From January 1916 The Wood-Worker

In 1908 Gordon Bryan of Dallas, applied for a patent on a band sawmill; the patent was assigned to Benjamin F. Watkins of New Jersey. In mid-1910 the American Portable Band Saw Mill Co. of Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina, was established, with Watkins as president. They acquired the exclusive patent rights, and then announced that they would contract out the sawmill's manufacture and would act as the selling agents. So far as we can tell no product was ever brought to market and this company quietly disappeared within a year or less.

In May of 1914 a new business was formed, the Portable Band Saw Mill, Inc., of New York City, to build and sell the "Brysave" portable band mill. Bryan worked for the company as an engineer. The sawmill seems to have achieved modest success until the company disappeared sometime after 1918.

Bryan's band sawmill was mounted on a wheeled frame that could be pulled with one team of horses. Previous portable sawmills were either reciprocating or circular sawmills, which have thick kerfs and produce a rough-sawn surface. Band sawmills of the time addressed those shortcomings but were very heavy and decidedly non-portable. Bryan's design pursued low weight as a primary goal. To that end, he made the cutting plane horizontal rather than vertical. This arrangement is now commonplace among portable sawmills but in the USA at the time it was very uncommon, though not unprecedented. The saw-head was mounted on posts that rode on wheels along tracks on either side of the log bed. The saw-blade was remarkably thin by the standard of the day, made of 19 gauge steel, 0.042 inches or (1.06 mm) thick. The basic design of this saw, then, was remarkably modern. While more recent saws of this type are powered by a head-mounted electric motor or internal combustion engine, the Brysave saw was powered by a small compound steam engine mounted on the saw carriage.

Information Sources

• 1910-07-07 Manufacturers Record, page 64.

  To Make Portable Band-Saw Mills.

  The American Portable Band-Saw Mill Co. (which was incorporated last week) will engage in the manufacture of sawmills and sawmill supplies, controlling the patents of B. F. Watkins, present of the company, and Gordon Bryan, both of Winston-Salem, N. C. This company is capitalized at $1,000,000, and for the present will contract with manufacturers to make its mills. Correspondence is invited, and Mr. Watkins can be addressed at Winston-Salem, although the main office of the company will be at Greensboro, N. C.

• 1910-07-10 The Tradesman, page 56, in a list of recent incorporations. "Greensboro, N. C.—The American Portable Band Saw Mill Co. Capital $1,000,000. Incorporators: O. C. and L. G. Klingman and R. B. Stuart. To manufacture and deal in saw mills and saw mill supplies, and will secure and control the patent rights of B. F. Watkins and Gordon Bryan for a portable band saw mill."
• 1910-07-14 The Iron Age, page 92, in "The Machinery Markets" column.

  The American Portable Band Saw Mill Company, Winston-Salem, N. C., which owns patents covering a new style of band saw, is negotiating with manufacturers with a view to having its product made under contract. The company has been formed as a selling organization and will concentrate on marketing its product.

• August 1910 Southern Machinery, page 58.

  The American Portable Band Sawmill Co., Greensboro, has been incorporated with a capital stock of $1,000,000. O. C. Klingman, L. G. Klingman and R. D. Stewart are the incorporators. This company will begin business with a paid-in capital stock of $6,000, and will manufacture a portable band sawmill patented by D. S. Watkins and Gordon Bryan.

• 1910-08-04 The Iron Age, page 265, in a listing of trade publications.

  Portable Sawmill.—American Portable Band Saw Mill Company, Winston-Salem, N. C. Treats of a new type of portable sawmill having a band saw instead of the circular saw ordinarily employed. Some of the advantages claimed for this mill are a saving in the amount of timber, as it is stated that the part now wasted in sawdust by the old type of circular mill is saved because of the narrowness of he cut; fine finish on the product, as the lumber is sawed so smooth that sandpaper rubbed lightly over the surface removes all saw marks and makes it ready for paint, thus eliminating loss in planing, and cheapness of operation, as only three men are required and two of these can be ordinary laborers. The log remains stationary on the truck frame, which rests on the ground, and the saw carriage travels to the log and feeds the saw into it and reciprocates over the log until it is sawed to the proper dimensions.

• March 1911 North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts' Agricultural and Mechanical College Record (Vol. 9, No. 4), page 175, in a list of alumni: "Risden Paterson Reece, B.E. 1904, Winston-Salem, N. C. / Mechanical Engineer American Portable Band Saw Mill Co."
• May-Dec. 1914 Standard Corporation Service, Vol. 1, page 216.

  Portable Band Saw Mill, Inc.
  Incorporation—This company was incorporated in May, 1914, under the laws of the State of New York with a capital of $100,000, to manufacture and deal in band-saw mills and machinery. The incorporators are C. Freeman and V. Roberts of New York, and A. Rado of Summit, N. J.—Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, May 20, 1914.

• 1915 Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Wood Preservers Association, page 29, in a list of Non-Members who attended the meeting: "Bryan, Gordon—Engineer, Portable Band Saw Mill, Inc., New York City."
• 1915 Trow Copartnership and Corporation Directory, page 825: "Portable Band Saw Mill Inc. (N Y) Chas Q Freeman Pres, Adolph Rado Treas, Capital, $100,000. Directors: Chas Q Freeman, Vincent Roberts, Adolph Rado, 236 E 87th".
• January 1916 The Wood-Worker has both article and ad on the Brysave Portable Band Mill. "This mill is built by the Portable Band Saw-Mill, Inc., 339 East 86th st., New York, N. Y."
• 1916-01-27 Manufacturers Record, page 65.

  Portable Band Sawmill.—A catalogue issued by the Portable Band Sawmill, Inc., 339 E. 86th St., New York City, describes the Brysave portable band sawmill and claims it to be the only machine of its kind manufactured. The mill is made very light, so that it can be mounted on wheels and hauled by one team. The special features brought out in the catalogue are the saving in "hauling 1 head of mill to 300 loads of timber instead of 300 loads of timber to the mill," saving in wood owing to the narrow, clean cut of the bandsaw and in labor.

• 1918-1919 The Reference Register, page 335: "Portable Band Saw-Mill, Inc., 150 Nassau".
• 1918-1919 Trow New York Copartnership and Corporation Directory, page 922: "Portable Band Saw-Mill, Inc (N Y) Vincent Roberts Pres Fred H Page V-Pres, Adolph Rado Sec, Archibald N Milne Treas. Capital, $100,000. Directors: Chas Q Freeman, Vincent Roberts, A M Milne, Adolph Rado, Fred H Page, 150 Nassau R1127".