# New to milling, new to lt 30 woodmizer



## mdotis (Jul 25, 2011)

To make a long story short my dad and I have a used lt30 bandsaw mill. This past weekend we finally got it working and milled a few logs (4). We are just cutting some 3 by 3 for the roof to cover the mill. One thing I noticed is that when the band would first start the cut it would dip down a little and then level off. Now this is not a problem for the 3 by 3's we were cutting but when we start cutting boards this might be a problem. My thought is that we are starting the cut with the head moving to fast and the blade is flexing until it can get support on the full width of the blade. How far off am I on my thinking? 

Also how tight do we need to make the blade? How can you tell how tight the blade is? 

Thanks for all of your help.


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## deeker (Jul 25, 2011)

mdotis said:


> To make a long story short my dad and I have a used lt30 bandsaw mill. This past weekend we finally got it working and milled a few logs (4). We are just cutting some 3 by 3 for the roof to cover the mill. One thing I noticed is that when the band would first start the cut it would dip down a little and then level off. Now this is not a problem for the 3 by 3's we were cutting but when we start cutting boards this might be a problem. My thought is that we are starting the cut with the head moving to fast and the blade is flexing until it can get support on the full width of the blade. How far off am I on my thinking?
> 
> Also how tight do we need to make the blade? How can you tell how tight the blade is?
> 
> Thanks for all of your help.


 
After a while of using a bandsaw blade, the front (tooth side) stretches. While the backside of the blade does not. Cook's Sawmill mfg. Makes a band roller to flatten out the blade. Sharpening and setting are all good and very necissary, they will NOT fix a blade that rises or dives.

Cook's, sharpends and sets and rolls blades for all sawmills. They are a site sponsor and don't charge a lot for their services.

For those that don't believe blades need to be flattened, why do they hammer out the circle baldes?

Best of luck, Kevin.


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## gemniii (Jul 25, 2011)

deeker said:


> For those that don't believe blades need to be flattened, why do they hammer out the circle baldes?


 Out of frustration of being bald


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## hamish (Jul 25, 2011)

Check the set of your blades. 
How old are the logs you are milling? any end checking, have the end of the log dried out?
Is the bed level to the head throughout its travel?
As for blade tension .........I am sure a Woodmizer user will jump n and answer that for you.....or just call woodmizer......they will help you out.


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## mdotis (Jul 26, 2011)

The logs were cut last summer buy a logger before we got the mill so their is some drying and cracking of the ends. I will look at getting some sealer on them so this does not get worse. Good point that may be part of the problem. The blades are new these are the first four logs we cut with this blade. We cut the logs long so we can trim this off the final product so nothing hurt on these. I was just wondering how to correct this in the future. Thanks for the Ideas.


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## mikeb1079 (Jul 26, 2011)

i'm new to bandsaw milling also and i ran into a blade climbing issue after i hit metal in my first log. didn't even notice it when it happened but went back and checked the slabs i'd cut and there was evidence of metal and it knocked the hook off of most of the teeth. first thing i'd try is a new band.
good luck!


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## TraditionalTool (Jul 27, 2011)

mikeb1079 said:


> i'm new to bandsaw milling also and i ran into a blade climbing issue after i hit metal in my first log. didn't even notice it when it happened but went back and checked the slabs i'd cut and there was evidence of metal and it knocked the hook off of most of the teeth. first thing i'd try is a new band.
> good luck!


A new band is a good start, but Deeker is most likely right that you could roll that blade and get it back to cutting like new.

Of course if you don't have extra blades, you should get some anyway.


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## discounthunter (Jul 30, 2011)

would putting a scrap block in front of the log to take the dip in the blade,then when the blade hits the actual log it would be straight? i know this isnt a true fix but it might work till you get your setup/blades right.


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## pnhd65 (Jul 31, 2011)

Wow, where to start? You're at the bottom of a learning curve, I'm gonna try to help boost you up that hill a little.

First off, key is a sharp and properly set blade. We'll assume for the moment you've got that, but if you don't, you may as well stay in the truck.

I don't know how old your 30 is, but if you've got 12 VDC feed motor, the drive pulley, not the one on the motor, small, but the larger one, driven, try pinching that with your hand to the guard to slow your speed to a crawl till your blade starts to enter the log, then slowly release your grip to let it come up to speed, should help with the dive.

It's hard to tell the difference between a dull and sharp blade by running your hand on the teeth, but as soon as you start to sharpen a blade, you can tell how dull it was by how much material you have to remove to get an edge on a tooth. While milling, if you have to reduce feed rate, or are getting a wavy cut, particularly when hitting knots, you're blade is dull, change it out. 

