Firewood,  Milling Lumber,  Sawmill

Spring saw milling

We had a fairly mild winter so far as snow depth is concerned. Nowhere near the brutal amount that northern New Brunswick got. The lack of snow though has meant that with the cold air, the frost has gone deep into the ground. Which is ok if you are walking and driving machines over the ground but eventually the frost has to leave and it ill make for a soppy, wet mess to deal with. This year’s to do list will involve a lot of water course management.

sunrise, Monday, March
Monday morning blues.

It being so cold this winter, I did not get much accomplished out in the workshop. With no steady heat source other than a small wood stove to take the chill out of the air, projects were cut in the shop and then brought into the house for finishing. Here’s a 4ft tall wood map of Cape Breton Island I managed to complete for a special order from Lindsay Construction in Sydney, Cape Breton.

woodworking, scrollsaw wood map of Cape Breton
4ft map of Cape Breton

With the snow leaving, its time to look to the work yard and plan the year’s work. Off in the distance you can see the clearing we started for our firewood business. Waiting for the frost to leave the ground to complete that work. Here’s a batch of pine logs that will be cut in the coming month.

saw milling logs,pine logs,Nova Scotia, Antigonish county
Lake side location, logs may have stress.

Below is a sun greyed crate of pine lumber. The crate of pine to the right is 1x pine I’ve been cutting this past little while.

sawmilling,pine lumber,Antigonish,Nova Scotia
Log sawn 2X pine lumber painted read on the ends, air drying for 16-17 months outdoors now. Just about ready to use.

The greyed pine is near dry enough for use.

Nova Scotia, Pine logs, moisture content, Wagner meters
Moisture content of air dried 2x pine reads 21.2% near the ends.

This past week we’ve been busy processing logs into lumber. Here we’re working on getting as much 2x4x10ft lumber from the spruce and fir.

lumber, made in Nova Scotia, Antigonish County, Guysborough County, sawmilling business
Saw milling 2×4 x ft spruce and fir.

 

Gina is busy at the chop saw, processing the 1x lumber and scraps.

pallet making, Nova Scotia, local resources, Antigonish County, Guysborough County
Gina working the cut off saw for pallet making.

 

Below are stacks of boards for making pallets. We use pallets for stacking lumber and for our firewood business.

pallets, firewood, saw milling, sawmilling
Maximizing the saw milled logs.

 

The left over parts are turned into kindling.

scrap wood, kindling, sawmilling, Nva Scotia, Antigonish County, Guysborough County
Kindling ends from saw milling.

 

Moving on from the spruce and fir, we are now focusing our attention on the big hemlock and pine logs that have been in the yard since last year. To the left is a crate of 1x hemlock. The middle crate has 2x pine. The crate on the right has 2x hemlock.

hemlock beams, lumber, sawmilling, Antigonish County, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, pine beams
Saw milling 2×6 hemlock lumber.

 

The large hemlock logs are allowing us to get some nice 6×6 hemlock beams. I’ve actually milled these 6.25 x 6.25 so that I have the option to mill then into 2x beams should I need those. But for sure we need at least 6 or 7 6×6 hemlock for a special lighting project we are making this spring.

Saw milling hemlock beams 6x6x8ft

 

The big pine logs are also producing some nice 6×6 pine beams.

pine beams, lumber, sawmilling, Antigonish County, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, pine beams
Nice 6x6x8ft pine beams.

 

This stack of 2x4x10ft spruce/fir lumber is the results of recovering some logs that otherwise would of gone to a burn pile. It is pretty hard for me to turn my back on a log I can make into lumber 🙂

2x4, lumber, sawmilling, Antigonish County, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia
Saw milling 2x4x10ft spruce and fir lumber.

 

For that matter, its difficult even to throw away the small bits. For now, its all going to to stacked and dried, then sold for firewood kindling.

wood kindling, lumber, sawmilling, Antigonish County, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia
12 inch wood kindling processing and drying.

 

Once in a while someone shows up and needs their logs milled. We do custom saw milling, just contact me with what you need done.

saw milling birch live edge lumber in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, Guysborough County, Pictou County, Richmond Couty
2 inch birch slabs

 

A Newfoundland born Canadian with a life long interest in woodworking, baking and anything else that peaks my curiosity.

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