Thread: Lucas cross cutting? Blade?

I would be just trying the lucas mill for this, setting up a stop 90' to the mill & adjusting it untill you were getting a good 90' cut on each plane & pulling the blade into the cut very slowly to get a smooth finished face.
regards inter

Originally Posted by glenn k

Also I may need a sander or similar jig to make all sides on all cubes the same, any ideas?

Assuming you start with a perfectly square length of timber, a router mill will do end grain, it's slow, but will do it!

Originally Posted by InterTD6

I would be just trying the lucas mill for this, setting up a stop 90' to the mill & adjusting it untill you were getting a good 90' cut on each plane & pulling the blade into the cut very slowly to get a smooth finished face.
regards inter

Thanks inter it is well worth a try

cut a 6" piece out of a log rotate the mill 90* and pace the 6x6 in the cutout and give it a try.

id say it will chip out to much.

why not cut them on a bandsaw?

Originally Posted by BobL

Assuming you start with a perfectly square length of timber, a router mill will do end grain, it's slow, but will do it!

I did a google on router mill as I didn't now what you meant and found your thread here. Good idea. I was thinking of setting up a random orbital sander at a set height (but adjustable)and manually pushing the blocks under, do you think it will work? Supose it depends on how well the Lucas can cut cross grain with a 5 tooth blade.

Carl I was thinking of just using the right angle left over from a log and nailing a stop to it setting it at right angles and pull towards you as inter said.
Do you think a band saw would cut straight enough? Do they have some sort of guide to stop the wood wiggling?

id make up a jig to hold the wood and with a decent blade it would cut them perfectly.

what ever method you try, just make sure the work piece is well & truly clamped or fastened down because the machine is not really designed for this task
regards inter

I have cut 8" square post cross cut with the Lucas, cut is OK as long as you cut slowly. only thing is that you cannot fit 8" under the mill rails so the have to be cut under the extension. have also cut angled tops on fence posts by making a jig to hold them at set angles seems to work quite well.

Thanks metricky, good to be pre warned about the rails in the way.
Just a thought wouldn't it be easier to make a jig to hold the saw at an angle (like the weatherboard attachment) maybe not as it would be in the middle of travel and could go either way. Perhaps a rod to brace the swing arm? Perhaps a jig for the post is better.
Very useful machines aren't they

I don't think cross cutting would be a very practical use of the mill.... Yeah it could be done, but seriously like Carl said bandsaw in a workshop, would give the kind of finish and cut you seem to be asking for Glenn...

and if you did, like mentioned you'd have to have the post anchored extremely well, use a new blade with good side clearance and go slow as slow can be so you minimize the amount of inertia given to the post, but also to get as clean a finish as you can, but that is why Lucas invented their planer and sander, 'cause the saw produces rough sawn timber...

If it were me I'd cut a 6x6 post then crosscut using my bandsaw and sled set up...however what if u cut posts at the maximum length that will stand vertical under the saw, would have to fix the post to something 1 1.2 1.5m whatever fits then just crosscut the top 6"of the post and there u have 6"cubes a finer toothed blade will give u a smoother finish
Peter

You can get a docking saw to do the job, the mill I cart timber for have one for cutting 6" bollards and the angled cuts for the top.

Here's some on the one of the Forums Sponsor's site Machines4U

Just had another look at my mill; you couldn't cut anything longer than ~200mm as the blade guard (for when the blade is horizontal) is in the way. The legs on the opposite end to the wheel would get in the way of anything longer than the mill is wide but you could squeese the lengths between the leg and the blade which must be what metricky did unless newer mills are different. The slabing attachment bracket would have to be removed aswell.