Sawmills - Woodmizer Vs. Lumbermate ... comments?
Jason
I am looking at purchasing a low-end sawmill in the next couple of months.
So far, it seems like my best options are either a Wood-Mizer LT15
(http://www.woodmizer.com) or a Lumbermate Mark 3
(http://www.norwoodindustries.com/). Has anyone had experience with these
mills? The Lumbermate is less expensive and has a Honda engine, which I
like, but the Wood-Mizer seems like it's a more advanced mill and the
Wood-Mizer company seems like a more established company. What are your
thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Jason
M Falloon
feet of hardwood for me. He had a Woodmizer with hydraulics. Prior to
seeing the saw in action, I thought about the LT15. No more. We were
exhausted by day's end and would hate to think about manually loading the
logs.
Then again, if I wanted to do a few logs at a time, at my pace, when I
needed them, the manual would be okay. But then again, for a few logs its
cheaper to have him return with his sawmill.
I was impressed with the performance of the Woodmizer. Operation and
changing of blades appeared to be very easy. The blades were changed about
every 700 board feet of cut. The sawyer had only praise for the company.
The saw was about two years old. He had worked in a sawmill before
purchasing his saw. He recommends it.
The mobility was nice. We had a commercial local sawmill about 5 miles from
us but they naturally required the logs to be delivered. With the
woodmizer, we dragged 60 logs to a site. The neighbor was equally impressed
and will be contacting him to return to cut for him.
Mark
Jason wrote in message ...
Rick Fox
Roy Lynch in Raleigh has a Woodmizer and makes a living with it.
Although it's the top-of-the-line digital display model ($27,000),
he has experience dealing with Woodmizer customer service.
(He's very happy with the machine and the company)
Rick.
Jason <mihalickREMOV...@ecr.net> wrote in article
<kiQ23.1061$0m2....@newsfeed.slurp.net>...
Joseph Lieberfreund
very very hard desert timbers of this region, with very good results.
I don't know the other brand.
Jason wrote in message ...
Revinc
<mihalickREMOV...@ecr.net> wrote:
I own an LT40 manual mill, but I have much support in the way of
loaders and such. My opinion is, buy the most advanced model
you can afford comfortably and with woodmizer, you won't be
dissapointed. I switched after about nine years on a circle mill
(which I don't hate by any means) and was back up to production
in as little as a month. Check out as many mills in your area as
you can before you decide.
Patrick Swindle
Nicely Sawmill
>Hello,
>
>I am looking at purchasing a low-end sawmill in the next couple of months.
>So far, it seems like my best options are either a Wood-Mizer LT15
>Wood-Mizer company seems like a more established company. What are your
Daniel L. Leclere
Jason <mihalickREMOV...@ecr.net> wrote in message
news:kiQ23.1061$0m2....@newsfeed.slurp.net...
> Hello,
>
> I am looking at purchasing a low-end sawmill in the next couple of months.
> So far, it seems like my best options are either a Wood-Mizer LT15
> (http://www.norwoodindustries.com/). Has anyone had experience with these
> mills? The Lumbermate is less expensive and has a Honda engine, which I
> like, but the Wood-Mizer seems like it's a more advanced mill and the
> thoughts?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Jason
>
mills make the bandsaw look sick.We also send out a free video, it would be
well to watch it before you buy anything
Dan
>
>
Nancy A. Kroes
> Hello,
>
> I am looking at purchasing a low-end sawmill in the next couple of months.
> So far, it seems like my best options are either a Wood-Mizer LT15
> (http://www.woodmizer.com) or a Lumbermate Mark 3
> (http://www.norwoodindustries.com/). Has anyone had experience with these
> mills? The Lumbermate is less expensive and has a Honda engine, which I
> like, but the Wood-Mizer seems like it's a more advanced mill and the
> Wood-Mizer company seems like a more established company. What are your
> thoughts?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Jason
I don't know about either of those, but my cousin recently bought a
TimberKing 1200 which he's very happy with. I've watched it in action,
it is very nice. They are http://www.timberking.com.
CharlieDIY
>> Check out the Woodbug http://woodbug.paconline.net the accuracy of these
>mills make the bandsaw look sick.We also send out a free video, it would be
>well to watch it before you buy anything
Two questions: what about the incredible waste of the chain kerf; how do you
quarter saw with it?
Charlie Self
Word Worker
Woodnet
you
>quarter saw with it?
>
The argument over band saws and circle saw mills deserves some discussion.
Band saws work best when logs are clean, or squared up, and the wood is more
valuable (more recovery) while the circle saws are much cheaper and easier
to maintain, go through mud and take rocks with less expense, but of course,
chew up more sawdust (so if you have access to inexpensive wood, it might be
your preference.)
The two styles work best in tandem, where the circle saw is used to get off
the bark and make squared cants, which then go to the band saw for fast,
high recovery slicing.
Most of the mobile/portable saw owners I know have a preference, and justify
their choice, either way.
Malcolm L. Dell, Coordinator
Woodnet Development Council, Inc.
"Dedicated to Sustainable, Small-Scale Forest Enterprises"
PO Box 709
Orofino, ID 83544
(208) 476-4263
(208) 476-4860 (FAX)
woo...@woodnet.org www.woodnet.org
CharlieDIY wrote in message
<19990529051118...@ng-cc1.aol.com>...
