On Monday Chuck came with his portable band saw mill–a Timber Harvester made in Waterloo NY. Adam, John, Thom, and Dylan were a big help carrying and stacking the lumber, moving the logs, and draw-knifing the bark. The lumber is gorgeous! Especially the cherry, some of which had exceptional grain pattern and color. Most of the lumber is sawn to 1″, we made a few 6×6 posts, and a few 2″ slabs. A lot of the wood is live sawn–with the bark on one or two edges. We did hit a few nails, but what really damaged the blades, much to our surprise, was the Drylock paint that I had used to seal the logs. Although we knew that paint had abrasives in it, we didn’t think that it would have such an impact–we could see sparks when the blade hit the end of the log. All in all a big success! Thank you everyone who helped!
Sawmill arriving
Sawmill setting up
Making stickers from strapping
Quarter sawing oak
John Carrying Board
Spartan removing the bark with a drawknife. The bark looks nice, but creates a moist environment for bugs to live in.
Spartan and Thom Stacking
Dylan watches while Chuck and Adam change the blade
Done stacking and stickering. I will need to redo the roof still, but for now, this is good.
All pictures except the last two are by Beth and Thom.
Design & Construction of Spartan & Hannah's Home 
HI Spartan, I stopped by the site yesterday after class, and it looks like you got a great yeild out of your timber! the only thing i would suggest would be to coat the ends of the boards with a wax or parrifin, or even a thich paint to prevent rapid drying at the ends, which will cause checking (cracks). you should be able to find a suitable material at the lumber yard. looks like som really nice material though! (i also notices a couple of good pieces in the slab pile… small but pretty!
Keep in touch regards the plans. talk to you soon
J