Saw mills

[Francis Robinson]

This is really a great site but how come I don't see a "saw mill" forum. :)
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How many guys have a saw mill of some sort (my hand is up). :)

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Woodmizer LT15
Diesel

ken

[Francis Robinson]

Woodmizer LT15
Diesel

ken



I bought the little LT-10 Woodmizer since I will only be hobby cutting with it. For some years I owned a Kasco "The Saw II" and did some commercial cutting with it. I could cut a log 24' long and 30" in diameter with it. It had electric up and down and electric feed. I used it maybe 6 or 7 years and sold it for almost what I paid for it new. I bought it through the then company owner Paul Kaster (now deceased) who was a very good friend of my father back in the late 1940's and 1950's and he and I later became good friends. Nice guy. I sold it after I got tired of people bringing me crooked 5" logs and wanting me to cut straight 6"x6" square post out of them. :D
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I had a little home-made circle mill before that that was just plain dangerous. a farmer and a black smith developed a decent design but quit improving it too soon. :) It was prone to having the carriage run off of the rails now and then... :eek:
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Sadly my little Woodmizer is still sitting in the shop with a lot of the stuff in boxes. I have two tractor engines I need to rebuild and deliver in the next two weeks then I should be ready to set it up for some winter sawing. I need to get some rough stuff cut for some stable work I need to do before real winter sets in.

[Dave Lehnert]

I do not own one but would like to HAVE one.

The Woodmizer LT10 would be kinda neat to have
http://www.woodmizer.com/us/sawmills/manual/lt10/lt10.aspx

For some reason I like the Norwood sawmill. Never seen one in person, just on the net.
http://www.norwoodindustries.com/en/content/Products/Norwood_lumber_portable_sawmills/lumbermate_fullsize_portable_band_sawmill.aspx

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Woodmizer LT-40 manual. Would like to have a hydraulic but I'm not the one who does most of the cutting and we try to have stuff that can be rolled with a cant hook.

[Steve Clardy]

Sold my LT-30 a few years back. I had it for 10 years

[Rich Souchek]

Chain saw mill here...

[James White]

Norwood LM2000 here. I couldn't be happier.

James

[Dave Lehnert]

Norwood LM2000 here. I couldn't be happier.

James

Do you use your Norwood for business or hobby?

I have access to logs. Just not sure how often I would use it.
Do you load logs by hand? That is how I would need to do it.

[Michael Conner]

I have a Lucas 618. Works well for me.

[James White]

Hi Dave,

I use my mill mostly for hobby use. Although I have milled logs for some neighbors. One was a barter deal the other for cash.

I originally purchased the mill to mill the logs that I cleared on my property when I started to build my house. I had romantic notions of doing 2400 sq ft of oak flooring. Cut,dried, machined and installed all by me with enough time left over to build the rest of the house. That was till reality hit me with a clue x 4. I did get to make all my window extensions, casings, stair treads and risers though. A nice ash Roubo work bench, some book cases for the wife and my Arts and Crafts dresser is in the works now. Not to mention about 500 bf of dried lumber plus another 1000 or so stickered in the yard.

I did wind up buying a small Allmand 25 TLB. Its a front end loader and back hoe with quick attach forks. Loading the logs without a machine is the easy part. Moving the logs around the property and stacking/unstacking them is the hard part. That is unless you just drag them in the dirt and get all kinds of dirt and rocks lodged into every nook and cranny.

My mill with the 13hp Honda option was 5K two years ago. I can easily see it paying for itself. But it is a joy to have and make useful lumber for yourself or to sell. The tractor was needed for doing retaining walls and the other landscaping. As for the other woodworking machines and tools. Well Ya just gotta have them dontcha?

James

[Al Weber]

Sure there can be sawmill section here but in the meantime check out the Sawmills and Milling section at ArboristSite.com. Great information and linked into the forestry industry so maybe broader coverage.

[Scott T Smith]

I have a Peterson WPF swingblade mill with 64' of track. The longest boards that I have milled so far have been 44'.

I also have a Granberg Chainsaw mill, and a Nyle DH kiln.

