personal sawmills out there?

[Jim Andrew]

I'm shopping for either a reasonable priced bandmill or a swing mill. Prefer
to be able to run it by myself. Looking at the Cook packages, or the Lucas
swing mill. The thing about bandmills is you have to be able to handle the
log, whereas the lucas will cut it on the ground. The problem I see with the Lucas is the small unit only cuts 6", or reverse it to cut 12". There is
no one around who has a swing mill, so looking for advice. Jim

[Don Baer]

Jim,
Check out this thread.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=27490&highlight=Logging

[Ian Abraham]

Jim

The swingblade mills are really cool, as well as the Lucas have a look at the Peterson machines. http://www.petersonsawmills.com/
You can get the basic Peterson with an 8" cut and double cutting up to 16" is easier with them.
Dont mistake the swingblades for 'hobby' mills because they are cheap on very portable. In many situations they will out perform an expensive hydralic bandmill.
I dont find the 8" cut a limitation, usually woodwork plans call for boards less than 8" anyway, wide panels are usually glued up for stability anyway. You can allways cut one REALLY wide board by sawing 2/3rds of the log and rolling it over and cutting the rest from the other side. See pic below.
They really come into their own when cutting BIG logs though, smaller logs are no problem, but you still need to load the logs under the mill if you want to get any production. Big logs it's easier to move the mill to each log.
You can run the mills by yourself easy enough, but you will cut at least twice as much per hour if you have a helper to offload the boards while you adust the mill and start the next cut.
I've attached a couple of pics of my old style swingblade in operation out in the hills. :D

Cheers

Ian

[Jim Dailey]

Hi Jim,

Like Ian I also have a 8" Lucas swing mill. I don't see the 8" being a big limitation. Plus the swing mills, Peterson or Lucas straight line the boards and you can quarter saw a log without rotating the log. The blades can be sharped on the saw. They say less than 5 minutes, I'd say more like 10 by the time you fill the water bottle. Blades can be re-tipped for under $20 plus shipping. When I was pricing band saw mills, although some looked like a good value once you added a blade sharpener & edger it got spendy.... And you better keep the logs clean 'cause you'll go through lots of blades.... the swing mills (Lucas, Peterson) are much more forgiving about dirt 'cause the carbide tips, and on-saw sharpening. If you add the slabbing attachment, you can cut to 60"....

Where are you located? I'm in MN. You can contact Bailey's for a list of mills in your area.

Hope this helps,
jim

[Scott Banbury]

A used Woodmizer that works good can be had for $5-8,000.

Don't let the swing guys fool you--bandsaws are made for grade sawing. :cool:

http://www.scottbanbury.com/goodwyncherry02.jpg

6/4, 10ft long and 22" wide. ;)

[Ian Abraham]

Hard to argue with boards like that Scott :D

Buying a used Woodmizer is an option, their support is good and parts are available for all their older mills.

But I still wouldn't swap ya for my swingblade. ;)

I'll just make do with my 16" x 2" x 16 ft boards :rolleyes:

Cheers

Ian :)

[Scott Banbury]

Too each his own :)

Besides, it's not the size of your hardwood that counts, it's how you use it :D

[Steve Clardy]

I had a woodmizer LT-30 for ten years. Nice saw.
I'd buy another if the need arises.

[lou sansone]

Havent used the swing mills, but own a norwood band mill. nice low cost mill with no frills.. you have to push it your self, but with great results .

I would recommend them

lou

[Jim Andrew]

There aren't many used mills for sale in central Kansas, have seen pictures of the Norwood mills, the carriage looks light, afraid I'd crush it with a big
log, maybe they are tougher than they look in the pics. I have a couple
logs with a big end, haven't had any luck getting anybody to saw them, and have a good number of other logs, total probably 40 or 45, thought
maybe I could buy a mill, fill every building on the place with wood and then sell the mill and come out fairly well. Anybody have experience with
one of these mills with the rubber tires? Turner mills sells some really
reasonable bandmills of this style much cheaper than the ones with steel
wheels. Jim

[Dennis Peacock]

The Peterson looks pretty good...but what about cost!!!??? An entry level Woodmizer bandmill is about $4K.


Jim

The swingblade mills are really cool, as well as the Lucas have a look at the Peterson machines. http://www.petersonsawmills.com/
You can get the basic Peterson with an 8" cut and double cutting up to 16" is easier with them.
Dont mistake the swingblades for 'hobby' mills because they are cheap on very portable. In many situations they will out perform an expensive hydralic bandmill.
I dont find the 8" cut a limitation, usually woodwork plans call for boards less than 8" anyway, wide panels are usually glued up for stability anyway. You can allways cut one REALLY wide board by sawing 2/3rds of the log and rolling it over and cutting the rest from the other side. See pic below.
They really come into their own when cutting BIG logs though, smaller logs are no problem, but you still need to load the logs under the mill if you want to get any production. Big logs it's easier to move the mill to each log.
You can run the mills by yourself easy enough, but you will cut at least twice as much per hour if you have a helper to offload the boards while you adust the mill and start the next cut.
I've attached a couple of pics of my old style swingblade in operation out in the hills. :D

Cheers

Ian

[Ian Abraham]

The Peterson looks pretty good...but what about cost!!!??? An entry level Woodmizer bandmill is about $4K.

I think you will find the Peterson / Lucas machines set you back about twice that amount, but no way you can compare them to an Lt10 ;)

Cheers

Ian

[Jim Andrew]

Got prices on the lucas mills, about 7500 for the 6"13 hp, about 10 for the
6" 18 hp, and 12,5 for the 8" 27 hp. Got an email the peterson may be on
sale this spring, so far have yet to see prices. The brand x is about 13,2
plus freight from Montana, the brand x has a carriage like a bandmill, the
trailer is extra. I priced a 32" mill by 16' from Cooks and it is about 13,5
delivered with electric feed and electric height adjustment. The new
lt 40 is 16 something w/o freight. Looks like just the small rigs are really
very affordable. Jim