Old Mclean Steam Saw Mill!

[parrisw]

Thanks for sharing that. I would love to see that in action. Good post.

Yup it was way cool to watch, I wish I had more time there, I didn't even get to see all the old shacks which the loggers and sawyers lived in, they also had a old Steam Donkey setup to haul logs as well, like a yarder, but it wasn't running at the time. I cold of watched it for hours, but was on a schedule to get back to the train to take me back.

Excellent, thanks a bunch for the pics. My aunt & uncle literally just got back from a trip across Vancouver Island to Tofino a week ago, and my uncle insisted they stop to take the tour thru the mill. He didn't take any pics though! He told me all about it at any rate. I haven't been down that way for 14 years, I think, but I'm definitely stopping in there next time.

I like how it's so quiet compared to an electric mill - you wouldn't be able to hear yourself scream standing ten feet away from an electric headrig.

In many ways I think steam engines are a fair bit more complicated than internal combustion engines, especially when it came to powering mills and other industry. It would've taken some serious engineering to figure out that rat's-nest of belts and pulleys in the basement!

Ya, it wasn't that loud, kinda like a big skillsaw, ya it was crazy will all them belts flying around.

Very cool Parris Im jealous. Is it close to your house? Nice pics.

I definitely want to go back and see more, its about 2.5hrs from my house. Another must stop is Cathedral grove park, on the way there, some really huge trees there. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/macmillan/

go see huge Doug fir, and Red Cedar!!

Measuring device, not sure on how the scale works.
tells the sawer how much of the log is left to saw
i dont know if this make seance or not but cutting
cants 3.5 in the magice numbers are 3.5 ,7.25,11,
14.75,18.5,and so on and cutting lumber we alwas
left a 3.5 or 1.5 pending on what we was cutting
math skills was al was amust and plan a head to
end up with 1.5 or 3.5. the pic shows me that he
has about 20" left must of been a 24" or 26" log to
start with sorry just had to rabblegrew up around
an old mill and cut a lot of grade and farm lumber
oh btw cool pics

Thanks that makes sense, ya that's about right, the log was around 2' when it started I think, from memory from looking at it. Thanks allot, rep coming.

 

[blsnelling]

Very cool. Thanks for posting. I can't imagine the labor of love it must have taken to get all that equipment back up and running.

 

[parrisw]

Very cool. Thanks for posting. I can't imagine the labor of love it must have taken to get all that equipment back up and running.

Ya, I now. And the time it takes just to run it. They said for our train ride that started a 10am, they were there at 6am getting the steam train ready.

 

[jockeydeuce]

That's just super cool!!!! I love that old stuff!!!

 

[gink595]

Where were you at?...

Lagrange Indiana about 15-20 minutes from me.
Here is a link to some pics.

http://www.backroads.org/php/photo.gallery/photo.display.php?docs_category_id=3

 

[outdoorlivin247]

Lagrange Indiana about 15-20 minutes from me.
Here is a link to some pics.

http://www.backroads.org/php/photo.gallery/photo.display.php?docs_category_id=3

Was just asking b/c I went by a steam show in Peru, IN and almost stopped...

 

[larman]

theres a steam show on every labor day weekend in mt plesant iowa they have alot of old steam engenes and steam trains pertty neat to watch it you cant see it all in one day they have a sawmill set up

 

[ausneil 1]

awsome stuff parrisw, aussie rep sent.
To see mills like that simply makes me thankfull times have made the job easier, but i would totaly love to spend a week in one learning how it used to be done..

 

[parrisw]

awsome stuff parrisw, aussie rep sent.
To see mills like that simply makes me thankfull times have made the job easier, but i would totaly love to spend a week in one learning how it used to be done..

Your welcome, I feel the same. Pretty cool to see.

 

[Mahindra123]

Where is OSHA?

Great pictures and in seeing them, I could smells the grease, and fresh sawn wood and hear the blade working as it went thru the cant. For that group that rebuilt, refurbished the equipment and steam engine to run it, my hats off to them too.

If that same mill was setup in the lower 48, OSHA would have it behind a 10 ft fence with barb wire around the top and probably a robot running it inside the fence.

Thank-you

 

[parrisw]

Great pictures and in seeing them, I could smells the grease, and fresh sawn wood and hear the blade working as it went thru the cant. For that group that rebuilt, refurbished the equipment and steam engine to run it, my hats off to them too.

If that same mill was setup in the lower 48, OSHA would have it behind a 10 ft fence with barb wire around the top and probably a robot running it inside the fence.

Thank-you

Ya its pretty great to see something like this.

I'm all about being safe, but I didn't see anything that was very unsafe, the people that were running it really knew what they were doing, there are far more dangerous jobs in in US and Canada then this.

 

[Marco]

Neat way to pull the headblocks back in last photo in second post. The big wheel rides the track and pulls them back while the carriage is going for the next log.