I bought this 1984 LT 30 WoodMizer just after I found out that a neighbor got stuck with a couple hundred logs from a tree service deal that had left them with a pile of wood they couldn't handle.
I had never ran a sawmill, just helped out catching a few times and watching the operator at what he was doing when I could. So when the pile of wood found me, I had just heard that the mill was available. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time.
With the help of my friend Scott, we set up a milling operation on the same lot. That way the neihbor got all the firewood they wanted, I got rid of all the offall, and I didn't have to move the whole pile, just the good lumber I was making. I learned at a fast rate just what I got myself into, lots of hard work. But satisfing! I liked watching that pile of logs turn into such beautiful lumber. Did you know Black Walnut is really gorgeous green colored when it is first cut? It darkens up as soon as it starts to dry.
Now I had the problem of how to store it all and dry it out. That's when I got my first semi-trailer. What a great instant storage area. I installed a solar powered attic fan in the nose, and sticker stacked a big pile of lumber that I was fast accumilating. Now there are a couple more there for storage.
Then I got an idea on how I could hold the logs a little differently than other sawmills do. I started to mill some branches, some with forks. They make some interesting legs, and live-edge shelving, and whatever you can think of!
I got some trees that were to big to fit on my sawmill. I thought, boy, some nice big slabs of wood would look cool! I thought to myself there has to be a way to get these down to a size my sawmill can handle. A friend had sent me a link to Popular Woodworking that had an article on blowing up big logs. I loved it! I did some practicing. I started with firewood-sized pieces, and worked my way up. It's amazing what a little black powder will do to a 3 ton log! Now the slabs I get I can actually carry into the trailers to dry, and it's a great way to start quarter-sawing a tree. Check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M27psbtTV_s
Now I have this big pile of wood so I had better start making something out of it. Most of the straight grained stock got bought up fairly quickly, and I got left with the more 'figured stock' at least that's what they call it. Most people call it knotty & firewood. Some people throw out lemmons instead of making lemonade!
So I took some of this firewood and made a few things that you will see as you go through my website.
Come on by and see what I can offer you!
