Sawing

The 115-year-old machine

Hans Nyffenegger is one of the sawyers at Ballenberg. He is well acquainted with the 115-year-old machine, a so-called single-gate saw, which he closes down for winter at the end of the season and starts up again in the following spring. He loves showing visitors what the machine is capable of doing. He is particularly proud of the end result of his work. “We use 80 to 90 % of the boards sawn for renovation work here in the museum. The remainder are sold,” says Hans Nyffenegger. Depending on the type of wood, the depth of cut and the sharpness of the saw, it takes from 10 to 30 minutes for the blade to eat it way through a tree trunk.

Having the craft in one’s blood

The work in the sawmill is hot and heavy. Stripping the bark off the round trunk, and heaving and stacking the planks is all part of the job. Experience teaches one how to spend one’s strength sparingly. Hans Nyffenegger is a trained sawyer and comes from generations of sawyers. That’s why he has an instinctive feel for many of the manipulations and techniques involved. He can judge by ear, for instance, the rate at which he must feed the wood into the saw. Sharpening the saw blades, something which has to be done after every four or five half-day sessions, also requires great sensitivity of touch.