Fastest Way to Level a Woodland Mills Sawmill

Today I take some time to explain how I go about levelling my Woodland Mills HM130 sawmill. You may be in the same boat as I am in which I need to re-level my sawmill on occasion due to freeze and thawing during the winter/spring months. In this case the sawmill bed sometimes moves around and leads to wavy cuts in my lumber. To prevent this I use a relatively simple process to get the sawmill bed back into level. Although the goal is to make a sawmill bed that is perfectly level, I prefer that it is perfectly flat more than perfectly level. The mill bed can be slightly unlevel and still cut well if the bed is flat but if the mill bed is not flat, then it doesn't matter what you do, you'll likely get wavy and tapered cuts in your lumber. Many people out there will say that the mill bed has to be perfectly level to cut well and I have to disagree. Thousands of board feet later I can tell you that my mill has likely been slightly out of perfect level for alot of those board feet and since the mill bed is constantly flat, the cuts have been good. Hope that helps people and thanks for watching! As Red Green would say...."We're All in this Together".

[@dr5674]

Love your videos Sandy. Keep up the good work my northern friend! Same frost problems here in New Hampshire.

[@sawingwithsandy]

D R yeah that time of year again eh. New Hamshire is a beautiful spot. Love the Mount Washington area. Thanks for watching

[@SM-bu9bz]

Thanks Sandy, I'm new to milling and I've been cutting 4x4s for a deck project, I'm about to start on boards and realized the boards come out wavy. I'm in the northeast of the US a d just came out of winter so it all makes sense now. Love your vids keep em coming and thank you.

[@mountainviewcattle]

Congratulations on the 1K subscribers Sandy. Happy to see your great channel growing so well.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Mountainview Ranch thanks no appreciate you watching from the very beginning. Hard to believe it’s been almost 11 months of the channel

[@jaredcrandall578]

Hey man great video. When you use the string method for this though, which I typically do, you need to take into consideration the 1/8 inch that the stainless bunk covers add to the middle bunks that are not on the ends. Easy, just adjust your offset measurement by that much. I also found it helpful to cut a notch in the spacing boards for the line to set into. I only cut the notch partially into the blocks so the string on the other end still came out level, but it holds the string in, and helps to hold the block down rather than pulling it when you tighten the string.

[@ryanheffernan4527]

Congrats on 1000 subscribers, the channel has come a long way!

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks! Foot to the rug!

[@richardjette5768]

congratulations on 1000 subscribers keep up the great videos , also from New Hampshire

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks Appreciate it!

[@davidwhalen2924]

Hello Sandy, I am so glad to have found this particular video of yours concerning the levelling of a portable bandsaw sawmill. So many folks seem to have issues with getting their sawbed dead on "flat". Your method makes perfect sense to me. Not sure how you came up with this but it sure is helpful. Thanks a bunch for making this particular video. Of course, I am a subscriber and enjoy all of those that you have produced to date.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Glad to hear that David and I appreciate good folks around the channel such as yourself

[@Guyontables]

just beginning haven't got a mill yet but, your videos will be very helpful, eliminating a lot early mistakes. I'm from the USA but my heritage is from the 1630's at Château-Richer. Thanks, Mike

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks for watching Mike. You’ll love the mill once you get to that point.

[@mindenhillshomesteadyukefa8091]

Great way. This saved m butt yesterday I first placed my head on the track I was having contact issues with one wheel. Sting & a level. Has helped. Few more fine adjustments but I know what you mean by flat & level. Jay

[@sawingwithsandy]

Good to hear it helped ya out. Thanks for checking out the video Jay.

[@heyyoubuddy6749]

Good morning Sandy hey thank you very much for showing us how to level out the bed it’s funny I’m trying to make any excuse and rationalize getting my Saul Mill early cause I want it so doggone bad anyway thanks for being there and thanks for sharing what you know and what ya do

[@sawingwithsandy]

Anytime. Glad you’re liking the videos. Sorry about the pressure to buy the mill. 😀

[@heyyoubuddy6749]

Sawing with Sandy Oh buddy it’s not your fault it’s just my intense desire to be out in the woods doing things I love I’m stuck here in the city and want to escape

[@damonholtman9134]

Thanks for the great info!

