"There were two major challenges when we got our gin," Ray says. "The saws were extremely rusty, extremely dull. But we found an elderly gentleman, in his late seventies if not eighties, who borrowed a saw sharpening machine designed specifically for cotton gin saws, and he sharpened all our blades."
The saw sharpener was a story in itself, he says.
"It's an original piece," he says, "a hand-operated thing with lots of whirligigs."
Ultimately, the craftsman agreed to donate his labor, if volunteers would install the brushes.
GAMTRA volunteers completely rebuilt the bale press.
"It has something like two pieces of original wood in it," Ray says. "It's more symbolic than a restoration."
A 1920 Fairbanks-Morse semi-diesel engine is used to power the gin.
Ginning Days). Originally used on a cotton gin, it had not been used for at least 45 years.
"It was pretty dilapidated," Ray says. "The gentleman who let us have it said we had to get it running before we took it out of the woods. We did it in 45 days."