Another weekend, another successful tree salvage. Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Thankfully, Rod reached out to us with the hope that he could have his tree turned into something beyond firewood. We consulted with him over email and told him that we could offer him another option for his logs: salvaging them into live-edge slabs. What better way to give new life to a tree than to preserve its history and character within slabs that will continued to be enjoyed for many more decades!
Rod's maple was located on the corner of his property down a rather large slope and already cut into smaller logs. We decided that this would be the perfect job for our Alaskan chainsaw mill. The mobility of the chainsaw mill allows us to reach logs that are innaccesible to other types of sawmills, and its compact size lets us mill practically anywhere. We can slab up most logs right where they sit! Within just a few short weeks, my brother Josh and I were at his home and ready to mill.
For Rod, all he had to do was show us where his logs were, where he wanted the slabs stored and tell us what his plans were for them - and we took it from there. After suggesting the orientation and thickness of slabs to be milled we got the go ahead and began our work.
We quickly realized that the photos shared with us did no justice to the logs, as upon first inspection it was obvious that this was no run-of-the-mill maple (pun intended). What we found was a tree that showed signs of some very colorful grain, and possibly riddled with figure from end to end. After opening up the log with our initial cut, our suspicions were confirmed.
This was no ordinary maple, it truly was a one of the best logs you could hope to get your hands on.
Slab after slab from two separate logs were taken, and each one exposed a remarkable array of colors and grain figure. To make matters better, the shape of the logs were fairly consistent, which lends itself to the possibility of being used in many different projects from tables to countertops.
We run a very hands off approach to our services and go beyond just the milling. A location to store the slabs is prepared by us so that each slab can be stacked properly for drying, as well as sealing the slabs to protect their quality. Measurements and photos of every slab get documented and we pass on all that information to the customer so that they know exactly what they have and do not have to deal with the fuss of handling slabs.
A total of 10 slabs were milled, at 3" thick, for a grand total of 592 boardfeet. From the time we started setting up, to the time we got all our equipment back in the trailer, it took us only 6 hours to complete. This means that Rod paid less than $1.50 per boardfoot for all his slabs, which is around a small fraction of what he would spend buying that much material in the market!
In one short day, Rod quickly stocked himself up with more high-quality maple than he probably knows what to do with. Being retired, we think Rod will make great use of his beloved maple tree, keeping himself busy for many years. Of course, he just has to be patient for 2-3 years while his slabs dry. Enough time to plan out all his future projects!
"You guys are awesome" - Rod K.
Josh and I were completely satisfied with the job as a whole - beautiful maple, beautiful day, in a beautiful area, and to top if off, the saw was running like a top! It all made for one of the best jobs we've ever had the pleasure of doing.
If you or anyone you know has a tree that has been taken down, or is planning to take down, consider the possibility of turning it into some custom-milled building materials like live-edge slabs!
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