Thread: Log rotator

My thoughts are as follows:

the ability to turn a log is important and from what i an see his setup does that. Whether it can do it with a sawlog is another matter because it looks like it would half get in the way towards the bottom of the log. But for split posts it works.

there is a company in the US called swing-set that makes a different style of turner to suit swing mills such as Lucas. Also worth a look

Yanno... I used to have a lewisaw, similar to the goodwood in arrangement. I replaced it with a lucas at one point, so I've done this with both. The lucas is no-where near as capable at splitting posts as the lewisaw was, because as you roll your billet it invariably changes shape and taper because logs are rarely round. The lewisaw style end frames mean cutting to taper is a simple adjustment using the sideshift at either end .... changing your left right axis on a lucas means dragging the whole end frame back and forth. Give me a choice of a Lucas or a 90cc chainsaw to cut posts and I'll take the chainsaw. If you really want to cut posts a Hargan is still the best way to go.

My best thought is use the Lucas for cutting boards or slabs like it was designed to.

Thanks for the reply John. What you say makes sense. I might be better putting my money into a new chain saw.
Thanks Geez

I still prefer to split fence posts rather than saw 'em. Does depend on straight grain timber though. Sooner or later the saw has to come out to finish the cranky ones.
A splitter on the back of a dozer takes no prisoners.

There was a log rolling system that was similar but the rollers were fitted to trolley jacks like car mechanics use. This made it easier to allow for both the taper in the log and the log not being truly round. It cut down on the number of times you had to walk to either end of the mill to adjust the rail heights. We are going to use something similar with our bandsaw mill so that we can cut parallel to the heart without using wooden blocks at one end of the log and in the middle. The jacks need to be on something smooth and solid so they can be moved and not sink into the ground. DIY is possible, the whole thing could be fabricated in a home workshop once you see a couple of photos.

Yeah I played around with a bit of a cradle fitted to a trolley jack for a bit, because my log resource tends to suit cut to taper patterns. It had potential but the reality and the potential were a fair way apart.

Plus side* It could lift a log and shift one end so that you could align for vertical and horizontal taper quite well. it meant I could take a log down a ways on a taper, then flip it to come back from the other side and not have to realign to the mill bed.
*With a laser fitted to the mill on the vertical axis I did some seriously good precision cutting to maximise width/length when dealing with knots or other similar grade limiting characteristics.

Minus side*It had to be on a firm flat surface to travel back and forth and that surface had to be clean so the wheels would turn. Sawdust was an issue, and anything that has an issue with sawdust has no place around a sawmill
* As soon as you have a nice firm flat surface so the jack could roll the jack will roll. I had an issue with the jacked up end of the log wanting to move in the horizontal axis during sawing.
* All logs had to be presented to the mill with the taper one way.

Like a lot of things swingmill I could see so much potential there it wasnt funny. I was basically achieving the cut pattern of a conventional mill with a half million dollars worth of optimising edger behind it.... being able to kick the log back and forth to steer through knots etc was brilliant, it enabled me to cut a diagonal across my face if necessary and just miss the sap on this side and the knot on the other etc etc. Thats real sawmill operation, not lightweight bushmill rough enough stuff right there. But it was slow, required much frigging about, and friggabout time costs money. I ditched the idea pretty quick because I was better off to align to vertical taper and wear any grade issues on the first face, turn my log , re-align to taper, and kick the cant back and forth as required quicker then I could play around with the jack etc.

The solution is fixed hydraulic functions. But there isnt enough productivity in the mill to justify that. There are what.... 5 or 6 swingmill manufacturers, plus some chinese ripoffs... and not a single bloody one of them is interested in taking the swingmill concept to its full potential. I'm a sawmiller from a sawmilling family. I've played with big bands, little bands, big circles,little circles, sashes, twins...even drove a quad.... and I can see so much unrealized potential in the swingmill concept for small to mid sized fixed operations as a replacement for traditional headsaws. After the current -where are we at??? 8 or 10 urgent projects i got on the go this week - I think Im going to have to build me a sawmill.

Well JohnG, I actually did that (build a sawmill) to cut some Paulownia logs on a neighbor's place. We went for a horizontal bandsaw system with a traveling head that will cut somewhere around 800mm diam. by 6.0M long. I am working on a "dodgy bros" system to stop the jack moving sideways (horizontal bandsaws have a lot of sideways thrust) so I am thinking of something like threaded rod and a nut on the trolley jack, probably turn the rod with an old battery drill, may change the wheels on the jack for something with a groove in it that will run on angle iron rails. That should get around the sawdust problems. It (the jack system) will be a bit "Heath Robinson" to start off with but eventually it will be refined into something safe and solid.

When using the Lucas at home in the shed, I have the two log gluts set on a pair of bottle jacks at each end. The jack heads are set into 50mm deep hole on the underside of the gluts and the bottles stand on concrete pads in holes below floor level (the floor of the milling shed is dirt.) As the gluts are set close to the log ends it is quite simple to work both jack handles at an end simultaneously to raise or lower as required. A cheap lazer tells me where level's at and we are good to go. Simples.