Vintage sawmills in operation here in Maine

[ebinmaine 67,484]

 

 

 

[ri702bill 8,319]

Well done there! I do believe I have seen the "Shingle-majig" before on "How It's Made with Mike Rowe. Not for the faint of heart - I'm sure most of the operators were nicknamed "Stubby"

 Did you notice the guy in the green shirt around the 2 minute mark?? I asked myself "Is that Kevin @Pullstart???" Nah, not dangerous enough!

 

Back in the 80's building gundrills, we had a large shaper of similar design to the one at the 4 minute mark in the Machine Shop. Only saw it being used 2 or 3 times - remembered two interesting things - first - it shook the floor as the cutter would rip a quarter inch slice of material off the work each pass. And, it gave off a distinct ozone smell from the 440 volt buzzing electromagnet that turned on at the end of stroke to pivot the tool up to be off the work for the next pass.

Edited October 5, 2022 by ri702bill

[OldWorkHorse 3,045]

10x the age and 10x smoother then the saw mill I use. Also about 6x more sketchy . Very cool to see the locomotive towing tractor in action! 

[Achto 27,571]

Thanks for the video Eric.

That Lombard log skidder looks similar to the Phoenix log Skidder. Wonder why they both made the steer guy sit way out front? Specially when you consider that these skidders where originally designed for winter use and would have had skis on the front instead of wheels.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Achto

[Handy Don 12,217]

5 minutes ago, Achto said:

Wonder why they both made the steer guy sit way out front?

So he'd be the first to feel the impact of poor decision? 

[Achto 27,571]

After some research I found that some added a cab for the steer guy. Kind of looks like it blocked the view of the guys running the engine as well as the side view of the steer guy. It does appear that they ran a steam line up to the front cabin for heat though. 

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Achto

[ri702bill 8,319]

Only thing missing is the pot belly wood stove pipe!!

[ebinmaine 67,484]

3 hours ago, Achto said:

That Lombard log skidder looks similar to the Phoenix log Skidder. Wonder why they both made the steer guy sit way out front?

I read today that the Phoenix was actually a licensed copy of the Lombard. 

Seems to me there were around 80 or 85 Lombard STEAM machines built from around 1900 to 1917. That year marks the change to gasoline engines.  

There are SIX of the 80+ left. 

 

 

NOTE: I'm making an assumption here....

I believe the steering person being way out front was for simplicity. 

The men in the rear cabin already had ALOT going on and really couldn't see where the BEAST was headed.  

 

 

[8ntruck 6,999]

We used to use a shaper to put serrations in beryllium copper butt welding jaws in our steel wheel plants.

Edited October 7, 2022 by 8ntruck

[mrc 812]

that shingle mill is definitely NOT osha approved!    i work in manufacturing and that is a prime example of why machine guarding was put in place.   these days it is overkill but, safety first.

very cool old timey machines.  thank you for posting.

[ebinmaine 67,484]

14 hours ago, ri702bill said:

Shingle-majig

Back in the (80s?) there was a local family in central Massachusetts that owned a white pine shingle mill. Seems I do remember the father had a couple digits a little shorter than they should have been. 

I never heard why it stopped operations after a few years.  

[ri702bill 8,319]

12 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

I never heard why it stopped operations after a few years.

Maybe it was too difficult to remove the cut shingle with just the index and little fingers that were left?? 

[tunahead72 2,412]

6 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Back in the (80s?) there was a local family in central Massachusetts that owned a white pine shingle mill. Seems I do remember the father had a couple digits a little shorter than they should have been. 

I never heard why it stopped operations after a few years.  

 

That sounds vaguely familiar, Eric.  Did they do siding as well?

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

6 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

why it stopped operations

 

Ran out of fingers.

 

[Handy Don 12,217]

3 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Ran out of fingers.

 

I'll tell you, watching that shingle maker work gave me shivers.

Having all my fingers intact and working made my career in business systems analysis, where I was at my keyboard for hours and hours every day, much easier. 

[ebinmaine 67,484]

35 minutes ago, tunahead72 said:

 

That sounds vaguely familiar, Eric.  Did they do siding as well?

 

 

The name of the business as I remember it was Eastern White Pine Shingle Company. 

I only remember them doing shingle shakes like in the video above but that doesn't mean they didn't also do siding like 1 x 6 or whatever.  

 

The two family names I remember being involved were Best and Scott

[tunahead72 2,412]

I don't believe that's the company I was thinking of.  If I remember correctly (always sketchy), they would have been mentioned ion Old-House Journal or something similar.  I'm sure I have some information on them, SOMEWHERE, I'll look around.

 

[tunahead72 2,412]

It just came to me...

 

One of them is Ward Clapboard Mill in Vermont, quartersawn red spruce and white pine clapboards, still in operation (web site not secure):

Ward Clapboard Mill | Clapboards | Clap Board | Bevel Wood Siding