# Mill manufacturer customer service



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

As some of you know I run a little http://www.taschmid.com/. If you have seen any of my milling adventures here you know I, well am rough on it :blush: I still keep in touch with the original owner Thomas Schmid (he emails to check on me or whatever), good dude. His mill was everything he said it was and more and served me very well for several years now. We got to talking recently and he sent me a picture of the 2010 "Maximizer"...don't know if he thinks I need to upgrade or what :laughing:. If I _was_ going to upgrade it would be with the same company. 

This is not intended to be a shameless plug, just sharing my experience and wanting to talk sawmills...who knows maybe Texas Timbers will float an old buddy a loan to get the new pretty one :stuart:.


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Shucks. When I saw the picture at first I thought you were gonna say he sent you his newest prototype to get your feedback before he wnet into full production. Maybe put a bug in his about it. :shifty:

I don't know the guy personally but I've checked out his website and seen dozens of reviews by users elsewhere on forums etc. and I have to admit I've never seen anything except rave reviews for his mills. They are well made you can tell that just from checking out his website. 

As far as a loan, I got to get my family back and I can't even afford Ninja lessons dude. 









:lol: :lol: :lol: 

I never give the street corner panhandlers money but I believe I'd have to fork over $4 to the guy just on originality. :laughing:


----------



## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

Your sig has me laughing. I would also have to give him some money just for originality!


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

:laughing:... karate lessons :lol:


----------



## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

Daren said:


> :laughing:... karate lessons :lol:


For sure! Then you can get those monster logs split down to a manageable size. Haaaeeeyyyahhh!:laughing::laughing:


----------



## jwoods (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, was referred by a friend. I too have a TA Schmid mill and gotta say that they're excellent.

Daren, the new maximizer looks great, from what I hear the carriage has an independent raise/lower on one side to cut siding/shingles. As Tom says, it will fit on your old track!!

Here's an example of what you can build with one.

Joe


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

jwoods said:


> Daren, the new maximizer looks great, from what I hear the carriage has an independent raise/lower on one side to cut siding/shingles.


Hi Joe. I run the "Economizer", I had them upgrade to a 13 HP Honda. I see even the entry level mill like mine has the bevel cut head option now for siding.

Nice building you have there.

I'll tell my story (I have never told it here) I bought my mill to use on a house I was building. I had to remove several large white pines for the building and lane. It was a barn with a gambrel roof and a 10' loft. I was going to panel the inside with knotty white pine. I had called around and looked at having the work done by another sawyer with a portable bandmill...they all made it sound fun. And since I was already self employed I decided to just buy a mill-use it for that one job-then sell it...

Well like I said I was self employed, I ran a plumbing/welding shop. I was a licensed plumber by trade. I had my mill delivered here, Tom brought it himself, and set it up in town since I am zoned commercial.

Then it happened. I got bit by the sawdust bug. I milled those pines, that was OK. But I had to remove a few other trees too for the home site, honeylocust-birch-walnut-mulberry...I fell in love with milling. There would be days running the plumbing shop I would get a call to change a water heater for 1/2 the work and 2X the money. The same day I would get a call to mill some logs (like I said for 1/2 the money and 2X the work)...I picked those logs every time, I'm a sicko. 

So I closed the plumbing shop in 2004 and dove headlong into the sawmill world...I wish I had done it 10 years earlier.


----------



## RLHERRON (May 15, 2008)

Daren / jwoods Could you educate me? The reason I'm asking this question is that I have not put siding on my 700 sq. ft. shop yet.

What exactly is "siding/shingles"? Is this economical? 

My shop is in the woods on a small lake, I wanted to make it look rustic or old. The main problem is that it has to be economical. I was looking at T-111 exterior panels. 

There is a man who did some work for me who has a portable mill. He offered to cut some of my pines for me. Would this be a good choice?

Any information in general on the subject would be appreciated.

Thanks
RLH :thumbsup:


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

RLH, 

They're talking about an attachment that Schmid makes that cuts shingles and siding. It's allows the cant to be tilted up and down on alternating cuts in order to cut the tapered profile that siding and shingles have. 

But you don't have to use tapered siding. I cut 5/8" thick ERC siding boards for our house and installed them as board ob board versus board and batten. I'll post some pics later. 

