Photo Index - Bemis & Ware - Wood frame planer

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Bemis & Ware
Brattleboro, VT

True Manufacturer:
Bemis & Ware, Brattleboro, VT

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Planer, Wood
Machine Size:
Submitted By:	Walter Phelps

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Wood frame planer
Date of Manufacturer:	c.1856-1866
Serial Number:
Last Updated	1/18/2023 9:55:22 PM

Comments:

These are some additional photos of the Bemis and Ware planer previously photographed by Benjamin Campbell at the Weston Mill Museum in Weston VT. Several aspects of this machine are noteworthy. The planer design predates the widespread use of steel coil springs in machinery, and uses rubber blocks to provide tension to the infeed rolls and accommodate uneven rough lumber thickness. It was an imperfect system and often resulted in damage to the infeed roller brackets. The rubber blocks are, however, one hallmark of an early period machine. There are two small diameter corrugated infeed rollers, an attempt to hold the down firmly lumber as close to the cutterhead as possible. (Early planers had no chipbreakers.) Also of note are the pulley castings with the spiral design spokes. This design had to do with reducing the stress within the wheel casting when it cooled, preventing uneven cooling from fracturing the casting. Note that the wood decking on the infeed end has been removed, showing the framing below.
This early planer shows similarities to another early wood frame planer by Weld, of Brattleboro, as well as some other wood frame planers depicted on this site.

Photo 1:

Comments: Planer side view with infeed decking removed
Source: WP

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Photo 2:

Comments: Note rubber blocks used as springs for infeed rollers
Source: WP

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Photo 3:

Comments: Note blacksmith made reinforcement to rubber sprung infeed roller bracket
Source: WP

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Photo 4:

Comments: Mechanism for raising cutterhead and feed rollers
Source: WP

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Photo 5:

Comments: Infeed end. Wood decking would have been flush with lower roller
Source: WP

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Photo 6:

Comments: Infeed end. Note double corrugated top infeed rollers, an attempt to hold lumber down as close to the cutterhead as possible.
Source:

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