Which Sawmill

[Josh Bendel]

Looking at buying a sawmill.:D I just would like to know which sawmill you have, and the pros and cons of each (in your opinion). I’m currently look at the wood-mizer L-27, but my mind is not made up yet. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

And of course any pictures of the mill in action would be great....

[Dennis Peacock]

Woodmizer is hard to beat. They are "the standard" for portable sawmills. Get you one and come this way to saw up some wood for me.!!! :D

[Rob Russell]

You might want to check out Woodweb Sawing and Drying forum at woodweb.com. Look in the forums column and scroll down to Sawing and Drying. There are a bunch of pros and serious hobbyists who post there, plus "Dr. Dry" Gene Wengert.

[Scott Brihn]

Josh,

Have you considered a Lucas Mill? They offer a unique portable circular mill that fits in the back of a pick-up. Sharpening can be done with the blade on the mill. When I compared the cost and performance of various band mills with the Lucas Mill the Lucas Mill seemed like a better fit for my future needs.

Please note: I don't own a mill. I have been doing research with the intent of purchasing a mill for personal use in the future.

Regards,

Scott

[Greg Tatum]

Rob is right, the wood drying forum at woodweb is great...also look at the lumbermate mill....cost is less than $5000 but said to be worth more...Idon't own one but have seen a demo at a logging expo....I have used an older woodmizer some years ago...all manual with the log bed elevated due to trailer package...lots of sweat with without a loader....all the manual mills require a bit of sweat and grit though...it's a good hobby but a hard living.
Do you already know your needs? Do you need a big mill? Want to cut fast? can you afford blades...do you like to resharpen? Many questions to ask yourself....try these links:


http://www.norwoodindustries.com/index.htm
http://www.sawmillmag.com/index.html

Greg

[Jim Becker]

Woodmizer is definitely the "leader" out there...the wood milled on my property was done on a SuperHydraulic a few years back by a local sawyer. Scott is correct that you should look at other options, but if you will be working alone, consider material handling. When I saw the Lucas system demonstrated at a show earlier this year, they had some pretty hefty fellows moving logs around and up the ramp!

Hey Scott! Nice to see you posting!

[thomas prevost]

The nice thing about Woodmizer is that you can upgrade them at any time by adding wheels, hydros, etc. Also they are fairly common so parts are easy to get locally or close by. Its kinda like buying a Unisaw, somebody has parts, it carries a reputation, blades are sold by many companies and maintains its value.

[Boyd Gathwright]

Hello Josh,

…. Just some thoughts, I too have considered a sawmill in the past. I thought hard about the “Norwood” but it is up to you how much lumber you are going to cut and how often, to get a return on your investment. What really stopped me was not the sawmill but the drying kiln. The cost of the unit plus the expense of running it is prohibitive. You can build your own kiln but there is a lot to consider with a homemade unit: moisture content, which is around seven percent (7%), drying time cycles, and taking the tension out of the wood during the drying process. My conclusion a couple of years ago, was that it was far less expensive for me to buy the small amount of lumber I would use than to try to produce my own. If you plan on production, and have ready customers, that’s a different story but then you are competing with the average sawmill.

I hope this information is helpful in you coming to your conclusion.


Boyd :)

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Looking at buying a sawmill.:D I just would like to know which sawmill you have, and the pros and cons of each (in your opinion). I’m currently look at the wood-mizer L-27, but my mind is not made up yet. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

And of course any pictures of the mill in action would be great....

[Paul Downes]

Another site I've found informative is; www.forestryforum.com. Woodweb is a great resource. There is a lot of opinions out there, band mill vs chainsaw mill vs swing mill. From what I've gleaned, there are pros and cons to all. Determine what you want to do and pick the mill accordingly. I'm thinking about either a chainsaw mill or a swing mill. The chainsaw type could easily win out in the end because I will be doing occaisional sawing for my own needs and the needs of a few friends. I really like the capacity and quality of the lucas swing mill, but $$$ usually determins my course of action. It is not that hard to fabricate a chainsaw mill if you have any metal working and welding experiance.

[Paul Downes]

As far as the kiln thing goes. I know there is a lot to learn in drying wood but, it is not that hard to set up a kiln to dry wood. I'm going to set one up soon and am going to use my outdoor wood boiler as a heat source. A kiln is basicly a box with a heat source and good air movement. You would need a moisture meter and a humistat. woodweb has a lot of information in it's knowledge base on this subject.

[thomas prevost]

I don't know which magaine had it, but one had plans for a kiln with a dehumidfier as the drier and box with 2" blue ridgid foam insulatoing. I have heard from guys picking up green lumer at the mill that they are fairly efficient and cheap to build. Also, if one has a cheap source of logs and air drying will bring to about 12%. 10-15cents for final drying in a commerical kiln is pretty cheap wood a suggestion is to have an informal "club" purchase the mill as a group. each has his own blades. This will allow more bd ft through reducing the cost per board ft for the mill.