Wood-Mizer's new Accuset 2

[Bibbyman]

I posted this yesterday on the "Crash of 07" Forum so I thought it valuable to post here again.

I'd heard about a new generation of Accuset last fall.  At least I was told they were working on a major revision of the product.  Last spring I at the Wood-Mizer 25'th party in Mt. Vernon,  I heard a little more but no details other than it was coming out soon.

A couple of months ago Sparks contacted us and asked if we were willing to be a test site.  (We've tested other Accuset versions and mods before).  Sure!

A couple of weeks ago I finally got a box from Sparks.  On opening it,  I was a little confused.  It looked like the old Accuset.  The panel looks the same.

As there were no programming directions,  I e-mailed Sparks and asked him for the user's manual on the Accuset 2.  His reply was that there was none.  It operated just the same as the latest version of the Accuset we already have.

So....  If looks the same.  And if it programs the same and has the same functions.  Why go to the trouble of making a new one?  I thought. 

But I went ahead and installed it and turned it on and started using it. 

Then I got it.  First off,  it boots up in a fraction of the time of the old one.  Then you notice the display is MUCH brighter and better text size.  Then you notice that the head movement is much smoother and faster and there is no "bounce" when it get to it's mark.   Also,  the buttons have a click feel to them. 

Hurray!   

 

Here are the parts that come in the update kit.  There is a new cabinet section with the board already mounted.  The shinny box to the right is the motor control unit.  There is a com cable, a bag of hardware,  a drill bit and hole cutting tool, and installation instructions.

 

Here is the motor control unit mounted in the head control box.  Some of the other "guts" had to come out.  I wonder what else is not needed?

We've been using the Accuset 2 for around 3 weeks now and love it.  It's overall performance is much improved.  While I didn't have a complaint about the accuracy of the old Accuset,  the new one seems to be even more accurate.

While it was to be the same as the latest Accuset,  there are a couple of changes.  One,  the auto bump up is gone.  We didn't use it anyway.  And there is a new rounding feature.  In manual mode, you run the head to say 13-1/4" and then push the "down" arrow and the head will drop to 13" on the money.  If the head is at 13-3/4" and you push the down arrow,  the head will rise to 14".

There is also another major design feature change.  The Accuset 2 has a slot for a memory card.  So the next time there is a major program change from Wood-Mizer,  they will send you a memory chip (like something a digital camera uses) and you will insert it in to the panel and it will read the new code and replace the old code.  No more sending out a new panel and sending back the old panel.

The installation took me most of the day.  But I was working with half a brain.  Mary was off working a horse and mule auction.  The instructions are very detailed but cover off both the LT40 and LT70 lines,  and both walk along and Command Control and a couple of model vintages.  Also,  our mill has been modified a couple of times so things just ain't where they use to be.

But,  above all the confusion,  the directions were right.   I suspect I could do another install  in probably an hour.  One of the main time consuming tasks is to run the com cable up through the cable track. 

 

Sparks gave a seminar on the Accuset 2 at the 25'th Anniversary party in Indy last Saturday.   

If you have any questions about availability of the update kit or on new product, you need to contact him.

[Dan_Shade]

I don't have accuset so bear with me...

Isn't the bump up so that it makes it easyto use the drag back?  i know from using my setworks, i've gotten a little carried away sometimes and raised the head too high and ended up knocking the blade off.  I thought the bump up would fix that.

[Bibbyman]

Yes,  the bump-up was to raise the head some programmed amount at the end of the cut.  The sawyer would just "bump" the up lever to activate the action.  I think the amount was whatever was programmed under the #1 AutoUp/Down button.

For some reason most users didn't like it.  We didn't use it.

[Dan_Shade]

could that feature be turned on and off?  I'm surprised people didn't like it.  it stinks when you go up too high and hit the blade on the board.

[Bibbyman]

You know,  I seldom ever have that problem.  I just adjusted the dragback to where it's lower than the blade.  That way it'll always hit before the blade.  The only time it fails is when I don't go far enough forward for the dragback to fall off the edge of the board.  But I watch for that to see if and when it does.

[Dan_Shade]

Bibby, you just made me realize i'm a dolt (again).

I'll adjust my dragback as soon as I get a chance to make it hang lower than the blade.

[ronwood]

Bibbyman,

Under what situations would you use the rounding function?

