File:Canadian forest industries 1892-1893 (1893) (20334723510).jpg

Title: Canadian forest industries 1892-1893
Identifier: canadianforest189293donm (find matches)
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors:
Subjects: Lumbering; Forests and forestry; Forest products; Wood-pulp industry; Wood-using industries
Publisher: Don Mills, Ont. : Southam Business Publications
Contributing Library: Fisher - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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March, 1S92 THE CANADA LUMBERMAN 7 A NEW STEEL BAND MILL. INTEREST in the band mill grows with lumbermen. The engraving on this page of their " New No. 2 steel Band Mill," manufactured by the Waterous Engine Works Co.. of Brantford, Ont., illustrates a mill modelled on radically different lines to the ordinary band sawmill; one certainly foreign from the previously conceived ideas of what a band sawmill ought to be. Many of the standard mills have but one post sup- porting the upper wheel, others have two and an outer arm passing between the wheels and reaching to the upper shaft, making a third bearing under the shaft. In the Waterous mill the necessary rigidity is obtained by the six steel columns connecting the very heavy lower and upper cast plates. These make a much more rigid frame and give a much greater bearing to stand the strain than the single or double post mills. In addition to this, doing away with the outer ami, we are enabled to bring the wheels fully eighteen inches nearer together. This permits the sawing to be done much closer to the upper wheel. This is a most important point. Any one knows from experience that a belt running from one pulley to another can be shoved on or off the receiving pulley while in motion quite readily, while at the driving pulley hardly any pressure that can be put upon it wi disturb it. The effect is the same in the band saw, and the aim of all band saw builders is to have the cutting done as near the upper wheel as possible. Another important point is the triangular frame supporting the upper shaft and whee This upper wheel has to be moved up and down as the tension is applied to the saw : with narrow bearings it is apt to bind with the strain that the saw pats upon the outer end of the shaft, and in this way rises up unevenly, or when the tension is being taken up by the weight, the binding may prevent a proper operation of the weight. With the triangular frame we have what is equal to a four foot bearing on the front centre post, making it impossible for any binding to take place, in adjusting the tension of the saw either by screw or weight. The two boxes of the upper shaft are con- nected by a very heavy casting, making it impossible to get them out of line, and this casting is hinged to the triangular frame, and so arranged that the effect of the tension weight is applied directly to it and adjusts the tension without having to affect the triangular frame. This is a great improvement on the usual method of applying the tension. As will be seen from the illustration, the guide is very stiff and has very convenient adjustments. Its weight is counter-balanced and it is raised and lowered by friction, readily applied by the sawyer. The bearings for the shafts are eighteen inches long, and of ample diameter; the lower bearings are adjustable and the upper bearings arc also adjustable by wheel and screw. The effect secured by the outer arm and third bearing in ordinary mills is secured in this mill by running the bearing to the centre of the wheel, cor- ing out the hub so as to overlap the bearing, thus bring- ing the centre strain of the saw on the bearing instead of on the unsupported shaft. The lower wheel is of ample weight and the upper wheel is of very strong and light design, the proportion being arranged to a nicety to prevent any possibility of the carrying over of the upper wheel. The shaft and bearings of the lower wheel are above the sole plate in plain sigl.t and of easy access, unlike the majority of mills where the shaft is hung under the sole plate and difficult of access. In addition to the six steel columns the mill is further strongly braced as shown in illustration. The lower wheel is protected with a cast iron covering, with a shute for discharging any accumulated dust or bark, while the â¢aw runs through a cast iron lower guide, extending down past the carriage line, protected thoroughly with rawhide guides, which steady the saw and prevent the sawdust passing down and thus getting between the saw and the lower wheel. The wheels of this (the No. 2 mill) are eight feet in diameter, and are made to take ten and twelve inch blades, the saws being much shorter than usual for that sized wheel, namely, forty-three feet. The Waterous Co. have one of these mills erected within a short distance of Brantford, where it can be shown in practical operation at any time cutting hard- wood for the American market. So much importance is to be attached to the char- acter of the machinery used in manufacturing that we are of the opinion that the manufacturer is always ready to welcome any suggestion pointing towards improve- ment and greater efficiency in his particular line of work. Lumbermen, by their enterprise in the past, have 0
