NEW TIMBER MILL

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 63, 1 April 1953, Page 1

NEW TIMBER MILL

TUCK BROS. TO CUT PINE The installation of machinery for a new sawmill is now nearing completion at Messrs Tuck Bros., property fronting the Golf Links Road, Taupo. The work of setting up and installing the machinery bas been done under the personal supervision of Mr Stan Tuck, and toward the end of last week, although many minor details still remained to be finalised, trial runs were taking p](ace and a few logs were put through the saws. The actual mill building has not yet been started, but will shortly be erected round the plant and its massive foundations. The new mill will, when coimpleted, have a capacity of about twenty thousand feet a day, and will be used to cut locally grown pine timber. Modern American Mill. The equipment of the new sawmill is a complete sawmill unit, made by the well known American firm of Corleys, and the installation will be operated by a crew of seven or eight men. From the time the pine logs are rolled off the timber trucks onto the skids, until the finished timber comes from the automatic ' sorter, sorted into the various different sizes that have been cut from the Jog, no manual handling will be required. From the trucks the logs roli down an inclined skidway to the foot of a steep ramp, up which a set of endless chains, equipped with large grabs to hold the liogs, hauls them to the level of the travelling bench, onto which each log is mechanically rolled as required. This mechanical fcransport of Ibgs from skids to travelling bench is controlled by the operator at the main saw, who also controls the travelling carriage or bench, whose back and forth travel carries the iog to the teeth of the saw. This main saw is five feet in diameter, and is of the inserted tooth type. Each tooth on the saw is a separate unit, screwed into the circumference of the saw, so that if a tooth is broken it can immedqately be replaced with a new one. The slabs and sawdust from the saw fall to an endless belt eonveyor beneath, which removes them automatically. When the log arrives on the travelling carriage it is quickly fastened by the operator riding on the carriage. The operator stationed at the main saw controls starts the carriage toward the saw, which slices off the first outer slabs. On the return of the carriage the movement of a lever activates two vertical toothed arms known as "kiokers," which roll the iog over so that the second face may be sliced off, and so on with the two remaining sides. The log having thus been squared, it is run through the main saw, and the resulting pieces of timber are taken on an endIfess chain to a three-saw edger. From this, if required, they are taken in similar manner to a recutter. Finally the timber goes, still mechanically trnsported, through a two-saw trimmer, which cuts it to the required length. From this it is transported through a sap-stain bath, which prevents formation of mould or stain, and from this it goes through the automatic sorter and finally to the skids. The speed with which the timber goes through these processes is considerabiy faster than with the elder type of machinery. At present power is derived from a temporary Diesei engine, but later steam power may be used, supplemented by electric power from the Town Board'S supply mains. The completion of this up-to-date plant will mark another significant advance in the indiustidal development of Taupo.