The operation of all these mills did not escape the careful attention
of the men who were builders of the machinery found in the great lumber
mills, realizing as they did that the right kind of a Band Mill for
sawing logs was yet to be created, and they went at it.
And to the Stearns Manufacturing Co. of Erie, Pa., must the credit be
given for the first vigorous measures taken to introduce the band saw
into the large mills of the country, and for their efforts to convince
lumbermen of their usefulness and value. To that end they built a mill
having wheels nine feet in diameter for saws eight inches wide. The
rims were of wood with rubber faces, and the spokes were of wrought
pipe. It was their belief that a band saw would be less liable to crack
if run on large wheels.
In combination with this mill they mounted on the same frame a large
circular arbor so that a lumberman could use either a Band or a
Circular should he so desire.
[Illustration: Mr. Wellington W. Cummer in 1887]
Mr. Wellington Cummer, of Cadillac, Mich., was the first to install one
of them in his mill; and no lumberman in this country has been more
ready to adopt improved methods than he. Mill men generally do not
wish to try machines they look upon as experimental in any respect, no
matter how good they may appear; usually they want somebody else to try
them first, overlooking the fact that an inventor must find some one
broad enough to permit their mill to be used, or one who is willing
perhaps to invest in a machine that apparently is a good thing. Mr.
Cummer was just the man for Mr. Stearns to apply to in the effort to
introduce his new Band Mill. And looking back the writer recalls with
so much pleasure the many delightful and helpful interviews had with
him. What a comfort it is to an inventor to find a man of his qualities
of mind and heart to whom he can go, knowing that he would surely be
interested in whatever he might have to say. Such men move things, and
Mr. Cummer did.
Other mills of the Stearns Company were put in at Pequaming and
Menominee, Mich., and also at Minneapolis, Minn. But these mills were
not a complete success. They did serve, however, to open wide the eyes
of the lumber world generally and set the pace for other machinery
builders to follow.
The Stearns Company finally abandoned this construction and adopted
a plan modeled on the Hoffman mill, which they advertised in the
Northwestern Lumberman, January 29, 1887. Their first mill, however,
was the better of the two.
The writer pauses here to pay a tribute to the memory of Mr. E. H.
Stearns who possessed the brains from which sprung the splendid
machinery built by the Stearns Company. To him more than to any other
man living or dead, are the lumbermen of this country indebted for the
mill equipments which brought the greatest success to them. He was the
first man to give grace and beauty of design as well as strength to saw
mill machinery. He was the first to produce carriages with accurately
setting head blocks with self-receding knees, in place of the old time
wooden head blocks with screw sets.
The eccentric setting blocks, and subsequently the double acting set
works, which we all now copy, came on the market through him. The big
circulars with reversed top saw models of construction, came from him.
Live Rollers and labor saving machines originated with him, as also did
the splendid Gang Edgers which we now have in place of the old single
saw edger with its traveling table. He designed and built the first of
the special heavy class machinery required in California now largely in
use in that state.
And yet, with all the splendid service he rendered the lumbermen of
this country, he was allowed to go down to his death with not enough
to pay his funeral expenses, and few to do him honor. The men with
whom he dealt are now mostly dead, but the living successors should
remember that to him they are largely indebted for the full measure of
prosperity they now enjoy.
[Illustration: Mr. E. H. Stearns in 1885]
[Illustration: BAND SAW MILL OF E. P. ALLIS & CO.
Described as the latest candidate in the NORTHWESTERN LUMBERMAN of
January 9, 1886]
In 1885 E. P. Allis & Co. of Milwaukee, Wis., actively began operations
with Band Mills for sawing logs. In principle their constructions were
similar to all the others heretofore named, but for nearly four years
they persistently adhered to a mill having at least one glaring defect,
namely, overhanging wheels; that is, there was no supporting boxes
outside of them. In 1889 they corrected this defect.
But the amusing feature in the mill of E. P. Allis & Co. is shown in
the effort to keep the slack slide of the saw on the back side of the
mill where it belongs, and thus prevent making snakey or dishy lumber.
The overhanging wheels, nine feet in diameter for eight-inch saws, are
shown. The top wheel was almost entirely of wood, and the spokes were
flat and wide, the object being to obtain an atmospheric resistance
continually as a pull back on the cutting side of the saw. A tightener
pulley was also applied to the saw on the rear side.
This sounded good and they sold a lot of mills on the strength of it;
but the wind that came from them would blow the sawyer out of the mill
unless the wheel was boxed in, and finally it happened that a saw came
off and the wheel did not meet with resistance enough to stop itself,
but kept on going, and that burst the bubble.
Attention is also directed to the fact that the combination of a
circular saw with a band saw, as in the Stearns’ mill, was adopted by
the Allis Company.
[Illustration: Second Band Saw Mill of E. P. Allis & Co.]
