment (per manual) so there is not too much drag on bottom of the blade outside the cut.  5) If you hit metal with the blade and or lose teeth the blade will cut less efficiently, causing more friction and heat.  Most of this stuff I learned here on FF.  I am not a Lucas expert.  Give me a call anytime.
James

[dgdrls]

I'll add to the excellent points made by @fishpharmer.

When you horizontal saw especially for wider cuts where you're making a second pass (8" boards)
keep two or three wedges on hand and place them under the the board as you move through it
it helps keep the board from pinching the blade.

I used to do this with my little LT-10 on wide cuts.

D