Thread: Wood waste, Chainsaw Vs. Bandsaw mills.

Well, it seems that the Lucas type mill would be fine for what we need to do. In the next year or so there will be a thinning program to cull some of the small trees and get more light into the plantation. These trees are small, 300mm at the base but there are lots of them! What do you people think of using something like the Peterson "Skill-Mill" for these small logs?
My thinking is that we can slice up the runts, get some practice, make lots of sawdust and mistakes and then upgrade to a larger machine when we get to cutting the more mature trees. There is single phase power near where the trees are and my preference is to have the mill setup in one place with a roof over my head and a fridge to keep the beverages cold. Yes, I know, spoiled and lazy but in a past life I worked on a Shire Council and these bad habits are hard to shake off!
What do you folks think?
Dennis.

Id go for a bigger saw than the skilmill

Thank you for your reply, Echidna.
The question I now have is why you would go for something larger and what would you recomend?
Dennis.

Dennis what ever you spend on a skilmill will be lost as you already have the plan to buy a bigger machine. Why not learn on it with the cruddy logs? any mistakes will not be costly as the logs will be thinings. If you can do a smaller log you will have no trouble with a bigger log.

Personally I'd go for a 618 from Lucas, for many people I suggest an 830, but in your case the initial outlay will be less - therefore less timber to cut before the purchase price is recovered, and by the sound of it you aren't about to go out milling for other people, just want to break down your own trees to make them more valuable, also you can still cut 4'6" slabs with the 618 slabbing attachment and these are BIG, lastly you can mill a maximum of 12"x6" board down to 1/4"x1/4" if you wanted to - very versatile

Also on the council worker side of things, you can get a waterproof structure which builds over the top of your mill so you can mill in constant shade and even get a break from a bit of rain if you'd like

Dennis,

Early in this thread I offered to chat to you if you felt it would help. I curently have Paulownia thinnings on my property and a horizontal band saw mill. If your interested in a visit I can operate the mill for you and let you see see the mill at work You can then assess the benefits and disadvantages of this type of mill. I would also be able to pass on my experience with Paulownia which is very different to other timber as I have found out the hard way. Not pushing just offering help to a fellow grower.

John

My take on the various mills...

Chainsaw mills, great for hobby milling or breaking down oversize logs. The waste isn't really the issue, the cutting speed is. For someone that has a free log and wants some nice slabs and woodworking wood, way to go. Doesn't matter if you spend all day breaking down a big log, at the end of the day you have a cube of good timber. You have expended a lot of sweat, but very little cash.

Bandsaw mills. Work best with smaller size logs, by Aus and NZ standards anyway. They would saw your plantation logs perfectly well, but they aren't cheap, especially if you want all the hydralic log handling and power feed stuff. They are fairly high maintenance, once the band looses it's edge you get all sorts of problems.

Swingblade mills Best suited for the larger logs that we get here. No problem slicing up 12" logs, just no great advantage over a bandmill. Bigger logs the swingmills really shine. Very simple to operate and maintain, setup anywhere, sharpen the blade in 5min on the mill etc. Priced cheaper than a bandmill of similar production potential. Unfortunalty the Skillmill also goes in the hobby class. Yes it works prefectly well, but it's limited. Now if you have some stray logs, and are put off by the price of wood working timber, then it's an option. But back to the 900 logs... no.

Personal choice, a Lucas mill or Peterson ATS, very similar machines. Both are relatively cheap, but are able to produce at a commercial rate. There are various options with blade and engine sizes, but they all work as advertised.

If you aren't so keen to jump into the a real mill, look into setting up a stack of logs and getting someone in for a day or 2 to mill them. You can then see how the milling operation works, how much work, how good your recovery is, and have a stack of boards to use or sell. Then you can make a more informed decision on buying your own mill.

I have an older Peterson ATS that I use for my own woodworking, brilliant machine

Ian

Originally Posted by whitewood

Dennis,

Early in this thread I offered to chat to you if you felt it would help. I curently have Paulownia thinnings on my property and a horizontal band saw mill. If your interested in a visit I can operate the mill for you and let you see see the mill at work You can then assess the benefits and disadvantages of this type of mill. I would also be able to pass on my experience with Paulownia which is very different to other timber as I have found out the hard way. Not pushing just offering help to a fellow grower.

John

HI John,

I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences in Paulownia as it is a timber I am yet to experience cutting and I'm generally interested in all things timber - would you mind starting another post about all things Paulownia?