I primarily mill very large diameter oak logs, with the objective of obtaining very wide quartersawn boards for resale after kiln drying. My inventory system tracks not only bookmatched boards, but also side matched, log matched, and tree matched for maximum consistency.

[Izzy Camire]

I have a Logmaster LM-2. Fully hydraulic and diesel. Great machine.
For me it is a great feeling to take trees from my own property and turn them into useful lumber.
I recently built a barn from the wood I sawed out.

[Jim Dailey]

I have a Lucas 725 w/40' of rail but have been too busy with other projects to use it much...

jim

[Paul Steiner]

I do not own one but would like to HAVE one.

The Woodmizer LT10 would be kinda neat to have
http://www.woodmizer.com/us/sawmills/manual/lt10/lt10.aspx

For some reason I like the Norwood sawmill. Never seen one in person, just on the net.
http://www.norwoodindustries.com/en/content/Products/Norwood_lumber_portable_sawmills/lumbermate_fullsize_portable_band_sawmill.aspx


I have also thought about purchasing a mill. A chainsaw mill is about all I have the budget and space for right now. My question is what other equipment do you have to move logs around? Do you move lumber by hand? Bobcat, catepillar?

[Scott T Smith]

I have also thought about purchasing a mill. A chainsaw mill is about all I have the budget and space for right now. My question is what other equipment do you have to move logs around? Do you move lumber by hand? Bobcat, catepillar?

The answer is "all of the above". You can do a lot with cant hooks and elbow grease, as long as your logs are not too large or long. Loading on a small trailer can be accomplished via parbuckling over the side with a winch. You can even move logs around with draft horses, if you have any available.

A farm tractor with a lift pole on the back is an economical start for moving larger logs around. From there, you'd move up to something with a loader and forks on the front.

[Ted Calver]

Scott,
If I was looking for 2 book matched pieces of QSWO 2" thick x 8-10' long, with a natural edge to make a 40-45" wide dining table, would I find it in your inventory??

[Scott T Smith]

Scott,
If I was looking for 2 book matched pieces of QSWO 2" thick x 8-10' long, with a natural edge to make a 40-45" wide dining table, would I find it in your inventory??


Ted, thanks much for asking. Right now the bulk of my inventory was milled at 5/4, with some milled at 4/4. I have not focused much on 8/4 yet due to the extended drying time inside my kiln (about 3.5 months for 10/4). With oak, I prefer to KD from green in order to minimize degrade.

In the near future I'm planning to build a second and smaller kiln to be dedicated to thicker stock. At that time I will start milling some larger planks for drying and inventory.

The key challenge in providing a 20" wide pure quartersawn oak board is in obtaining the log. I like to mill so that no pithwood is in the board/plank, which means that a minimum 48" diameter log is required to produce a 20" wide live edge board. Logs like this come available, but not very frequently. I have a couple of red oak logs in stock that I'll be milling soon that would produce some QS boards / planks in the 18" - 20" range, and a white oak log that I'm milling today that will yield some 14" - 16" 5/4 QS boards.

Regards,

Scott

[Ted Calver]

Scott,
Thanks. I lived in Italy for a number of years and saw some fantastic rustic tables made out of thick french oak (wine barrel wood). I've been wanting to build one ever since. Sounds like you have the logs to do it. I'll check back with you occasionally to see if your new kiln is running.

[Scott T Smith]

Scott,
Thanks. I lived in Italy for a number of years and saw some fantastic rustic tables made out of thick french oak (wine barrel wood). I've been wanting to build one ever since. Sounds like you have the logs to do it. I'll check back with you occasionally to see if your new kiln is running.


Thanks Ted - I appreciate your keeping me in mind.

Around here (NC), in terms of the ultra large logs (over 40" diameter small end) I find more red oak than white oak, but you never know what will show up. I was able to produce some bookmatched 9' long, 20" wide 5/4 QSWO boards today that have some really artistic mineral streaks in the sapwood. I can't wait to see what they look like when they come out of the kiln next month.

In another couple of months my website - quartersawnoak.com - will be up and running and it will have a current list of inventory on it as well.

I envy your time in Italy; I'l bet that there is some incredible furniture there made hundreds of years ago from the old grown hardwoods.