# Old Logging Photos



## ray benson

Ran across these photos while searching for log loads.


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## ray benson

more old logging photos.


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## skidder

nice pics ray makes me think i was 100 years to late


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## BC_Logger

ahh double bits and misery wips good pics there ray


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## turnkey4099

Yeah, them double bits and misery whips. I had enough of them back when I was a kid helping the old man make firewood. "Quit riding the saw" every 2 minutes. Just looking at those pictures make my 'nads curl up and whimper even to this day.

Harry K


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## bigmac

here are some


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## ray benson

more old photos.


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## sILlogger

i use do wish i could get into a patch of timber and do some cutting, nice photos. what sort of trees are those?


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## ray benson

sILlogger said:


> i use do wish i could get into a patch of timber and do some cutting, nice photos. what sort of trees are those?



West coast trees. only #6 had a caption that said spruce.
Here is a couple


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## sILlogger

i wish i could have tied into some of the virgin oak that used to be around here. would have been a good time


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## ray benson

sILlogger said:


> i use do wish i could get into a patch of timber and do some cutting, nice photos. what sort of trees are those?



Here is a couple Douglas Fir trees.


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## rreidnauer

Hey, did anyone else catch that Ray Benson's pictures of redwood and doug fir 22' are the same tree?


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## sILlogger

i don't care, is a damn big tree either way


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## ray benson

rreidnauer said:


> Hey, did anyone else catch that Ray Benson's pictures of redwood and doug fir 22' are the same tree?



They sure do look the same.
The redwood photo was from a Washington University site and here is the other.
http://www.vannattabros.com/histlog18.html


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## bigmac

opcorn: more pictures opcorn:


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## ray benson

more photos.


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## ray benson

Bigmac, pictures 3 and 4 - are they shots of your firewood yard?


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## bigmac

ray benson said:


> Bigmac, pictures 3 and 4 - are they shots of your firewood yard?



real funny ray


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## ray benson

more photos.


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## bigmac

:biggrinbounce2: more pictures :biggrinbounce2:


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## ray benson

old photos


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## bigmac

opcorn: more pictures opcorn:


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## ray benson

cat logging


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## bigmac

more pictures :blob5:


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## ray benson

more photos.


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## bigmac

:Eye: more pictures :Eye:


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## ray benson

more cat logging.


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## Sawin

I'm on a dial-up connection, and I am very much enjoying the pics. Thanks for taking the time to post!


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## bigmac

Sawin
im glad you and others have been enjoying this and the 
log load thread,

 more pictures


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## clearance

*Ray and Bigmac*

Your computer skills far surpass mine, how about putting up some pictures of high riggers at work. Like the ones that show them cutting off 80' tops?


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## ray benson

High Riggers.


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## clearance

Thank you.


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## ray benson

A few more High Rigger photos.


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## skidder

*who has more pride then loggers*

u can see the pride in the faces of those boys .Idon't think loggers are taught were born with the need to be in the bush providing one of the oldest and most needed trades

.keep the pics coming


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## bigmac

topping & rigging photos are harder to find,


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## ray benson

more High Rigger photos.


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## ray benson

Thought this awesome.


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## bigmac

that photo is awesome Ray it looks like its 20-25 ft. across at 
the base.  

more pictures


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## skidder

*hay ray*

i agree that is one of the best yet .been on my wallpaper since you first posted it


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## ray benson

a few more.


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## ray benson

Bigmac - cool pic sawmill 21.


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## ray benson

a few more photos.


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## ray benson

more photos.


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## ray benson

more photos.


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## ray benson

a few more.


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## bigmac

:biggrinbounce2: more pictures :biggrinbounce2:


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## ray benson

:blob4: more photos.:blob4:


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## ray benson

2 photos of the same tree. 24a is impressive.


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## ray benson

:biggrinbounce2: more photos :biggrinbounce2:


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## ray benson

:biggrinbounce2: and a few more.:biggrinbounce2:


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## ray benson

a few more.


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## ray benson

a few logs.


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## ray benson

more early logging pics.


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## ray benson

a few more old pics.


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## ray benson

just a few more.


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## ray benson

more photos.