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cently been taken in the United States. The price of mahogany in London ranges from $ito to $175 per thousand superficial feet, and cedar from $90 to $180. Rosewood, zebra and fustic are cut in short lengths and shipped as ballast. Rosewood brings from $25 to $40, and fustic $30 to $40. The logs are squared before shipment. The timber on government land is free to any one who proves to the Administrator of Customs that he has ample means to transport it to market, a great deal having been lost before the adoption of this rule through the timber being left to decay after being felled. It can be cut at any time during the year, but the best season is during the rainy months, so that the logs may be ready by the beginning of the dry season, on March 1st. The camp is generally composed of from twenty to fifty men, who are divided into companies, each having a captain. A foreman, in charge of the whole camp, keeps accounts of logs cut and other details. One man, called the hunter, looks up the trees fit to be cut and reports to the foreman, who examines each one. Care is taken not to fell any trees less than eight feet in circumference. The cutting is done by piece- work, two trees from eight feet to twelve feet being a day's work for one man, and a tree twenty-five feet in circumference being regarded as a day's work for four men. Over 300 trees are sometimes felled in a camp in a single season. The carriage of lengths to the river banks is done principally at night. A foreman's wages will vary from $60 to $100 a month, with occasional allowance of an extra servant; first captain $18 to $20 a month, with rations; and choppers $10 to $14 a month, with rations. The export duties on mahogany and cedar are $8 per 1,000 superficial feet. The Watkrous Steel Hand Mill (Pat. Can. and U.S.). shown that they are quite alive to this view- of the matter; and as the season is approaching when they will find it necessary to place their mill properties in shape for practical operation, it is hardly likely that the Waterous band mill will escape thoughtful considera- tion at their hands. All the difference in a season's profits may be in the character of the machinery in use. THEY BOUGHT BURNING HOUSES. NE of the strangest businesses in Ancient Rome is mentioned by Juvenal in his Sat- ires. It consisted of buying houses on fire. The speculator hurried to the scenes attended by slaves carrying bags of money, and others carry- ing tools, judged the chances of salvage, and made a bid to the distracted houseowner, who was glad to accept anything as a rule. The bargain struck in all haste, this earliest of fire-assurers set his slaves to work and secured what he could. Sometimes he even put out the flames, and so made a coup. It was a business for capitalists, but the poorest who speculated in a small way could hardly lose if he had presence of mind enough to grasp the chances. Thus Cato the Elder, and above all, Crassus, laid the foundation of their great wealth. The latter had a great passion for such gambling. He gradually col- lected a force of carpenters, masons, and such artificersâslaves, of courseâwhich reached 500 men. Not only did he buy houses on fire, but also, enlarging upon the common practice, he made a bid for those adjoining which stood in danger. His proposals were commonly welcome, we learn, so helpless were the people and so great the peril. By this means Crassus became the greatest owner in house property in Rome. THE TIMBER TRADE OF HONDURAS. 'TNIE first wood-cutters in the territory went to Belize one hundred and fifty years ago, taking with them their slaves and their cattle, and since that time Belize has been principally occupied with the various camps or mahogany works, which extend between the rivers Ultia, Chameleon, Patteck and Wanks, on the Atlantic coast. The timbers at present most sought after for shipment are mahogony, cedar, rosewood, zebra, and fustic. Ma- hogany and cedar are the leading exports and shipped mainly to England, though some contracts have re- WARPING OF LUMBER. TT is said the wood on the north side of a tree will not *â warp as much as that from the south side: and that if trees are sawn in planes that run east and west, as the tree stood, will warp less than if cut in the opposite direction. However this may be, it is certain that the tendency to warp when sawn into boards is much greater in green than in dry wood, and that the convex side of the curve is always toward the heart. This warping, due to unequal shrinkage, and to the more open texture of the external portion of the tree, is not found to occur in the middle plank or board of the log, excepting as it may, in slight degree reduce the breadth. Canada Lumberman, $i a year. Subscribe now.

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