[@scottcunningham7543]

Thanks for the Good tip. Just started sawing out here in Edmonton. Alberta.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Glad I could help. Hope things are off to a good start for ya

[@arkansasrob9745]

enjoy the video,been hunting so just now seen the post.

[@Twindadx2_]

Great tip! Thanks

[@sawingwithsandy]

Thanks for checking out the video

[@allenchancery2304]

Like the pup too

[@sawingwithsandy]

Koda is a great dog.

[@hanktothehendrix]

Nice tip with the string and tape measure, I'lll be trying that tonight. You mentioned lowering the bunks (I think that's what they are called) but do you ever need to raise them? If so do you use a bottle jack to do that? I assume the weight of the saw head on the track would make it impossible to adjust by hand.

[@off-gridhillbillystyle3735]

Thanks buddy we just got ours in the mail. I'll be doing some videos also. So maybe if I have a problem I can send it to you. What do you use for blade lubricant?

[@sawingwithsandy]

Yeah sure sounds good. I use plain water for mine

[@mattkelso2119]

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll try this method. I just got my mill, and the head runs like garbage on the track, with tons of resistance. According to my level, everything should be good, but something clearly isn't.

[@sawingwithsandy]

You could try loosing the bolts off and realigning the track as you go from one end to the other

[@mattkelso2119]

@@sawingwithsandy Thank you for your reply. Part of the problem was the frame for the head was out of alignment with the track. The other part is that the cables used to clear the sawdust from the wheels were too long. Now I'm finally making sawdust!

[@kellybartok50]

Hello , I bought a laser level it has many uses but I don’t know what for , I just bought it because a friend was retiring from the wood shop business so I got a good price on it , but one of those scope layers the ones with the stand and comes in a black case how can that be used to level a portable sawmill ?

[@arkansasrob9745]

lots of small trees there,here in Arkansas we've got some massive oak trees.would love to go to Canada some day.what part of Canada are you in.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Rob.gov G.money I’m in Central Ontario to the east of Georgian Bay off Lake Huron

[@shawntyers9647]

Hi Sandy New Woodlands 126 owner! Bunks and bed are balls on level but can't get the blade level no matter how much I adjust . Any printers?

[@justinrobertson1590]

Good video? Question though? Why can’t I just run a string line along the bed rails without the block of wood and then adjust accordingly? Thanks for the tip!

[@sawingwithsandy]

If I just run the string line along the rails then I have no way to tell when the middle rails are in line with the end rails as I can’t measure the small distance. Sometimes of the strong rests right on the top of the rails the bed could actually be arched

[@justinrobertson1590]

Sawing with Sandy I understand. However, in my case, my middle rails were actually quite a bit lower than the end rails. I adjusted them and it’s better now. I’ll try your method but the string wasn’t tight and dropped. I’ll try again. Thanks for responding

[@peterlanges3944]

Sandy, I have excellent results using a rotary laser level and a stick with a initial level mark made on it, ( kind of like a laser transit.) I have not seen any videos of someone using this method, any thoughts as to why this is? The only drawback I can see is needing to have a second person manually turning the rotating laser head to stop on the measuring stick unless you do this at night when the laser in auto rotating mode could easily be seen. Thanks!

[@sawingwithsandy]

Hi Peter, I don't see why that method wouldn't work well. I think if I had a rotary laser I"d start doing just that.

[@peterlanges3944]

@@sawingwithsandy Thanks!

[@lambda4931]

Line Laser level would be a good tool for this.

