Starting from the north of the site and behind the restaurant was the Saw Shop. In a previous article, I wrote that this building and its contents was one of the best-preserved sections of the Workshops.
The saw shed was originally powered by its own boiler and steam engine. These were located at the south west corner of the building. Later, an electric motor in the roof cavity was the source of power to drive all the machines using belts.
The machines in the shed consisted of a couple of stations for sharpening the circular saws, four teeth setting machines, weighted metal cutters and a station for sharpening and setting large band saw blades.
For sharpening circular saws there was a spindle on which the saw blade was attached. Above this was an angle grinder on an arm that allowed it to come down on the saw, sharpening each tooth at the exact same angle. Worn circular saw blades could be cut back and new teeth formed. To set the teeth of the saws to stop them jamming, small hand machines were used.
For the band saw a large, raised track carried the full blade so that it could be moved around and a similar method of sharpening took place. The band saw on display was from the Hoffman Mill.
Band saw blades were cut from a ribbon of steel and joined to make the loop before having the teeth formed and sharpened. In this, the saw doctor was using advanced technology. The first patent for a bandsaw was made in England by William Newberry in 1809. An inherent weakness was at the point where the band was welded together. This made the blade rigid at that point and difficult to negotiate the top and bottom wheels. Forty years later a French woman, Anne Paulin Crepin, found a solution to this by using a welding technique that involved braising. Fifty years later the saw doctor at Yarloop, using the new improved steel alloys and advanced tempering techniques of his time, was making and maintaining these blades for several sawmills in the area.
Bandsaws allowed the largest of logs to be cut more easily but some in the industry didn’t like the scaring left on the milled timber. Once the large logs were reduced in sized, however, circular sawblades could be used for the remainder of the process.
Amongst the objects that survived the fire are two small swage, hand cranked band saw setting machines manufactured by the well-known Disston Saw Works and possibly dating back to 1877. There is also a band saw stretching machine manufactured by the Hanchett Sawage Works that was established in 1899. This machine was likely used in the joining of the steel band. Our marine engineer friends have kindly offered to restore these machines.[1]
The Saw Shop
The set-up for sharpening rotary saw blades.
The set up for bandsaws
The Disston hand-cranked setting machine (1877?)
The Hanchett bandsaw stretching machine.
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[1] From ‘The Phoenix Rises Very Slowly’ Part 31, by Allan Ward. Photos courtesy of Graham.