The Logmaster is here!

[Le Sanglier]

Looks good, which is more than can be said for the Scottish weather!

[slackbladder]

Looks Real good

Post some pics when you start milling

[Stephen Blair]

That looks awesome J!!

 

Is it American built?

[caledonian bob]

Seriously impressed Jonathan, I know you'll enjoy using it

[Big J]

Built in Texas Stephen, so no shortage of steel in the construction.

 

Having to be restrained and wait until I have something which needs to be cut. It's likely to be christened with a whole pile of spruce at the end of next week.

 

J

[Rob D]

Looks fantastic Jon

 

 

Shame to get covered in sawdust really

[Big J]

First day cutting with the mill today and largely very good. Steep learning curve as it's just very different to the Woodmizer.

 

First impressions are that it cuts incredibly flat. To stress the point, I went through two fairly large nails (in a woodland grown oak - what are the chances!?), the first of which I didn't even notice. Even once it went through the second one, the quality of cut deteriorated to the point of the Woodmizer cutting at it's best. Still almost unfailingly flat. The limit to cut speed I found was not how sharp the band was (and how good the alignment is) but the tension on the drive belt. Try to go too quick and it just slips - though I was going fairly quick through 16 inches of oak).

 

I had a band snap today - it was the band that was on it initially, that had been used for testing on the other side of the pond. I suspect that I perhaps had it slightly overtensioned (6500psi instead of the required 6000 - the Woodmizer always used to settle far lower than originally set, but this just holds it). Changing the band is quite a different experience to the Woodmizer and took a bit of time, but I know what to do now.

 

Hydraulics are very powerful for log handling. None of the failing to clamp or turn issues you get on the LT40. Snappy and powerful here. I would like the up/down to be a bit quicker, but that's it really.

 

The 2 inches of extra throat are useful too - you do notice it. I also like that it is clamped to the front of the bed, instead of the rear like the WM, which makes for easier offloading.

 

Just to stress though, such flat cuts.

 

Here is a quick (and wobbly - I was trying not to trip over stuff!) video of the mill cutting.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152249207833136&l=1213708956622501617

[Big J]

A couple of other things that I forgot to mention were that the Logmaster uses diesel as a band lubricant, which is ideal for oak as without a wet saw band, you don't get the blue/black tannin staining you get with the usual water/washing up liquid combo.

 

Secondly, the static operators station is lovely. I always found the trundling back and forth to be a bit of a pain with the Woodmizer, and being so close to the sawdust outlet meant lots of sawdust in my eyes (or having to wear goggles, which I dislike), resulting in much discomfort and one trip to the minor injuries clinic. No such issues here, and being at the head of the mill means you can easily watch your clearance on both guide rollers.

 

Jonathan

[muttley9050]

Looks lovely mate, doesn't that make an expensive smelly lubricant though?

Just a reminder for lm1 and 15 prices to come my way at some point.

Cheers

James

[Big J]

Looks lovely mate, doesn't that make an expensive smelly lubricant though?

Just a reminder for lm1 and 15 prices to come my way at some point.

Cheers

James

 

Hi James,

 

You've not been forgotten! I will chase Ed (guy I deal with at Logmaster) up later today about it.

 

The drip lubrication system with diesel uses far far less than with water - one drip per second roughly. You would only go through a litre or two in a full days cutting, which at £0.70 a litre sounds reasonable to me.

 

Jonathan