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## bullseye13

question.....
ok, so, late 1800's, you cut down a 25 foot wide tree, what in the same heck do you do with it now??? blow it up? by the way these pics are awesome!!


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## ray benson

Haven't seen many pictures inside the early biggest sawmills. Some had double blade circular blades and some monster band saws.
Here is a video a little over 10 minutes -Redwood Saga 1940
http://www.archive.org/details/RedwoodS1940


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## ray benson

sawmill pictures and a big blade.


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## skidder

wow! thats a great video ray realy like all the pics you have been posting any more vids ?


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## ray benson

Only video in all the searches.


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## jrclen

Great pictures. Thanks for posting them.


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## Sprig

Ray and Bigmac, you guys have posted some of the most awesome pictures I have ever seen, a few I have seen before but most i never have. This is a part of my family's heritage, my paternal grand-dad was a hand logger in the early 30's north of the Sunshine Coast, SE of the Queen Charlottes on the mainland, and my pop was on the end of a whip-saw before he was in school. I cannot even start to tell you how much I have appreciated both your efforts to dig out and post these most fantastic pictures of logging history. One of my very good mates and me have been sitting here for the last couple of hours in amazement, drinking & drooling, laughing & oooo-awwwin', that so few really know so little about what the 'iron men' went through to carve (literally) out this nick of the woods, thankyou both so very much! Simply frikken' awesome m8's!!!!!   

Keep 'em comin' eh! My dad still has some pics of their old float camp in Allison harbor, falling pics etc etc., and he is still sane enough ta dig them out, I am persisting for them and will scan and post them when I can, won't be near as incredible as some of the other archive stuff that you gentlemen have found, not even close. Many kudos!



Serge


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## ray benson

mill pond and camp.


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## Wolfking42084

Great pictures ray! Seeing these just reminds me of the stories i use to hear from my great grandfather years ago about logging chestnuts here and Western North Carolina. I don't think any of us could do the job these guys did day in and day out. 

wolfking


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## ray benson

These pictures should give some idea of the size of the bandsaws.
Read that poor inside lighting around the turn of the century did not provide very good conditions for taking pictures inside sawmills.


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## Burvol

You guys need to find a book called Kinsey Photograhpher. I almost garuntee 70% of all of the photos you guys posted are in that book by Darius and Miles Kinsey, two brothers from Seattle that drove all over hell and back photographing logging around the turn of the century. Also, Asehal Curtis is another WA photographer that has some books out on his work.


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## ray benson

Drag saw.


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## ray benson

couple more dragsaws and lunch on the job.


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## jrclen

ray benson said:


> couple more dragsaws and lunch on the job.



Is that firewood in the first picture? Just wondering why they are blocking it up instead of logging it. Camp stove or cooking maybe?


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## ray benson

There was no explanation with the picture. Just a group of pictures. Firewood or possibly wood for a train steam boiler?


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## ray benson

more photos.


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## bigmac

more pictures :biggrinbounce2:


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## ray benson

Log Jams, raft, log road pics.


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## Rftreeman

awesome thread............


chainsaw? we don't need no stinking chainsaw............

I can't imagine having too tackle a 25 foot wide tree with an axe, technology has ruined people these days, I know it sure made me lasy........lol


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## ray benson

early photos.


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## ray benson

more photos with a couple log jams.


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## ray benson

early pics.


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## bigmac

more pictures opcorn:


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## ray benson

a few more sawmill pictures.


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## ray benson

a few more including some log jams.


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## ray benson

a few more.


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## ray benson

some more pictures.


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## ray benson

A couple Log Dumps and an old Bandsaw mill.


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## ray benson

Bored log pipes laid in Pennsylvania before 1820. Hollowed-out logs were often used for water and sewage conveyance in early times in the U.S. The raw material (wood) was readily available and the 3' - 4' lengths could be hollowed out by hand augering or burning.


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## bigmac

more pictures :biggrinbounce2:


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## ray benson

Had this on another thread and really liked the photo. Look at the size of the center base log compared to the men and horses.


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## ray benson

A few more pics.


