Here’s the video I promised. Yes, it is long and I’m sorry about that… but I hated to leave any step out!
This sawmill was originally owned by Vernon’s great uncle who then sold it to the Mills Ranch about 45 years ago. My kids are thrilled to learn how to run it. They could have done this all day. They were just getting things figured out when we quit… Gary tires easily and this activity was enough for him.
The first log is a “test” log to make sure the blade was spinning true. It shows the blade at work from a different angle, so I left it in! For those who care, these are Douglas Fir.
The lever that Daniel (in the green sweatshirt) clamps down on the log is called the dog, and it holds the log in place. Great care must be taken to get the log level and cut it so it won’t warp.
Gary and Donna actually got us two logs we might be able to use. Both are gorgeous and we hope to poly them and leave in the sawblade marks, just to show that *WE* did it and this is no store-bought log! We also cut a smaller log for the bar top if we decide to make the bar a double-decker! Wahoo! This was cool!
Sawmill from Carol Greet on Vimeo.