>woodbug advertises:
>
>>> Check out the Woodbug http://woodbug.paconline.net the accuracy of
these
>>mills make the bandsaw look sick.We also send out a free video, it would
be
>>well to watch it before you buy anything
>
>
>Charlie Self
>Word Worker
Woodnet
months.
>> So far, it seems like my best options are either a Wood-Mizer LT15
>> (http://www.woodmizer.com) or a Lumbermate Mark 3
>> (http://www.norwoodindustries.com/). Has anyone had experience with
these
>> mills?
A good source of used sawmills is Brian Grodner at the Sawmill Exchange. Has
listings all over the country. www.sawmill-exchange.com . Also, check out
www.portablesawmill.com.au and //mail.standard.net.au/stump/
Malcolm L. Dell, Coordinator
Woodnet Development Council, Inc.
"Dedicated to Sustainable, Small-Scale Forest Enterprises"
PO Box 709
Orofino, ID 83544
(208) 476-4263
(208) 476-4860 (FAX)
woo...@woodnet.org www.woodnet.org
Daniel L. Leclere wrote in message <7io1mr$gg9$1...@remarQ.com>...
>
>Jason <mihalickREMOV...@ecr.net> wrote in message
>news:kiQ23.1061$0m2....@newsfeed.slurp.net...
>> Hello,
>>
The Lumbermate is less expensive and has a Honda engine, which I
>> like, but the Wood-Mizer seems like it's a more advanced mill and the
>> Wood-Mizer company seems like a more established company. What are your
>> thoughts?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Jason
>>
>> Check out the Woodbug http://woodbug.paconline.net the accuracy of
these
>mills make the bandsaw look sick.We also send out a free video, it would be
>well to watch it before you buy anything
> Dan
>>
>>
>
>
Hank Metz
or table?" debate. I'd like to see somewhere an honest pro & con of these
mills starting with pit-sawing, through the chainsaw bar jigs, to circular
and bandsaw units.
I thought there might be something there at your site Malcom, but the link
to sawmills is an empty page.
--
Hank Metz,
A Woodworker's Notebook
http://www.ameritech.net/users/hankm/index.htm
Tips, methods of work, reviews and links at A Woodworker's Notebook are
updated frequently- just E-mail a post with the word "Subscribe" in the
subject line to be notified.
Woodnet wrote in message <7it7je$bcn$1...@news.fsr.net>...
>>Two questions: what about the incredible waste of the chain kerf; how do
>you
>>quarter saw with it?
>>
>
>The argument over band saws and circle saw mills deserves some discussion.
>Band saws work best when logs are clean, or squared up, and the wood is
more
>valuable (more recovery) while the circle saws are much cheaper and easier
>to maintain, go through mud and take rocks with less expense, but of
course,
>chew up more sawdust (so if you have access to inexpensive wood, it might
be
>your preference.)
>The two styles work best in tandem, where the circle saw is used to get off
>the bark and make squared cants, which then go to the band saw for fast,
>high recovery slicing.
>Most of the mobile/portable saw owners I know have a preference, and
justify
>their choice, either way.
>
>Malcolm L. Dell, Coordinator
>Woodnet Development Council, Inc.
>"Dedicated to Sustainable, Small-Scale Forest Enterprises"
>PO Box 709
>Orofino, ID 83544
>(208) 476-4263
>(208) 476-4860 (FAX)
>woo...@woodnet.org www.woodnet.org
>
>
>CharlieDIY wrote in message
><19990529051118...@ng-cc1.aol.com>...
>>woodbug advertises:
>>
>>>> Check out the Woodbug http://woodbug.paconline.net the accuracy of
>these
>>>mills make the bandsaw look sick.We also send out a free video, it would
>be
>>>well to watch it before you buy anything
>>
>
>>
>>Charlie Self
>>Word Worker
>
>
Wilson Lamb
support type are better, from a structural point of view. I have seen
the Woodmizer arm deflect when knots, etc pull the blade down. I have
not worked with the others, but have worked with hired mills to cut
about 30,000 BF of wood for my house.
There are many out there, starting about $6K for the ones that seem
practical.
What you should remember is that the cutting is a small part of the
work. Moving the logs and GETTING THEM ON THE MILL is a bear. I did a
lot of mine with a front end loader, but a tractor is OK if they aren't
too large.
Hiring a mill is a good deal. Mine ran 15-20 cents/BF, which I consider
a great bargain, unless you are cutting for a hobby. The machines take
a fair amount of maintenance and there are always blades to sharpen!
And, of course, there's the big investment for a machine that works
infrequently. For the $1K-2K interest cost of ownership, you can cut
more wood than you can use!
Wilson
Jack-of-all-trades
<snip>The two styles work best in tandem, where the circle saw is used
to get off the bark and make squared cants, which then go to the band
saw for fast, high recovery slicing.
Most of the mobile/portable saw owners I know have a preference, and
justify their choice, either way.
If you have a portable sawmill out in someone's woodlot you only have
use of that particular type of saw. So I would say that using both
types of saw no matter what your preference is a pretty moot point if
you are not going to, or can't, take the logs to a sawmill.
Of COURSE I am paranoid, someone is after me!
FAQ: http://www.robson.org/woodfaq/
Woodnet
>I thought there might be something there at your site Malcom, but the link
>to sawmills is an empty page.
>
>--
>Hank Metz,
Sorry Hank, still under construction, but we don't have that info all
accumulated yet. Check again in a month.