The Byrkjeland saw on Vikøy in Kvam in 1912
The Byrkjeland saw on Vikøy in Kvam in 1912 (A. B. Wilse, owner: Norwegian Folkmuseum (14275)).
The Pine Forest, the Sash Saw and the Scots Trade
“THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE 17TH CENTURY”
“Rats and Scots are of no use to man nor beast” was a popular saying in Bergen. It reflects the annoyance expressed by town businessmen when the extensive “Scots trade” flourished after a Customs house was established at Eldøyvågen on Stord in 1590. Then the Scots and others could avoid sailing through Bergen when they were fetching timber from Sunnhordland and Hardanger. The timber trade with the Scots and the Dutch has been described as the “Golden Age of the 17th Century” in the west of Norway. The sash saws, the technological innovation of the 16th century, stood at every river mouth in the fjord settlements where there was timber to be gotten, and where it was easy to ship it out. The water saws cut beams and tables out for boatbuilding and housebuilding, for domestic use and for export across the North Sea. The Scots ships sailed into the Hardangerfjord, to Strandebarm, Jondal and right up to Ulvik to load rough timber and sawn timber. This klondyke period lasted until the middle of the 18th century and led to overcutting of the forest in the fjord areas. Here there had grown from ancient times a vast and straight-growing pine forest.
The great water wheel was the central driving force in the sash saws. Stekka Tørviksbygd. (Svein Nord).
The great oak stumps in the landscape conservation area at Berge have provided material for the keel and the ribs for many a boat built at Stekka. (Svein Nord).
The Stekka saw represents a technological innovation which probably came to Norway in the beginning of the 16th century and which revolutionised the use of timber. The water channel, the “penstock”, leads water on to the big wheel which drives a saw frame with an in-built saw blade. (Watercolour: Odd Melseth, 1992. Ann Steindal).
The many barns on Osterøy demonstrate a way of using juniper which goes far back in time. (Svein Nord).
Here we see a brief extract of the Customs lists which tell of the great traffic from countries overseas. (owner: Riksarkivet).
Eldøyvågen on Stord was a Customs house for Sunnhordland and Hardanger from 1550 to 1753. (Sev. Kannelønning, eier: Sunnhordland Museum (SK 743)).
Here we can see the characteristic stacks of planks with boat planks and panelling. The need for broad planking for boat building has kept the sash saws in use right up until our own time. (14276)).
A saw blade at the Stekka sawmill (Svein Nord).
Today the saw at Ænes is powered by a turbine. Here an old sash saw has also stood. Image from 1990.
The saw at Ænes (Helge Sunde).
The sash saw in Stekka on the Berge farm, in Tørviksbygd from the early 19th century. (Svein Nord).