Going In Circles: The Foley Belsaw Circular Sawmill
While some people love their new fangled lumber saw mills or chainsaw mill, many people just cannot give up their Foley Belsaw Circular Sawmill. And there's a reason. This thing is a classic for a reason, year after year, it offers reliable performance that other makers find hard to mimic.
What Is A Foley Belsaw Circular Sawmill?
A Foley Belsaw Sawmill is a piece of equipment which can usually only be found in rural areas and on farms where there is timber that needs to be sawed to provide rough-cut boards. These boards are then either used as they are for buildings or furniture which has that rough hewn look, or planed smooth and shaped into beautiful cabinetry and fine furniture.
The Importance Of A Sawmill
A sawmill is an important piece of equipment on many farms and in rural zones where the wooded areas provide timber needed for sawing. Lumber for rural and farm buildings comes through rough cut boards. Also Furniture and cabinets are created, at a sawmill, through rough lumber that has been dried and then planed smooth.
Sawmill Employment
This sawmill gained a lot of acclamation for being a "one-man sawmill" which could be added to over time to create a very profitable mill which could also small trees which are normally wasted, unlike the larger sawmills.
A sawmill also provides income in many rural areas by employing men who provide timbers and ties for mines and railroads. These people are also employed to provide rough boards for local markets. In fact, in some communities, the sawmill has been a staple of that community, offering employment going back decades. This is especially true of the circular sawmill. The circular sawmill first came to real prominence thanks to the Foley Belsaw Circular Sawmill.
Many are the members of rural communities who recall that their first sawmill was the solid Belsaw M14. It takes quite a bit of manpower to make it work well, but that's part of the point. Again, putting the community to work. And when it works and the men work, this sawmill produces lumber at a fast and furious rate.
The History Of The Foley Belsaw Circular Sawmill
Actually, in the early part of the 1900s, the company was just Belsaw. It was bought later, in 1977, by Foley, giving it the new name of Foley Belsaw. The Belsaw circular sawmills, like the M15 sawmill, was made as recently as the 1990s, but were then discontinued.
It's a shame, really, because at the time, Belsaw offered farmers an affordable, small, light and basic mill. The log carriage in a Belsaw sawmill was pushed by hand, which meant not a lot of training was required to run it and run it well. Old Belsaw brochures still available explain that the farmer can saw and sell his lumber, and from this, use the money to purchase a manual winch.
The Winch
This winch would then allow him to move his log carriage. Belsaw's idea with this was that a rural farmer could buy each part as they made money out of the sawmill, and the more they built it up the more lumber they could saw, until they would eventually be able to earn a nice living from it.
The manual went on to say that the farmer could use his profits to purchase an automatic power feed. This should allow him to bring in more profits, and from those monies, to buy many more labor-saving extras. More and more extras made the Belsaw more profitable. It became kind of an addiction of sorts--but a positive addiction. It was almost like a hobby for many men, but a hobby which took care of his family's needs.
That early Belsaw sawmill was light and little and light, but still it could saw large logs effectively.
Foley Belsaw As A Hobby
Most men used the Foley Belsaw sawmill as a kind of a hobby, but one which could put food on the table too, and if you speak to those men today you will find that many of them still have their M14s. You need to understand that this sawmill is the classic of sawmills, and is still revered by all who have ever dealt in lumber.
Do You Still Get The Foley Belsaw Sawmill?
Unfortunately you cannot buy a new Foley Belsaw sawmill any more as the stopped manufacturing them in the 1990s, but if you are very luck and keep an eye on the forums and on sites such as e-Bay, you might find someone selling one. If you do spot one for sale though, you will have to make a move very quickly, because the competition for them is hot.
Secondhand Foley Belsaw Circular Sawmill
Every now and then, you can still find one popping up on the secondary market. If you do, consider buying it. You'll not only have an effective way of cutting lumber, but you'll have an important and cherished part of rural Americana. Even those who are using the most modern bandsaws that are available today, yearn for the old Belsaw as it was originally known and is usually still fondly referred to. The Foley Belsaw sawmill is as American as apple-pie and is a cherished part of rural Americana which most people would pay through their eye-teeth to get hold of.
