Hi everybody!
I was wondering if anybody here had an alternative or reciprocating sawmill? Either horizontal or vertical.
They're quite common in france, as old beasties you find in an old barn.
The most simple type of sawmill imho, an alternating blade, going back and forth, a chariot unederneath, with a log on top, and a cable pulling the chariot.
I've seen one in a museum if that counts? ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/P1030494.JPG)
That the sort of thing you are thinking about? It does seem pretty simple. I wonder if it something that would lend itself to the home builder type, being mostly wood construction? Of course you probably need a sawmill to build it.. chicken or egg?
Ian
theres one in derry nh, its water powered. I think its museum they run it on the weekends in the summer
Hi all,
Saw one at Forksville,pa-was mounted on a wooden wagon and the owner was milling a WP log about eight ft. long-very slow,took about 15 min. to run one line-can not remember what he had for power.....
albert
As of about 35 years ago there was one in operation west of Smyrna, DE. We got an order for lumber to build an outhouse for Hagley museum, and they wanted the saw marks to be period correct (very early 19th century). I don't know if that saw is still in use, not likely.
We got one right here in Ledyard, CT. http://www.ledyardsawmill.org/ (http://www.ledyardsawmill.org/)
Thanks a lot guys.
Here's what you see over here.
http://www.leboncoin.fr/bricolage/168947543.htm?ca=11_s
There's one just a few miles across the border in Ontario, Canada.
An educational park named Upper Canada Village.
Very educational to watch and it is water powered.
Theirs a water powered recip.sawmill at "old Sturbridge village" ma.,they all have one thing in common slow,but were lightyears ahead of a pit saw.That must be where the expression "the pits" came from.Ones I've seen use a rope and weight to feed into the saw.Might not be so slow in the gang mode,there are modern saws that use that principal. Frank C.
I've got a broad axe does that count?
Speed is relevant to work patterns. Today we all want instant gratification... :) My great grandfather had a water powered grist mill / sawmill operation for maybe 20 years starting about 1880 in Central Indiana. He did have a steam engine for periods when the river was too low but that was not for long periods. Beyond initial cost and upkeep the water power was free and the steam engine was fueled with slab wood. Neither mill was fast but organized work habits got the job done. If I have a big heavy piece of iron to saw in the farm shop I don't stand there leaning on a post while the horizontal band saw cuts through it. I set it up and start it and go do something else while it cuts. There is always something nearby that needs doing. My Kasco sawmill was electric feed and I would often start a cut and stack lumber while it cut. I never got more than a few feet away and was always watching but I was not leaning there waiting on it.
Now on some really fast saws there is no time for anything but running the saw and that is being efficient too. :)
When I fill a stock tank with water I prop the hose and go do something else but we had one hired man that really liked filling the tanks. He would stand there holding the hose in his hand leaning on the fence. Some of those were 1,000 gallon tanks. The slower the water ran the better he liked it... long breaks. ;D
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Just bumped onto this! Russian monster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Ii5HjbPeI&feature=related
Old timer once told me about his dads up and down mill. He would get it started in the cut and then read the paper while it worked its way down.
Appears to be the old sash gang saw, of which has been used in mills for years all around the world.
Thanks for posting the video Satamax
The mills may appear slow by modern standards, but at the time the alternative was a similar blade, with a guy on each end (Pit saw).
Compared to that, a sash mill with a waterwheel or steam engine to do the hard work would have been a high tech marvel ;D
Ian
I've been wondering about gang sash sawmills for a while and the question I have is, "Why don't I see them anywhere here in the US?" I don't tour every sawmill I pass so I can't say they don't exist, but I've never personally run across one. Is there a reason they're not popular here? I would assume it's because there's very little ability to cut for grade, etc. You get what you get, but they do look like a pretty time efficient way to slice up a log.
I have wondered the same axe handle hound. I have a feeling we might be seeing more and more water wheel sawmills if fuel and electric prices keep rising. I've always thought a fellow might be able to make a niche for "completely Eco friendly" lumber. Wait til the tree dies of natural causes. Cut it down with a two person cross cut saw. Drag it out with mules. Mill it on a water wheel bandsaw, air dry it, and then you deliver it to a retailers (woodcraft for example) with a biodiesel or ethanol vehicle. You would have to include pictures of every step in a framed portrait collage. People could tell the story about where their coffee table came from as a conversation piece.