Shingle Mill - Official Work Thread

[Dana Deering]

Mike,
   
     I went to Scribner's Mill a few times and took a lot of videos of the shingle mill and showed them to Ralph to try and inspire him to have his mill preserved.  It was then that he told me that his mill was also "on wood" and that he thought it had been built in Harrison, which would mean the Ricker Machine Co, but he never was sure.  There would also be a two foot connection there because Ernest Ward, a former brakeman for the B&SR owned the Ricker Machine Co at the end of its operation (it burned).

Bill,

     A integral part of the new mill building would be a protected viewing area with interpretive signs explaining the history of the mill and the shingle making process so folks would understand what they are seeing.

Dylan,

     Not sure I have a lot of info yet on the engine.  I am assuming it replaced the one that burned in the 1938 fire and that it is pre WWII, but I am not sure.  We'll know more once we look up serial numbers, etc.  It is a six cylinder "Red Star".

Stewart,

     I may not be up until Sunday the 12th.  There's a birthday party for my granddaughter on the 11th so my plans have to change slightly.  I still plan to meet with David to get some more of the stuff, oil, tarpaper, etc.

Dana

[Dana Deering]

Mike,

     I've taken several videos of the shingle mill at Scribner's and I showed them to Ralph a few years ago.  That's when he started giving me more details about his mill.  He thought it was made in Harrison.  The only company that made sawmill equipment there was Ricker Machine Co.  There's even a two footer connection with Ricker because the last owner of Ricker Machine was former B&SR brakeman Ernest Ward.  The whole outfit burned to the ground about a year after he bought it.  By the way, I will be coming up on Sunday 7/12.  I was going to come on Saturday and stay the weekend but my grand daughter's birthday party is on Saturday.

Bill,

     My idea for the new mill building is to have a safe viewing area for visitors with interpretive signs that will provide a history of the mill and an explanation of the shingle making process.

Dylan,

     I don't know that much about the Red Star engine that came out of the mill.  If it is the same engine that replaced the one that burned then I'd say it's pre WWII.  Once we get a chance to look up the serial number we'll have more info on it.

Dana

[Benjamin Campbell]

Excellent job everyone on the save and move! I was curious what the piece is
which can be seen under a work bench in the mill photos and then on the trailer?
It appears to be a shaft and at least one pulley mounted in ornate cast iron
brackets. Ceiling mount jack shaft for a swing saw -  something else?

I have a Ricker catalogue dated 1890. There is no mention of them manufacturing
shingle mills - not to say that they didn’t in latter years.

Ricker or not I would be surprised if there is not a manufacturer’s name
stenciled under the dust and grime. Ricker used both stencils and cast iron
name plates to identify their machines. I have a 24 inch Ricker planer which I
would be happy to donate to the museum.


The Maine State Museum has a wonderful recreation of a typical Maine water
powered wood working mill. Well worth the visit!

The Maine Maritime Museum in Bath has in impressive collection of antique
wood working machinery as does the Windsor Historical society who’s
collection is on display at the Windsor fairgrounds.

[Dale Reynolds]

Benjamin, do you know where the Maine state museum is? will be coming up from South Carolina in August. Dale 

[Mike Fox]

Maine State museun is in Augusta near the capitol building.  Worth the trip.

[Philip Marshall]

Someone mentioned to me that it would be good to get in touch with SPOOM- the Society for the preservation of Old Mills. www.spoom.org I'll post some photos here soon.
Steve

Hi Steve,

I will second the suggestion about SPOOM. My father was a member of SPOOM years ago and I remember tagging along with him on a couple of bus tours of water-powered mills in New England sponsored by the group's North East Chapter. (I even remember on one tour visiting what's now the Montague Book Mill in Montague, MA when it was still a water-powered machine shop and not a used book store.) They're a great group with a wealth of practical knowledge to offer, however their membership at that time (this was in the 1980s) seemed to be skewed very much toward the geriatric end of the age distribution, so I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see they have an operating website.

Philip

[Jason M Lamontagne]

One of our earliest and long time members, supporter and volunteer was a founder of spoom, I believe.  Don Perham.  Interesting how things come around.

[Stephen Piwowarski]

As promised, a some photos of the mill from this past weekend. I highly recommend  visit if you are passing through New York on I-88 or detouring off of I-90.
An overview of the Mill from the entrance

[Stephen Piwowarski]

The blacksmith's forge.

[Stephen Piwowarski]

A floating table ripsaw in the foreground used to edge lumber coming off the mill in the foreground with the mill in the background.


The mill manager preparing to demonstrate the wood lathe. The machine in the foreground is for cutting the handles into wooden boxes

[Stephen Piwowarski]

The grist mill in action


One of the sources of power- a tub wheel turbine

[Stephen Piwowarski]

The stash of extra belting and wheels in the mill basement


The horizontal steam engine in action


Sorry for the poor pictures... nothing could really capture the essence of this place besides a visit.

Take care,
Steve

[Dana Deering]

When I was at Sheepscot on 7/12 I was very pleased to see that the shingle mill and edger are now undercover.  I tarped the cutoff saw and the pieces of the sawdust carrier and we need to get those under cover as well.  I was also thinking that before the parts get scattered to the four winds that we should have an organized plan for how we are going to proceed with getting the machinery running again and perhaps prioritize the work so we can proceed in an orderly and sensible fashion.  I know that there has been some talk about rigging up the mill to make shingles at the Picnic and that's great and I also think we should work thoughtfully to clean the mill and make any repairs that are needed, especially to the woodwork, and to look for any manufacturers marks that may still be there somewhere, before we get too far ahead of ourselves.  The edger is in sore need of having its wooden frame and box replaced, too.  Then there is the engine.  I think if we want to have some sort of demonstration at the picnic then we should work on the mill and edger (maybe have a small crew work on each, so long as it doesn't take people away from other museum priorities) and maybe work on the mill first.  I am open to suggestions but I think we should have some sort of organized effort so we don't get people working on the pieces haphazardly.  Thoughts?

And on another note, we seem to be acquiring lots of belt driven woodworking/milling machinery and I don't want to miss the opportunity to get another (there's no such thing as too many line shafts!).  So, regarding the Ricker 24 " planer, can we get some details?  Condition? Location? etc.?  I think it would make a great addition to the future mill complex.

The enthusiasm about the whole larger mill/lumbering working exhibit has been great!  All we need now is the time to do everything while keeping the railroad running!

[Wayne Laepple]

I have offered the suggestion several times that we acquire a 20-foot or even 40-foot cargo container as dry, secure storage for equipment and machinery that we do not at this time have a place for. Seems to me that would be the perfect place to store the shingle mill and its components until we are actually ready to set them up in the yet-to-be built mill complex. If it was located up in the northwest corner of the parking lot it would be accessible, yet (mostly) out of sight. Right now, the shingle mill equipment is stored in the shop, along with several other non-functional pieces of machinery, taking up space that is needed for railroad-related projects.

A thought. Some publicity outside our Facebook page, perhaps in the newspapers, might bring some folks particularly interested in antique machinery who would be willing to focus their energies in that direction.

[Bernie Perch]

Since so much of this flat belt machinery is showing up, I wonder if anyone knows where I can purchase about 6 feet of 2 1/2" X 1/4" of belt for my ancient metal lathe?

Bernie