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Norwood LumberLite 24 Band Sawmill with 8 HP Briggs & Stratton Engine | 
 enlarge | Brand: Norwood
Category: Home Improvement
Buy New: $3,199.99
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 226700
Media: Misc.
ASIN: B000N4ZZSK
Availability: Usually ships in 6-10 business days
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| Features:
| • | Handles logs up to 24in. diameter and 12 ft. long | | • | Cuts lumber up to 17in.W with accuracy up to 1/16in. | | • | Produces up to 1300 board-feet of 1in. x 12in. lumber per day | | • | Patented laminated sawhead for strength and easy assembly | | • | Carriage moves smoothly without cranking |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Save money by converting your own logs to lumber with this compact hobbyist band sawmill. Cut boards and beams 17in. wide or veneer as thin as 1/16in. Handles logs 24in. wide and 12 feet long. Cut lumber whenever you want to any dimensions. Great for woodworkers, carpenters, furniture makers and more. HP: 8, Start Type: Recoil, Engine: Briggs & Stratton, Handles up to (in.): 24 W and 12ft. L, Application: Woodworkers, carpenters, Dimensions L x W x H (in.): 144 x 72 x 64
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| Customer Reviews:
Awesome mill, some minor issues... May 28, 2008
Chris
I've owned and operated this mill for about two weeks now. First of all, you should know that it took me about 16 hours to put this thing together from the millions of nuts and bolts and screws - about 8.5 hours for the mill head and about 7+ hours to get the track/wood system together and aligned and about a half hour to get everything primed/fueled/lubed and ready to run. The assembly instructions are not that great as you start to put it together and then they say 'assemble this part' which is not in the box you are working in and you have to dig through all 13 boxes to find the part. You may as well just open all the boxes, dump all the parts in a pile and start from there. I also had one part welded wrong so the holes didn't line up and had to drill a 3/8 inch hole in a metal bracket (bummer). You also need to buy some lumber to set up the track assembly or have a slab of cement outside in a vented location to avoid fumes from the engine. I spent about $80 on eight 16 foot two by sixes. Nonetheless, once the mill is together it works great! I'll probably mill more lumber than I ever need in the first year. The only bummer is that the blade only lasts about five hours of cutting and then you have to resharpen or get a new blade. The operators/owners manual says you should go through five blades in eight hours to get the best cuts, but with clean logs the blades will last much longer. Norwood sells boxes of 10 blades but Wood mizer sells 15 blades for the same price - three hundred bucks. I can't find single blades for sale anywhere so plan on spending an additional $300 right after the first day or two of sawing. I feel they should send you at least two blades with a new saw, perhaps three. I tried sharpening with a dremmel and round stone and that worked well, check the internet for the proper technique. The 8 hp engine starts on the first pull every time. Overall this is a great little mill, with minor frustrations at first with the setup time and after the first couple days with a dulling blade. But this is the cheapest bandsaw mill on the market and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Also, they say it's a portable mill but it's not really that portable since the mill head weighs much more than one person can lift and the track assembly, once mounted on two by six boards is a permanent structure. I plan on getting longer steel beams from the scrap yard as a more stable, longer, permanent structure now that I have a feel for how the track system works. One more thing, the mill seems to 'wobble' back and forth a little when cutting hardwood or wider logs. It seems to me that there is some truth to having a four post head to stabilize the system (like other mills on the market). I'm a welder and plan on welding up some improvements to this mill, the first of which will be some square tubing that replaces the water tank tray and has legs that extend down to each 'foot' that rides on the track to stabilize the mill head. I'm not sure why they didn't add this right from the manufacturer, it would greatly improve the cuts. Also, it would be nice to have an automatic switch that is attached to the throttle that turns the water flow on and off so you don't have to mess with a valve every cut and getting the flow just right. Lots of issues, lots of potential improvements, but still a great deal on a small mill. Keep in mind that these mills retain nearly all of their value and many people sell the mills for more than they bought them for after years of use!
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