Last spring, I think it was at the May, 1981 meeting of our
club, Sam Zue got up and announced that he had found an engine that
our club might want to purchase. Was an old oil-engine that had for
many years run a sawmill down near White Cloud, Michigan. As I
remember, the mill burned around 1950 and the engine suffered from
the heat so it was retired to the back yard. A new mill was built
Club folks questioned Sam a bit. Seems it needed some babbit
poured, work on the piston, etc. that he knew of. The idea sounded
quite good. President Leonard took a vote and it was a unanimous
‘yes, buy it’.
Quoting Leonard, ‘We’ll get it moved to our club grounds
so the folks can look at it. Of course, we can’t get it running
this year.’ Someone sitting near Sam heard something like,
‘That’s what you think.’ Folks who know him don’t
doubt Sam’s ability or his aggressiveness. That sort is a great
part of what makes engine shows what they are today.
A lot of club folks got in on the job. I can’t remember all
the details. Seems the piston was about fifteen inches in diameter;
flywheels were sixty inches in diameter with twelve-inch faces and
weighed two tons each. Engine, sitting on the base, was ten or
twelve feet high. They poured many pounds of babbit and did some
machine work on the piston. Poured a lot of cement out by the
sawmill for a base. Made a screen tower and tank for cooling. Then
fixed up an old air compressor to give 225 pounds of pressure and
some volume. The Thursday night before the show was set for a test
start. Everything seemed to be ready. It actually took three big
men on a pry-bar used in holes in the face of the flywheel to turn
the engine over to just past top dead center. Air was then applied.
Got some action but not good. The fire, years ago, had softened the
governor springs so that when the engine fired the governor would
close off the fuel before it got speed up. Off came the springs for
a trip to Sam’s shop. He and Bud Rhode took care of the springs
and several other little details, not over fifteen or twenty, then
away she (or it) went. Put the belt on to the sawmill and sawed
like the dickens.
Have things set up so we can easily disconnect the oil engine
and belt up a steamer or whatever else wants to show prowess in
making lumber. I guess that, to many folks who watched the big
engine in action, the major impact was that it blew remarkable
smoke rings. Might be six or eight in the air discernable at once.
One gal said she counted twelve, but I tend to think she counted a
bit too hard. Sam had designed a fancy exhaust system. Horsepower
rating at manufacture is stamped 77. I don’t think that means a
lot but it will surely waltz through a big cut in oak with
ease.
Another new action item for the show was the bowl mill. Bob
Kellog picked it up somewhere, fixed it to run with a flat belt and
generally restored it. You feed a plank into one end and wood bowls
come out the other end. Bowls are then put into a container under
low steam pressure for a few minutes and cured so they will not
warp or crack. I believe the club now owns the machine so it should
be a going item for future shows, which are always held the third
weekend in August.
