Wood-Mizer LX50SUPER portable sawmill review
26 inch logs, a 14 HP engine, and the honest question of whether you should just buy lumber.
A manually operated portable bandsaw mill that takes logs up to 26 inches in diameter and cuts boards up to 23-1/2 inches wide.
Check price on AmazonSpecifications
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Maximum log diameter | 26 inch |
| Width of cut | 23-1/2 inch |
| Depth of cut | 8 inch |
| Engine | 14 HP gasoline |
| Blades | Requires 132 inch sawmill blades, sold separately |
Specifications above come from Wood-Mizer's published specifications. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.
What it does well
- A bandsaw kerf is thin, so far more of every log becomes lumber than a chainsaw mill leaves you. Over a season that difference is the whole argument.
- 26 inch log capacity covers most of what falls in a yard or comes off a small woodlot, and 23-1/2 inches of cut width means genuinely wide boards.
- Wood-Mizer blade supply and service are the reason to buy this brand rather than a cheaper mill. Blades are consumables and you will need them for years.
- A gasoline engine means the mill works where the log is, with no power supply to arrange.
- The cut surface off a bandsaw mill is clean enough that many boards need only a light pass through a planer, which is where the board foot calculator starts telling a happy story.
Where it falls short
- Blades are not included and they are a running cost, not a one-off. Metal in a log, a nail from a fence line or a stone in the bark will finish a blade instantly.
- 8 inches of depth of cut is the real constraint on a mill this size, and it is what separates an entry mill from the next class up.
- It is manual. Every log is loaded, turned and clamped by you, and every pass is pushed by you. Milling a day's worth of logs on a manual mill is physical work, and people underestimate that more than they underestimate the price.
- Lumber is not a product until it is dried. Green boards need stickering, airflow and time, or in a kiln, and a mill with nowhere to stack the output produces a pile of firewood.
- A gasoline engine means exhaust. Mill outdoors, always, because carbon monoxide is odourless and it does not care that the barn door is open.
What owners report
Owners consistently report that the mill is the easy part and the logistics are the hard part. Getting logs to the mill, getting slabs off it, and finding covered space to sticker and dry lumber are the three things people say they underestimated. The mill itself gets described as straightforward and repairable, and Wood-Mizer's blade availability is cited over and over as the reason to stay in the brand.
The second theme is blades. Owners who inspect logs for metal before cutting, and who use a metal detector on anything that grew near a fence or a house, report normal blade life. Owners who do not report expensive lessons. Blade cost per board foot is the number that decides whether milling is cheaper than buying, so track it and run the yield through the board foot calculator before deciding the mill has paid for itself.
Safety on a sawmill is not optional and it is not obvious. A bandsaw blade under tension is dangerous even stopped; keep the guards fitted and keep your hands away from the blade path when clearing sawdust. Logs roll, and a log that rolls off a bed onto a foot ends the day. Wear eye protection, steel toes and hearing protection, because a 14 HP engine at arm's length is well past the level where damage accumulates silently and permanently. Read Wood-Mizer's manual before the first log, not after the first surprise. Our bandsaw mill versus chainsaw mill comparison covers the trade if you are still deciding.
Who it suits
- Anyone with a woodlot, a tree service contact or a steady supply of logs, plus space to dry lumber.
- Woodworkers who want wide boards and unusual species that a lumberyard does not stock.
- Small operations selling slabs and dimensional lumber locally, where a thin kerf is money.
Who should skip it
- People with one log and a project, who should rent time or use a chainsaw mill.
- Anyone with no covered space to sticker and dry boards, because green lumber is not lumber yet.
- Buyers who need to mill logs over 26 inches or cants deeper than 8 inches, who need a bigger mill.
Alternatives worth considering
Larger stated capacity for around $2,600 less. The trade is support and blade supply, which is exactly what people buy Wood-Mizer for, so weigh how easily you can get consumables and parts locally before choosing on capacity alone.
Check price on AmazonSimilar log capacity to the Wood-Mizer for roughly a third of the price, with a narrower board width. A reasonable way to find out whether you enjoy milling before committing to a mill you will keep for twenty years.
Check price on AmazonIf what you actually want is to turn boards into thinner boards rather than logs into boards, a resaw bandsaw is the tool and a sawmill is not. Half the money, and it lives indoors on a 110V or 220V circuit.
Check price on AmazonCommon questions
Is a portable sawmill actually cheaper than buying lumber?
It can be, and the calculation is more involved than people expect. Count blades, fuel, your own time, and the drying space you need. Then compare against what the same species and width costs at a hardwood dealer, using the board foot calculator to keep the units honest. The mill wins clearly on wide slabs and unusual species that are expensive or unavailable, and wins slowly on ordinary construction lumber.
Bandsaw mill or chainsaw mill: which should I buy?
A chainsaw mill costs a few hundred dollars, uses a saw you may already own, and wastes a lot of every log in a wide kerf while being slow and physically brutal. A bandsaw mill costs thousands, has a thin kerf, cuts faster and produces a better surface. One log a year, chainsaw mill. A steady supply, bandsaw mill. Our bandsaw mill versus chainsaw mill comparison goes through it in detail.
What blades does the LX50SUPER take and how long do they last?
It takes 132 inch sawmill blades, sold separately. Life depends almost entirely on what is inside the log. Clean, known timber gives predictable life; a nail, a fence staple or a stone gives you a dead blade in one pass. A metal detector pays for itself on the first yard tree you mill.
Do I need a kiln?
Not necessarily, but you do need a plan. Air drying works if you sticker boards with even spacing, keep them off the ground, weight the top of the stack and give it a year per inch of thickness as a rough guide. Without that, freshly milled boards cup, twist and check, and the milling was wasted effort.
What safety gear does sawmilling require?
Eye protection, hearing protection, steel-toed boots and close-fitting clothing. Hearing damage from a gasoline engine at arm's length is cumulative, silent and permanent, and it is the injury sawyers most often end up with. Keep guards fitted, never clear sawdust near a moving blade, and treat every log as something that wants to roll. Read the manufacturer's manual before the first cut.
Keep reading
- Bandsaw mill vs chainsaw mill compared
- Wood vs metal bandsaw compared
- Board foot calculator
- Material weight calculator
- Grizzly G0555XH resaw bandsaw review
- Grizzly G0454Z 20 in planer review
- Powermatic PJ-882HH jointer review
This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.