Uncle Chick's old circle mill w/pictures - (was - Tool for old sawmill?)

Bibbyman · April 09, 2007, 12:46:44 PM

I found this tool on the frame of my late Uncle Chick's old circle mill. It's about 4" long. I vaguely remember maybe seeing him use it to swedge the teeth on the blade.

Was I right? ???

Brian_Rhoad · April 09, 2007, 12:51:35 PM

Yes, that is a swedge. Looks like it has been used pretty hard!

Jeff · April 09, 2007, 01:15:11 PM

Yes sir, I concur, dats what she is was.

Robert Long · April 09, 2007, 04:32:22 PM

Eh (I'm Canadian) Bibbyman

Sure glad it's not a tool found in your late uncle, the dentist's office! :D :D :D

Robert

D._Frederick · April 09, 2007, 06:23:59 PM

Yes, that is what it is. It has one die to spread the corners and the other die to flatten the top of the tooth.

junkyard · April 11, 2007, 03:30:47 PM

My old Bellsaw had a solid tooth saw you had to swage the teeth to get them wider than the saw body.
You bandmillers just bend the tooth to the side to get clearance or set.
Junkyard

Bibbyman · April 12, 2007, 06:24:36 PM

Well, I guess I will be the new owner of Uncle Chick's old circle mill.

Here is a link to pictures on our web site of the mill as it was a couple of years ago.

Link to picture taken of Uncle Chick's sawmill last summer

I'll get a few pictures of how it is now. The steam engine in gone and it's been bulldozed around and what little shed it had over it has fallen in.

I told the cousins that I'd take the mill. They wanted to sell it but could not find a buyer. They finally came up with an offer to trade me the mill for doing some clean up work around the farm.

If I didn't rescue it, it'd probably end up at the scrap yard.

I don't have any plans to get it up and running. I'll just set it up as a display piece and let the brush grow up through it.

J_T · April 12, 2007, 07:57:09 PM

Looks about like mine before I started on it :D Fix her a little at a time ???

Robert Long · April 12, 2007, 09:58:08 PM

Bibbyman

Is that old truck a part of the drive system of that old mill?

Up east of here in Springwater is an old mill still running and they converted the rear end of an old Ford as drive gears for the mill.

Robert

Don_Papenburg · April 12, 2007, 11:15:42 PM

I'd like to find one of them swedges on a sale someplace .

What brand is that mill?

Bibbyman · April 13, 2007, 02:37:37 AM

Quote from: Robert Long on April 12, 2007, 09:58:08 PM
Bibbyman

Is that old truck a part of the drive system of that old mill?

Up east of here in Springwater is an old mill still running and they converted the rear end of an old Ford as drive gears for the mill.

Robert

When the steam engine was not up and running, they ran the mill with the engine in the old Ford truck. He'd cut the frame off behind the cab and had a flat belt pulley mounted in the frame. The old Ford truck has been scrapped out.

I don't know the brand. One part has some castings marks saying it was made some place in Indiana. Knowing my uncle, it could be made up from parts of a couple mills.

Ron Wenrich · April 13, 2007, 06:31:51 AM

Don

I bet Menominee can help you find one of those swedges, unless you're looking for an old, used one.

dail_h · April 15, 2007, 10:05:17 PM

Bibby,
Please tell us they didn't scrap the steam engine. :( :(

Bibbyman · April 16, 2007, 04:04:47 AM

No, they found a buyer for it. I think it went to Carolina. North?/South? I don't know.

Bibbyman · April 16, 2007, 10:21:34 PM

I went up and did some work cleaning up around the old mill today. I didn't take my camera so no new pictures.

I may get a chance to start pulling it out of the brush tomorrow. I think I need to start by lifting the carriage off the tracks first. Then I can lift out the husk. (Is that the right name for the big section that has the blade and shaft?)

I'll probably have to cut an elm tree about 16" dia. to get some of the track up as it's grown over some of the track.

Any advice from the ol'timey circle mill types on how to dismantle this old man eater would be appreciated.

beenthere · April 17, 2007, 12:17:40 AM

Seems we had a thread on here a year or two ago doing something real similar to what you are thinking. Moveing the parts in some order, and reassembling. Ya, da husk is the big section with blade and mandrel.
Who was that that reassembled one?

thecfarm · April 17, 2007, 09:15:01 AM

Save it Bibbyman.Those old mills are worth it to save.Try to get all of the pieces.May have to pull some pieces out of the ground.The ground has a way of shallowing old iron.Wish it would do that to rocks.I only know of one around here and that was about 20 years ago when I had some cedar sawed up.Two others got sold and moved.I don't know about circle mills,just glad you are going to save it.Take lots of pictures for you and us.Your kids and grandkids will apprecate this in years to come.Too bad you couldn't lay something down to keep the trees from growing up through it.

Ron Wenrich · April 17, 2007, 07:32:14 PM

Are you planning to rewood the track or are you just going to put it up for display? The track is usually fit into the husk in some way. When I put in an old hand mill, I put it on a couple of big beams - 10 x 12, I think. They were softwoods.

I attached the husk, then notched a spot for the tracks. I used shims to get it straight and tight. I never fastened the track down and it held up for a good number of years of daily use.

Gustavo · April 17, 2007, 07:35:33 PM

im not sure but

i thing that this tool is used to clamp the timber on the table

the word in english is dog... i belive

this tool slide into an eye with an arm clamp the timber to the moving table

Captain · April 17, 2007, 07:50:27 PM

I've read the title to this thread a few times quickly...and incorrectly. My mind says "too old for sawmill" :D

Captain

Kevin_H. · April 17, 2007, 07:57:21 PM

Yep I read the exact same thing, Here I thought bibby was going to retire...

Bibbyman · April 17, 2007, 10:12:09 PM

Quote from: Kevin_H. on April 17, 2007, 07:57:21 PM
Yep I read the exact same thing, Here I thought bibby was going to retire...

Done retired from one profession.

I got to keep working as we have five mouths to feed. Six if you want to count the dog. 7,8,9,10..... if you want to count the insurance agent, a government worker or two, a person or two on government assistance, one person incarcerated and one guarding that person that's incarcerated, one person in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines that's kickin' any butts that need kickin', a multi-bazillion dollar defense industry that make things for our guys to take over there to kick butt with – and my folks living on social security.

I got one good pass on the mill. Most of it is steel. The husk is all steel and Uncle Chick put the track on steel I beams and looks like he replaced the wood in the carriage with steel.

Bibbyman · April 19, 2007, 08:45:57 PM

Mary and I spent most of this morning removing Uncle Chick's old circle mill and bringing it about a 1/2 mile down to or place.

It was all the Terex wanted to lift with the ground being soft and the boom exteded about 4'.

Uncle Chick had replaced all the wood with steel some time ago when he last installed the mill in this location.

This elm grew up inside the end of the track and was pushing the carriage off the track.

We had to set it at an angle to get it on the Dodge.

I'm not sure if this mill is mostly original or made up of odd parts. There are a couple of different names on the castings.

A view of the husk before we pulled it. The trees were winning!

It was a load on the Terex. The ground was a little soft and not level in all places. Mary had to take it slow and easy.

A view of the other side of the husk. We had a little damage here and there but got along pretty good.

I went back in the afternoon to recover the tracks. They were 4" I beams about 40' long. I bolted a chain to a hole in the end of each and hooked them by another chain to the hitch on the Dodge and skidded them home.