Sawyering 101

This weekend I took an awesome workshop at The Indianapolis Art Center. It's called Sawyering 101 and is taught by Shane Strodtman. At the beginning of the class Shane went over the basics of trees and how we get the boards we are familiar with from them. He also talked a little bit about the importance of using local materials and how to be economical with our wood. Shane is a professional landscaper and gardener. He actually took down most of the trees that we milled himself.

Shane explaining where the different cuts of wood come from.

After this we went outside and got introduced to the Wood-Mizer! Shane doesn't own the saw mill, so he hired Schuyler Marks from Columbus, Indiana. Schuyler is a woodworker himself and has a real passion for wood. He was so enthusiastic about the milling process that it really made for a fun learning environment. Schuyler gave us an overview of the machine and explained to us the value of milling your own lumber.

Schuyler (in the hard hat) explaining the milling process.

The Wood-Mizer was set up in the parking lot at The Indianapolis Art Center and behind it you can see all the pretty logs!

This wood mill is a manual set up. Schuyler Hand cranked the saw through the logs. He also had to manually adjust the blade height, log position, and clamping mechanisms. Shane explained to us that there are saw mills you can buy that do all of that for you. Completely automated and run by a computer. Schuyler told us that you have more control with the hand crank variety. It allows you to adjust your speed if you get hung up, where as with the automated ones, it's usually too late once you realize something is wrong. The inside of the machine looks like a band saw that has been turned on it's side. The blade, however, is much larger than what you typically see on a band saw.

The saw mill opened up for blade replacement.

These giant hooks were used to lift the logs and help maneuver them up the ramp to the bed. Schuyler told us how dangerous these hooks can be and then showed us his thumb where he can only grow half a finger nail. Yikes! Some of the logs were pretty large. One was estimated to be 2,500 lbs!

Hard at work!

Once the log is in position and clamped down it can be cut. He started off by trimming a little off the top and then went down cutting 8/4 or 5/4 boards. The majority of the boards were plain sawed, except for one. There was a red oak that was large enough to get 9 inch wide quarter sawn boards out of, so Schuyler insisted on taking the extra effort to get these beautiful boards.

Massive red oak tree

We ended up with a lot of unique looking wood! We milled mulberry, butternut, silver maple, red and white cedar, red oak, and ash. Each tree was incredibly beautiful.

In the end I got to take home four good size boards and a lot of small bits, which is perfect for me. Now all I have to do is wait 2 years to use them! That will definitely be the hardest part. First, trying to figure out a good place for them to dry and second having the patience to wait that long! It was a great experience and definitely made me wish I owned a saw mill. I will leave with a video of the Wood-Mizer in action!