Enormous bandsaw mills slab off of tree - GIF

[Jon]

Enormous bandsaw mills slab off of tree.




Previously:

1897 steam-powered planing mill
1692 De Schoolmeester paper mill GIF

[Beserkleyboy]

Jon, nice GIF, but it's a pretty normal headrig of the 50s-70s, probably Pacific Northwest. Could be NorCal as well. Looks like a big Sugar Pine log, traditionally used in foundry pattern-making (a lost trade...)typical of old growth of the era. Typical to have a man riding the rig and a mate pulling the 'cant' (slab) off to send it down a roller conveyor to the 'ganged' edging (circular) saws, to trim edges and break down into smaller widths. When forests got locked up and old growth was no longer available, mostly much smaller second growth became the feedstock, and a new form of sawmilling became necessary. Enter the 'quad saw' in the early 80s. 4 bandsaws, nested, running together, and adjustable in spacing by the operator in a booth above. He viewed the log, knowing his order requirenents, and set the saws to slice the log to his decided thicknesses, typically 2 or 4 ". The whole log is slced in 1 pass like an egg slicer. Very efficient. If ever any of you folk get near a sawmill, particle board or MDF plant, investigate a tour if possible. It'll blow your mind how much productivity for so little manpower. Cheers
Jim in AUS