Horizontal gang saw

About the sound

The horizontal gang saw, produced by the machine factory A. Goede in Berlin in 1908, currently stands in the Sawmill Remblinghausen (Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia). It works by means of a transmission machine driven with waterpower and is used to manufacture boards.
In order to produce boards, a tree trunk is positioned on a movable sled in front of the horizontal gang saw. The saw teeth are aligned in such a way that they cut in both directions.
When the machine is activated, a transport-sled carries the tree trunk in the direction of the saw blade. The blade with its back and forth motion cuts the trunk. After the first cut is complete, the height of the saw blade can be adjusted, so that another board can be cut out of the tree trunk.
As soon as the saw blade hits the wood, an even sawing sound can be heard. Additionally the movement mechanism of the gang saw and the transmission machine may also be heard.

The Sawmill Remblinghausen is a heritage-protected building in Meschede (Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia). The oldest part of the sawmill still standing today was built in 1809. Up until its shutdown in 1983 the sawmill threshed clover and it manufactured lumber, boards, wooden wheels and wooden tools. Today the sawmill still has its system of line shafts and belts for power transmission, which extends throughout the entire building, as well as an ensemble of historical machines from the wood processing business and threshing equipment of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1987 the sawmill was placed under heritage-protection. In 1994 the Sawmill-Association of Remblinghausen took over the sawmill and restored it.

Sound recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Photographer: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Video recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke