HOW DOES A SHINGLE MILL WORK?

(Page 2 of 2)

September/October 1978
Larry B. Schdknecht 
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The Ireland, Chase and Lane were the best of all the shingle mills being built from the 1890's to the 1920's. This could be called the 'Golden Era of Shingle Mills.' It was during these years that the shingle mill enjoyed its greatest popularity and became a simple, efficient machine, and after this period, began decline in both popularity and advancement. Shingle mills still exist which are known to have been built in the 1850's and 1860's, but I doubt if any were made earlier than that, because the circular saw did not become popular until the 1830's, and even then it was very crude and inefficient. Almost all the blades were made the same as the sawmill blade. They were of a very thin gauge, and were attached to a tapered plate which was about half the diameter of the blade. This plate came to practically a knife edge around the outside, and its center varied from a half-inch to several inches. This plate performed three very important functions.

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First, it strengthened the thin blade, and helped to keep it sawing with the grain and from sawing around knots. Second, it acted as a flywheel, keeping up the momentum of the saw as it cut through the block, allowing faster feeds to be used, and to be run with less horsepower. Third, as the shingle was sawn, the plate separated or spread it from the block and saw, preventing any binding or pinching which may otherwise occur.

The blades for shingle mills were usually about nine gauge and ranged from 24' to 42' in diameter.

Also accompanying most shingle mills was an edger. This was nothing more than a rotating iron plate with about five knives fastened to it, and on a slight skew to the radius of the plate.

In front of the plate was a narrow table that the shingle was set on. With the shingle resting on this table, it was fed by hand into the rotating knives, which quickly trimmed off all bark and squared the shingle.

I hope this will be of help to GEM readers and if it is favorably accepted, I have a lot more information on sawmills and Orog saws that I can submit later.

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  • Dan Pett 9/11/2009 10:34:24 AM

    I have a horizontal shingle mill. It was manufactured in 1982. I would like more info about it, especially its value. I can get some other info off of it if needed.

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