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Lap siding/cedar shake & debarker options for a new mill

Started by MbfVA, May 18, 2017, 05:45:46 PM

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MbfVA

Trying to spec out a new mill and I wonder if I could get comments about whether not the Norwood (or other brands) lap siding maker is a good option. We have not decided whether we're going to put beveled or non-beveled siding on our new house, but I'm thinking if I do any sawing for anyone else it might be a good option to have.  And in the case of Norwood, they have a 15% off sale on accessories  bought with the mill.

My recollection from my demo of the LT40 was that the $2500 Resaw attachment is required for doing bevel siding  on a wood miser (My voice recognition never gets the name spelled correctly, sorry).  The demo owner implied that he didn't use it very often.   It's only a $567 option on the Norwood HD 36, much more interesting to me.

Norwood's  New debarker option is outrageously overpriced at $3000. WM  just knocked off 25% on theirs.  Other than blade life, is there any advantage to a debarker?   I read in another post on this forum about debarkers throwing things in unexpected directions, too.

The 🛒  continues.
www.ordinary.com (really)

DOVEMAN

You tube samari Carpenters review of the Norwood mill. You may find it interesting. Guys on these forums don't use a lap siding jig for the most part, they use spacers and adjust the cut saving lots of cash and it seems to work well for them.

Mt406

A debarker is kinda a must it will save your blades.  as for throwing stuff. mine has been sited in on my nose. there's nothing like  getting hit  on a cold winter morning :( :o   

Chuck White

Usually, when I'm running my debarker, I walk with the mast between myself and the debarker, just behind the sawdust chute!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

MartyParsons

Hello,
   The SLR attachment will do both the Lap siding ( beveled siding)  and Shingles.    There is also a RS2 Resaw attachment that can also do beveled siding and Shingles with an optional shingle belt.

Marty
"A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." -Winston Churchill

GAB

Quote from: MartyParsons on May 23, 2017, 07:48:49 AM
Hello,
   The SLR attachment will do both the Lap siding ( beveled siding)  and Shingles.    There is also a RS2 Resaw attachment that can also do beveled siding and Shingles with an optional shingle belt.

Marty

Could you post a picture of the optional shingle belt.
Gerald
W-M LT40HDD34, SLR, JD 420, JD 950w/loader and Woods backhoe, V3507 Fransguard winch, Cordwood Saw, 18' flat bed trailer, and other toys.

MbfVA

I saw (no puns now) the Samauri (sp?) carpenter series.  Certainly some things can be changed on any mill one points to.  The nice thing is that with the exception of his structural complaints, most of them are easy fixes.  NW rep told me they sent him SS substitutions for the hex nuts and a couple of other things after he bought his mill but he did not install them.

It struck me odd that his vitriolic eval was based on something like 50 hrs use in 2 years.  Manual mill not hydraulic.  Definitely not ignored by me, but it will not be my only source.  Maybe its fallout will help me get a better deal.

Price difference v WM is rather substantial, especially with the across the board discounts on NW right now.  WM screws around with first discount this mill then that one, not that one, etc, etc.  Marketing. 

I like NW's flat 15% discount on all accessories bought w the mill.  Like all the mfrs, NW has some overpriced accessories for sure.  If we buy NW we'll likely go manual on the head and feed, but hydraulic on the other stuff.  Get a 2nd log chain turner, too, an experiment of sorts, not in the build book.  Some added small log dogging stuff, too, from the manual mill selections given our fair sized inventory of 12-20 inch trees (old but small).

My demo NW mill was manual, and frankly I really liked pushing the head myself, feeling my way through.  I also liked no sawdust in my face as with the LT40 demo.  I know those of you who mill for a living are harrumphing at that, but do take pity, I'm old but new.

Thanks for the thoughts on debarking and the lap siding maker.  Probably going to skip both for now and make sure logs are not muddy.  Other posters in an old thread gave detailed instructions on home brew lap siding jigs, definitely looks like a way to save money in our situation.

We're also looking at swing blade now, too.  Peterson v Lucas v Turbosawmill.  Starting to border on exhausting.  Our wooded 175 acres awaits, sort of (I detect growing impatience), and the open land grass has not stopped its march while I dither on this, either.

We have lots of white & red oak, thinking quarter sawn flooring like my first home in Richmond had.  Swing mills are reputed to do a good job with QS.

Log track/dogging v stability aspect of swing mills bugs me a bit, but I've had advice in another thread that makes me fell better, and I might use aspects of the NW manual log dogging tools to work out something good.

One wild idea--downgrade my band mill aspiration a step or two, and get a swing blade mill as well.  Get some track extensions and put the swing blade mill at one end, the band head at the other.  Not sure I can work out the portability promise of the swing mill.  Don't tell my wife about ANY of that....

It is raining so hard right now (central VA) that I can barely hear the radio over the pattering on the skylights.  Hay, hay hay we got it.  Way way way too much, and it sells pitifully around here, esp rounds that I once did myself (squares before that).
www.ordinary.com (really)

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