Swingarm mill not cutting straight???

[BarryD]

I ran into a problem yesterday cutting 8"x8"x20' beams out of douglas fir with my Lucas 827 swingarm mill.  The veritcal cut is not holding straight.  The beam is comming out a perfect 8"x8" for the first 12'.  Then the vertical cut starts to pull out toward the edge of the log.  The end of the beam comes out about 8 3/8" instead of 8".  I think the blade might be following the grain of the tree.  The end I am having trouble with is the base of the tree where it widens out to about 48".  The other end is about 40" (8" of taper).   

I only have the problem when I get out toward the edge of the log.  I am making the full 8" cut in one pass.  I am wondering if I should raise the mill and make the cut in two passes.  Has anyone else run into this problem, and do you have any recommendations. 

I am planning to fix the beam by resawing it to shave off the flared end.

Thanks - Barry

[Timburr]

Barry, how long have you had your Lucas for?

It seems to me, that your vertical lead is out of alignment, which makes the blade pull slightly to the right. The adjustments do go out of set periodically.

The saw-markings on the vertical face should be a semi-circular crosshatch configuration as the leading and trailing edges leave their mark.
The adjustment is the frame pulley by the push/pull handle behind the green sawblade guard.

Do you have the Lucas manual? It simplifies the adjustments and covers other cutting anomalies.

Another thing, make sure the blade is sharp, and has not been cooked.


Cheers Tim

[Wife]

Hi Barry, its Chris here. Sounds like one of 3 things here, check that the blade teeth are correctly sharpened and the top cutting edge is square to the blade and that the side clearence is correct. ( if it has just got back from the doctor they may have missed doing the side clearence correctly) The tension may have gone in the blade and need to be re-tensioned :'(. If all this is correct then (this is what I think it is from what you are saying) I would remove a washer from the front right wheel on the centre unit and this should have the thing fixed. By doing this you are adjusting the verticle lead in so that the blade tracks correctly.8) Hope that this helps, good luck.
Chris

[BEAVERBOY]

Barry,
The first thing I would do is to try a different blade, 9 out of 10 times the blade will be the problem when it comes to miss cuts especially if it is something that just started happening. If you have a new blade that has not been re tipped, that would be the best one to try because you can eliminate your saw doctor as being the problem if a new blade gives you the same problematic result. Once we eliminate that the problem is not related to the blade, we need to look at the alignment as "Timburr" suggests. I have a few diagrams that I can email, fax, or send through the mail to you that go over the positioning of the blade with regards to the frame system or rails. Your email address was unavailable so if you find that the blade is not the problem, please call me at 800-322-4539 ext 237 or email at samb@baileys-online.com for that information. One thing directly related to the alignment I would look at is the mesh pad and wheel that reside on the front side of the mill and are used to slide the mill horizontally. One customer that we have in Indiana had very similar problems to yours. He found that the wheel level and mesh pad level were different by a considerable amount. When you swing the blade to vertical and start your pull cut, check to see if the black wheel is moving or if there is space between the wheel and the frame. Lastly, I have had one problem in hard wood similar to yours. I was cutting 6 x 8 cants out of a California black oak and my vertical cut seemed to be moving towards the right as I pulled back. The log was about 4 foot in diameter and was one of the first logs I had ever cut. I was pulling back with the long horizontal bar that is used for pushing. I was also positioned so that I was about 3 feet away from where the blade was cutting and it seemed to bind the machine as the left side of the carraige was slightly ahead of the right side of the carriage. I eliminated the problem by pulling back with the handle made for the vertical cut (green handle with spring attached to it). The handle sits right behind the blade so it does a much more accurate job than pulling back with the long horizontal bar used for pushing on the horizontal cut. Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions don't hesitate. Email or Phone
Thanks, Sam

[BarryD]

Tim, Chris and Sam,

Thanks for the great advice.  I hope to be back on the mill tomorrow, and you've given me a great list of things to check.  I'll report how it goes.

Thanks - Barry

[NZJake]

A consideration may be that your cam lock for the horizontal movement may not be locking sufficiently? If this is so any slight lead to the left or right while in vertical can only get worse in that direction, I recall someone here having the same problem, as far as I know this can be tightened up.

Just a thought?