Bandsaw sawmills ??? What to buy
 

Norwood vs woodland mills ? What you guys have ? Any advice?

Depends what u plan on sawing....


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A good band mill requires adequate power and good guide system on band blade to keep very true streight cut. Otherwise you will produce wavy lumber and not many board feet in a cutting day.

SMG champion made in Quebec. They have various power sources.

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr9J...XgCtGy.Ha_sYI-


https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awrg...7aIDz_5ycQU5U-

I’m looking at something in this ball park .

https://www.norwoodsawmills.com/en_us/lumbermate-lm29

I like the Woodmizer mills but they're the only ones I have experience with other than a homebuilt one.

It really depends if how much sawing you are doing.

If you are processing lots of logs and cants - buy once, cry once ...... wrestling and turning is hard on the frames and harder on your back.

The price jump to hydraulics is huge - most guys won't need that.

But if you do go small portable/stationary - I'd look at an LT15 from Wood Mizer - more money - but better features and heavier construction. It's pretty easy to set up in a few different areas near your work area (or level it and leave it) if you have a good way of getting the logs to the mill.

As far as guides go - these are pretty important and having a nice set of guides, well balanced wheels, etc... are worth their weight in gold. Blades will also last longer.

If you are cutting big logs, there should be some heavy duty used mills for sale, as some of us are getting older.... They are good machines.
Most of the battle with bandsaws is with the blades. Quality steel, otherwise they will crack/break. AND most important is not only to have but to know how to use a good sharpener and tooth setter. If you don't have perfectly sharp and set blades you can throw all the guides you want on it and you will scream in frustration. I don't even use guides.
Definitely a 'sharp' learning curve to start with, but once you got it figured out, you will enjoy many years of sawing.

I just finished sawing a few logs down into beams for my shop on my neighbors Norwood mill. He got it last year with all the bells and whistles. Full hydraulics from the dog that holds the log firmly in place to adjusting one end of the log height to spinning the log automatically. I put a square on the finished product and wasn't out at all. I was pretty impressed with how user friendly the mill is. One feature I would definitely have is the power feed. The other stuff is not so important, but just having to press a button to move the saw down the log is slick as it allows you to stand by the fire and warm up while you are cutting.
Also, they are cheaper if you don't get the portable setup which, personally, I wouldn't care for.

Nice to hear your input and stories . Please continue .

Just a question. Cutting green frozen logs is a bad thing or does it cut fairly well?

Cutting green frozen logs isn’t a problem

The larger the diameter of the log the more kerf you need.
But
The more kerf you have the more power it takes!!!


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Cutting is no problem, but flip the board over (cut side up) after stacking it - if you slide the freshly cut board onto a stack of boards with the freshly cut side down it will freeze to the board below. Takes a minute or two for the board to cool off enough (while you are cutting your next board) to avoid this.

Leave the "caked and frozen on" sawdust as well.

This sucks when the temperature is just right for boards to freeze together !!!!!!