Our Milling Process
We process locally sourced felled hardwoods. This entails an enormous amount of sawdust, endurance, and attention to the detailed characteristics of each log.
From the moment the lumber is milled, it is cataloged. Then monitored in an outdoor lumber unit until it is ready to finish the curing and sterilization process in our solar kiln.
Your Land + Your Log
We consider this type of milling, ‘Boutique Milling’. It’s connected. It’s customized. It’s procured in an anti-manufacturing manner.
I have a log that I’d like to turn into a table. Can Terrawood do this?
Our team is on a mission to connect directly to projects such as these.
It is important to be quite sensitive to the nature and characteristics that each log holds potential to. As nature offers us only what is available, it is our job to best utilize what is there.
Connect with us. Send a picture of what you have. And let us know what you would like.
How long until the lumber is ready to produce something from it?
Moisture Content (MC) is our leader when it comes to production. There is a rule of thumb, that when air-drying lumber, it will take 1 year per inch of thickness to dry rough sawn lumber.
Proper MC ensures what is built stays the way it was built for many years to come. Once designed or engineered to move with standard humidity changes the joinery accepts standard shifts and movement throughout the season, so long as the lumber is utilized within a specific MC range.
There are ways to accelerate this process. Such as a steam kiln or a solar kiln.
Do you have available space for storage of our lumber as it dries?
It is not necessary for lumber to be held in a shed or enclosed building as it air-dries. For millennia, lumber has been dried in make shift units protected from the intense UV light with much success.
However, we do treat each project individually and will assess what the options are with the final goal in mind.
Do we bring the log to Terrawood?
Our Norwood sawmill is a mobile mill.
This means, we come to you and mill on-site.
Is the milling process invasive?
It’s loud. It’s dusty.
Our team does our best to keep your yard and site intact. Logs range from 2,000-4,000lbs. Moving them can be invasive.
If milling on grass : As we arrive with rakes and blowers, we do attempt to keep this under control as much as possible, but there will be areas that sawdust will become “trapped” in the root bed of the grass. Also, moving logs on a grassy lawn can tear the grass roots and leave drag marks. If at all possible, a rocky or solid concrete/asphalt surface is ideal for milling.
If milling on rocks: Small amounts of bark and sawdust may get left behind, despite thorough clean-up. Moving logs may leave slight drag marks in the rocks after clean-up.
If milling on hard/solid surfaces: Sawdust is an easy clean-up. There may be drag marks remaining from log moving.
Is milling a log dangerous?
The answer is: Yes.
The moving blades are the least of dangers. However, a danger indeed.
The moving logs are the greatest of dangers. As these logs on average weigh in at 2,500 lbs, improper or distracted handling of a log can result in severe injury or death. We advise no small children or pets be near the mill. Observation from a distance is always welcome.