Originally Posted by
Bernt
Al, I completely agree with the way you look at this if only every body using a Lucas Mill was a professional sawmiller. However I assume most Lucasmills belong to amateurs/hobbyists/beginners and a resource like this forum is invaluable for learning the ins and outs of operating a mill. A lucas mill is almost like a car that you can turn the key and drive away in like most people without any understanding of what is happening under the bonnet. Resulting in relatively unexperienced operators.
I expect most woodworkers to be able to use a planer. But when this planer start turning straight boards into bananas only the experienced know how to fix this, others will turn to e.g. this forum to work out what the **** is going on.
It would be great if there was some kind of measuring system for blade tension. In my experience the putting the tension in the blade hasn't been the problem with saw doctors but how much? I feel that a little more tension than in a brand new blade makes the blade perform better in most timbers. I have had blades that cut amazingly beautiful but only in perfect knot free logs. I have also had (very bad) logs that I could only cut with an old blade that had gotten really stiff. There is no way I (as a relatively new, part-time saw miller)(less then 1000 hrs on the teller) can explain to a saw doctor how much tension to put in other then; "little more" or "that is too much". If then I (hopefully) don't see him for an other three months, how is he supposed to remember the conclusion from last time. Unless he has a whole list of Lucasmill customers with the same wishes. I admit I am not experienced enough to tell the tension just by feeling the blade (I try...), the only way for me to know is to put it on the mill and see how it goes.