It is not the purpose to begin this narrative with a history of the
crude methods employed by our ancestors to obtain lumber for building
purposes; it is enough to know that they were able to obtain the
necessary material with which to provide homes for themselves, as well
as establishments in which to carry on business, to say nothing of
schools and houses of worship; and some lumber for these purposes they
certainly did have, and it was not cut by anything like a modern saw
mill, either.
It is sufficient to state that we have advanced from the early Hand
Whip Saw to machines in order about as follows: The Sash Saw, the Mulay
Saw, the Round or Live Gang, the Slabbing Gang and its partner the Flat
or Stock Gang; then the Circular or Rotary Mill, and lastly the Band
Saw Mill, and one generation of men, some of whom are now alive, has
seen all of these machines at regular work in saw mills sawing logs.
In passing it may be of interest to state that the old Sash Saw was
usually run by undershot water wheels, and a man would start a cut in
the morning and then, go to plowing out in his field. By noon, that cut
being finished, he would set over the log for another board, go home
to dinner, after which he would resume his plowing, and by evening the
second cut would be completed; so that by close attention to business a
man could get two boards a day.
A sawyer on one of these mills once told the writer that he could sit
on a log that was being sawed and go to sleep. When the log had moved
up far enough the saw would scratch him when it came down and he then
had plenty of time when the saw went up to wake up and get off the log
before the saw came down again. But since then times have changed and
we have progressed far away from the Stub Shot to the Circular Mill and
to the Band Mill for sawing logs, the Stock Gang being still in use in
some instances for sawing cants prepared by both of them.
The use of the Band Mill in place of Circulars and Gangs became very
desirable for two important reasons; one of them was that the saw kerf
of a band saw is so much less than that of a circular saw that the
saving in sawdust yielded a greater quantity of lumber from the logs,
thus accomplishing a clear saving of valuable material. The other
reason was that while Gangs made perfectly sawed lumber, they produced
a great deal of cullen stock from rough or unsound logs, for as the
saws are hung in the sash so must the lumber come out, and there is no
way of varying the thicknesses to accommodate the quality of the stock.
While a Band Mill will not cut so much lumber in a day as a Gang, it is
a machine with which a log can be sawed to the best advantage, and that
with a saw as thin as a gang saw. So that if the lumber coming from a
Gang and often rated as cull, could have been sawed into piece or thick
stuff, it would make it valuable and marketable.
This made the Band Mill attractive, and lumbermen began to take an
interest in it and to investigate the operations of those known to
exist. The result of their inspections, however, was far from being
satisfactory, because none of them were doing good work or anywhere
near enough of it, and with exceedingly few exceptions the mill men
rejected them and regarded them as an impracticable machine for sawing
logs, and few dealers would buy lumber that was cut with a band saw.
Mr. L. L. Hotchkiss who operated a mill in West Bay City, Mich., and
was very desirous of saving as much of his logs as he could, told the
writer that the men to whom he sold his lumber had refused to buy any
of it if he cut it with a Band Mill.
A prominent lumberman of Minneapolis also told the writer that he would
not take a Band Mill as a gift and be obliged to put it in and use
it. And that was the prevailing view among mill men of the northwest
generally in 1886.
Band Mills that would satisfy the lumber manufacturers of Indiana and
the valley of the Ohio where they were to be found, could never meet
the requirements of the men of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the
Mississippi Valley as far south as St. Louis.
Now what was the trouble? It was simply because a band saw if forced to
do a satisfactory day’s work, invariably would cut snakey or crooked
lumber; and even when sawing a small amount of lumber each end of a
board would have a crook, showing that the saw for some reason would
deflect from a true line when entering a log and also when leaving it,
while the cut through the center might be quite straight; but in all
cases the effort to push things so as to get a satisfactory day’s work
as demanded by the northern mill men, would result in bad snakey lumber
every time, and dealers did not want such lumber.
Previous to 1887 there was not a Band Mill in existence for sawing logs
that fully met the wishes of lumbermen engaged in large operations,
although quite a number of such machines were then at work with varying
success in mills owned by men who felt encouraged to try them.
