SMALL SAWMILLS, THEIR EQUIPMENT, ETC. 65 
Single band — A band saw with one cutting edge ; a double band is toothed on 
both edges. 
Single mill — A mill with one head saw. 
Sizer — A machine for surfacing timber. 
Slasher — Several circulars mounted on the same line from 16 to 24 inches apart 
for cutting up slabs, edging, etc. 
Solid-tooth circular saw — One in which the teeth are cut into the rim of the saw. 
Spring set — When one tooth in a saw is sprung slightly to the right and the 
next one to the left alternately ; crosscut and narrow band saws are spring 
set. 
Standard band mill — One having a 50,000 daily capacity from a single band. 
Steam feed (or shotgun feed) — A long cylinder with a piston which is fixed to 
the rear end of the carriage and propels it back and forth. 
Steam niggers — A heavy-toothed lever worked by steam cylinders which is used 
to turn logs on the carriage. 
Sticker — Small pieces of boards placed between courses in a lumber pile or n 
machine used in a sash, door, and blind factory for shaping doors, sash rails, 
sash bars, and muntins. 
Swage — A tool used to spread the points of the teeth of a saw. 
Swage set — Hammering the points of the teeth to a width greater than the 
thickness of the saw. Head saws are usually spring set and some rip saws 
also. 
Taper lever — A lever attached to the knee of a carriage headblock which throws 
either knee out of alignment when cutting churn-butted logs. 
Tension — To make a band or circular looser in the middle than on the cutting 
edge, by hammering. 
Throat — The rounded cavity below the points in which sawdust gathers and is 
carried from the cut. 
Tire — Is that part of a band-saw blade 1 inch or more back from the throats 
which has not been stretched to conform with the segment to which the rest 
of the blade is tensioned. This leaves the saw tighter at the tire than it is 
in the middle. The width of the tire varies with the width of the saw and 
the amount of tension carried. 
To gig a carriage — Running the carriage back after a board is cut from the log. 
To gum a saw — To grind out the throats of a saw. 
To hammer a saw — To round it with a hammer in order to adjust the tension. 
To hang a saw — To place a saw in position ready for operation. 
To jack logs — To pull logs from the pond into the mill on an endless spiked 
chain. Syn. — Bull chain, jacker, log haul. 
Top saw — The upper of two circular saws on a head saw, both being on the 
same husk. 
Whip saw — A saw operated by two men used to cut logs into lumber. Syn. — ■ 
Pit saw. 
LUMBER TERMS. 
Backing board — The last board in the log left on the carriage. 
Barn boards — Boards used for barn siding. The cracks between the boards 
are covered with battens. 
Base — Interior trim which is fastened to the walls of a room at the floor line. 
Battens — Narrow lumber used to cover cracks between siding boards. 
Bevel cribbing — Boards beveled on both edges, used to cover the sides of a 
corncrib. 
Bevel siding — Lap siding, siding weather board. 
