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.