Ron

[Tom Sawyer]

I use the bump up fairly regular.  For example, if I am cutting 6/4 in pattern mode and I am making the first cut on the third or fourth side and the slab would be thicker than I wanted to make it, I simply bump it up 4/4 to get an extra board.  Then I can switch back to pattern for 6/4.  I would miss it if I didn't have it.  The other upgrades sound pretty good though.

Tom

[Bibbyman]

Bibbyman,

Under what situations would you use the rounding function?

Ron

I hadn't thought about it but now that I have it available,  I use it. 

Sometimes I use it to make a cant a certain width.  I could program a Pattern but say I've just got a couple of boards to make,  I can put a flat on one side of the cant,  flip it 180.  Go about to my target board width and round.  Then I can use AutoUp to measure up how many boards are left on the sides,  then switch to AutoDown and saw them off – turning the cant as required.  Eventually,  I'll get down to exactly the target cant width.  It's easier done than written. 

I use the bump up fairly regular. For example, if I am cutting 6/4 in pattern mode and I am making the first cut on the third or fourth side and the slab would be thicker than I wanted to make it, I simply bump it up 4/4 to get an extra board. Then I can switch back to pattern for 6/4. I would miss it if I didn't have it. The other upgrades sound pretty good though.

Tom

The "bump up" we're talking about is different than the "AutoUP" function.  The bump up worked in Pattern mode under buttons 1,5,9,13.   It was used when you cut out the end,  you just hit the up lever and the head would go up some pre-specified amount - usually it was whatever AutoUP program 1 was set to.  So if it was set to 1/2",  then it would bump up 1/2". 

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks for clearing that up Bibby.  I guess I should read the manual again :

Tom

[Bibbyman]

I found/remembered another good use of the rounding feature in the Accuset 2. 

We have an edger but sometimes we find it easier to edge on the mill.  So this morning we were edging long 2x6s (full 6" width).  So we sawed the cant down to the 6" width - taking flitches off each side and sliding them onto the loading arms.  Then with the cant laid flat we would place a flitch against the cant and edge off one edge.  Then we'd flip the flitch and cut it down to 6" wide.  Well,  I would run the blade down to about 6" and then hit the rounding arrow down.  Zip,  I was at 6".     No more fishing!

[customsawyer]

Are you saying that the bump up that is used in the pattern mode under the #1 program still works or it doesn't. You might have to excuse me as I have taken some cold meds. and things are a little fuzy.

[Bibbyman]

Are you saying that the bump up that is used in the pattern mode under the #1 program still works or it doesn't. You might have to excuse me as I have taken some cold meds. and things are a little fuzy.

They took it out of the Accuset 2...

[customsawyer]

I use that bump up mode just about all the time as it lets me just bump the leaver and then my hand is free to do other things. It doesn't sound like all that much time but I have learned the hard way that those couple of seconds add up to many bf by the end of the day. So you guys that don't use this feature do you just hold the leaver for the few extra seconds till it goes up to the height that you need?

[Bibbyman]

I don't think it ever takes a second to raise the head enough to drag back a board.  That's what the auto bump up I'm talking about did.

The new Accuset 2 still has the "go to function" where you have sets made so one you go to the "go to" function, hit the up/down lever and it goes to that height.  (If it's above, it'll go down,  if below, it'll go up).

[Sunfield Hardwood]

On my accuset I never use the auto bump up, in fact I found it annoying when I happend to be in the first slot? that it raised higher than needed, I bump the up lever no more than would be needed with auto bump up and the blade clears for the drag back perfectly. Before going to Sparks seminar in Indy I would have said I have had very little trouble with my accuset but then I remembered I've been have a little trouble with thick and thin settings, I just blamed tension in the logs, and that probably was the majority of it, but now I realize some it may have been inaccurate set from the setworks. :-\

[BBTom]

Bibby, 

Now that the "bump-up" is eliminated, I am guessing that you can raise the head as high as you want at the end of a cut.  Can you "reset" the pattern with a quick down-up of the handle, like the old 3.05 software?  Or do you have to hit the manual button, then the pattern button, as in 4.0 software?

I suppose I can learn how long to hold the handle, but I wish that bump up was a selectable item, and I feel the amount of bump-up should be set much like the kerf. I don't care what pattern I am on, I want the same amount of bump-up. 

Did they perchance put any memory on auto-down, so you can cut grade from the outside of the log, and throw away the junk with the cant?

