Thread: Bit of dust

If you're interested in an 8-27 Lucas, give me a yell.

Originally Posted by itsposs

Lucas's this is what we have attitude floored Me the other week after all the Good things said by friends on the forum here. Unfortunately one shoe doesnt fit all.

Itsposs, I'm curious, I like many on here have only ever had good service and positive feedback from lucas on both mills I have bought and any problems I have incurred. How did they offend you? Sure it wasn't just a misunderstanding? I would hope they treated you well enough to join the green team. Cheers

I asked about 2 things milwise taking into account the info from their brochure I noted the similarity between the 7-23 and the 8-30 difference is one belt both have 5'clutch both have 30mm shafts,1 has 2 spa 1000 belts the other has 3 so I asked about a 7-30 more hp more torque faster blade speed.The other was motorized raizing an lowering instead off over head winding. In response to the first question I was told I d get back to you 1 week an a bit later no return call, I was also told that by putting a 7'blade on an 8-30 it would throw the machine out, so I asked why the original 8-27 had an optional 9'1/2 blade kit
The answer to motorized raizing an lowering was some cutomers have done it we can pass you onto them we keep our production line simple as possible and our line up is what we have. I ve not given up on the greenteam yet milwise I ve just decided that there a few extra things that may be benifical for what I need in a mill I think the mobility of the Lucas is awsome but the portability of a WPF is what I think I will need. I ll keep that in mind Exador, looking at 8'mills but might go to a 10

wpf frame is much dearer but much much much bettergo the electric winch and watch your wood stacker sweat i built my own electric winch whick works a treat

No worries, itsposs, email me if you're interested. I think you're being a bit hard on Lucas, though. They make a particular type of machine for a particular type of job and they are very keen to make improvements. The new tip-setting jig is one example, as is the planing blade and the evolution of the mill itself.

One thing I've come to realise about Warren is that he is very determined not to put a second-rate product on the market, so sometimes there is a fair bit of lead time between idea and release to the market. I think he's also very concerned about maintaining full portability and making the thing as low-maintenance as possible, which makes electric winches pretty unattractive. They do supply an electric version of the mill head, but I bet they don't sell too many of those into places where the timber is, like SE Asia and PNG.

[QUOTE=itsposs;1295597]I asked about 2 things milwise taking into account the info from their brochure I noted the similarity between the 7-23 and the 8-30 difference is one belt both have 5'clutch both have 30mm shafts,1 has 2 spa 1000 belts the other has 3 so I asked about a 7-30 more hp more torque faster blade speed.The other was motorized raizing an lowering instead off over head winding. In response to the first question I was told I d get back to you 1 week an a bit later no return call, I was also told that by putting a 7'blade on an 8-30 it would throw the machine out, so I asked why the original 8-27 had an optional 9'1/2 blade kit



WHY would you put the 30 horse on the 7 inch all it would do would make it the same price as the 8-30, it would not increase blade speed!! The reason behind the extra belt is the fact that you are running a bigger motor and deeper cuts and if the blade started to jam the bigger motor would smoke the twin belt pulley before the revs died and the clutch was able to kick in. Personally I would go the 7-23 for what I want to do, as I am only a weekend warrior, And I could not do justice to an 8 or 10-30 which are the more contractor oriented machines which will work all day every day.

A fact that you may also wish to take into consideration is that even though it is called a 7 inch it will cut to 200 mm, which is only about 3 mm short of 8 inch.

as for the other bits and pieces you need to ask yourself if they are really needed and worth the extra it would cost.

I asked my self that Travis the reason I want the other stuff is to reduce over head working and repetative strain injurys, since spending a day with Sigidi an his mill alot of doors have been opened so
progressing from what I had originaly intended my mills purpose I naturally wanted to progress to some thing more user friendly I rang lucas to see if it were possible I d rather buy here then o/s. If lucas were a few month's off producing an other model I d hold off. Good to have you back Travis Havent seen you here for a bit

Originally Posted by itsposs

I asked my self that Travis the reason I want the other stuff is to reduce over head working and repetative strain injurys, since spending a day with Sigidi an his mill alot of doors have been opened so
progressing from what I had originaly intended my mills purpose I naturally wanted to progress to some thing more user friendly I rang lucas to see if it were possible I d rather buy here then o/s. If lucas were a few month's off producing an other model I d hold off. Good to have you back Travis Havent seen you here for a bit

Honestly unless you were milling logs over 1.8 m in diameter there is not much overhead work, in fact most of the work on a lucas would be below hip height. as for RSI I doubt you would be presented with this being a problem compared to what is declared safe in many large milling operations, some of which would be doing at least hundreds of times the amount of milling you would be doing in a day. I do not see lucas coming out with another model in the near future unless they build a 12-40. I was actually talking to Peter Foster from lucas, in person, face to face, not long after I put up my last post, and had a quite a good chat with him.

there is also another reason I didn't come up with on my last post if you were running the 7 inch blade on the 8 inch machine it would throw out your setworks (I believe.)

There are a number of reasons I haven't been here for a while itsposs, one is time, one is the fact That I haven't been doing much sawing, (Had to pass up a really good silky oak the other day, approx 800 to a metre diameter and nice length, was just too busy to pick it up.) and some of the same reasons as weissy doesn't frequent the forum anymore. (honestly Inter's comments really peaved me off, they were just rude and insolent and very small minded!!!) hence I call in when I can, and give input where I feel it is needed or wanted, nothing more. Hopefully I will have some milling stories coming up.

Why didnt the extra 1 and half inch blade throw the set works out on an 8-27 then with the 9 1/2 blade upgrade ?

