an old mill

[Den Socling]

I saw this mill running at a museum yesterday. It's powered by a hit & miss. They wouldn't let me under the roof so the lighting is bad and the pictures don't show much detail. But here they are.



 



 



 



 



 

Too bad I couldn't get closer but it's the public they are dealing with. It's kind of amazing that I could get as close as I did.

[mesquite buckeye]

Bet that engine makes a big whoosh when it is running.

Super cool.......

[Den Socling]

Boom spin spin boom spin spin boom etc.

[justallan1]

Very neat. I have one of the old Waterloo hit and miss engines that I'm trying to free up the piston now, just to make it run someday.
Allan

[mesquite buckeye]

Old timers had a bunch of them at the county fairs when I was a kid. Always thought they were cool. Where do you buy disitillate nowadays ??? ??? ???

[tyb525]

Isn't distillate a mix of gas and kerosene?

[Ianab]

Isn't distillate a mix of gas and kerosene?

I don't think those old hit n miss engines were very fussy about what they ran on.  :D

A mix of kero and petrol would probably run them fine.

Ian

[bandmiller2]

That blade looks like a cross cut saw off an old cordwood rig.Den,did you watch them actually cutting a log,must have been a slow operation as the power is very marginal. Frank C.

[Den Socling]

No I didn't see it cut. I would have loved to see the set works.

[Left Coast Chris]

Den,  just curious about the location of the mill.  The background looks like Nevada?

[Jeff]

A hit and miss would be a horrible power source for a mill. My friend Harold has a huge Hercules, looks about the size of that one in the photos, and it is only  16 hp I think. Maybe its less

[bandmiller2]

Justallen,Muriatic acid can help break loose a stuck piston in those old engines.Just be sure theirs no aluminum and it works best with no oil around. The acid desolves the rust and won't harm the cast iron.Frank C.

[Den Socling]

Left coast. The mill is in Jerome, AZ.

[Chris Burchfield]

I restored my grandfather's Fairbanks Morse 7 horse Model Z.  I had to drive the piston out with a chunk of firewood.  The piston rings and valves were totally shot.  The head was cracked in several places.  After I found someone who could braze the head back together, i found an old mechanic shop in Memphis I was told could help me.  I walked in with the head in one hand the piston in the other.  The man asked what it was off of.  Said he use to work on a few of them back in the late 40's and 50's.  Dug out a thick book from under a work table, blew the dust off it.  Found the specs for the rings, said he could order new valves or he could alter some diesel valves, regrind them and install new valve guides for $85,  This was the mid 80's.  I said let's do it with the resized diesel valves.  Called me up when they were ready.  I gave him a new crisp Benjamin Franklin and told him it meant everything to me, now if I could just get it running.  With trial and error, I did get it running.  I couldn't have been happier if I'd had a full sized steam locomotive.  My grandfather used it in his shop to pull first a gris mill.  Later when he bought a tractor with a flywheel to run the gris mill, he moved the Fairbanks to the other side of the shop.  It then pulled a jackshaft.  Off the jackshaft he ran, a planner he built himself, a blacksmith's Champion Drill press,  a 25 lb. Little Giant trip hammer which set next to his coal forge.  I have the Engine, Drill Press, bought a 25 lb. Little Giant trip hammer.  I also have several of his forge tongs.  There are several Hit N Miss Engine sites and several clubs across this nation.  Do what you can and get her goin.  I did use JB weld in the cylinder where it had pitted with the piston rings.  With the slow rpm and low heat produced, the JB weld has held fine for now about 20 years.

[scottmtfarm]

I would love to see how it smooth the engine is on the saw.  I sometimes run a M-14 Belsaw with a 2 cyl. John Deere B.  Its not the smoothest power but it saws.

[thecfarm]

scottmtfarm,welcome to the forum. We have a MT farm about 20 minutes from me.  ;D How much sawing you doing with your mill?

Chris,that is a nice story.

[justallan1]

Thanks Frank and Chris.
I had let it sit using navel jelly with no luck, then was told to fill the head with hydraulic oil stood on end and that's where it is now. It's been a couple months and nothing. I do have it all marked and dismantled. Surprisingly all of the babbitt looks brand new and there is lube in all the right spots. I will have get help with the valving and when I found it one of the governor balls was missing and I broke the other. I'm confident that I can make them on my verticle mill, we'll see.
I found it near a not so old culvert stuck in the ground for water with a small grain mill near it. The culvert can't be terribly old, so it's been used in the last bunch of years anyway.
I checked it out by the plate on it and it was built in 1916, a year or so before John Deere bought Waterloo and started using engines.
As for the grain mill, it's pretty well rusted solid and will probably get blasted, painted and donated to a museum.
Allan

 
Here's how it looked when I found it, before I dug it out.

[DanG]

Get some Blue Creaper and put a little on top of the piston daily for a couple of weeks.  If that doesn't do it, extreme measures involving brute force may be necessary. ;)

[scottmtfarm]

I have only saw about 2000 bft on my M14 mill.  I just recently set it up. The B does ok sawing smaller pine and poplar. It isn't enought on large logs and hardwood.  I use a 263 massey on the bigger stuff and it has plenty of power.  The old B sure does sound good though.  It is a 46" insert tooth saw. 

[giant splinter]

That is a beauty, it must be fun to see that mill at work making lumber and I bet it draws a crowd.

[jimparamedic]

The blade you see up close is a cut off saw but is not the one on the mill. It is in front the engine and the head saw is behind. I have an old american mill and the paper work that I have said the smallest hit and miss to run the mill is a 12 hp. Old horse power and new horse power are not the same thing.

[ALWOL]

   A hit n miss engine does make a Ok power source for a small saw. I have used a 12 HP economy on a 40" saw and it worked fairly well. It's 12 HP is about like 40 modern HP, and those huge wheels dampen the fireing pulses.

    Alan