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These pictures are where the lumber comes up the line from being
graded and is "stickered" and stacked. Not all the lumber
is stickered, only what is prone to staining, Ash etc. |
This is the back of a drying shed. It has three rows of very large
fans pulling air through the shed. |
This is the other side of the shed. The fans are behind the lumber.
You can put a sheet of paper against the front of the stacks and
the air going through will hold it in place. This process speeds
the drying time and helps prevent checking. |
This is another shot showing some of the fans where they moved
some of the lumber to the kiln. This system is just to pre-dry
the lumber it is kiln dried after this. |
In the background are large piles of mulch made from the bark that
is stripped from the logs. This material was burned or buried at
one time. Now that is not allowed and they found other uses for
it. The mill supplies all the mulch that Biltmore House in Asheville
NC and the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta GA uses each
year. At a good profit according to Jack. The sawdust is used as
fuel for the kilns. Almost nothing is wasted. HooRah for "Recycling"
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This is the log yard. The water you see in the background is being
sprayed on logs to keep them soaked to prevent staining. These
logs will be sawed this winter. The water is run constantly from
the first of May till October. This allows the mill to run 12 months
a year since trees cannot be logged in the winter due to destroying
the land. |
Each row of logs is called an "Alley" Believe it or not
they know exactly how many of what logs are in any Alley at any
time.Even the ones being soaked. They do a complete inventory each
month. Not just the logs but all the lumber too! Jack said this
is not as hard as it sounds because they keep very good track of
everything, coming and going. |
Well, This is where it all happens. Just to the right of the light
in the center is where the saw head is. I thought it would be a
large circular saw like my Great Uncle had. Not so, it is one huge
bandsaw. (I hope to have some better pictures later, check back)
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This is the machine that de-barks the logs. (this picture is a
little out of order in the process but it was a good place
to put it) |
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These are the boards coming off after they are cut. The picture
at left is a closer look at the saw in action. The speed at which
it cuts is unbelievable. |
Pictures of the Saw Blades Click> HERE