If you have Red Pine there In SC I hear it makes great siding. We don;t have it here but if we did I'd use it based on how many sawyers I read about that use it for that. But if you just drive around your area and ask old timers what they built their barns and houses with you'll find out in a hurry what your local species are that make great siding. Here in my immediate area it's white oak, walnut, ERC etc.

That's gonna be a nice shop btw!



.


----------



## jwoods (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi All,

My barn is board-and-batten, random pattern. I used Ash for the siding (located in NW Ohio) due to the poor market for ash trees.

From what I've read, and what Tom stated, the new TA Schmid mills tilt the sawing head, leaving the cants flat on the mill bed. 

RLHERRON, nice looking shop. You look pretty far down the road, I think one of the secrets to a good shingle job is the ability for the shingles to breathe on both sides, as TexasTimbers stated, you could use a thin sliced board for siding, or "board fashion" shingles.

I'll post some additional pics later on.

Joe


----------



## RLHERRON (May 15, 2008)

Thanks Joe & TT. I'm here to learn and appreciate the help. I'll be looking into what this guy with a mill has to offer and suggestions on wood species available around here.

The outside of the building has been sitting for 10 months like that. Got so excited working inside forgot about the outside. Once I could keep the rain off my head I went to work inside. 
Only problem is those bird nests everywhere.:laughing: gues I could get a cat or two. :yes:

Again thanks.

RLH :thumbsup:


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I used this on my garage and shop*

http://www.buffalo-lumber.com/channel-rustic-siding.htm
I used the diagonal roof line and all the boards have either a 30 degree or 60 degree cut when the intersect a horizontal or vertical. You can do a herringbone pattern in the gable which looks really cool. Just another idea.....:thumbsup: bill


----------



## jwoods (Mar 8, 2010)

I guess I've only got one close-up of the siding.


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

These pictures were taken before we finished it too, but maybe they are closeup enough to get an idea if you like the look. I can take some more pictures if you want a better look. 











The wooden flashing that the blue line points to is a single piece cut from a 25' log.









Might not be as pretty as store bought but all it cost was the milling time, a little diesel, and the stain. Logs were free. We like it.


I can mill a little better than I can draw but this is the profile I used for the flashing.. I guess I can post a pictorial of that too I know I took pictures . . . . . . .


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

The sawmill is only supposed to be able to cut a 21' log and that's if you get it positioned perfectly. This log is 25' long but you know I never the the rules get in the way of getting the job done. 









The half round on the right is what would become the flashing. I needed to cut a couple of tapers on it first though.








Clamping this 25' long flimsy board solid enough to cut this taper on it was . . . not easy. It took about 30 minutes of rigging before I decided I would chance the cut. But even the big circular saw would not have done it so I had no choice. To show how i did that would be another post. 









I think the most important thing to remember when cutting the rabbet with the 10 1/4" circular saw, is to make sure you have a skilled craftswoman who can run the saw while you drink iced tea and snap pictures. :icon_cheesygrin:


----------



## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

TexasTimbers said:


> Might not be as pretty as store bought but all it cost was the milling time, a little diesel, and the stain. Logs were free. We like it.
> 
> 
> View attachment 13901


Surely you jest! That siding is fantastic! I don't know what stores you go to but they don't have anything that nice looking around here. That is really great looking. That's what a woodworkers siding should look like IMO. :thumbsup:


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Thanks for the compliment ACP, glad you liked it.


----------



## jwoods (Mar 8, 2010)

That's excellent...:thumbsup:


----------



## craftali (Mar 9, 2010)

My husband bought a taschmid mill back in 1996. We have sawed alot of lumber over the years for ourselves, friends, neighbors, and even sold quite a good amount. Everyone is surprised how smooth the lumber is right off the mill, cutting down on finish time. All these years of operation and very few break downs, none of which were major. We are very happy with this mill and would suggest to anyone looking to buy a sawmill in the future that they should check this one out.

Have a great day everyone!!
Alice Dana


----------



## Ack (Mar 13, 2009)

Has T.A. Schmid went out of business? 

I have been trying to do some homework on sawmills and can not access their website.

Thanks.

Ack


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

They might have. I will do some looking into this.


.


----------

