whatzit eh?

[Engineer]

Got a whatzit question for some of you old-timers, maybe.

The following pictures show what appears to be a round saw, almost like a giant hole saw, except that it is about 3' in diameter and appeared to be driven by a flat belt.  My first instinct was to call it some kind of cooper's saw, for barrel staves, but I've seen those in action and this ain't one.

Anyway, this was found on national forest land and is going to a museum.  The person who helped get it out of the woods runs a John Deere dealership near me, and asked me if I could help him and the forest folks identify its' use.

Any ideas?  There are apparently more parts to it which they either haven't yet gotten out of the woods, or they weren't convenient for photos yet.

One more item - the 'ring' part of the saw, with the teeth, is attached to the back by a large number of countersunk bolts, which they are having a very hard time removing.  I don't know why you would want to remove only the teeth, but it is apparently possible.

[jon12345]

It was used to cut doors for Hobbits  ???

[Mooseherder]

A porthole saw.

To see the Forest thru the Tree ;D

[VA-Sawyer]

Could it be used for cutting the notch in logs for building log cabins ?

[Buzz-sawyer]

I believe it was used to cut cooperage...the slats that barrels were made from

[customsawyer]

The foresters back in the days used that as a boring tool. You know back when the trees were a little bigger. :D

[getoverit]

I would guess that it is a primitive circular planer

[Woodwalker]

Ain't ya'll ever wondered where they got them wooden wheels for them two wheeled mexican ox carts?

[beenthere]

My instinct is for cooperage too, but here is a shot of a barrel slat (stave) making machine. Similar, except the  barrel is longer.




Raises curiousity and hope someone identifies its application.

[Raphael]

It wouldn't make for very long staves. ;)
  Perhaps this is part of why the toothed band is removable, this could be the blade the coopers used for cutting the tops and bottoms.

[mike_van]

I think it's the first bandsaw, the builder didn't know you needed two wheels -  :D

[Ron Wenrich]

What strikes me as being a little unusual is the place for the babbit bearings.  They are at the end of the shaft.  Being that its a flat belt, you would think the operation was fairly stationary.  Either steam or tractor driven. 

The problem with the cooper saw is that it isn't very deep.  Is it even deep enough for shingles?  I have no idea why you would want a rounded shingle.

[DanG]

Hmmmm.  Debarker, perhaps?

[sandmar]

I am not ashamed to say....I have no idea  : I have seen plumbers use similar to drill holes for pipe...........musta been one serious pipe that went through that hole ;)
Sandmar

[Engineer]

Went back to my friend's dealership today, he told me that the remainder of the piece is a large cast iron "table" with two babbit bearing halves such that the large round saw would sit on the halves horizontally and be driven by a flat belt from maybe a tractor.  He also said that there is some sort of feed chute or opening about 12x18" such that when you are facing the feed opening, the saw shaft extends out to your left and rotating toward you and the teeth are near the opening.  It's a poor description of a second-hand account of an absent machine, I know.  One suggestion that he had was a saw used to make the sides of wire reels.

I am personally stumped myself, I can only hope that there might be some kind of raised lettering or name plate on the rest of the machine.   ???

[Onthesauk]

TTT   

Curious about this.  Any ideas yet?

[Percy]

I know , I know.....back when the streets were made of wood,,,uhhh,,, they used that thing for "man hole" cutting....ya ...thats it... :D :D :D :D

[sawguy21]

Ya gotter Percy. They stood the street on its side to cut the hole then put it back. Common practice in the UP ;)

[mometal77]

Is it for making round tables or for rounding off the heads of logs?  Havent been on here over i have a new job and work longer hours.. lot going on this summer hope all are well..
robert

[Murf]

Well, 3' in diameter would make an awfully squat, pot-bellied barrel, that's for sure!!  :D

It may have been some failed attempt at a firwood cutter, putting a log in 6' would give you a pair of three footers with one cut.  :

Either that or a piece of 3' long cordwood with rounded corners to squeeze the absolutely biggest piece of firewood possible in the firebox.  :D

[iain]

Is that another bearing mount between the back of the blade and the pulley, viewable in the last pic,
I'll go along with trimming big cable drums, as there is no pilot in the centre of the blade i would assume that the work piece was precentred and well clamped

iain

[SwampDonkey]

I'm thinking it was used the make the bottom of the barrel, and maybe even covers for pickling barrels. Anyone will tell ya about walking outside the general store and grabbing a salted cucumber pickle from the barrel. ;D

[Ron Wenrich]

Barrel top trimmers were much different than this type of saw.  I did some research on the Old Woodworking website where they have a bunch of tools.  They have 2 barrel saws and one top trimmer.  The top trimmer is nothing like this. 

I also hit on a site that talked about cylinder saws.  They were invented in the mid 1800s by a company in New Hampshire.  I think this would be considered a cylinder saw.

They came in various sizes.  We've been thinking of barrels, since that is something we have seen in our travels.  However, they made smaller sized ones for buckets and tubs.  I think this is more on the size of making bucket slats.

[Gus]

Well I never   :P ???

Gus

[SwampDonkey]

Went looking on Google for barrel manufacturers and came up with most being in China. Never did find a site with equipment on display.