And Ian pretty much summed it up concerning the options available for processing logs, one other could be available, but is hardly suggested due to the costs involved; truck your logs to a standing comercial mill and have them process it and truck back the sawn timber - just another option. ALthough once the cost of transport and milling(they charge more than a mobile guy would) are added together it is much cheaper to get a mobile guy in and in the long run getting a mill yourself is the cheapest in your situation

Originally Posted by DennisDaMenace

Well, it seems that the Lucas type mill would be fine for what we need to do. In the next year or so there will be a thinning program to cull some of the small trees and get more light into the plantation. These trees are small, 300mm at the base but there are lots of them! What do you people think of using something like the Peterson "Skill-Mill" for these small logs?
My thinking is that we can slice up the runts, get some practice, make lots of sawdust and mistakes and then upgrade to a larger machine when we get to cutting the more mature trees. There is single phase power near where the trees are and my preference is to have the mill setup in one place with a roof over my head and a fridge to keep the beverages cold. Yes, I know, spoiled and lazy but in a past life I worked on a Shire Council and these bad habits are hard to shake off!
What do you folks think?
Dennis.

I'm not sure about NSW, but in Qld, if you mill more than 500t in a year on the one site you'll need a DA for a sawmill. Probably not an issue if you only plan to mill paulownia, but something to consider. The EPA would probably want you to provide them with a waste management plan including dust control and run-off control.

John, you can expect a phone call sometime soon. As you have a bandmill working and seem happy enough with it then I think I should get your practical opinion on just how good or bad it mills softwood. I have used small bandsaws to cut both hard and softwood and the softwood seems to be much less of a problem than hardwood.
With the Lucas & Peterson mills I feel that I am going to be using a machine capable of cutting huge logs to slice up something quite a lot smaller, sort of the "sledgehammer to kill an ant" scenario. I feel that the SkillMill is about the right size for the logs to be cut. I would like the ability to cut a 6" board but the price diference is mind-boggling! Somewhere in the vicinity of $15,000 for the smallest Lucas machine is hard for me to justify whereas $5,000 for the SkillMill is an amount that I can almost justify, especially if I get nice straight boards.
If I can build a bandmill that will do a similar job for lots less money then I would be very happy. The market for the timber is an unknown quantity in this area and as there is a waiting period for the timber to season out before sale I could be waiting a while before I see any return on my investment.
Thanks again fellas,
Dennis.

try linn lumber . usa they sell bandsaw plans.and parts. be warned there is a lot to building one! you could try the lucas saw now eco saw in nth nsw , have a web site.they cost around 10k ,worth looking at site, as they have a few products . portable bandsaw like the little ripper only second hand are great, and can be got 4-6k ideal for your purpose . the skill mill is limited ,but should please the neighbours {quiet }and yourself as they should resell when you have finished or want move up . another option is to use a large bandsaw. and in out tables and just push the wood through. 24in saw will usually cut 15inchs just some thoughts . cheers bob

Originally Posted by bobsreturn2003

you could try the lucas saw now eco saw in nth nsw , have a web site.they cost around 10k ,worth looking at site, as they have a few products .

That would be Lewis not Lucas don't you think Bob.

yes lewis saw is now ecosaw in northern nsw .and were talking about a bandsaw mill and had wheels for sale . as well as some slabber and swing saw options . similar to lucas saw and peterson . has any one tried a rimu mill ? they look a good thing also cheers bob

The Ecosaw's not very similar to Lucas/Peterson at all, really. If you're serious about milling, I'd say Lucas is first choice, because of reliability, service and backup, followed by Peterson, since they're basically a Lucas in drag (or vice versa), even if they are from Un Zud. Arthur from Ecosaw is a very nice bloke, but having looked at his machine and his operation, it simply doesn't compare for quality with the Lucas/Peterson for mine.

Others may have different views.

i agree wiht exador you couldnt meet a nicer bloke than author but he still has a long way to go wiht the desighn of his mills. at present they are verry complex in construction but no ware neer the standard in terms of strenght and stability compared to the lucas option. in my opinion the are not as esaliy portable either.

some of his idas sutch as the indapendednt end movement for easy log alighnment have great potential but need refinement. he needs to get someone on his desighn team that saws timber and has a good understanding of what people look for in a portable sawmill.

thats just what i think anyway.