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Thought of Mr. Robinson when I 'saw' this! Thick kerf blade!

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/steam-powered-sawmill?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PopularWoodworking+%28Popular+Woodworking%29

Loved it!!!!

I was fascinated by the feed man, notice his right arm and the slight corrections he makes to the feed rate. A true craftsman.

Like to see SawStop technology installed on that saw.

Very cool. I'm going to forward the link to my Dad in Illinois. He used to take me to the thrasherman's Reunion when I was a lad. All steam powered equipment.

I've watched a lot of those used and love watching. My first sawmill was a blacksmith made rig. A circle saw, smaller than that one and dangerous as hell. Rather than make a bunch of modifications to it I sold it. I warned the buyer carefully about its design flaws. He had some good ideas on making it safer. Even with a narrower kerf than those big ones it still ate about 1/4" of wood on each cut. Those big inserted tooth blades can take as much as 5/8" at each cut if it has any run-out at all.
My second sawmill that I bought after I sold the blacksmith one was a bandsaw mill. It would cut a log 30" in diameter and 24' long. It only took about a 1/8" of wood per cut. It also cut so smooth that you only had to plane off a very small amount on each board. It cut so smooth that on one or two jobs where the customer wanted a rough cut I had to put a lot of set in one tooth on each side to leave a rustic look to the lumber. I used it for 6 years then sold it for about what I paid for it. It was a Kasco, made locally by a family friend (now deceased).

More recently I bought a small Wood-mizer but didn't get it into use due to some health problems. It is stored in the old woodshop. The health problems are all under control now but now it is time problems... I still have high hopes for November, I need to get some logs sawed up to be drying over the winter. It will saw a log about 24" X 18'.
My great grandfather owned a busy sawmill and grist mill, water powered (stationary steam engine in dry weather).


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If anyone is interested. They have a antique farm machinery show around august each year in Georgetown Ohio. About an hour east of Cincinnati.

http://www.ovams.org/tractors.htm

Here is a picture of that Kasco mill when I was cutting some 24' runners for a building so I could move it.
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