[@sawingwithsandy]

that’s for sure

[@trevapatterson3355]

Hi Sandy, My Dad and I are trying to level his saw mill and the issue we’re running into when we try level the bed is when we put the really long level down and it goes across three of the cross bars on the bed, there’s a bit of a rock in the level. We’ve tried to use the screws to adjust the height of the cross bars but we don’t seem to be getting much change, this might sound a bit ridiculous but this is what seems to be happening to us, we’re screwing them up and down quite a lot (we think so anyway). When we put the level on the rails all along the 24ft track the rails seem to be level.We’re in Deer Park, WA and my Dad got the sawmill 6 months ago and cut some timber and they all came out tapered. Any advice on what we may be doing wrong? We want to make a bench for the fire pit! :) Cheers

[@sawingwithsandy]

Sounds like one of the bunks is slightly higher than the others. Consider measuring the height of the bunks just to make sure they are in fact all the same height. If they are then I'd start levelling the sawmill bed starting at one end and moving to the other by adjusting the feet. Hope that helps somewhat. Thanks for watching.

[@trevapatterson3355]

Hi again, I hope you don’t mind... we actually just finished measuring them all and they are not all the same size, there’s about a 1/16 of an inch of differential, is this normal?

[@derickdandy275]

Do you have a video like this for your new mill on the trailer?

[@sawingwithsandy]

I’ve got a playlist of number sawmill that you could check out. Lots of good stuff in there if that helps

[@MrMrblackcreek]

Did you add some sort of top to your bunks? Looks like maybe aluminum on the tops but not on the one under the saw.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Hey Matthew, my HM130 came with stainless steel pieces on the tops of my bunks from the factory

[@MrMrblackcreek]

@@sawingwithsandy I got the 126. Just noticed my bunks have bolt holes but didnt come with them

[@josephgrant9137]

Mono fishing line would be better. How many acres do you have? Thanks Der Guy.

[@sawingwithsandy]

This red pine stand is about 15acres give or take

[@josephgrant9137]

@@sawingwithsandy Cool. Great videos by the way.

[@mikegreer1760]

Hey Sandy...what kinda of dog is Koda?

[@sawingwithsandy]

Mike Greer small munsterlander

[@johnharkins2162]

Can u add extra string and string levels so u have 3 and not just one

[@sawingwithsandy]

Think that would work well

[@mattcampbell4135]

I have a problem I haven’t heard anyone address; my tracks are not flat. 3 of the 4 joints sag (HM130max with 16’ bed), however my log beds are flat and level. How do I solve this problem? The mill sits on a 8’x 20’ rig mat (6” thick) and the side with both joints sagging sits on the steel c channel on the edge of the mat.

[@sawingwithsandy]

Hey Matt. I used a clamp to span the gap between the sections of track and then I tightened the bolts down. This seemed to work quite well

[@mattcampbell4135]

@@sawingwithsandy thx I have to move the whole unit. I think I am going back to square one and square, plumb, & level everything up again. Hopefully I will fix the problem. If not, we will be talking lol.

[@georgeprice9882]

Little low at 3 inches and the bunk needs to be raised an 1/8

[@sawingwithsandy]

Probably right

[@wallacefrey6247]

Pardon me good sir, do you have any extra sawdust?

[@sawingwithsandy]

That is something I always have on hand

[@juliandeloach7182]

What's the fastest way to buy it

[@sawingwithsandy]

I’m not sure. I bought mine off their website

[@evergladescreations9641]

I think one of my rails is bent , it was like this from new :(

[@sawingwithsandy]

Sorry to hear about that. Did you just make a post on Facebook as I just read someone else with the sane issue. Too bad to hear this

[@firewoodwarrior4396]

So the whole machine just rests on the adjustment nuts loosely?

[@sawingwithsandy]

There’s a nut on the top and bottom of the adjustment legs to sand which the bed rails securely. The adjustable legs are also secured to the wood platform underneath

[@firewoodwarrior4396]

@@sawingwithsandy Makes sense, thank you sir.

[@stevenwells6292]

Cut off a piece of your blocks you tied your line to and use it instead of you tape measure, much easier.