Logs to Lumber

[ianab]

Should work out well for you. Woodland have a good reputation for their support / spare parts etc, the mills are well designed, and good value for money. The plus side of assembling it yourself, you now know how to fix / adjust it, when something breaks / wears out. It's a sawmill, it will need some maintenance from time to time, they all do. 

Those band mills aren't very popular in my part of the world because of the local log sizes, and various imported HARDwoods from Aussie. But for logs and species you have, it will work great.

[jteneyck]

Very cool, John.

Even with the hand-winch, is it quite a workout to handle those logs?

Parbuckling the log onto to the mill is easy, even with the hand winch. Of course, you could put an electric winch on it instead and just push a button.  The harder part is getting the log to the mill and positioned just right in front of it.  With no Bobcat, tractor, etc. I've had to develop another option.  I built a log dolly that I can tow behind an ATV or my car.  I use it to transport logs home, one at a time, and also to move logs to the mill.  




I don't own an ATV, either, but my neighbor does and let's me use his whenever I want.  Anyway, that's how I move logs to the front of the mill.

John

[jteneyck]

Should work out well for you. Woodland have a good reputation for their support / spare parts etc, the mills are well designed, and good value for money. The plus side of assembling it yourself, you now know how to fix / adjust it, when something breaks / wears out. It's a sawmill, it will need some maintenance from time to time, they all do. 

Those band mills aren't very popular in my part of the world because of the local log sizes, and various imported HARDwoods from Aussie. But for logs and species you have, it will work great.

Thanks Ian.  Yes, I think the Woodland Mills bandsaws mills are a good value for the money.  I would have preferred to have gotten a Woodmizer LT15 or Norwood LM29, but the cost difference was at least $2500 so rather than risk my wife changing the locks and hanging my PJ's outside the front door I decided not to push my luck.  And the more I studied the Woodland line the more I was convinced their designs are well thought out.  Having put it together only served to reinforce that opinion.  I would prefer if the mill rails and trailer side plates were single length, but I think only Cook does that, and in order to make shipping affordable most portable mill makers use segmented rail sections.  But it all seems very robust nonetheless. And I have read several very positive reviews on other sites about Woodland's customer service after the sale which gave me confidence they will be there if/when I need them. 

No matter how large a mill you buy you would always like one larger, with a bigger motor, etc.  Both of the arborist friends I occasionally get logs from ask me if I want a 40" white oak, for example, and last year a 60" black walnut.  There are some really large urban trees in my area.  But handling even a 30" diameter log is about the limit with no real machine power, and that's why I choose that size when I built my chainsaw mill and log dolly, and I chose the same size with the bandsaw mill.  And as you said, that will handle most trees in my area of the species I'm interested in milling.  


John

[ianab]

Yeah, my little "Junior" mill maxes out at ~36", so I've had to walk away from some logs. Even the size I can handle can weigh nearly 2 tons. Rolling that around like you have to on a manual bandsaw is a chore, even with a winch. My old mill could actually handle ~5ft x 16ft, but it was a chainsaw powered circle blade and the old Stihl on it was starting to vibrate itself to bits. 


Setting up to mill some Tasmanian Blackwood (poor man's Koa 
 ) a few months back. Was good to save that from the firewood pile. 

[jteneyck]

A Swingmill would be the ultimate, to be sure, but there's no way I could justify one unless I decided on a new career.  I imagine nails and insulators in urban logs like I sometimes find don't play nice with a Swingmill blade either, so that would give me second thoughts.  But for your needs that's a sweet setup.  Beautiful looking wood you got out of that log, too, considering how long it looks to have been lying around.  I try to mill logs as soon after cutting as practical.  But I once milled a red oak 2 years after it had been cut down.  The sapwood was completely punky but the heartwood inside was as wet and beautiful as a freshly cut tree.  I wouldn't recommend that on a 2 year old maple though, unless you are looking for spalted wood.  

John

[JSpill]

That mill surely came to the right guy. Having seen your shop and the beautiful furniture, cabinets and doors you have made over the years, I can say the folks in Western New York are going to have some high quality made products gracing their environment. And we already have Roycroft!

[Woodenfish]

John, you suck!



I don’t know how this thread got this long without someone saying it. Enjoy the mill.

[ianab]

I imagine nails and insulators in urban logs like I sometimes find don't play nice with a Swingmill blade either, so that would give me second thoughts.

No sawmill likes those  

If I was milling trees like that I'd get my own re-tipping jig, then I could replace the carbide tips for ~$20. There are only 6 cutters on the blade. Sometimes you can cut through softer metal and just need to resharpen, but an insulator would shatter the tips for sure, and you have to solder new ones on. You would have to be trying real hard to actually wreck a blade.

[Stwood_]

A ceramic insulator will destroy a band blade. I hit one......brought the mill to a sudden stop.

[Tapper]

John, as usual it looks like your detailed research and tight parameters paid off - congrats on the new mill! Will look forward to the new kiln pictures.

Doug