Improved Reliance Band Saw Mill of E. P. Allis & Co. Advertised in
the Southern Lumberman, January 1, 1889, as the “best on earth.” This
mill they continued to build until 1892. It shows metallic wheels and
supporting arms outside of them as in the Stearns mills.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of Benjamin & Fischer]
Feby. 14, 1885, The Northwestern Lumberman caused a shiver to run
through the mechanical world by publishing an account of “A New Entry,”
and showing two illustrations of a Band Mill for sawing logs invented
by Mr. Benjamin of the firm of Benjamin & Fischer of Chicago, Ill. It
was extensively advertised, and really was an ingenious mill. It was
intended to correct the defects existing in other mills which had made
such crooked lumber, cracked saws, and performed all sorts of mischief,
which they really had, and there was no doubt about it.
Apart from the fact that the lower wheel was much larger in
diameter than the top wheel, the main distinguishing feature in the
Benjamin mill was the application of a ball centrifugal governor to
automatically adjust a tightener pulley impinging on the back side of
the saw to instantly take up and prevent a slack from going over to the
tight side and thereby making snakey, crooked lumber.
One of these mills was erected at Chicago. A car of logs was brought
there and many prominent mill men were invited to see the mill at
work. A large number attended; but the mill did not satisfy any of
them. There was just one thing Mr. Benjamin did not take into account,
namely, a governor cannot act until there is a perceptible increase or
diminution in the speed of an engine or a machine; consequently in a
band mill it got in its work too late to stop the mischief. The mill
never went into general service. Its wheels were of wood with rubber
faces.
* * * * *
Early in 1886 Mr. Charles Esplin, of the Pray Manufacturing Co., of
Minneapolis, Minn., built a Band Mill upon an entirely new principle,
and one of them was operated that year by the Superior Lumber Co., of
Ashland, Wis. It was illustrated and advertised in 1887 as “the only
perfect Band Mill in use.” It transpired, however, that the analysis of
band saw troubles and their causes as published by Mr. Esplin was truly
perfect, but the Band Mill built by him to correct the troubles was
imperfect to the extreme, as will be seen; and the wonder is that he
did not see it himself, when clearly on the right track.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of Charles Esplin]
To understand this construction it is proper to state that the attempt
is made to apply an exceedingly sensitive and automatic strain to the
band saw; a strain instantly responsive to any change in the run of the
saw, whether due to expansion or slippage; no matter what might happen
the strain would always be uniform, and perfect lumber with lots of it
would be the continual result.
The top wheel with its shaft was mounted in fixed boxes, adjustable
only in order to change saws. But the heavy lower wheel with its large
shaft and belt pulley was mounted in boxes integral with an iron rocker
or tightener frame to which was attached a long weighted lever like
an old fashioned safety valve lever; and the wheel thus equipped was
placed in the saw. Thus it will be seen that the weight of the wheel
with its shaft and the rocker frame, lever, weight and pulley, was
employed to strain that saw downward automatically; and it was designed
that this wheel acting through gravity should respond instantly to
changes which might occur to the saw, whereby all slack would be taken
up and a perfectly uniform tension be maintained.
This kind of talk was certainly catchy with lumbermen for it also
sounded good. There was, however, just one thing Mr. Esplin and others
overlooked, namely, if an adjustment is at all necessary to meet
changing conditions in a band saw running from 9,000 to 10,000 feet in
a minute, then that adjustment must of necessity take place almost like
a flash of lightning, and that automatically.
Mr. Esplin’s lower wheel, boxing, shaft, belt pulley, rocker frame,
lever and weight probably weighed four tons. Such a weight cannot move
like a flash, and goes too far when it does move, and broken saws or
snakey lumber were the logical result. The inertia of such a mass
prevents quick action.
This mill was a failure like the rest, and the designers of Band Saw
Mills for sawing logs were left groping in darkness. To be sure, Band
Mills to some extent were in use though largely under protest because
of the poor lumber they made, the small quantities produced, and the
troubles experienced with cracked and broken saws.
[Illustration: Cunningham Inclined Band Saw Mill]
It was in the same year, 1886, that The Filer & Stowell Co., of
Milwaukee, Wis., flattered themselves into believing that other
machinery builders did not really understand just how a Band Mill for
sawing logs should be built, and being perfectly cognizant of the
difficulties experienced and of the remedy to be applied, they designed
and brought out and advertised the Cunningham Inclined Mill, an
illustration of which is here shown.
For a unique organization this mill took the cake. The idea of it was
good, and it should have been a winner, but for some reason it was not.
They built and sold quite a number of them, and then later they changed
to a more sensible kind of a mill.
As will be observed, this mill inclined to the rear twenty or more
degrees, with the result that the saw would enter a log like a circular
saw, cutting under in a manner similar to the circular instead of
straight down across the grain as band saws usually do. It was
understood that a circular could do straight work and very much more
daily than was possible with a band saw. It was, therefore, quite
natural to suppose that if a band mill could be constructed so as to
operate substantially like a circular with equal advantages, then there
appeared no reason why it should not do as good work if not quite so
much. At all events it was expected that this mill would do more work
and better work than any of its predecessors. But it did not, and
proved to be quite a nuisance as it required about six men to place the
saw on its wheels every time they were changed; and the mill went out
of use.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of Wilson & Hendrie]
In 1886 Wilson & Hendrie, of Montague, Mich., tried their hand at Band
Mill construction. Their mill as here shown is an enlarged copy of the
Hoffman mill, but having a cast frame of apparently large dimensions.
