After Timber
framing for about one year I began to realize, square and accurately dimensioned
timbers are needed to get the quality I strive for. Milling my own material was
the only way to obtain such high standards; I then started to research saw
mills. Up to this time, all of the timbers that I had cut were the product of a
band saw mill. Experience has taught me that lumps and bumps common to band milling
make the learning curve for a timber framer slow, and unnecessarily complicated,
it also limits the accuracy of the joinery.
In time I came into contact with the Lucas mill, after talking with my friend and mentor Jay Whitecloud I found out that he had owned one of these mills, and was happy with it. However, as it turns out Lucas stole this design from Karl Peterson, the man who invented the “swing blade circular saw mill”. This ended with a law suit that Karl Eventually won. Lucas Was A rep for Peterson Portable sawmills, and managed to get Karl’s design on the market before Peterson was able to. After the settlement, Lucas was not able to copy the design that closely, resulting in a vastly inferior mill. It wasn’t built very well, and many of Karl’s innovative features are not incorporated into the mill. My mentor decided to get rid of his mill, and has not been able to replace it. He did however, suggested that I should look into Peterson before I settled for the Lucas mill I cant tell you how glad I am for taking his advice!
This mill is the best portable mill available and the people that produce it are wonderful they are there to help you every step of the way and amazingly, they listen to us, their customers, and make improvements based on our needs. I can’t say enough good about them or their product. As a matter of fact I would not even consider owning a deferent mill. If you are Ever Thinking about owning a mill, save your self the time and check out Peterson portable sawmills first.
