I am 5’7" and 160 lbs and run an 046 Stihl and a slightly bigger Husky 385, both with 28" bars so you don’t have to bend over as much. The bigger saws are much safer too as they have more inertia resisting a kickback. We had two guys on our fire department that had jagged cuts to their left cheek from cutting firewood with small " hobby" saws that kicked back. Stihl chains cut better out of the box and stretch less but I like the Oregon 73JP with an extra anti kickback raker. They stretch more initially but after a couple tanks of fuel should stabilise. The slack adjuster should easily be able to compensate for any stretch on a normal use.
What have you set the angle to? The Wood Mizer blades I sharpen vary between 10 degrees ( for harder wood ) and 15 degrees ( for very soft wood). I set mine for 12.5 degrees for a compromise. The steeper angle is supposed to help pull the blade through the wood for faster cutting. I haven’t really noticed that big of a difference. I think getting the corner of the tooth " sticky " sharp and the set of the tooth more important. The blades come with about .020 ( twenty thousanths of an inch ) set and you lose 2 or 3 thou every time you sharpen. I will set up to 30 thou if I am cutting really soft wood or spruce with big knots. Below about 16-18 thou the sawdust will pack tightly on the board. I should post a video but not sure how to go about it.
Darrell,
Video: have to start a YouTube channel or equivalent, upload your video there, then post a link to the video on the forum here. You can directly upload still photos and PDF files. I am sure there are other ways, but that is the common method. The video does not have to be public, it can remain “unlisted” on the YT channel.
Ok, I had 17 degrees, so I change it to 12 degrees, the set I have not looked at yet, I have to do something so I can fix it too.
Thought to try with the diamond disc that I have in the other machine, it is thicker, should be better rounding at the bottom of the tooth then.
What kind of grinding wheel do you have?
I have the wheel that comes with Wood Mizer grinder. It is .5 cm x 15 cm and a pretty regular grinding wheel. My setup is basically the same as yours but a little fancier. It was supposed to be water cooled but I stopped using it and have not noticed a big difference. My grinder runs on a cam through a linkage and is a gentle cut down the face with a deeper grind on the gullet to take out micro cracks and up the back of the tooth to finish. I watched how Wayne grinds his blades and I do not know how his blades last so long without grinding the gullet. The new grinders have diamond studded wheels that are shaped to the tooth and grind all parts at the same time. It runs in an oil bath.
Did you get my pictures? On the big wood mizer I run now there is a DC motor running a gear reducer that drives a double sprocket and double roller chain.
No, I have not found any pictures, ok chains should be better than wires, I think my flexes a bit, minimal but looks like that, should saw a little more before I do something.
Jan,
Cables and chains both wear and stretch. I believe for accuracy, roller chains will be better, more predictable using toothed sprockets and and less dependent on clamps and pulleys. Cables are great for general moving of heavy objects!! Just my experience, opinion.
Our conveyors at work are chain drive, have never seen a sprocket wear out, chains gets sloppy every 3-4 years of 6 hours a day running hard, lifting thousands of pounds of roofing over and over and over. Wayne mill is a good example chain use for lifting the cutter head, and the build done by donndiy on YouTube I posted a while ago he also use a chain gear reduction for lifter. The woodmizer is a slick system no doubt, but chain and sprocket building is easy, and like Wayne’s system you can gear it to each tooth representing a different height of board. Makes for quick work on dimensional lumber cuts
My sawmill sawing head is heavy and would be hard to raise up and down with man power . I have a counter balance ( about 75 pounds ) on the head that neutralize the weight to make it easy for up and down.
The small chain and pockets hold the head in place and keeps the unit parallel . Very little weight on the small chain and sprockets .
Thank you so much Wayne.
Then I understand how to do, my son thought that my saw was too light for wires that I have, that it does not stretch it, I will put on some weight and try if it makes any difference.
The Amish guy that I buy lumber from has a saw head lifting system on his old band mill. There is a roller chain fastened on the verticle uprights and the saw head is raised and lowered with sprockets that mesh in the stationary chain like rack and pinion gears. The stationary chain the rack and the sprockets pinion gears. Just thought I would throw this into the discussion.
Kent
