Bens Mill (awasome video)

[Jeff Todd]

http://www.folkstreams.net/film,187

Not sure if this belongs here or OT. I Just wanted to post this video because about every 2 months I remember it and cant help but watch it.. Truth is I enjoy it every time. no 1/1000 feeler gauges, no digital angle finders, I know the extreme attention to detail isnt there..but kinda nice to see how some stuff "just gets done".. Also was just wondering if anyone knows of any other videos along the same lines as this one.

[Pete Moe]

I clicked the link just out of curiosity - not intending to watch the whole thing, but I started watching and was just hooked. The machinery is amazing. And he's a nonsense git 'er done Yankee. Very cool. Thanks for posting.

[Keith Hankins]

can't beleive i watched the whole thing! Cool vid.

[Kevin McCluney]

Thanks for the link - very enjoyable!

[Tom Ewell]

Yep, good stuff, reminded me a little bit of back in the day when my father in law and assorted other relatives including myself hauled an old saw mill out of the woods.
Had redo all the heavy lumber from carriage to the track ties. Hooked up an old 360 ford engine for power, got hold of a decent blade, new bits, belts etc.
Haven't used it myself in years but my bro in law milled up some stuff last week.

If I think of it I'll try to grab some pix next time I'm over there.

[Bill White]

Excellent vid, and the site is full of great stuff.
Thanks for posting.
Bill

[Mark Bolton]

Makes you look at all the Dylos bulk buys, trend air shield, and so on a bit differently. The guy likely lived a good long life.

Heres another good one.

http://www.cabinetmakers.org/meet-the-blue-ox-eric-hollenbeck/

[Tony Zona]

I wanna build a barrel and a sled.

Thanks for the link.

[David Weaver]

Yep, good stuff, reminded me a little bit of back in the day when my father in law and assorted other relatives including myself hauled an old saw mill out of the woods.
Had redo all the heavy lumber from carriage to the track ties. Hooked up an old 360 ford engine for power, got hold of a decent blade, new bits, belts etc.
Haven't used it myself in years but my bro in law milled up some stuff last week.

If I think of it I'll try to grab some pix next time I'm over there.

Every town near me had several saw mills. Instead of going to a lumber yard to get lumber, you went to the mill to get it. Most of the older stuff around me is built out of walnut or oak, and not out of pine, because of that. The mills I've seen rotting in the woods usually have a tractor powering them or a stationary engine otherwise similar (sometimes taken off of a tractor, though I've seen a couple of UD powerplants (which were international harvester) on them).

When I was a kid, my dad put a shed together, and all of the structural lumber came from the local mill. That was in the late 70s (near gettysburg, pa). If you head further east, there are still millers. There are hobby millers (I say that because they are supplying hobbyists) who still deliver here, but nothing similar to having a stationary local mill that's a one - or two-man shop.

It's a shame that option is gone. I guess cheap transportation of wood and a desire to be able to pick up wood from a lot with a lot of stock has killed it.

[jack forsberg]

Ben Mills pops up once a year or so and its still a great one to watch. they did restore the mill and here is the link
http://www.bensmill.com/restoration.


This is my favorite though and is a very well made video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mKSKZau9qs

[Mike Cozad]

Great video. I have seen it before only someone had edited it to lop off the second half. Inhad only seen the barrel build before. Interstingly, I have a sister to that jointer, or as he called it the buzz planer. I have it in a state of resoration as I try to convert it from flat belt drive to motor driven with a modern head. I also need to fabricate a guard system as it currently has none and never had a provision for one. The linked thread has a picture of mine. I found a pic of Ben's on the Bensmill site under the equipment page.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?211630-New-to-me-jointer&highlight=

[keith micinski]

Sawstop guy has to puke when he sees that video. That old man was as strong as two Oxes wrestling all of that heavy wood around by himself. It doesn't get mch better then that, he was an amazing person.

[Tom Ewell]

OK here's the sawmill we put together back when,
Think it was used again this past weekend. A pant load of poplar and slab can be seen beyond the offload end.
Don't recall the the blade size but for reference a 2x8 was left on the carriage.
The muffler and pipe laying on the deck gets stuck into the appropriate orifice when it's powered up
All the poles are 'leftover' creosote stuff from military 'targets' and power company.
The roof structure was milled directly and put up green.
The pit gets shoveled out as we cut.
Power plant is a 'beaut' but still runs well enough.
The firewood shed was put up a year ago with sawn stuff.