Chris Hyne of Hyne Timber dedicated one of the largest bandsaws ever
used in Australia during the 30th birthday celebrations of Gympie’s Woodworks
Museum.
Now on display at Gympie’s Woodworks Museum, the bandsaw according to Mr
Hyne is an iconic part of the timber industry. The 6-metre high bandsaw was the
second to be used at the Maryborough sawmill and represented a large piece of local
history. Mr Hyne recalled that the bandsaw was sawing hardwood from 1979 to
2009 including Fraser Island Brushbox and Satinay.
A part of the local community since 1882, Hyne Timber contributed to the
bandsaw’s relocation and installation expenses. The local timber industry has
provided sustainable employment to Queenslanders for many decades. Observing
that many people from Hyne have fond memories of this bandsaw, Mr Hyne
commended the museum staff and volunteers for having done an exceptional job in
installing and presenting the bandsaw.
Stan Petersen was the last Saw Doctor to work with this bandsaw. Having
worked with the bandsaw for 23 years, he was extremely pleased to hear about
the display plans at the Museum. Mr Petersen also found the old log book and
provided it to the Museum.
Purchased from Barnett Bros at Bell Bay in Tasmania but originally
manufactured by Isles Forge and Engineering at Coffs Harbour, the bandsaw measures
14.7 metres long, 2.4mm thick with a swaged tooth at 3.4mm and a pitch of 50mm
and gullet depth of 19mm.
The blade was strained to 6800 kg and spun at around 1982 metres per
minute. It could cut a 600mm deep cut at a feed speed of 44 metres per minute.
The bandsaw wheels had to be ground annually, a process that took two days.
