What To Expect

Custom Sawing

• This work is done on a sawmill.
• Start with the log; finish with rough sawn, green lumber.
• When sawn, all logs will produce a variety of qualities of lumber. Better logs yield a higher percent of high quality lumber.
• Almost any dimension of lumber can be sawn.
• The best way to size your rough sawn lumber correctly is to know what you want your finished product to be and then work backwards.
  • Add 1/4" thickness to desired finished thickness. For example if you wish to have 3/4" thick flooring made then the boards should be approximately 15/16" to 1" thick after milling.
  • Add at least 1" width to desired finished width for many uses. Add 1.5" for tongue and groove. For example if you wish to have 4" wide, tongue and groove flooring made then the boards should be approximately 5.5" wide after milling.
• Expect 30%-50% total shrinkage as the boards are dried and converted into a finished product. For example if you need 100 sqft of finished, tongue and groove flooring, you will need to start with 150 sqft of rough sawn, green lumber.
• For more information see our Sawmill Service page.

Kiln Drying

• This work is done in a wood kiln
• Start with rough sawn, green lumber; finish with rough sawn, dried lumber.
• For most applications wood must be dried down to 6%-8% moisture content before using.
• Wood will shrink and move slightly during the drying process. Expect 10% shrinkage during drying.
• For more information see our Kiln Drying Service page.

Planing/Molding

Start with rough sawn, dried lumber; finish with final product (e.g. flooring, paneling, moldings, etc.) The first step is to "straight line rip". This is the process of cutting (usually 2) straight edges on the board. The material removed is shown in red in the above diagram.

The next step is to "skip plane". This is the process of planing all the boards to a uniform thickness.

The final step is to perform final milling to produce the finished product such as tongue and groove flooring or paneling.

• The material removed is shown in blue in the above diagram.
• In general 1/8" of width on both sides of the board is lost during this step.
• If the final milling involves a tongue and groove to be cut, an extra 1/2" of width is lost due to the width of the tongue.
• A huge variety of different profiles are possible. We can produce finished millwork up to 10" wide. Contact us for further information.

In general a total 1/4" of thickness and 1" of width (1.5" for tongue and groove) will be lost during the drying and milling processes.

Custom Home Furnishings

Schedule a day/time to come and see our inventory. Pick the wood slabs yourself if you would like or let us do it for you.

We love doing bookmatching and quarter sawing for our pieces. We have built dining tables in that manner many times; it is an economical but also beautiful solution. We work with walnut, oak, red elm, and ash very often. We usually build with solid, thick hardwood planks 2->3" thick and 15"->40+" wide.

Set the plan. Together we'll pull a project plan together. Time, Cost, Deliverables. We can do either the full project or any portion(s) on the project you wish. Once your piece is ready, we'll schedule a pickup appointment. We also offer delivery in the Southern MN area.