Milling Logs


By Nate Demers

These pictures were taken deep in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. You have to be a tough man to run a Whipsaw all day!

Let’s talk a little about how we mill logs. The two most common ways log home contractors in the midwest mill logs or rip cut them, which is a type of cut that divides a piece of wood parallel to the grain are by a band saw mill and free hand with a chainsaw.  Yes occasionally I will use other methods but 99.9% of the time these are my go to options.

Portable Bandsaw Mill

For any dedicated woodworker, carpenter or log builder the dream is to own there own mill and make lumber from logs.  During the begining of my buisness at WEATHERWIZE I had another family buisness that had a full milling facility. I took for granted how easy life was with two mills, drying facility, planer molder machine with three phase power, log moving equipment and a maintenance shop.  Times change and I found myself without the log milling infestructure that I had grown accustomed to. After many years of hard work, I was in a financial position to once again be back on the milling scene. After many hours of research and a few trips to the Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo I was set to get my mill.  My mill is a Wood-Mizer LT35. Yes I wanted the biggest and best like a LT50 or LT70 unfortunately at the time I couldn’t justify It because I don’t saw everyday and didn’t have contracts to justify it.  My mill has everything that I need to saw all day and produce many Board Feet of lumber. There are tons of opinions on the Internet about what mill is best. I made my choice on many factors.  Past experience, what other sawyers that I trusted and respected used, customer service and the fact that I had seen Wood-Mizer being used world wide in North America, Africa and Asia. If you are in the market for a Mill do your own research, I couldn’t be happier with my decision.  

Why a bandsaw mill? A log home contractor needs to have as many options for cuts as possible.  Some of the common scenarios we encounter is are wide slab cuts, long cuts, being able to make a long wide cut only part way through the log and minimal waste.  With the proper knowledge we are able to achieve all of these actions with a bandsaw mill. No we won’t achieve the same volume of a big mill that has a debarker, bell saw and resaw but that’s not what we are after.  We can make lumber, pallet stock and gym floors but is not our business. We cut siding, timbers, half logs, rafters, and dimensional lumber by and large.  

What is a portable band saw mill capable of?  The most important aspect is that it is portable.  If I can get my truck and a trailer to the site then the mill can also go. Its as simple a towing the mill to the site, unhooking and leveling.  With a full hydraulic mill all we have to do is get it situated near the log deck and with a few pevies and strong backs we can mill the deck from logs to finished decked lumber.  A professional sawyer can read the logs and maximize the profit from from every log. The amazing thing about a portable mill is that the options are only limited by your imagination.  These mills are capable of producing anything from large slabs, quarter sawn lumber, heart free timbers or half logs. 

Free Hand Chain Saw Ripping

Working in Africa was one of the best learning experiences of my life. I have been a woodsman and carpenter since I can remember.  When I went to Africa I was feeling at the top of my game. I prided myself in owning my own chainsaw since my 18th birthday, had cut an uncountable number of tanks of fuel through every chainsaw imaginable. Was familiar with many types of milling operations and had even built a garage with a Alaskan Mill. Then I met this man and unfortunately I don’t know his name. He spoke Swahili and I spoke english.  Let’s just call him Mr.Saw. Mr.Saw would go into the African Jungle and free hand cut dimensional lumber. And not one or two board, he would cut african tractor trailer loads of it. No fancy rigs or jigs just a caulk line and as a good eyeclomiter. What is a eyeclomiter? Eyeclomiter is the natural ability of the brain and eye to see plumb,level, square and true. I had been practicing free hand ripping for many years and had the same chainsaw a Husqvarna 372 XP as Mr.Saw. One day the two of us went to the Jungle, I  had to see what he was doing. I showed him proper tree felling techniques like proper wedge cuts and hinge size, directional felling and bore cutting. In exchange I got to see his work.  With a few caulk lines he would break the log into a cant and then free hand break it into boards with only a saw and his eyeclomiter. To be honest the tolerances were not what most American carpenters would be comfortable working with however they were quite impressive for free hand. So why am I telling you this? The point is that I had been limiting myself with the saw.  My mentality was that if I needed to make more than a few rip cuts then I felt like I needed the Alaskan Mill or Micro Mill. Yes these options are nice and much easier to use than free hand. Mr. Saw had given me new inspiration for free hand ripping with a chainsaw. Don’t limit yourself! With enough practice you to can cut like Mr. Saw.