Any Sawyers Out There?

[HomesteaderWife]

Hey folks, I am curious to see who out here on BYC may be a sawyer, whether new or experienced to the craft. We've been running a Norwood LM29 for nearly 8 years, picking up sort of an entry level sawmill and assembling it ourselves when it arrived. We are at a point now where we are hoping to upgrade (still comparing brands) and I would love to hear from anyone out there with their own portable sawmills on what brand and model you have. I'd love to actually hear from someone that has a Cook's sawmill, but TimberKing and Wood-Mizer have some others we are looking at.

How long have you been milling wood?
What brand and model do you have?
Do you have a kiln for your wood and if so, how is it set up?

Would love to see some photos of things you've made with your setup!

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Unfortunately I don't mill wood-but I'd love to see pictures of your setup!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

I’ll add some photos at a later point when we’re not at work We have a small entry level mill and my husband built a frame for it and a log loading deck but we really want to get one with a hydraulic loader and a Diesel engine. We have a Norwood LM29 at the moment and we haul to the sawmill with a Mahindra can’t remember model but before that we moved logs with a 1954 Ford tractor

 

[Sally PB]

DH would LOVE to get a sawmill. May I ask what an entry level, or maybe a little bit nicer than entry level would cost? I have no idea if we're talking $2K, $5K, or $25K.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@Sally PB - we have the LM29 no longer in production but LM30 says “$6,195.00” with shipping and taxes factored in at checkout. It will come in parts unless you want it pre assembled which will be more. $10,000 and under is entry level but Norwood has a side line of cheaper ones under a different name can’t recall off hand. My husband sold his poor little Chevelle to get this Norwood 8 years back or so, around $5,000-$6,000 he said it was. Mills we would like to upgrade to are around $40,000 and up. Our dream one is around $66,000 if we are being honest and many of them have finance plans.

Start small. A chainsaw mill can work but often people step up as soon as they can. Their other cheaper brand Frontier Sawmills (no experience with) is around $2,500 to $5,000 range.

Ask yourself what you’d be milling wood for? How will you get logs? How will you move them? We cut trees on the property and hauled with little tractor and had the stationary mill (no trailer package) and assembled ourselves which was….a headache lol. But it’s still running and we cut up enough wood in the first year that it paid for itself. We built a cabin with it!

 

[Sally PB]

@HomesteaderWife, thank you for the info. DH loves to build stuff, and he'd love to make furniture. He's made some a couple really pretty stick chairs, and a lovely side table. If he could mill some of the logs we have, well, no telling what he'd make!

We have plenty of wood. Oak and maple get to be good sized. We have black walnut that gets about 6-8-10" in diameter and dies. No idea why.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@Sally PB - Keep an eye out for fungus or beetles on the Walnut. That is a slap shame to hear they are dying off, goodness, that is some gorgeous wood to mill. Research how to treat the ends of the maple and oak logs to prevent too much splitting. Anchor Seal gets good reviews. Talk to your local extension they may be able to help with walnut info.

Some of the brands have photo contests and video contests where you can earn credit with the company to order parts and blades by entering photos of your woodworking projects. If you had any antique malls around you may be able to make a booth there and sell.