Virtual
Mill Tour
How Trees Are Processed in
Hull-Oakes Steam Powered Sawmill
August 2006
Presentation By:
Lindsey Lyons
OSU Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center
Hull-Oakes Sawmill
• In 1934 Ralph Hull went into the sawmill business after
leasing a mill that had been closed since the Depression.
• Hull started building a new plant on the site in 1938 and still
checks in on operations, but his grandson, Todd Nystrom,
now runs the mill, located about fifteen miles south of
Corvallis, Oregon.
• The Hull-Oakes Sawmill employs over 100 people and it is
the last steam-powered commercial sawmill in the country.
• The mill is on the National Register of Historic Places and is
truly a cultural artifact. Capable of cutting timbers in lengths
up to 85 ft., the mill still produces beams for railroad bridges
and for the restoration of historic homes and ships.
Trucks arrive loaded with logs.
The waggoner, a log-handling machine,
grabs the logs before the binders are released,
then lifts the logs clear of the truck.
The truck pulls outs and the waggoner drops the
logs over the log brow and into the log pond.
The logs are
transported to the mill
in water.
Then a pond boat
quickly shuffles the
logs, picking and
ordering them at the
base of the lift, so the
boat operator is often
called a "pond bronc."
The bark that accumulates in the pond is lifted on a
conveyor up to the mill, where it's transported to the
chipper. All debris goes to the chipper.
The log hoist individually lifts the logs out of the ponds and
drops them into a chain-driven conveyor, called the 'long
transfer', that transports the logs to the barker.
The bark is then
stripped off and
conveyed to the
chipper.
The debarked logs await cutting.
The log turner lifts, rolls, and shoves each log onto the
carriage. The heavy steel arms, operated by steam
cylinders, can throw around a six-foot diameter, eightyfoot long log.
Click on image to watch movie!
The off-bearer (right side of photo) secures the fall-off
until the log clears the blade, though large logs require
more help. Here the ratchet setter lends a hand, too.
The sawyer looks at his order board then motions to the
rachet setter, who operates the carriage, racheting the log
closer or farther from the blade. Hand signals are the only
way to communicate with all the thunderous
noise. Everyone wears ear protection.
Rachetsetter
Sawyer
The wood is squared and the edges are conveyed to the
chipper.
Click on image to watch movie!
The slab is shoved tight against the straight-edge fence of
the edger table before going through the edger.
The over-sized bandsaw blade runs around two wheels in
the headrig. The headrig includes the blade, pulleys, and
protective housing.
The blade is removed every 2 hours for sharpening!
Two people move the blade to the sharpener.
The blade is sharpened with an automatic machine.
Click on image to watch movie!
But the filer keeps and eye on the process.
The edger cuts wide slabs.
Into narrow beams and boards.
They are cross cut for length.
The boards are then
loaded, sorted and stacked.
And then sent to the planer to be sanded down.
Hall-Oakes Sawmill is
powered by steam. Water
in a broiler is heated by
burning sawdust, bark,
and planer dust
transported from all over
the mill by conveyor belt.
They use all their own
waste to power the mill!
The headrig, carriage, edger, and log-table are powered by
steam engines. The main engine, an Ames twin-cylinder, built
in 1906 and still operating, powers the headrig and edger. A
second steam engine powers the carriage, which is drawn
back and forth on its tracks by a cable-and-pulley system.
The old system is trustworthy, but still lots of work.
The old The operation of the mill is dependent upon the
millwrights, who repair everything from hydraulic lines, to
steam engines, to boilers. The millwrights have to know every
inch of the plant, and how to operate nearly every aspect of
the mill.
This presentation would not have been possible without
the photos and narrative of Gary M. Katz. Gary, a
nationally recognized author and finish carpentry
specialist, is a leader in a comprehensive educational
community devoted to trim carpentry, finish carpentry
and architectural millwork.
Photos and information taken
from by Lindsey Lyons from
August 8, 2006 Hull-Oakes
Visit and from Gary’s website
at
http://www.garymkatz.com/OnTheRo
ad/HullOaks.htm