I know, I have lots of ideas about how it should work, but I do love my accuset, at least I love my 3.05 accuset.  didn't care much for the button pushing nightmare that was 4.0 .

[Bibbyman]

Bibby, 

Now that the "bump-up" is eliminated, I am guessing that you can raise the head as high as you want at the end of a cut.  Can you "reset" the pattern with a quick down-up of the handle, like the old 3.05 software?  Or do you have to hit the manual button, then the pattern button, as in 4.0 software?

I suppose I can learn how long to hold the handle, but I wish that bump up was a selectable item, and I feel the amount of bump-up should be set much like the kerf. I don't care what pattern I am on, I want the same amount of bump-up. 

Did they perchance put any memory on auto-down, so you can cut grade from the outside of the log, and throw away the junk with the cant?

I know, I have lots of ideas about how it should work, but I do love my accuset, at least I love my 3.05 accuset.  didn't care much for the button pushing nightmare that was 4.0 .

I'm pretty sure it's like the latest 4.?? of the old Accuset - except for a few things I've mentioned like the rounding and elimination of the "bump up".

I'd say if you like what you got now and it's working for you,  stay with it.

[Furby]

Couldn't WM add the bump up feature using the memory card slot for those that want it?

[Bibbyman]

Couldn't WM add the bump up feature using the memory card slot for those that want it?

Sparks would have to answer this question.

The bump up feature was only on the newer versions and then only on Pattern Mode sets 1,5,9,13.  Most people found it to be confusing and or annoying and didn't use those pattern sets for that reason. 

Confusing as it was only under 4 of the 16 pattern sets so sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.  Also confusing as when and if you changed the magic AutoUp setting that specified the bump up value, then the bump up changed.  I think maybe one version made the bump up the last AutoUp you did or something like that. So the bump up value would change from time to time. (We've tested ever version that was issued and tested some in between so it's hard to remember what every version did.)

Annoying as a sawyer may want to saw a cant "thru and thru" and leave the stack on the deck until done. When using the bump up,  you'd have to hit the lever to bump up,  then hit it again to keep rising to clear the top of the cant to return. At least it worked like that on one version we tried.

[customsawyer]

I have only used the one version of accuset that came with my mill and it had the bump up feature that I used all the time. I had all my programs set in 1,5,9,13 to leave a cant on the mill as in a cross tie or such but if it was to be sawn through and through I would have it in another of the programs but I did use the bump up feature 95% of the time.

[Bibbyman]

I have only used the one version of accuset that came with my mill and it had the bump up feature that I used all the time. I had all my programs set in 1,5,9,13 to leave a cant on the mill as in a cross tie or such but if it was to be sawn through and through I would have it in another of the programs but I did use the bump up feature 95% of the time.

Again,  if you got it the way you want it, you don't have to upgrade to Accuset 2.

I think Sparks said they were sending out a letter to all owners of the Accuset option that will explain it all.

[DR Buck]

I found/remembered another good use of the rounding feature in the Accuset 2. 

We have an edger but sometimes we find it easier to edge on the mill.  So this morning we were edging long 2x6s (full 6" width).  So we sawed the cant down to the 6" width - taking flitches off each side and sliding them onto the loading arms.  Then with the cant laid flat we would place a flitch against the cant and edge off one edge.  Then we'd flip the flitch and cut it down to 6" wide.  Well,  I would run the blade down to about 6" and then hit the rounding arrow down.  Zip,  I was at 6".     No more fishing!

I do all my edging on the mill.   For 6" cuts, which I do a lot, I just program one of the 16 pre-sets to 6".  ;D

[DR Buck]

I would have said I have had very little trouble with my accuset but then I remembered I've been have a little trouble with thick and thin settings, I just blamed tension in the logs, and that probably was the majority of it, but now I
realize some it may have been inaccurate set from the setworks. 

If I have an accuracy problem, I've always considered it related to tension in the wood.  I never had a thought that Accuset may be the problem.  :    The only real issue I've had repeatedly is my Accuset goes "stupid" at times.   It just kind of freezes up randomly and I have to reboot it by shutting down the mill and restarting.  Since I don't saw full time and it only happens once every hour or so when I do saw, I've just been dealing with it.  I thought it was a "feature" of Accuset.  ;D ;D 

[JD350Cmark]

I'm with Dr.Buck - I find glitches that occur every once in awhile and not enough to be able to pin point it or even describe it very well.  I too have had to shut down before.  I just thought it was me, after all how could the "computer" be wrong???