Old Fashioned Dust Collector

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I went to a woodworking shop today and got a laugh out of this old fashioned dust collector they had there. It worked, but man it seems like a lot of work!!:D

In a nut shell, the sawdust fell down off the single sawblade, then the shaking funneled the sawdust into barrels where they were packed into barrels...

I will post more pictures of this living history logging museum and tell you more about it after I download some pictures. It was a cool trip and a great place to visit...

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I thought you were going to show a broom & dust pan.... But an interesting device none the less. Where are the rest of the pix?
 
Travis,

That looks interesting. I believe that saw dust used to be a packing material..... back before foam peanuts. I guess it makes sense that you would want to capture it to sell it off. If you have some more pictures it would be great!.
 
I could be wrong myself, but I think here in Maine one of the bigger uses for sawdust was for use in the ice house. By spreading sawdust over the ice it would keep it from melting, yet still be cold.

Its a little known fact, but Ice Cream actually came from Maine and was promoted in other warmer climates by a man that had a big fleet of ice bearing ships. In an effort to sell more ice, he took ice cream to the Carribean and beyond which drove up the need to keep things cold down there. Apparently he was a very successful businessman.
 
Lenard Mills Living History Museum

Yesterday, Patty, Alyson and I all went up to a logging museum they have near Bangor. It's called Lenard's Woods, and while they were supposed to have a big meet of sawmills, tractors and other logging machines, it had been raining most of the morning. By the time we got there by mid-afternoon, the rain had stopped and it cleared up but most of the exhibitors though the day was a wash and went home.

Undeterred we looked around the place and talked logging, railroading and woodworking to the few people that were still there. It was a bit disappointing as looking at the place, you could see the potential if the place had been filled with people explaining stuff and telling stories.

Here are some pictures anyway of what we did see....

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Years ago it was quite common to collect ice from the very mill ponds that were used to power the sawmills. It was a prevalent activity around here and one my grandfather was engaged in. He was a dairy/ potato farmer who had more time in the winter to devote to outside work like using his tractors and horses to pull ice from the ponds and lakes.

Over in Unity, Maine an ice house is built not far off the lake. It still stands but is downright scary looking today. Someday I will head over and snap a picture of it.

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Hey Travis, I've come over from Wood. Looks good so far. I just wanted to mention, sawdust was used to pack dynamite, nitro, fireworks (torpedos & cherry bombs).
 
Glad to have you Ron. I think you will like it over here, very low key and yet informative. Yes you can actually write about Radial Arm Saws and NOT get blasted by anyone. And one other thing about this place. I know you always had this beef about Wood not having an Off-Topic area, well they got one on here!!

As for the dynamite, I forgot about that. Its not that uncommon to find around here. Just last year my Uncle sold his house and old shop. I was talking with the new owner and realized he had some rambunctios boys 10-15 years old. I nonchalantly reaced up into the upstairs stringers and pulled out a box of detonators. Close behind was a box of dynomite. It was probably best that the boys did not get ahold of that.

It was funny too because I just put the stuff in my truck and kind of forgot about it. Then one day I went into Walmart and realized if someone walked by, saw that, the police and Fire Dept would freak so I covered it with a shirt. That was only marginally better because if I ever got in an car accident...:eek:I know, I know, the fire wouldn't set it off, but the impact might. Its stored in relative stafety now.

As for Dynamite, my Grandfather remembers buying it at the hardware store. He loved the stuff. He once had a big rock that was in the pasture, but too close to the house to blow to smetherines. It was also too big for his tractor to push. So he put a quarter stick under one side and flopped it over. He kept doing that until it was far enough away from the house to blast into a million pieces.:dunno:

I better stop the dynamite stories now. Our family history with this stuff is very long, and while some of the stories are downright hilarious, I think my Grandfather is the ONE reason why you can't buy the stuff at the hardware store anymore. :huh:
 
when i was growin` up we dug foundations with 10x...a backhoe was only used to scrape out the rubble.......corner posts......same way blast a hole, set the post and pour concrete...never the pre mix and always in a barrow:(....nowadays if a fellow even trys to buy caps he`ll be under the watchfull eye of big brother:eek:
 
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