Thread: Lucas Mill log chocks

KWW, i've used two sets of them and find they are nice to have the confidence of driving the blade through them, but for the cost to replace them it is (in my opinion) too much, for how quickly you can cut them to nothing. Also I feel Lucas need to make the 'holding' system out of steel rather than aluminium, with the aluminium you just spread them open when you try to tighten the T handle.

I've gone back to pieces of 3x2" screwed down with batten screws - only I recess the batten screw down at least half an inch, if its touch and go whether you are going to hit the bolt, just flick that bit off, much better to keep the blade going than try too get one more board and then use a new blade.

But if the mill is stationary for a period of time, I use two 250mm poles as log supports

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then I slice a notch out with the chainsaw. Means no metal in sight, also you can load up a stack of logs in the morning and get on with it

A drop notch in each bearer is the easier way to set up. I use a pair of 300 x 300 bearers notched to half their depth at one end only. If I have a log that I want to roll during cutting, I set the bearers upside down and revert to softwood wedges and copper nails (boat roves.) Much easier on blades if you hit one.

Originally Posted by Sigidi

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Al

Is that milling in style under a marquee? How do you roll the log past the marquee leg between your bearers?

Regards
Paul

Paul, the leg is adjustable, I just slide it up when rolling logs in a 6x3m pop up gazebo works great

Hi all

I use a set of 200 x 200 bearers that sit on top of another set of 250 x 125 bearers running the other way, parallel to the rails, making a large rectangle. The bottom set of bearers keep the log slightly higher in the mill, enabling me to mill the very last out of a log. The top bearers have a small notch cut out of one side in the centre of each, and a larger notch cut off-centre in the other side of them. If my log size changes, I simply roll the bearers over and the notches are in roughly the right spot, with a larger log being placed to one side of the set-up. By using the lower set of bearers, it is easy to scrape of a little sawdust from the top of these to make bearer adjustments, rather than digging away sawdust back to the ground. If the log length changes from 2 to 5m, the top bearers can be easily slid long the bottom bearers to increase the span to suit the log. We find this method useful with a great variation our log sizes and lengths.

I like the gazebo too, nice addition.

Cheers

James

Hi,

I have used the log chucks right from the beginning, still the same set. I must confess I hit them far too regularly often trying to squeeze an other board out. Never real damage to the blade. They have been fixed up a couple of times, just had a aluminium welder build them up again and get them back to original shape. Was not expensive.

I uses them on a 75x75 bearer fixed onto a 200x200 bearer. For smaller logs I tend to use a wedge between the log and the chuck to help keep them from tipping over at the end. I find nice heavy bearers they stay in place when putting the new log in, falling exactly in position.