Bill McCowan

I've heard that government has over-estimated the quantity of timber that is “ready for harvest” and under-estimated the quantity of timber that becomes available by natural causes, that is, "falls down" without human involvement. Doesn't surprise me from what I've seen.

Tornados, micro-bursts, extreme wind storms -- they seem to be happening more and more often right here in southern Ontario. No idea why -- global warming, climate change? Regardless, I've experienced some hard evidence -- two tornados right through our property at Rice Lake and another tornado 20 feet from the cottage north of Plevna. And trees here in Pickering just fall over when their time is up -- the high water table may explain some of that.

So I bought a Wood-Mizer sawmill to make better use of fallen timbers -- real shame to let these perfectly good logs just rot on the ground. Strikes me that I'm doing the right thing to salvage lumber or reclaim timber, whatever your preferred terminology.

With my Wood-Mizer I can cut strips down to 1/8" thick and even thinner. And "rough-sawn" is actually pretty smooth using my Wood-Mizer. I slowly air-dry my lumber for at least a year.

I sell my lumber for, generally, about $1 per board foot -- rough-sawn and air-dried. But call me for custom sizing, pricing and delivery of the species that you'd like -- 905-683-4270.

Wood	Good For
Cherry, Black	Furniture and cabinet work, decorative treatments -- strong, moderately hard
Basswood	Hand-carving, modelling, interior trim, food containers -- light, easy to work
Maple	Furniture, veneer, vehicle frames -- strong, hard and wear-resistant
Hemlock, Eastern	Boxes, crates, railway ties, general construction -- coarse texture, harder than most softwoods
Beech	Flooring, furniture, vehicle stock, handles, woodenware, filtering of vinegar -- hard and strong
Ash, White	Skis, baseball bats, tool handles, bentwood construction, vehicle frames -- tough and resilient
Poplar	Veneer, matches, boxes, pulp -- light and soft
Spruce, White	Construction lumber, musical instrument sound boards -- good resonance and resilience
Pine, White	Furniture, pattern stock, hand-carving -- easily worked, even-textured
Birch, Yellow	Flooring, furniture, veneer, railway ties, vehicle stock -- hard, moderately strong
Ironwood	Tool handles, vehicle stock -- extremely hard and tough