# EZ Boardwalk sawmill question



## Daren

Now that we have some guys here running them, and some soon to be running them I have a question. I have seen them around for a few years, seem to be sturdy little units...But I am puzzled by the sideways head/slanted carraige. 

In my mind I see this as not a good thing, explain to me why it is. The 2 down sides I see is a narrower cut width because the throat is not square with the cant. The bigger hangup I have is the "extra" blade in the wood, since it is on an angle. What I mean is if I am cutting a 12" board, 12" of blade is in the wood. On an angle to make a 12" board (don't know, just a stab here) 14" of blade is in the wood. To me that says more friction/heat= shorter band life and pull on the engine= robbed of horse power.

I know the website says this set up "pulls the saw through the wood" or some such thing, making sawing easier...Well having ran a little manual mill since 2004 pushing the head is the easiest part of milling...it's the log loading/flipping and lumber offloading that are work. I get to take a break (well you know what I mean, its easier than the other parts) when actually doing the cutting.

Just a question, not a knock of the mill, I may be missing something.


----------



## TexasTimbers

I didn't realize it was slanted until you brought it up. It's a pretty good innovation engineering wise on paper, but I think the actual "pulling" would be minimal or not enough to be measurable. Plus, if it does pull to any degree, it's not gonna pull it perfectly perpendicular to the log but at an angle, so it would tend to add a torsion or wracking to the frame, not that it would have enough force to actually damage the frame I doubt it would but who knows. 

And like you said having more blade than necessary in the wood, I think the trade off with more friction = more heat = less blade life - just not worth it. I'm not knocking it either just not very convinced it's anything more than a gimmick at best, and at worst might equate to more stress on the frame and shorter blade life. ???

The website says it can cut a 40" diameter log, but I couldn't find anything about the max distance between the guides. Not much info on the site.


----------



## Gerald

Daren, TT,
Yep, I looked into some of the claims etc. on the angled blade. 
What I found out is the blade is at a 15 degree angle from perpendicular to the log end. If you calculate it out thats only 3/8" extra blade in a 12 inch log. 
( formula I used: 12"/hyp=cos 15 degrees) Granted Thats 3/4" on a 24" log. 
I didn't really care one way or the other about the head pulling itself into the log. I did like the fact that the blade eased into the log slightly. Don't know if this is worth anything but I liked the idea.

I don't see any huge benefits in the angled head. The reason I picked this mill was for a few reasons.

I liked the materials used for it's construction.
The track is built out of 4" channel. Not formed channel:no: It is built with 5lb per foot structural channel. Comes standad with 15 ft. of track instead of 12 like most other mills. This was an area I was concerned about. I am not an experienced sawyer but my guess is the track and its components take some abuse.

The design is simple and I can get parts at any local harware etc.

Honda 13hp standard equipment

19 inch Band wheels

Very smooth and easy head raise and lower assembly

The manufacture told me it will cut a 30" log. (I purchased the JR model 30" max capacity) But They also told me that this mill HP is light for 30" log. They recommend if you are going to be sawing a lot over 22"-24" logs to upgrade to the next size mill.


After I get this mill and use it for awhile I may regret not purchasing a more well known mill. Only time will tell.....I'll keep you posted

Gerald


----------



## Daren

Gerald said:


> What I found out is the blade is at a 15 degree angle from perpendicular to the log end. If you calculate it out thats only 3/8" extra blade in a 12 inch log.
> ( formula I used: 12"/hyp=cos 15 degrees) Granted Thats 3/4" on a 24" log.
> 
> 
> Honda 13hp standard equipment
> 
> But They also told me that this mill HP is light for 30" log.


I would have thought there would be more extra blade in the log, but did not do the math.

I have a 13 hp Honda on my TA Schmid...absolutely tortured it for 6+ years milling very hard and wide lumber...still purrs like the first time I used it. I make 27" wide cuts on hickory/hard maple/ash...not like a knife through butter, but it does it just fine. Softer hardwoods like cherry/walnut/red oak don't even faze it. I don't really mill softwood other than cedar and an occasional custom job, 13 HP is plenty for that.

Could you go faster with a bigger engine, sure. Do you need to, probably not, not for what you plan on doing.


----------



## Gerald

I have heard nothing but good things about the 13hp Honda. One of the selling points for me on this mill. You can get a Honda on other mills but for extra$$. 

*I make 27" wide cuts on hickory/hard maple/ash...not like a knife through butter, but it does it just fine.*

They told me it would cut it ok but would be slow and if I was going to be cutting alot of 30 inchers I might think about a bigger mill. Could be they were being up front with me or maybe they wanted to try and sell me a bigger saw???


----------



## TexasTimbers

Gerald, those answers are good to hear. I wouldn't worry about the Honda engine. My first mill was manual with a Honda engine and it was great. I wouldn't use a gas engine on a production mill but for what we do they are fine. What I have is overkill for what I do with it - but I'm not complaining  

I bet you'll love it.


----------



## djg

Could it be that with the blade skewed to the log you're cutting less end grain than if you were perpendicular to the log? You'd be cutting slightly from the side, not much, but maybe enough to make a difference. It seems that with a CSM it cuts a litter better if I have the bar angled with respect to the log instead of perpendicular. It might be apples and oranges since the cutter is different in design or it could be all in my head.


----------



## Fil-Dill

Gerald, I am not sure you are the guy I talked to on the phone, but I would recommend that before you use the mill to write down the part # of the band wheel belts, as it is still visible. I will make it easier to pick up a new one at the parts store someday. Hope you enjoy it.


----------



## mdntrdr

When I skew my plane it cuts better.

Prolly not enough to make a difference in this case tho.


----------



## Fil-Dill

I will say one thing about the pulling affect. If you quick pushing the head, it stops.:laughing: I wish the carriage had a brake on it. During leveling and initial set up, I don't like the carriage rolling around. It does have a pin to stick thru it though. I always worry about the carriage rolling up to the log, while turning and off baring.


----------

