Klaus Kretschmar
10-10-2011, 7:30 PM
Hi Creekers,
a few days ago I had the chance to visit a historically saw mill of 1727 in Reutlingen, a town near Stuttgart. Pedder and I got the invention from a fellow woodworker, Timo, who works from time to time in the mill. Sadly Pedder had to cancel the visit one day before because of some health issues.
The history of this mill is interesting. In 1727 there was a big fire disaster in Reutlingen, that destroyed about 75% of the buildings there. The inhabitants were smart enough to decide to build a saw mill in the center of the town since they needed to have a lot of wood to build new houses. The mill was built within 4 months. It's water driven by a quick flowing creek named "Echaz".
Here a pic of the mill... yes, it's in the center of a 70,000 inhabitants town.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jb9QD0SvYkc/TohPkMFuJaI/AAAAAAAABkk/JiNWN0q9ayQ/s1600/P1030191.jpg
A pic of the undershot water wheel.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws4qdEzcnqE/TohLwyO9JEI/AAAAAAAABhE/Fm7LwVVQGos/s1600/P1030138.jpg
Inside you'll find a saw of 1727, in the foreground you can see the proud owner and current caretaker Karl.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNdU4t05oh0/TohLxcGx6DI/AAAAAAAABhc/w0ap8tAoo4E/s1600/P1030147.jpg
As you probably will see, the frame of the historical saw is impacted by fire. In 1978 there was an malicious arson, which destroyed much of the historical substance. The shown saw survived it however. The building itself and the 2nd saw were destroyed and had to be refurbished.
Here a pic of the 2nd saw, which is of the 1950's.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3aqZPNDJ9B8/TohN-UwU6EI/AAAAAAAABjs/ZXda7mm2SPk/s1600/P1030173.jpg
When we were there, a larch log was resawn on the old saw http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowcool.gif
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EER7LNWspNA/TohMDhrc1sI/AAAAAAAABhs/qRKmLsJfPSY/s1600/P1030149.jpg
The adjusting of the board width
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-52y9vaScLdM/TohMD445ciI/AAAAAAAABh0/L0rRS8zflCE/s1600/P1030151.jpg
Here a pic showing from the left Gerd Fritsche, the plane maker, Timo and Michael, a relative of Karl.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SncwU2aa1O0/TohNJyrFevI/AAAAAAAABjc/YU26BeHJ0wc/s1600/P1030171.jpg
Timo takes away the freshly resawn board which is sawn very accurately by the nearly 300 years old machine.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2zqALxs7ce4/TohN-cgrC0I/AAAAAAAABjk/S2o0UZqXYCE/s1600/P1030172.jpg
Then we watched the basement of the mill with the power transmission as it was built in 1727.
Karl standing on saw dust.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zS-Hp103Lsk/TohMbYWazCI/AAAAAAAABiU/rS__56rDbCY/s1600/P1030158.jpg
Here some pics of the power transmission. The big wheel in the background has the same axis as the water wheel. The transmission is done with wide leather belts.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GdxRuKdAzWs/TohMbZMdYvI/AAAAAAAABic/ywAbQaj6PBI/s1600/P1030160.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LRgyYWbKcYI/TohMbj31ASI/AAAAAAAABik/xOVRmUIQ6wI/s1600/P1030161.jpg
There's a sharpening room. Here a pic of the sharpening machine.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIN4dpbOJWQ/TohN-3FfPxI/AAAAAAAABkE/ISC6h0eDSgY/s1600/P1030183.jpg
And the setting machine.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KbYYnUexgwY/TohN-hBdT9I/AAAAAAAABj0/_xsqIcCl09I/s1600/P1030179.jpg
Karl took much time not only to show us the mill but to tell us the historical background and many interesting aspects concerning the mill's history and technique. His grandfather purchased the mill in the 1920's. It has been used commercially until 1984. Now Karl gives some interested woodworkers a chance to resaw their logs in a truly historical surrounding at a little charge. At last a pic showing from the right Gerd, Michael, Karl, Timo and me.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5-JJOcRDbCo/TohPjqIFENI/AAAAAAAABkU/SI8xjucC-co/s1600/P1030186.jpg
I hope you enjoyed the pics. Thanks for looking.