Watch your set on the teeth, the outer set teeth will lose their set quicker than the inner set teeth.

Like I said, I don't know how old your mill is. But your T handle that you set tension with, there's a spring there that looks like a valve spring. There's a small piece of metal right beside it that the spring, when tensioned, should be even with the end of that piece, no more, no less.

If your mill has a few years on it, and it does, you should order a new spring, they loose their tension over time and your blade isn't as tight as it should be, and you don't know it. Never leave a blade on your machine when you're not milling, like overnight, never leave a blade on the machine and leave it under tension. When you start up your mill, warm it up a bit, tension the blade, bring the blade up to speed without cutting anything, take an old wire brush and 'lightly' touch your wheels to get the dust off them, idle down and check your tension. Make one cut, and recheck your tension.

I don't know how much milling you're planning to do, but buy about 10 blades, at least, at a time. You only get an hour or 2 out of a blade while milling till they need sharpened. If you have a bunch with you, just throw a new one on and when you're done milling for the day, now you can go home and sharpen blades.

Keep in mind, the real enemy of a sharp blade, is bark, and the dirt that's in there. Try to make your cuts so you're cutting into a milled surface, and not the bark. For the first few cuts, might want to get an old drawshave, or fab one up, to take some bark off where the blade will run for the first few cuts.

Happy milling, you're got youself in excellent machine. Once you figure out what you're doing a little, it's great satisfaction, till then, it can be a little frustating.

Good luck.:msp_thumbup:


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## pnhd65 (Jul 31, 2011)

Oh, and keep your support rollers as close to the log as possible.


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## gemniii (Jul 31, 2011)

pnhd65 said:


> Never leave a blade on your machine when you're not milling, like overnight



If the machine is covered and dry why shouldn't you leave the blade on if you release the tension?


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## pnhd65 (Jul 31, 2011)

Rust, I never saw a blade not rust overnight.

Every time I removed a blade from the mill, I would pull it through an oily rag to clean and coat it. I did a visual inspection while I was doing this also. No sense in sharpening a blade with a crack starting in it.

Also forgot to mention using water while milling. It is a mess, but, if you're milling anything that you should be using water on, and aren't, thinking you're saving time buy by not having to mess with the water, you're probably not making out. If you have anything sticking to the blade, you should be using water.

If you do get pitch stuck to the blade, sometimes making a pass with a lot of water on it will clean it up. If not, turn your blade inside out and run it backwards on the mill, NOT TO MAKE A CUT, but just to bring it up to speed, and run a wire brush on it as it spins, usually cleans it up.


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## mdotis (Aug 1, 2011)

*Thanks guys*

pnhd65 that is exactly the info I was looking for. And you are correct I am below the bottom of the learning curve when it comes to using this new toy. Thanks for your help I will give these Ideas a try the next time I get a chance to run the mill. Thanks again and I am sure I will have many more questions. I cannot wait to learn more about this mill.


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## SkippyKtm (Aug 2, 2011)

mdotis said:


> To make a long story short my dad and I have a used lt30 bandsaw mill. This past weekend we finally got it working and milled a few logs (4). We are just cutting some 3 by 3 for the roof to cover the mill. One thing I noticed is that when the band would first start the cut it would dip down a little and then level off. Now this is not a problem for the 3 by 3's we were cutting but when we start cutting boards this might be a problem. My thought is that we are starting the cut with the head moving to fast and the blade is flexing until it can get support on the full width of the blade. How far off am I on my thinking?
> 
> Also how tight do we need to make the blade? How can you tell how tight the blade is?
> 
> Thanks for all of your help.


 I've had an LT40 for over 10 years now, I bought it new back in '99. Having the blade flex when you first contact the cant is very common, I usually let off on the forward control just before contact is made and let it "coast into" the cut, once I'm about 1" into the cant and the back of the blade is in the kerf, I resume feeding the blade into the cant. Its just a habit you develop, no biggie. One thing you can do when cutting multiple cants is to stagger them so that the blade is not impacting them all at once, that will help any fluctuation in the blade when it first hits the wood. 



> Also how tight do we need to make the blade? How can you tell how tight the blade is?



I must have a newer mill than you, as it tensions the blade hydraulically and it has a gauge on it, that must have been an issue wood mizer addressed with the later models. I believe there are tension gauges you can buy, but I would call Wood mizer tech support and I'll bet they can help you on that. I've always had good luck talking with them.


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## VA-Sawyer (Aug 12, 2011)

What year is your LT 30 ?
Or a better question might be what series is it ? the last letter or letters of the Serial Number gave you the series code on older ones.

