Sawyers – Mill Logs Into Lumber

Sawyers operate sawmills and saw or mill logs into lumber. In addition to milling logs into lumber, some sawyers also kiln-dry and plane lumber. There are many different ways to saw a log, and experienced sawyers can custom saw for different effects. Homeowners may feel an attachment to wood that comes from trees in their yards or communities.

Community wood often has more lower branches and foreign objects such as nails than forest-grown timber. These irregularities produce beautiful “character wood” with dramatic knots, colors, and grains.

Community timber is ideal for custom sawmill operations and, when volumes warrant, larger mills as well. The Wood Utilization Team conducted a survey of custom sawyers in Illinois, and most were receptive to milling community trees. The December 2009 Illinois Directory of Small Custom Sawmills is now available for download.

The Wood Utilization Team has provided custom sawyers multiple opportunities to demonstrate the milling of community trees by bringing their portable sawmills to the press conference when the Emerald Ash Borer was first found in Chicago, to the Morton Arboretum in conjunction with the Rising From Ashes furniture exhibition, and to a UTiH2LzR training where the resulting boards were donated to the wood shop classes at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

Other Wood Marketplaces

Southeast Michigan’s Reclaimed Wood Marketplace