Klaus
a few days ago I had the chance to visit a historically saw mill of 1727 in Reutlingen, a town near Stuttgart. Pedder and I got the invention from a fellow woodworker, Timo, who works from time to time in the mill. Sadly Pedder had to cancel the visit one day before because of some health issues.
The history of this mill is interesting. In 1727 there was a big fire disaster in Reutlingen, that destroyed about 75% of the buildings there. The inhabitants were smart enough to decide to build a saw mill in the center of the town since they needed to have a lot of wood to build new houses. The mill was built within 4 months. It's water driven by a quick flowing creek named "Echaz".
Here a pic of the mill... yes, it's in the center of a 70,000 inhabitants town.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jb9QD0SvYkc/TohPkMFuJaI/AAAAAAAABkk/JiNWN0q9ayQ/s1600/P1030191.jpg
A pic of the undershot water wheel.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ws4qdEzcnqE/TohLwyO9JEI/AAAAAAAABhE/Fm7LwVVQGos/s1600/P1030138.jpg
Inside you'll find a saw of 1727, in the foreground you can see the proud owner and current caretaker Karl.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNdU4t05oh0/TohLxcGx6DI/AAAAAAAABhc/w0ap8tAoo4E/s1600/P1030147.jpg
As you probably will see, the frame of the historical saw is impacted by fire. In 1978 there was an malicious arson, which destroyed much of the historical substance. The shown saw survived it however. The building itself and the 2nd saw were destroyed and had to be refurbished.
Here a pic of the 2nd saw, which is of the 1950's.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3aqZPNDJ9B8/TohN-UwU6EI/AAAAAAAABjs/ZXda7mm2SPk/s1600/P1030173.jpg
When we were there, a larch log was resawn on the old saw http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowcool.gif
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EER7LNWspNA/TohMDhrc1sI/AAAAAAAABhs/qRKmLsJfPSY/s1600/P1030149.jpg
The adjusting of the board width
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-52y9vaScLdM/TohMD445ciI/AAAAAAAABh0/L0rRS8zflCE/s1600/P1030151.jpg
Here a pic showing from the left Gerd Fritsche, the plane maker, Timo and Michael, a relative of Karl.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SncwU2aa1O0/TohNJyrFevI/AAAAAAAABjc/YU26BeHJ0wc/s1600/P1030171.jpg
Timo takes away the freshly resawn board which is sawn very accurately by the nearly 300 years old machine.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2zqALxs7ce4/TohN-cgrC0I/AAAAAAAABjk/S2o0UZqXYCE/s1600/P1030172.jpg
Then we watched the basement of the mill with the power transmission as it was built in 1727.
Karl standing on saw dust.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zS-Hp103Lsk/TohMbYWazCI/AAAAAAAABiU/rS__56rDbCY/s1600/P1030158.jpg
Here some pics of the power transmission. The big wheel in the background has the same axis as the water wheel. The transmission is done with wide leather belts.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GdxRuKdAzWs/TohMbZMdYvI/AAAAAAAABic/ywAbQaj6PBI/s1600/P1030160.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LRgyYWbKcYI/TohMbj31ASI/AAAAAAAABik/xOVRmUIQ6wI/s1600/P1030161.jpg
There's a sharpening room. Here a pic of the sharpening machine.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIN4dpbOJWQ/TohN-3FfPxI/AAAAAAAABkE/ISC6h0eDSgY/s1600/P1030183.jpg
And the setting machine.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KbYYnUexgwY/TohN-hBdT9I/AAAAAAAABj0/_xsqIcCl09I/s1600/P1030179.jpg
Karl took much time not only to show us the mill but to tell us the historical background and many interesting aspects concerning the mill's history and technique. His grandfather purchased the mill in the 1920's. It has been used commercially until 1984. Now Karl gives some interested woodworkers a chance to resaw their logs in a truly historical surrounding at a little charge. At last a pic showing from the right Gerd, Michael, Karl, Timo and me.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5-JJOcRDbCo/TohPjqIFENI/AAAAAAAABkU/SI8xjucC-co/s1600/P1030186.jpg
I hope you enjoyed the pics. Thanks for looking.
Klaus