This project exists to provide replacement parts for the joystick on a Woodmizer LT40 sawmill. Bush Land Works broke a small plastic part inside of one the controls on their sawmill. Spare parts are not made available by the OEM and the cost of a full replacement was ~$1000. We reverse engineered the part, made modifications to optimize the part for 3d printing, and provided several spares more quickly and at a lower cost than a replacement joystick could be bought.

The files for this project can be found on GrabCAD.

The part is a bushing that forces the joystick back to center when it is released. It was temporarily replaced with a washer, but this caused significant drift and which allowed the sawmill head to move during the cut. We pulled the part out of the good joystick and I started by building a model of the part as provided by the OEM.

The part failed at the thin section between the upright cylinder and the base. This caused the spring to not hold even pressure because the spring grove was compromised. Because the exact length of the spring has little effect on the performance of the joystick, the spring grove was modified to allow for a thicker section and better performance for a printed part. With this thicker section the most likely place for the part to break is a separation of the upright cylinder with the base. This is an improvement because the part would likely remain functional in that case.