The Bodie Sawmill

[AlanLichty]

This is a small sawmill in the ghost town of Bodie in California. As best I can determine this facility was used to break down scrap wood that was brought in by rail for firewood. Otherwise empty trains coming into Bodie to transport the mine products were used to bring in sawmill scraps and poor quality lumber from elsewhere in the high Sierras since Bodie had no local trees to burn for heat.

This sawmill consisted of a pair of power saws - one a sled based table saw and the other is a type of cross cut saw for larger wood.

A Sawmill at Bodie

• AlanLichty
• Feb 9, 2018

A small saw mill in the town of Bodie California.

A closeup for the sled saw:

The whole top table slides on a pair of metal rails with the slab of wood on the top to support the wood being run past the spinning blade. You can see the flywheel of the motor about 10' behind the saw. The flywheel on the saw itself limited the length of the piece of lumber that could be run past the blade.

The second saw was built for cross cuts.

In this case the saw blade is on a swing arm hinged at the top with a handle for pulling the saw arm towards the operator just to the right of the blade. There is a tension mechanism in the middle of the swing arm assembly that would allow the operator to engage/disengage the belt driving the saw blade.

Unlikely OHSA would approve of this facility

C&C always welcome.

 

[Ben Egbert]

I love old gear like this and the old town, still young enough however to have had electrical power.

 

[JimFox]

Bodie is such an interesting place with so many buildings and to me technical wonders that they were able to construct from wood and metal.

 

[Mike Mancil]

Fascinating structures and stories.

 

[MonikaC]

Bodie is an interesting place. I've wanted to go for night photography for some time. I learned about the "back way" in from a local, but just haven't made it back there yet.

 

[BarryHamilton]

Good stuff here, Alan! Nice to see some of the not-often seen scenes.