'I think the mobility of the Lucas is awsome but the portability of a WPF is what I think I will need'.
You guys are pretty quick to defend Lucas read an re read. I am mearly stating my experience with them.

and that return phone call is now 2 an a bit weeks late an with over 10000 mills sold @ $10000 each = $10000000 You d think they could employ an Mechanical engineer to take their mills to the next level or at least semi automated but then maybe a bloke expects to much?

Originally Posted by itsposs

Why didnt the extra 1 and half inch blade throw the set works out on an 8-27 then with the 9 1/2 blade upgrade ?

'I think the mobility of the Lucas is awsome but the portability of a WPF is what I think I will need'.
You guys are pretty quick to defend Lucas read an re read. I am mearly stating my experience with them.

and that return phone call is now 2 an a bit weeks late an with over 10000 mills sold @ $10000 each = $10000000 You d think they could employ an Mechanical engineer to take their mills to the next level or at least semi automated but then maybe a bloke expects to much?

I am pretty quick to defend Lucas, because I've been very happy with both the machine and the service. I didn't even buy the machine new from Lucas, but Dudley was around to show me a few things within a couple of weeks and since then the service has been excellent.

As for "hiring an engineer", there's a bit more to making a saleable product than just doing a design and welding it together. The lucas boys test and retest and give their stuff to owners to test and eventually they release it. I'm sure they get very few returns on products they release, which is th best way to stay in business.

The 9" blade kit was a bit of a kludge, since it used an adaptor block on the mounting point to shift the axis down/out by the extra. You could probably do the same with a 7" to get 8", I imagine.

Have you tried ringing Lucas to find out what's going on? They do get a lot of tyre-kickers.

I did recive a call this morning from Geoff Lucas unfortunatly it was at a bed time will comment again in due course

Ok well this thread has me off!!!

you think Lucas have anything better to do than make an individual machine for one person? one at a time? think about it! how good would there machines be? and then how many would sell.

I'm not gonna bang on about my feelings, my position is quite plain! I am not saying a Peterson is a better or worse mill, all here know I personally have a strong passion for Lucas, that aside your comments/observations are plainly remarkable.

But seriously, you want to chuck a 30 horse engine on the model 7 and expect the blade to go faster coz the engine is bigger!?! are you serious? you plainly don't understand the concept/mechanics of a sawblade. Regardless of the engine size, horse power or if the wind blows across friggin China at night time, engine size doesn't govern sawblade speed. My model 6 with an 18hp engine ran at 3,600 rpm but the blade ran at 3,600 rpm. My model 10 with a 30hp motor also runs at about 3600 rpm but the blade runs at 2100 rpm nothing to do with friggin engine size

You say

'I think the mobility of the Lucas is awesome but the portability of a WPF... blah blah blah

so you say the Peterson WPF is more portable than a Lucas? first of all they are two totally different sawmills, u need to compare a Peterson ATS to a Lucas if deciding to compare the two. Also for most us laymen (I know the dictionary gives them different definitions but) portability and mobility are for the majority, one in the same thing, both interchangeable concepts.

I can understand with your shoulder issue looking at automation to the winches, I too am mulling over pros and cons of it and if I can satisfy my con's list down to how do I do it, I will approach Lucas, but for me I still have too many cons and very few pros.

As for just employing an engineer to make you a custom machine, well why the hell don't they employ a fella to make me a friggin blue Lucas!!!! I'd buy one if it was blue

Ah Alan..... what it is to be passionate about something. I love it: Often guilty of it myself: Less occasionally I may even be right.

However you are quite right about motors and blades. There is an ideal tip speed for cutting and as the blade diametre increases the rpm of the motor should decrease. In this way the tip speed will be roughly constant. Consequently it probably won't work to alter the blade without altering the gearing (pulley sizes in this instance).

The increased size of the motor merely (that's glib as there is no substitute for power) helps maintain tip speed even when heavily loaded (ie full width or depth in perhaps very dense material). In simple terms, more grunt is the ability to maintain speed up "hill and down dale."

Lucas Mills niche in the market has always been at the entry level. If they become unduly sophisticated or incur excessive overheads, their prices would rise and they become uncompetitive.

Itposs, perhaps the person at Lucas could have been a lot more diplomatic in explaining why they couldn't customise a mill for you. Not good PR in that instance.

I did see on a single occasion a Lucas person be a little dismissive, although not rude, but it was a question that brought out a shortcoming and I was the tiniest bit mischevious in raising it. Generally they seem a customer orientated organisation, particularly if you flatter them a little. We all like flattery.

Probably you could mechanise the rise and fall by means of a small DC motor run off a car battery. There must be something off a car that would suit at low cost from the wreckers.

Regards
Paul

Ive been sitting here with my shed all tidy waiting for parts from the USA and knew this was coming. Sigidi is right in what he says, because a blade spins faster does NOT make it more efficient. Be it on a swing blade or a bandsaw. I can only speak for Woodmizers where my 51hp LT40 super still spins the wheels as fast as the LT40 standard running a 28hp engine. Because of my engine size I run a much larger alternator I have alot faster up, down, forward and back head movent and my hydraulics are 3 times faster than the standard because i can drive larger drive motors and 2 hydraulic motors instead of 1, doesnt mean I actually cut any faster. I have in fact dropped my top end revs down to get more torque to the blade and i can "Feel" the cut better and have a better relationship between blade and machine. What I mean by relationship is that the blade is running at its optimum and not spinning like a madman and not taking enough material as it cuts.For those curious my machine is recommended to run at a top end of 3300rpm and I run mine at 3060rpm. Blue, Green, Red , Silver ,Orange who cares lets just get cuttin and keep learning