Portable Saw Mill

[Larry C]

Thanks Philip.

[Larry C]

Ok, since this a a "portable sawmill" I needed to make the saw and dead rollers.....well....movable. To that end I built a "sled" to mount them on so they could be shipped to site on a flatcar. After measuring the two pieces of machinery I then cut the "runners" @ 19 ft long and 7 ft for the width of the sled. These were cut from 8x8's and the deck boards are 3x12's to support the weight. Of course all the lumber was grained, colored with chalks & clear alcohol then given a liberal coat of A&I.



Here's the other side.

Now I needed a power source to operate the saw. I had a vertical steam engine and boiler left over from a previous build already mounted on a sled but I wanted to include a small water tank for the boiler. Instead of ripping everything apart I decided to just build the new sled around the old one. The new sled is 14 ft long which gave me the extra space to mount the water tank which is also from a previous build. The lumber used is the same as the first sled given the same treatment. I used four pieces of 12x12's, criss crossed for strength, to bring the tank up to the height I needed it so the water valve could go directly into the boiler.





And another view. This can also be brought in on a flatcar as well. The fun part will be lining up the steam engine with the pulley on the saw which be be quite a long belt. Even though these items are portable they will be glued in place on the diorama. That's where I'm at presently; thanks for stopping by and leaving all your great comments and/or suggestions they really do help keep me motivated.

[deemery]

Larry, it's good to see the water tank for the boiler.  That's a factor that's often forgotten particularly for backwoods mills.

dave

[Bernd]

You are going to need more than that valve to fill the boiler with ~180 lbs of steam in it.

Either a worthington steam pump,



or a steam injector.



B~

[Rick]

Larry, nice job on the sleds and repurposing that boiler.
I think you'll need something to keep that cover on the water tank from blowing away.

[Larry C]

Bernd thanks for stopping by. Neat little pump and thanks for the info; I'll have to give that a thought.

Rick thank you. I'll probably replace the tank cover with something a little more substantial.

[Jerry]

Larry it looks great so far!

Jerry

[Larry C]

Jerry thank you.

[friscomike]

Howdy Larry, you did a nice job on the two sleds and their details.  I bet in real life, that would be a scary setup. Have fun, mike

[Larry C]

Mike thank you.It would be quite impressive in real life especially when they were brought to site on flat cars then unloaded before setting them in place.

[GPdemayo]

Excellent work on the equipment Larry.....

[Larry C]

Greg thank you so much and thanks for stopping by.

[Larry C]

Moving along:



Even though this is a "portable sawmill" a shed is still a must to store equipment and such. Mine is 8 ft square using 6x6's for the frame and rafters and the boards are 2x10's grained and colored with chalks with clear alcohol. I also distressed a few of the boards. The doors are made using thin card with the same lumber as the siding boards. I decided to have 1 door open a little to add interest. Also the door molding is made from 1x6's and the door handles were made from thin brass wire.



This is the back with thin card over the rafters and black scrapbooking paper used for tarpaper. That was then weathered once in place with assorted chalks.



The shed and sleds have been glued in place; also added a short length of N scale track for a log carriage yet to be built; that was buried with dirt so only the rails are visible. Added he first layer of scenery material which is now dry. Worked in small sections "painting" on a layer of white glue then sprinkling on some course turf, varied amounts, to simulate scrub grass. Then a layer of dirt added next finished off with a mixture of 50/50 glue to water added with an eyedropper; Have better control over the amount used without soaking the foam. The hole in the foam behind the carriage track is for a "jib crane" to help unload and move logs around the area which still needs to be built.



Here's the back of the diorama. Next will be to come up with some sort of log carriage to help feed the logs into the saw. After that it's time to turn my attention towards what and where to start placing details to help bring the diorama to life. Thanks for stopping by with all your great comments and/or suggestions.

[Jerry]

Looking good Larry!!!

Jerry

[deemery]

Bernd's comment on injectors made me do some research.  This picture stood out, as it includes both an injector and a water glass to monitor the water level in the boiler:


dave