Logging some quality time

I recently got a whole new appreciation for an aspect of woodworking I rarely see – making lumber.

It’s not often you get to spend time where something is made. Whether it’s your cell phone or the wood you work with, the early processes that create them can be mysterious. That’s why, when I visited a working lumberyard this past week to get a small load of hemlock, I decided to hang around a while and just drink things in.

I’ve seen band sawmills before but have never had the opportunity to get up close and truly watch the process from beginning to end, from a log lying on the ground to a stack of ready-to-work boards. And, as a bonus, I got to ask a lot of questions about what was going on.

I was amazed at how much a single person can do with one of those mills. Except for occasionally needing to roll a log with a cant hook (and, of course, stacking what comes out of the mill), the machine takes care of most of the log handling itself. From loading it, turning it, readjusting positions, and spitting out boards at an incredible pace, the amount of control the operator has over the machine is fascinating.

As it happens, the lumberyard owner didn’t consider herself a woodworker, so as we chatted, I talked as much about the process of what I do as she did about her profession. It made for an interesting back-and-forth. In the end, I think we each came away with a better look into what the other does.

Of course, everyone who works with wood is, by definition, a woodworker. And while I take boards and turn them into things people can use, she takes trees and turns them into things I can use. Two sides of the same coin, and equally valuable no matter which way the coin flips.