Locally this mill may have gone into use to some extent, but it found
no market among saw mills generally.
[Illustration: Band Saw Mill of The Wilkin Manufacturing Co.]
And then in 1888 The Wilkin Mfg. Co., of Milwaukee, Wis., advertised
and marketed a Band Mill designated as “the most common sense Band Mill
made.” It had overhanging wheels of wood with rubber faces.
In one respect this mill demonstrates how easy it is for one to imagine
a trouble and then spend a lot of money to correct a trouble that
really has no existence.
It was known, of course, that a band saw under stress would be inclined
to gravitate to the rear. In this mill the attempt is made to prevent
this and compel the saw to follow its proper path around the wheels by
raising or depressing the tail end of the top wheel shaft; and in order
to do this automatically a steel trolley was applied to the rear edge
of the saw, closely following it, whatever its position might be; but
any movement of the trolley towards the front or rear was followed by a
corresponding adjustment of the tail box of the top shaft. The effect
of the trolley on the edge of the saw was bad; and besides that there
really was no special need of any device of the kind.
In connection with this mill there are also three other interesting
features worthy of mention, as one of them in particular illustrates
the method then prevailing of preventing a log from rubbing or dragging
against the saw when the carriage was run back or being gigged for the
next cut. At the present time an off-setting mechanism is applied to
the carriage trucks, but previously a depressor, so-called, was applied
to all mills substantially as shown in the Wilkin mill and others
illustrated herein. That is to say, both the upper and lower saw guides
were movable transversely, and the off-bearer by means of a hand lever,
forced the guides back from the saw line, carrying the saw sideways
away from the log, and in this manner contact with the face of the log
was prevented; but it was hard on the saw.
In this mill, however, there is a new departure as shown by the
application of two small friction rolls or pulleys behind the saw, in
place of the usual saw guides; the idea being to force the saw out to
the saw line by means of the rolls, and then when the carriage was
gigged the rolls were moved back and the saw permitted to fall away
from the face of the log; this feature being an imitation of the same
thing embodied in the Allington mill previously built at Saginaw, but
not shown herein. This arrangement, however, proved to be severe on the
saws, because such short bends will crack them in a short time, and
besides this the rolls made such a roar in a mill that not much else
could be heard.
Next in this mill a spring was employed to maintain a sensitive
automatic strain on the saw; and this, like the other special features
of the mill, proved worthless, and the mill, like the Allington, went
out of use and is unknown to the art now.
Now in all the preceding it is shown that Saw Mill Machinery Builders
were studiously striving during all the years between 1880 and 1887,
and some of them to a much later date, to produce a Band Mill for
sawing logs that would do good work and as much of it as lumbermen
would be satisfied with, and that, too, without so much cracking and
breaking of saws. The simple fact that they were continually devising
new constructions with a statement each time that now they had struck
it, and the further fact that without an exception all of these were
entirely abandoned and fundamentally new machines brought out at a
later date, prove indubitably that all of their former efforts had
failed to meet the full requirements which lumbermen expected and
demanded.
The question then naturally arises, how did it come about that
successful cutting band mills of a wholly different type are now
universally in use? Who is the man who originated the strictly modern
band mill that served as a pattern for all to follow? The following
will explain it:
Aug. 23 and Sept. 13, 1887, patents were issued to D. C. Prescott,
then of Marinette, Wis., for improvements in Band Saw Mills, and other
patents followed shortly thereafter on further improvements.
[Illustration: D. C. Prescott in 1887]
The creation of these mills was purely upon the principle previously
described by Mr. Esplin who so signally failed in its application.
Plainly it was evident that to secure a nervous, sensitive and constant
strain on a band saw, it was imperative to reduce the weight upon
the straining levers to the least possible quantity consistent with
strength, and to make all the pivotal points as near frictionless as
possible by the intervention of knife edges or ball bearings; and
while it was impossible to reduce the weight to a point so as to
accomplish an automatic adjustment as quick as a flash, it is a fact,
nevertheless, that in the Prescott mills of that date a strain was
automatically maintained sufficient to successfully accomplish the
work of sawing lumber accurately and in acceptable quantities. And
these were the mills that set the pace for all other builders and
revolutionized saw mill constructions.
[Illustration: PRESCOTT BAND SAW MILL
Patented September 13, 1887; over 150 built and most of them are in
service at the present time, 1910]
[Illustration: PRESCOTT BAND SAW MILL
Patented November 26, 1889, with set-off for increased space from saw
line to column. 8 foot wheels, 12 inch saws]
The light metallic top wheel with its shaft, runs in boxes mounted on
plungers, and from them stems lead down to the straining levers, and
all were made as light as possible. Characteristically about all band
mills now employ this system, and whether they have a single column or
a double column, the arrangement is substantially the same.
We often read of big day’s work performed by some make of band mill,
but it is proper to say that the day’s work performed in the saw mill
of the North Wisconsin Lumber Co. at Hayward, Wis., has never been
equaled. This was done by two of Prescott’s No. 3 mills, being the
second one illustrated, as follows: