# Sawmill and layout help



## williep99 (Sep 19, 2008)

I finished a _large_ furniture and lumber building at the base of my pond. When I say large, it is about 4 feet by 4 feet and about 3 feet tall. I needed something to cover my pump and filter setup. While out of scale it should look OK when I finish the last portion which is a sawmill. The sawmill will be located on my filter box as a lid of sorts and will be around 2 feet by 30 inches. All connected to the main building by a covered and sided building to transport the lumber from the sawmill.

Anyway, as I am beginning the sawmill build I am having trouble determing the layout of the interior. It will be open on 3 sides so it can be viewed and I would like it to have _some_ prototypical layout so I can explain its operation to the uninitiated and have some defense of my ignorance to the knowledgable. It will have a sluice (?) from the pond into the interior but from there I am somewhat lost. Up onto the rails to the saw and from there to another set into the transport tunnel?

I did some searching and disn't come up with any good pictures that could give me a helping hand. Any help very much appreciated.

Bill


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill

Maybe this will be of some help.

How to build and operate a sawmill (c 1918)[/b] Google Books

Lumber's Catalog (c 1921)[/b] Google Books


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/sawmill/asam.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXMDlxY1fQQ&feature=related

http://www.garymkatz.com/ontheroad/hulloaks.htm


One odd thing I noticed on this one is that their Corliss is set to run under. Big steam engines are usually set to run the other way so that the pressure from the connecting rod on the crosshead is downward to help prevent pounding the guides. 

http://video.pbs.org/video/1427672521/

http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/sawmill.html


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

*Very good links .. tks for the infrom.







*


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## work4fil (Jan 4, 2008)

Wow! 

Thank you for taking me back down memory lane. I had forgotten about big log breakdown. There is something about the smell of frsh cut lumber and the whine of machinery. I am impressed with the wealth of knowledge. Thanks again. 

Fil


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## williep99 (Sep 19, 2008)

Thanks for the info guys. Now I have an idea of what to design.

Bill


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill

Forgot to mention it just in case you're not aware, but you can download a copy of the above Google books in PDF format. Look in the upper-right corner where the PDF link is and click it, when the File Download dialog displays I would suggest that you click the 'Open' button, then after the document has been downloaded and opened use the Adobe Acrobat Reader to save a copy to your local system. The reason that I suggest the 'Open' rather than the 'Save' option is because I've encountered file opening failures after using the 'Save' function and have not had that problem the other way.


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

This is an excellent link for finding out how a sawmill works 

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampag...xCols=2&itemLink=D?hh:21:./temp/~ammem_m1ut:: 

Chris


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## RimfireJim (Mar 25, 2009)

Posted By up9018 on 07 Dec 2010 07:56 PM 
This is an excellent link for finding out how a sawmill works 

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampag...xCols=2&itemLink=D?hh:21:./temp/~ammem_m1ut:: 

Chris Wow - good stuff. I downloaded the hi-res version of all the images (note that there are two pages worth).

Found one minor error in the text on the boiler house operation: says the steam is heated to 2000 degrees at 150 psi. I knew that couldn't be right, because that is way hotter than the superheated steam I dealt with in a 600 psi steam plant in Uncle Sam's Navy. The temperature of saturated steam at 150 psig is 366F. There is no mention of a superheater in the text, and it is unlikely that there is one. Even if there was, the temp would be in the 400s.


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

Jim, 

Go to the home page of that site and search for SAWMILL, you will find many many more. Great place to look for information. 

Chris


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Don't know if you are aware of the following, but many of the images accessed via the American Memory web site are stored in the TIFF format (Tagged Image File Format; .tif, .tiff). For example the 12 drawings for the Hull-Oaks Lumber Co. referenced by Chris (MLS - up9018). Which come from the National Park's Service - Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)/Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) - Built in America Collections.

Anyway, to easily get the most from these images (i.e. Larger reference image/Highest resolution image options) when viewing them on or off-line you need to install one of the free third-party Browser Helper Objects (BHO), which are made available on the American Memory web site.

For the MS/Internet Explorer I would suggest.
[*] The AlternaTIFF Viewer, which can be accessed from the following hyperlink to the American Memory web site.
[*] Once on the 'How to View' web page either click the 'Documents (Text and Page Images)' link or simply scroll down the page to that section, then in the 'Viewers' column click the AlternaTIFF link, lastly follow the directions to install the viewer.

American Memory home >> Help >> How to View >> AlternaTIFF Viewer[/b]

[*] Once the TIFF viewer has been installed, when viewing either a 'Larger reference Image' or 'Highest resolution image' on or off-line you'll see a new tool-bar displayed at the top of the browser window, these are the controls for the AlternaTIFF viewer and if you point to an individual button and hover a small 'Tool Tip' text box will display and explain what that tool does. Also notice that the mouse cursor is now a 'Magnifying Glass' and if you click anywhere on the displayed document it will automatically enlarge. The mouse pointer will change to a 'cross-hair' style and as you move the mouse the view will pan (i.e. left, right, up, and down) as you move the mouse, once again click the mouse and the image will automatically be reduced.
[/list] If you're into old maps and are viewing a map from one of the 11 collections, then I would suggest also installing the MrSID (Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database, .sid) BHO viewer. If you're already on the American Memory - How to View web page simply scroll to the 'Maps' section or click the appropriate link at the top of the page, then in the 'Viewer' column click the 'ExpressView Browser Plug-in (viewing)' hyperlink and follow the instructions for installing.

For the MS/Internet Explorer
[*] American Memory Home >> Help >> How to View >> ExpressView Browser Plug-in[/b]

[*] There is also MrSID User Guide available from American Memory, it's for an older version but it will get you started it just doesn't cover all the new features of the latest version. The User Guide is in PDF format and you can download and save a copy if you wish.

American Memory Home >> ExpressView User Guide PDF[/b]
[/list] Hope you find the above to be of help.
SteveC


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

Thanks for the info Steve, I go there all the time looking for stuff.....will have to try your suggestions next time. 

Chris


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## williep99 (Sep 19, 2008)

And Thank You again guys. I hve plenty of info now to sift through. I just have to finish up my 12 foot arched bridge....


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## RimfireJim (Mar 25, 2009)

And if all the info linked above is not enough for you, I just found that there is a video on the Hull-Oakes Lumber Co. by Golden Rail Video, 117 minutes, including some railroad operations at the mill, $24.95 Steam-powered Sawmill. Another source is Schrader's Railroad Catalog: Steam-Power Sawmill DVD, same price . There is a shorter (25 min.) one on Amazon: Steam Operated Sawmill for $15.95


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

Jim, 

Look it up on YouTube, there are several videos of the Hull Oaks operation on there. 

Chris


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## RimfireJim (Mar 25, 2009)

And even more (plans & book) on the Hull-Oakes operation: http://www.westernscalemodels.com/Books/Books.htm

Short review of the book in the Feb. 2010 issue of Garden Railways by Marc Horovitz: http://tinyurl.com/46n6f37


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