The lumber trade began with a small shipment of hand-sawn clapboards sent from the James River settlement to England in 1607. The water-powered sawmill was introduced – in the autumn of 1611 – near the site of Richmond. The expertise was Dutch or German and was reinforced before 1624 by additional groups of sawyers from those countries, as well as a few Poles. William Byrd of Westover imported saws and sawmill parts from Europe and boasted that his mills could rip two thousand board feet in five hours.
— “This Well-Wooded Land” by Thomas R. Cox, Robert S. Maxwell, Phillip Drennon Thomas and Joseph J. Malone (University of Nebraska Press) 1985.
Soon thereafter came the first drought, which caused the water to slow to a mere trickle, thereby creating ye original olde Saw Stop.
Wish I had thought of that one!
That counter weight made me think of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Pit And The Pendulum.”
I think the most important question from this is….where can I get a pair of those pants? That is a bold fashion statement indeed.
That is an early “utili-kilt.” Ask the kiltedwoodworker….
What is that picture from? I don’t speak Latin, but I’d still be interested to peruse it.
“Theatrum instrumentorum et machinarum Iacobi Bessoni”
Authors: Besson, Jacques & Béroalde de Verville, François & Paschal,Julius
Date: 1582
And I’ve yanked it from the Smithsonian’s web site, here: http://ia600302.us.archive.org/12/items/Theatruminstrum00Bess/Theatruminstrum00Bess.pdf
Many thanks!