Dating a lane mill

[Southside]

Yup - late to the party but my first thought was "Now dating your mill is taking things too far..."  Of course in this day and age identifying as a Sawyer could be a gender, so who knows... :D

[moodnacreek]

Osterman, The B and F saws are the popular ones today. Next would be the 2 1/2 and the 3 is not dead yet. Up to the '90's you could get 33, 3 1/2 , 4 1/2 and the D. The last 3 where big gullet saws used mostly on the west coast. As the small mills died out the ones that remained would be large band mills. When I started there where 6 or 7 saw makers [circle mill saws] now there are 2.   Are there any numbers on the little ram the lifts the pawl on your setworks, I am looking for one of these.   Doug

[Osterman.r]

 

 

[Osterman.r]

Doug. These may be more helpful.
 

 

 

 

 

 

[moodnacreek]

O, I think I sent you on a wild goose chase. The Lane's I have seen that had hyd. dogs also had hyd. set shaft , that is a hyd. motor chained to the set shaft. In order to recede the pawl must be raised before the motor starts and they did this with a tiny hyd. cylinder mounted on the set lever. This unit would take the place of the foot operated bar I described that used the cast bracket you asked about [ there are 2 of these]  Looks like you did a good job setting up. Hope you can get a roof over it. There must be something I am not seeing, need to study your photos again.

[moodnacreek]

O, I see 1 sm  on your arch with all the pin holes, so if you have a 36" opening that mill is a no. 1 lane. If it has a 30" opening it is a 'tractor' mill beefed up with no. 1 parts and will have em on the slide bases that have the racks bolted to them. Did I tell you I like Lane mills? Doug

[Osterman.r]

This does have hyd recede, but you have to manually rotate the set handle to raise the pawl before receding. The head blocks do open up to 36"

[moodnacreek]

Ah, so you need the same thing I am asking about. This is how [I think] it works: a small hyd, cylinder that looks like a small air cylinder is teed into the motor hose that receds the headblocks. There is nothing stopping them from coming forward. This little cylinder goes first because it is so small and then the motor starts. It must have a spring inside so as soon as you let up the pawl drops back. A friend in the north country has one but the decal is worn off. I have called LWI [??] in vermont and they have no idea about this but the part is out there and is a must have item.            So your sawmill is basically a No. 1, a modern one perhaps from the 70's with that steel husk. This is a good thing and after some tuning up and this cylinder and a log turner it should fly. Stay in touch, Doug

[Osterman.r]

Doug, there is a lane mill for sale on fb marketplace in marshfield ma. It looks very similar to mine, and also has what looks to be the Hawkins hyd. Upgrade like mine. Hard to be sure, but it looks like he has the hyd ram that you are looking for a part number for. Might be able to contact him via fb and ask for some info.

[moodnacreek]

Doug, there is a lane mill for sale on fb marketplace in marshfield ma. It looks very similar to mine, and also has what looks to be the Hawkins hyd. Upgrade like mine. Hard to be sure, but it looks like he has the hyd ram that you are looking for a part number for. Might be able to contact him via fb and ask for some info.

Oh boy, I got 100 irons in the fire, I will try to find that and Thank You, Doug.

[moodnacreek]

O, just got off the phone with the guy. I think we are making a deal. My wife may leave any time now!

[Osterman.r]

Ha, I knew you would be interested. Looks like a very clean setup. And the price is very reasonable. Let me know how you make out.

[moodnacreek]

Osterman, The mill from Mass. is [has] here. It is basically yours, however it has been updated and made wider. It will barely fit in my building after I shave the posts. It came with a log turner that is in nice shape. Also an edger that is in decent shape. It will take me months to get it installed. Thanks for the tip.