Sawing Options

All milling is 100% custom.  Before we come out to help you with your project, it can be nice to consider the intended use of the wood and how you'd like it cut.  Below are some brief overviews of the most common options for turning logs into lumber.  On milling day, we will gladly discuss and help guide you if you're unsure.

Flat Sawn

This is the most common method of sawing, and is typically used for lumber and boards.  This method yields the least amount of waste, and displays the beautiful face of the grain.  Can be used to produce both center cants/beams (left), as well as grade sawing (right).

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Flitch Sawn (aka slabbed or live edge)

This method of sawing is very popular with live edge enthusiasts.  The log is cut full width (bark to bark) from top to bottom.  Our mill can cut any thickness up to 10.5", and widths up to 34".  Great for tables, mantles, counter tops, benches, you name it...  Also popular with furniture builders as it yields a variety of quarter and flat sawn sections, allowing an entire piece to be built from a single log, ensuring consistent color and pattern. 

Fun fact: the very top and bottom rounded pieces are officially called slabs, while the central cuts are called flitches.

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Quarter Sawn

Vertical grain quarter sawn lumber produces the most dimensionally stable board.  It is commonly used to display ray fleck in hardwoods.  While a little more labor intensive to cut, the quality shows through.  This cut will typically give boards of varying widths, though the woodmizer method provides for quarter/rift sawn lumber of equal width from a central cant.  Here is also a great video showing how quarter sawn lumber is produced on a bandsaw mill.  Bookmatched boards can be cut with with either method.

Boxed heart vs. free of heart center (FOHC) beam

Depending on the size of the log and desired beam/post size, the pith (center of the log) can either be included or excluded in the beam.  An advantage to free of heart center is potential for less surface checking and cracking, as boxed hearts dry slower with less routes to release moisture.

Beveled siding (coming soon)

There's nothing like real wood.  If you're interested in custom cut bevel siding let us know, and we will we make it happen.