Vintage logging picture thread!
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A little "trembler" could make that go squish!
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Gotta love that old 900 series Homelite.
I was a saw filer for a local saw mill a long time ago. One Christmas party the showed us all a film called " From Stump to Ship" I believe it is all Maine footage from back in the 20s through 40s. If you can find it you all would enjoy it a bunch. Good job Randy on all the old photos. Jeff
1270d
ArboristSite Guru
Yes that is the one. The filing shop brings back memories there was just myself and one other man to deal with the saws. I could not get over all those men handling the band saw. We would NEVER allow anyone but he and I to even touch the bands . They were scary sharp and very dangerous to handle . Plus it was breathtakingly easy to ding the teeth when moving the saw to the head rid ( the band saw machine)
We too ran a 48' bands but ours was a double cut band ( teeth on each side) aprox 1 7/7 tall and 2' at the base. They are using a single cut teeth on one side only in the movie. The saws were 15 gauge thick German steel and 12" wide at the bottom of the gullet when new. We ran them till about 9" wide.
My saws were in a set 36 per set I had 3 sets of sash gang saws 36 saws each. They were 6' long and 9" wide and hung in a sash ( named for the similar appearance to a window sash)1 inch apart . Theoretically you could make 36 boards at once up to about 3' wide / tall I guess you could say.
I had one set on the saw rig,.. one on the wall,.. and one in my care. When they came in to me they were all cleaned by me by hand , teeth miked (tooth width measured with a micrometer), benched ( hammered straight after use) Tensioned ( put through my stretch roll and " back" adjusted ) Adding "back to a saw is the art of making the back of the saw shorter than the front where the teeth are" That way when they are in the saw rig and you strain up the supports the teeth get tight/ firm like a guitar string before the back of the saw gets tight. That keeps the saws running true. All my lumber was expected to vary less than a 1/16 in thickness weather the log was 8' long or 16' feet long. Then the teeth got swaged , shaped, and then finally sharpened.
Sometimes I did 2 sets a day if the saws got fed some steel or the sawyer did not set the strain correctly they would get bent and have to be removed and all gone through again. Some days a new set of saws would last all day sawing 75,000 feet a day. Some days they would last 10 minutes and hit a spike or lost long ago pulp hook or chain or, or ,or if you can think of It, it has been through my saws.
I no longer work in the mill I left back in 1988. No benefits long hours and way too much stress for not a lot of pay. Working all weekend was not unheard of as well as all week. Being responsible for my saws and my partners bands when he was not there like out sick or something.
My wife and I had a new baby born in 87 and needed health benefits. That seems like a life time ago now. That baby is now a grown man with a wife and 3 children of his own. Last week he got promoted to the lead man in the Planer mill at the same mill I filed for so long ago. His goal is to become mill manager,.. life comes full circle sometimes. Sorry if you find this too wordy but there is a lot to it.
We too ran a 48' bands but ours was a double cut band ( teeth on each side) aprox 1 7/7 tall and 2' at the base. They are using a single cut teeth on one side only in the movie. The saws were 15 gauge thick German steel and 12" wide at the bottom of the gullet when new. We ran them till about 9" wide.
My saws were in a set 36 per set I had 3 sets of sash gang saws 36 saws each. They were 6' long and 9" wide and hung in a sash ( named for the similar appearance to a window sash)1 inch apart . Theoretically you could make 36 boards at once up to about 3' wide / tall I guess you could say.
I had one set on the saw rig,.. one on the wall,.. and one in my care. When they came in to me they were all cleaned by me by hand , teeth miked (tooth width measured with a micrometer), benched ( hammered straight after use) Tensioned ( put through my stretch roll and " back" adjusted ) Adding "back to a saw is the art of making the back of the saw shorter than the front where the teeth are" That way when they are in the saw rig and you strain up the supports the teeth get tight/ firm like a guitar string before the back of the saw gets tight. That keeps the saws running true. All my lumber was expected to vary less than a 1/16 in thickness weather the log was 8' long or 16' feet long. Then the teeth got swaged , shaped, and then finally sharpened.
Sometimes I did 2 sets a day if the saws got fed some steel or the sawyer did not set the strain correctly they would get bent and have to be removed and all gone through again. Some days a new set of saws would last all day sawing 75,000 feet a day. Some days they would last 10 minutes and hit a spike or lost long ago pulp hook or chain or, or ,or if you can think of It, it has been through my saws.
I no longer work in the mill I left back in 1988. No benefits long hours and way too much stress for not a lot of pay. Working all weekend was not unheard of as well as all week. Being responsible for my saws and my partners bands when he was not there like out sick or something.
My wife and I had a new baby born in 87 and needed health benefits. That seems like a life time ago now. That baby is now a grown man with a wife and 3 children of his own. Last week he got promoted to the lead man in the Planer mill at the same mill I filed for so long ago. His goal is to become mill manager,.. life comes full circle sometimes. Sorry if you find this too wordy but there is a lot to it.
1270d
ArboristSite Guru
Interesting about having the cutting side of the blade tighter.....As well as the rest, thanks for the story.
Sure thing it has been a long time since I thought about that job.
RandyMac
Stiff Member
My Dad was a sawfiler for 35 years at the Palco mill in Scotia.
My brother and I ran all over the mill, it was great fun.
My brother and I ran all over the mill, it was great fun.
astnmacgto
Carnac The Magnificent
That would be a osha nightmare today haha
RandyMac
Stiff Member
My Grandpa tanned our butts for walking on logs in the pond.
They are interesting places, I liked running the de-barker and the pulp loader. In my spare time if I had any I did other stuff for fun.
RandyMac
Stiff Member
We often hung out with old Mr. Sellers, he ran the hydro-debarker, it was a great huge thing.
1270d
ArboristSite Guru
How does a hydro debarker work?
RandyMac
Stiff Member
It was a giant set of mobile high pressure jets, the logs entered from the pond and were rolled around while the operator controlled the jets.
Keep in mind the size of the logs, OG Redwood, it took powerful machinery to move things along.
Keep in mind the size of the logs, OG Redwood, it took powerful machinery to move things along.
RandyMac
Stiff Member
Woos31
Addicted to ArboristSite
Wow that's a nice fat truck load of pondos
Woos31
Addicted to ArboristSite
Been awhile since I seen gunnin sticks in a face
Woos31
Addicted to ArboristSite
No sir, very neat story if you don't mind me sayin
RandyMac
Stiff Member
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