The Sawmill

The Sawmill

A sawmill is a valuable piece of equipment on a farm and in any rural area where woodlands can provide timber for sawing. Rough cut boards provide lumber for farm and rural buildings..... or the rough lumber can be dried and planed smooth for fine furniture and cabinetry.
Click on thumbnail photos for a larger view

A Red Maple table made from lumber cut from our woodland
The sawmill can also provide income in rural areas by providing ties and timbers for railroads and mines as well as rough boards for the local market. Some large mills buy quality rough cut hardwood boards for the furniture industry from small home operations, called "peckerwood" mills.

Our first sawmill was a Belsaw M14 sawmill which we found in disrepair on a farm in Northern New Jersey. It took major rebuilding to make it work, but it made lumber for us. Belsaw was bought by Foley in 1977 and the Belsaw circular sawmills were still made in the 90s but are now discontinued.
Our present mill is an Ireland #6. It is big enough to be used in commercial operations but small enough for two men to operate. With a crew of 3 or 4 men the Ireland #6 mill can easily put out 10,000 board feet of lumber in a day. The Ireland Corporation of Norwich, New York ceased making sawmills in the 1940s, but the Ireland Corporation continued until the 1980s. The Cotton-Hanlin Corporation supplied parts for Ireland mills, and then they sold the parts business to Collins Mill in Cayuta. New parts were still produced on demand at a foundry in Pennsyvania until a few years ago when the foundry burned, but I have been told by Derek Collins that his father Tim Collins still has all the plans and molds for Ireland parts.

Belsaw-The "One Man Sawmill"
The Belsaw Company offered the farmer an inexpensive light small basic mill on which the log carriage was pushed by hand. The Belsaw brochure explained how the farmer could saw and sell lumber and use the profits to buy a manual winch to move the log carriage and how later he then could use his increased earnings to buy an automatic power feed. More profits could then be used to buy all the Belsaw labor saving extras to make the mill a profitable enterprise. Although it was small and light, the Belsaw was capable of sawing large logs but at a slower rate than the larger heavier mills. It had the advantage of being able to saw small otherwise wasted trees and turn them into much needed cash for the rural landowner.

Belsaw blade slices a Spruce log Look at my dark beard! No gray!

Nice boards as Grandpa Martin and Uncle Bill give it a try the Belsaw is small but effective

The Ireland #6 is a heavy duty high capacity mill

Ireland Foundary

Ireland Mills were made in Norwich,NY I have an Ireland #6

Saw Blade
A 46 inch circular saw blade runs at 500 RPM It has 32 inserted teeth Tooth
Each tooth is replaceable but can be sharpened A "shank" holds in an "inserted tooth"
View from the "Head Sawyer's" platform The "Head Sawyer" operates the mill and decides on each cut

The "stick" operates the carriage forward and back The stick is the control that moves the log into the blade
Four headblocks with sharp "dogs" hold the log As they move forward the log is advanced closer to the blade for each cut
The scoreboard allows the Sawyer to set the log for each cut The marks allow boards of varying thickness to be cut plus allowing for the "kerf" of the blade

boards
The log carriage wheels run on track The track must be aligned perfectly past the blade
The mill tracks are 45 feet long cable
The cable drum winds the steel cable The cable moves the log carriage forward and back

A log deck for rolling the logs onto the carriage The deck is made of steel railroad rails
Poplar (Aspen) logs loaded on the deck The deck is filled with logs before sawing
The log is first squared into a "cant" This log already has three sides cut and a first pass on this face

A Ford Commander 6000 tractor powers the mill This old Ford runs well but has no forward gears
The PTO (Power Take Off) from the Ford turns the main shaft (arbor) The arbor turns the blade and powers the receder
(Hydraulics power a motor that runs the cable drum The Ford provides the hydraulic power

The power receder speeds up sawing by moving the headblocks with live power Taper levers
The taperlevers Levers allow the headblocks to be staggered for tapered logs

The rollers help roll away the cut lumber The "Tail Sawyer" removes cut boards truck frame
The mill was mounted on a truck frame by a past owner He had used the truck engine to drive it on the road

Sawdust piles up, a major byproduct The sawdust chain moves it away from the blade
Hemlock and Poplar boards pile up

After a few hours sawing No Tail Sawyer and the slabs and lumber pile up
Slab management is a major job Firewood is the only use for slabwood
Slabwood is cut into firewood

Return to Messineo Homepage

A 46 inch circular saw blade runs at 500 RPM It has 32 inserted teeth	Each tooth is replaceable but can be sharpened A "shank" holds in an "inserted tooth"	View from the "Head Sawyer's" platform The "Head Sawyer" operates the mill and decides on each cut
The "stick" operates the carriage forward and back The stick is the control that moves the log into the blade	Four headblocks with sharp "dogs" hold the log As they move forward the log is advanced closer to the blade for each cut	The scoreboard allows the Sawyer to set the log for each cut The marks allow boards of varying thickness to be cut plus allowing for the "kerf" of the blade
The log carriage wheels run on track The track must be aligned perfectly past the blade	The mill tracks are 45 feet long	The cable drum winds the steel cable The cable moves the log carriage forward and back
A log deck for rolling the logs onto the carriage The deck is made of steel railroad rails	Poplar (Aspen) logs loaded on the deck The deck is filled with logs before sawing	The log is first squared into a "cant" This log already has three sides cut and a first pass on this face
A Ford Commander 6000 tractor powers the mill This old Ford runs well but has no forward gears	The PTO (Power Take Off) from the Ford turns the main shaft (arbor) The arbor turns the blade and powers the receder	(Hydraulics power a motor that runs the cable drum The Ford provides the hydraulic power
The power receder speeds up sawing by moving the headblocks with live power	The taperlevers Levers allow the headblocks to be staggered for tapered logs
The rollers help roll away the cut lumber The "Tail Sawyer" removes cut boards	The mill was mounted on a truck frame by a past owner He had used the truck engine to drive it on the road
Sawdust piles up, a major byproduct The sawdust chain moves it away from the blade	Hemlock and Poplar boards pile up
After a few hours sawing No Tail Sawyer and the slabs and lumber pile up	Slab management is a major job Firewood is the only use for slabwood	Slabwood is cut into firewood