Anyways, If you have the hydraulic guage for blade tension, I suggest running it about 2300 on the guage. I sometimes will bump it up to 2500 for really hard stuff like Hickory.

As for the blade dipping at the start of the cut and then rising, I would check that the blade isn't pointed a little bit downward by one guide roller or the other. Sometimes bumping the outer guide into the log will knock it out of alignment in that directon. 

I do a full alignment on my mill every 100 hrs and a quick check about every 10 to 15 hrs just to be sure I'm getting straight and square wood off the mill. It took me a full day the first time that I did a complete ( by the numbers and in proper sequence ) alignment on my mill, but now I can normally do it in 2 to 3 hrs after changing parts that require such an alignment afterwards. 

Call WoodMizer in Indy. They should issue you a new ownership card and you can get the current operation and parts manuals from them as well. 

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions
Rick


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## Mahindra123 (Feb 27, 2012)

mdotis said:


> To make a long story short my dad and I have a used lt30 bandsaw mill. This past weekend we finally got it working and milled a few logs (4). We are just cutting some 3 by 3 for the roof to cover the mill. One thing I noticed is that when the band would first start the cut it would dip down a little and then level off. Now this is not a problem for the 3 by 3's we were cutting but when we start cutting boards this might be a problem. My thought is that we are starting the cut with the head moving to fast and the blade is flexing until it can get support on the full width of the blade. How far off am I on my thinking?
> .





i apologize for my late reply as you have probably received from others, the answers to your problems. I'm a newbie so I could not read your thread when you started it. I have a few recommendations for you to consider. I also own a LT30HD that I bought new and drove to Indianapolis for hands-on training on my machine and to drag it home. You are the 2nd owner but Woodmizer offers you the same training at no charge. You pay the gas to get there, your meals and lodging but the training is worth the cost and effort. The 2nd item is that Woodmizer has a once a year technician that will come right to your location and for a fee, he goes over every setting of your machine and readjusts as necessary. Minimum cost of a site visit runs from around $300.00 to $500.00 and any replacement parts are extra. The variation of price is due to the hours of your mill and there are certain parts they automatically replace for that price. I highly recommend doing this once just so you become familiar with each and every setting and essentially you are starting out with a new machine. Who knows what the previous owner maladjusted to make it work.

Your problem with the blade taking a dip could be that the blade is not at a true 90 degree angle to the log. If the teeth on the blade contact the log at any angle other than a true 90 degree, it makes sense that the blade will take the route the teeth are directed to. My machine developed a problem where the blade was waving up and down thru the length of the log. I tried everything in the book to fix it and when I signed up for the technician to come and routine the machine, all it was, was the drive belt being too loose and the blade speed wasn't consistent because the drive belt was slipping. Since you have been using the machine, you are familiar with the basics so perhaps the training isn't necessary but I really think that to get the machine factory fresh with everything reset to factory specs, it is worth the cost. I don't consider myself as mechanically inept but sometimes the manual isn't always interpreted as it was intended. I bought my LT30 in 1990 and it now has a few hours under 10,200 hrs on it. Naturally, I'm on my 3rd engine as the gas engine doesn't have the longevity as a diesel does but it has served me well and other than the engine replacements, and with meticulous mtce, my costs are truly negligible. Your biggest cost will be the blades.

The best of luck to you and your Dad making sawdust!


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## mdotis (Feb 28, 2012)

Thanks for the tip. I will have to look into the training. I am sure that even if we get must one or two little tricks it would be worth the time. We seem to be able to keep the blade running true if we start the cut very very slow at first. It also helps to cut about 1/4 of the blade then stop and then do the next 1/4 and then just push through with the cut. So for now that is how we do the good boards. For the rough construction lumber we are not to worried about it. We run a farm and so far the cows have not complained about a little wave on the end of the boards on the hay feeder. 

Thanks again for your help


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## Sawyer Rob (Feb 28, 2012)

mdotis said:


> To make a long story short my dad and I have a used lt30 bandsaw mill. This past weekend we finally got it working and milled a few logs (4). We are just cutting some 3 by 3 for the roof to cover the mill. One thing I noticed is that when the band would first start the cut it would dip down a little and then level off. Now this is not a problem for the 3 by 3's we were cutting but when we start cutting boards this might be a problem. My thought is that we are starting the cut with the head moving to fast and the blade is flexing until it can get support on the full width of the blade. How far off am I on my thinking?
> 
> Also how tight do we need to make the blade? How can you tell how tight the blade is?
> 
> Thanks for all of your help.



Sounds like not enough band tension to me... That or a bad band.

Assumeing you have tried more than one NEW band, i'd find out what the max tension is supose to be, and i'd make sure you are getting it.

Rob


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## Mahindra123 (Feb 28, 2012)

SkippyKtm said:


> I must have a newer mill than you, as it tensions the blade hydraulically and it has a gauge on it, that must have been an issue wood mizer addressed with the later models. I believe there are tension gauges you can buy, but I would call Wood mizer tech support and I'll bet they can help you on that. I've always had good luck talking with them.



For tension, the common blade size requires 2,300 psi. The higher the tension, the less hours you will get from a blade however. I'd start out with another new blade, tension it right up to the red line that Woodmizer has on the gauge. Try it and if that works, back off on the tension to the ideal tension that Woodmizer recommends of 2,100 to 2,300 psi. If that didn't help, your blade guide rollers are the next to look at. These can sometimes get whacked out of alignment by not having the blade clear of the log far enough when you turn the cant, lowering the head with the blade still in contact with the log - a whole lot of possibilities. The blade is following the direction of the guides. If one or both of the quides are even slightly directed up or down - that's where the blade is going. I bring the running blade up to the log without touching it, and slowly advance into the log. Once the entire blade is into the cut, then you can speed it up.

Woodmizer shipped your machine with a complete set of manuals that thoroughly cover that entire machine - everything from the head itself and right down to the trailer brakes. It sounds as if you bought your machine used, they weren't given to you but you could order them. Get them! As prior posts recommended, get in contact with Woodmizer. They'll need serial #, and model # so they can issue you an I.D. card. Anytime you need parts, blades, etc - you can get on their website, enter your own login and password along with this ID card customer #, and everything about your specific mill will come up. No more searching or guessing if your series matches that part! Ask them then about any programs they might offer you as a 2nd owner. They have all sorts of items such as CD's, even bd ft calculators, that they'll send out to you free.

As for the water lubrication, everyone has their own little recipe. Besides the water, I put in a slug of dishwashing detergent(helps keep the blade clean especially when sawing pine or other resinous wood), and the last item is a few drops of Jet Dry to cut the surface tension of the water. If you ever drop a few drops of water on your blade - notice that it forms drop on the blade instead of being dispered in a sheet. Imagine that blade spinning at a few thousand feet per minute and all that water is just being flung off the blade without allowing it to do the job intended. Just because I think it works doesn't mean I'm right or even close to.

As in my prior post, I really think that it would be money well spent on your part to have Woodmizer come out if for just one time, put your mill into factory fresh specs. And without the manuals, it is impossible to properly adjust your mill. That tech will not leave until both you and he are satisfied with the way the mill is sawing and they don't charge by the hour. Woodmizer wants you happy with their product so you might eventually lead another perspective customer their way. Another sidenote is that if you do send a customer their way and he buys a new mill - Woodmizer issues you a $400.00 credit that you can use for replacemnt parts.

I hope this helps a little


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## mdotis (Feb 28, 2012)

This helps a lot. Thanks for the great info. The mill was purchased used. It had been sitting out in the weather un-used for at least 5 years. We were very impressed with how well the mill was working after the years of niglect. I will take a good look at the guides my guess is that they are bad or going bad. Get some new ones and give them a try. If that does not improve the issue then I may give woodmizer a call and see if they will send the tech out. That really does sound like the best idea and for the money it seems like a very good value. Thanks again for all the help. We will keep at it until we get it right.


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## Mahindra123 (Feb 28, 2012)

mdotis;3512135=QUOTE said:


> It had been sitting out in the weather un-used for at least 5 years. We were very impressed with how well the mill was working after the years of niglect. I will take a good look at the guides my guess is that they are bad or going bad. Get some new ones and give them a try. If that does not improve the issue then I may give woodmizer a call and see if they will send the tech out. That really does sound like the best idea and for the money it seems like a very good value. Thanks again for all the help. We will keep at it until we get it right.



You may have found your own problem by yourself. I've replaced my guides in the past, along with the two sealed bearings in each of them. The back parts of the guides have a raised edge that gets worn down with time and the blade will walk right off the back edge. I've had the guides that were fine but the bearing seized up and the guide couldn't turn. I'm thinking that the water injection plays a big part of this problem or perhaps my concoction of water additives. I have tried Woodmizers ceramic blocks but I went back to the rollers and never used the ceramic type again. I really haven't seen the blocks on their website lately so perhaps they didn't work out as expected. If there is ever a question about your machine - just PM me and perhaps with the little experiences I've had, we can solve the problem

Take care and good luck!


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