The builders of saw mill machinery were then studiously endeavoring to
produce a Band Mill that would perform the full duty of making straight
lumber and plenty of it, and a number of them had already devoted
several years of hard work upon them. They appeared to know what the
trouble was, but were greatly at a loss to know precisely how to
correct it.
The story of the trouble briefly told is as follows: A band saw runs on
its wheels just the same as a belt runs on pulleys. The saw, just the
same as a belt, has a tight side and also a slack side. The tight side
is on the log side and the slack side is opposite on the back side; and
if for any reason the saw should slip on the lower or driving wheel,
then in that case the momentum of the upper wheel would carry the slack
over to the front or log side, and a snake or crook in the lumber would
be the result. This was generally understood to be the trouble and
various expedients, some of which were very amusing, were adopted (as
hereinafter shown) by machinery builders, only to be discarded later
as band mill construction developed.
[Illustration: THE HOFFMAN BAND SAW MILL
Built by J. R. Hoffman & Co., Fort Wayne, Ind., and advertised in the
NORTHWESTERN LUMBERMAN May 9, 1885]
The first Band Mill to attract the attention of mill men was in
operation at Fort Wayne, Ind., in a saw mill operated by the Hoffman
Bros. They had used one for several years, and the writer visited
their mill in 1885. They were then buying large first clear logs up in
Michigan and sawing them into stuff for pigeon holes and other cabinet
stock.
The wheels were of wood five feet in diameter, with rubber faces and
iron spoke centers. Both wheels were alike. They used a saw five inches
wide, which they procured in France, claiming that no saw makers in
this country knew how to make a band saw, and they probably did not;
but their operations attracted so much attention that they commenced to
build and market Band Mills of the same character as the one in use by
themselves, and they did sell quite a number of them.
The iron work shown is mounted on a wooden post, and while this mill is
insignificant when compared to our modern mills, it nevertheless made a
serious impression upon the men who inspected it at work.
J. J. Kennedy of Rib Lake, Wis., had one of them, and was the first man
to employ a Prescott Steam Feed to operate its carriage, which he did
under the protest of Hoffman’s expert who did not believe it could be
used; but really it materially increased the cut of the little Hoffman
mill.
[Illustration: Second Band Saw Mill of J. R. Hoffman & Co.]
Subsequently the mill of J. R. Hoffman & Co. was enlarged to an all
iron Band Saw Mill. It was written up in the Nov. 28, 1885, issue of
the Northwestern Lumberman, and thenceforward they advertised until
they quit the business. An illustration of the mill is shown above.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of Cordesman & Egan Co.]
In the Dec. 15, 1883, issue of the Southern Lumberman, Cordesman &
Egan Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, enjoyed a write-up in connection with a
new Band Mill for sawing logs which they had devised and placed on the
market.
It sold to some extent in the Ohio Valley, but never in the northwest.
The wheels had wooden rims with rubber faces and both were alike.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of London, Berry & Orton]
Up to 1888, London, Berry & Orton of the Atlantic Works, Philadelphia,
were builders of log Band Mills and enjoyed quite an extensive trade,
and some of them found their way into the northwest. Their mill is here
shown.
The wheels were six feet in diameter with wood rims attached to a metal
rim inside of them; the faces were rubber and the saws were six inches
wide.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of Sinker-Davis Company]
Next we have the celebrated Gold Dust Mill built by Sinker-Davis Co.
of Indianapolis, Ind. They were advertising this mill in the Southern
Lumberman as early as 1884 and were building band mills for some time
previous. Their improved mill of 1885 is here shown, wood rims with
rubber faces composed the wheels, and their market was the middle
sections of the country but never in the mills of the northwest.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of Smith, Myers & Schnier]
A Log Band Mill was also built at Cincinnati, Ohio, by Smith, Myers &
Schnier, and this mill was advertised by them in the Mississippi Valley
Lumberman as late as Mar. 9, 1888. It is a crude looking affair with
wooden wheels built on iron flanges. They were builders of Band Mills,
however, for many years previous and were in competition for business
with those previously named.
[Illustration: BAND SAW MILL OF THE STEARNS MANUFACTURING CO.