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## RiverRat2

*West coast trees ehhhh???*



sILlogger said:


> i use do wish i could get into a patch of timber and do some cutting, nice photos. what sort of trees are those?



The ones with the big very deeply furrowed bark are either Doug Firs or redwoods the others are probably either western hemlocks or Cedars, Alders,,,,Some of them do look like blue spruces too,,,

Its hard to imagine even with a picture how really stately those big Monarchs of trees were,,,,There are a few left,,,,,

This is a blue spruce in the Hoh rainforest just Southwest of Port Angeles WA,, The placard said the DBH was 13.5 feet, 279 feet tall, (almost a football field) and between 500-575 years old,,,,,


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## [email protected]

*Big Tree*

Thought you might like this one. Its on Miller river road in Snohomish county Washington. There is several more like it in the same area. A good reference is dads shoulders are 20"


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## clearance

[email protected] said:


> Thought you might like this one. Its on Miller river road in Snohomish county Washington. There is several more like it in the same area. A good reference is dads shoulders are 20"



Welcome to the site, nice red there. (Thuja Plicata)


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## smithie55

> Miller river road in Snohomish county Washington


Id really like to check those out.
Are they hard to find if your from out a town?
Thanks for the pic


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## [email protected]

*Not really, well kinda*

Really, that particular tree is about 60' off the gravel. The area is all virgin and the higher up the mountain you go the small they get as expected, but small is still larger then anything they let us cut today. If you are familiar with highway 2 you will go through sultan, startup ,gold bar, index etc..when you get to Skykomish turn to the east and follow the road through town bearing to the right and follow the signs to Miller river road, It will be a left hand turn. The road dead ends at a trail head approximately 7 or 8 miles after you start on it. The other trees would require some hiking but you can see them from the location of the picture. Hope this helps. Its a nice drive anyway.


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## smithie55

Thanks m.cattle.
Oh ya and welcome to AS.
You'll have a great time here.


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## ray benson

a few more pics.


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## ray benson

Another log bridge that was impressive.


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## bigmac

more logging photos


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## bigmac

:biggrinbounce2: more photos :biggrinbounce2:


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## bigmac

more photos


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## bigmac

more picturesopcorn:


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## ray benson

a couple more.


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## bigmac

more photos


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## ray benson

another big one.


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## bigmac

Nice photo ray. 

more pictures


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## bigmac

more pictures


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## bigmac

more pictures.


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## bigmac

more photos


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## ray benson

another logging trestle.


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## bigmac

more photos


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## ray benson

splitting a little wood.


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## bigmac

more photos


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## bigmac

more photos:biggrinbounce2:


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## bigmac

more photos


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## M.D. Vaden

I'd imagine that the 22' Doug fir photo may be a redwood, but not sure.

Have there ever been Doug fir that big out here?

12' diameter seems like more probable.

I know old trees don't last forever, but it would be nice if the bigger portion of remaining old growth can be preserved until the numbers of old trees starts increasing.


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## Lee Bradley

Checked some of my logging history books and found a picture of a Douglas Fir felled in British Columbia: 25 feet in diameter, 417 feet high and was 9 feet in diameter at 207 feet. Yes, firs do get that BIG.


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## ray benson

Interesting article about that 417' doug fir- some say legend and myth, others say it is true. http://www.spirasolaris.ca/DouglasFir.pdf


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## OLY-JIM

Great submission Ray but there's nothing easy about that kind of work...the pics never quite capture that aspect of it. They're excellent to look at though. Thanks.


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## ray benson

Here is a picture from 1963 - it blew down shortly after being designated as the largest Douglas Fir (15' 8").


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## bigmac

REMINGTON 880 G


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## ray benson

Fiber pull on the stumps.


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## bigmac

Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800


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## ray benson

out of a catalog.


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## bigmac

Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800 




Shot with HP Scanjet 4800


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## ray benson




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## ray benson




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## ray benson

another train tressle.


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## ray benson

just a few more.


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## omegajim

Those are nice pictures, except for the 1st picture of that last series is a Rumely Oil-Pull; trust me on that one. I've must've seen at least a dozen in person.

Submitted for your approval, another Rumely Oil-Pull, just not as big.


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## bigmac

A few more pic's


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