Hi,
I have aquired an old circular sawmill and I'm unsure of the make. I know what a Frick, Farquar and Belsaw look like, but this is neither. Is there a website out there I can use to ID this mill? It's an early flatbelt drive with babbit bearings.
--Bill
Tremel,
If you have an pics to post you might be able to have it identified by one of the members. Myself I not to good at identifing circle mills.
Ron
This is THEE sawmill and sawyer webstie so I would say if yer going to get it identified it would be here. A few photos should do the trick and or perhaps some discriptions of the unique features of the mill
Look at the parts number. Usually there is a number on the dog ratchets or other parts. There is a letter that starts out before the number. All the parts will start with that letter. That can lead you to the mfg.
Sometimes just knowing where your located can help. I know mills get moved but in my area most of the mills were made by the American sawmill company. Frick and farquar were popular in PA. Go in up state NY and Ireland mills were popular jump over into Vt and your in Lane sawmill country. Put some pictures on here and you'll get the answer your looking for.
I'm having a little trouble uploading the pics. I had to drop them down to 30KB each, so the quality is not very good. I'm trying to post these pictures someplace else.
I'm located in SW PA. The mill was at my friends house, about an hour from me, in Ohio. (Ohio Valley). I have since moved the mill to my house.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11760/mill2_sm.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11760/mill1_sm.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11760/mill3_sm.jpg)
I hope this works
Try this...
EDITED
NOTE FROM JEFF
I took your 100k files and reduced them to less then 20, and replaced them. The ones above now are as clear now as the ones that were in this post. Try using the jpeg optimizer you can download free from www.xat.com. Make your photos 350 or 400 pixles wide as a first step, then optomize them with the JPG compression tool to keep enough quality. :)
Bill,
Do you push the handle to gig back and pull it to saw?
I ask because the circle millers on the board have made a case of it being safest one way or the other.
I can't remember. It's opposite of a Frick and BelSaw. I plan on changing this by removing the gear drive (that drives the carrige cable) and replacing it with a chain drive. Sawdust gets into the gears and jams. I'm also going to move the handle out and back when I get everything enclosed.
I have alot of work to do on this mill. I want to make it safer as well.
The stick should advance the carriage when it's pulled back and reverse it when it's pushed ahead. It's a safety feature so if the sawyer gets caught on a knot etc. as the log passes by on the way to the saw when he, the sawyer, is pushed against the stick the carriage will go back rather then dragging him into the saw even faster.
On the head block where the dog slides up and down is there a second handle that forces the dog deeper in the log when pushed. That looks like my old American mill. I can't tell the pictures are dark but the belt tightener on the husk is the same and the gear on the carriage that backs up the headblocks looks the same. Maybe some closer pictures of the carrige and husk would help. When you said sawdust jams the bull gear that drives the cable that was always a problem I had to. Crawl under the husk and clean out around that gear(I hated that).
If your carriage is running backwards (going forward when you push), then your cable is on backwards.
I bet if its a Frick, Frickman will know. ;)
Looks like a Frick to me, either a 0 or 00. If it's a 0, it will have a 36" opening on the headblocks. A 00 will have a 33" opening. It is always possible that it could be a combination of different makes too. I've seen one brand of carriage mated to another brand of husk before.
I moved the mill this weekend and I'm getting ready to re-assemble. Here's a closeup of the husk and carrige.
http://www.nationalpike.com/mill/mill4.jpg
http://www.nationalpike.com/mill/mill5.jpg
It looks a little like the old Fahrquahr we used to have. The dog handles weren't quite like that one though. You could use Frick parts on most Fahrqs. The setworks don't look quite like a Frick or a Meadows. Didn't the Fricks have a guage on the headblocks to tell you where you were at?
Godd to have ya here!
Have you put a mill together before?..........
Be carefull when putting the blade back on , not to over tighten and possibly spring the collars........
there a several little things like that that sure help prevent trouble ;D
The setworks, if they're Frick, look like they're the real old ones, like 80 or 100 years old. When you recede the carriage by hand, does it recede when you push back? On some of the real, real old ones you pulled the headblocks forward, as you usually do, but when you twisted the handle to recede the headblocks went back when you pushed, not pulled.
The handles on the dogs look like they came off something else, or somebody just welded on some balls. The dogs themselves come out the bottom of the casting. The newer ones come out the top. Maybe Frick made some like this, or maybe they're Farquar dog assemblies.
Most of the mills did have a scale on the first headblock, but not all. Larger mills frequently have dial gauges that run off the setshaft, similar to an automatic mill, and do not need the horizontal scale. This size of mill would probably have the horizontal scale. I don't see though any holes where a scale was mounted.
The carriage frame is built a little different than any Frick mill I've seen. It could have been rebuilt by someone though when an old, wood frame wore out. The trucks are mounted a little different too.
You might have a Frick, or Farquar, or something else, it's hard to tell from the pictures. Whatever it is, if it saws good lumber, it's a good mill. :)
I figured out what mill I have. 8) It's an American #1 variable BELT drive mill built in the mid 1920's.
The winter weather set in and I haven't made much progress on getting it back up and running. I'm waiting for an indian summer.
Tremel,
The "splitter" looks like the one that was on our No. 2 American.
I would suggest that you drill a hole through your husk timbers were they are splitting and put a bolt and nut to stop the splitting.