118 



THE SAWMILL 



Side filing or side dressing, after swaging, is usually practiced, although objected to by the saw makers. 

 For gumming, either a gumming press or the emery wheel is used. 



(c) The filing room. Every band sawmill has a separate filing room preferably above the mill- 

 floor, equipped with automatic dressing machines, viz., automatic sharpener, automatic swage, automatic 

 swage shaper, saw stretcher, &c. 



In the band sawmill, the filer is considered more important for the success of the mill than the sawyer. 



Band saw sharpener. Hanchett Swage Works, 

 Big Rapids, Mich. 



Saws are changed three or four times a day. 



"Brazing" of a band saw means joining the loose 

 ends, uniformly beveled or ground to a feather edge ■V4 inch 

 long. A strip of silver solder is placed between the cleaned 

 laps, which are then taken between the cheeks of the brazing 

 clamps heated to a bright red heat. After pressing the clamps 

 together for several minutes and allowing them to cool, the 

 braze is dressed down with a file to the proper thickness. 



The filer arrests cracks by punching a small pin hole 

 or dot at extremity of crack. 



(d) The wheels. The band saw runs, belt like, over two 

 wheels weighing from 1,500 to 3,000 pounds (the lower 

 heavier than the upper); the lower wheel driving the upper 

 by the band saw acting as a belt. 



The diameters of the wheels are 5 to 11 feet; the face 

 being more narrow than the sawblade, the teeth overlap 

 the wheel. 



The crown of the tire is up to Vsi inch. 



The entire length of the log band saw varies from 30 

 feet to 70 feet. 



The saw guides, lined with wood or babbit metal, pre- 

 vent the cutting part of the blade from jbending toward the 



In theUiling room of a band sawmi 



Interior of an Oregon band sawmill. 



