Thanks to all who provided information on early sawmills. The replies have
given me much useful information and additional sources.

Harold Miller
Berne Historical Project www.Bernehistory.org




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Topics of the day:

  1. early sawmill

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Date:    Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:23:26 -0500
From:    NWDB2000 <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: early sawmill

Harold et al.,
Here is some more information regarding early sawmills and water power.  I
would highly recommend the Hindle book to anyone interested in early
sawmills.

Waterwheels:
"This device spread rapidly, and by the fourth century was in use from
Europe to China. The more familiar horizontal-shaft water mill was
introduced by the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius in 27 BC. It worked
on the undershot waterwheel concept. In an undershot waterwheel, the water
flows beneath the wheel and catches the paddles under the center of the
wheel. This mill became very popular throughout the Roman Empire because of
the need for an alternate power source. (The rise of Christianity led to the
emancipation of slaves, resulting in the need for an alternate.) The
waterwheel was the main source of power for civilizations and communities
well into the 18th century. 

During this time relatively little change was made to the waterwheel. It
wasn't until the mid-1700s that advances were made. In 1759, John Smeaton,
an English engineer, made the first technical analysis on the performance of
waterwheels. He found that at maximum efficiency he could get 22 percent for
an undershot wheel and 63 percent for an overshot mill. In 1776 Smeaton was
the first to use a cast-iron wheel, and two years later he introduced
cast-iron gearing, subsequently bringing an end to the all-wood build that
had prevailed since Roman times. Smeaton's work came to wide use throughout
Europe for designing new wheels in the following years. 
Several decades later, Jean-Victor Poncelet, a French engineer, designed
curved paddles for an undershot mill and had dramatic results. He raised the
level of efficiency from 22 to 65 percent. His design was based on the
concept that water would run up the curved surface, come to rest at the
inner portion, and then fall away with little to no velocity. At around the
same time, William Fairbairn, a Scottish engineer, proved that the breast
wheel was the most efficient model. Also, he showed that breast wheels are
less vulnerable to flooding. He made other improvements such as a governor
for control of the sluice gate and spur gearing for the power takeoff. "
http://itech.dickinson.edu/fsweb/natemill.html

America's Wooden Age:Aspects of its Early Technology, ed. Hindle, Brooke,
Sleepy Hollow Restorations Book -Early Lumbering: A Pictorial Essay by
Charles Peterson

Pg66
"There are seventeenth century records of Dutch mills on the Hudson.  One of
the first was a windmill built on Nutten Island (Governor's Island) in New
York Harbor as early as 1623.  Its lease by the West India Company in 1639
recorded twenty saws and a variety of other equipment on the premises."

"As early as 1630 Dutch sawyers were sent direct from Holland to Fort Orange
(modern Albany) and the industry rapidly spread along the Upper Hudson."

". in 1701 that Henry Livingston had a Dutch millwright put up an apparatus
with twelve saws and that forty sawmills in the province were destroying
more timber than all the sawmills in New Hampshire."

-America's Rise to Woodworking Leadership, Rosenberg, Nathan Pg42 "Sawmills
in colonial America, in fact, long antedated their introduction in England.
Saw mills may possibly have been constructed by the Dutch on Manhattan
Island as early as the 1620's , and certainly by 1633."

"As early as 1663 there were already hundreds of sawmills in New England."

Hope this is of some help.

Rolland Miner
Director
New World Dutch Barn Survey 2000
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.nwdb2000.org
E-list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewWorldDutchBarns
 
 
 

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End of NYHIST-L Digest - 13 Dec 2004 to 15 Dec 2004 (#2004-79)
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