Cutting Lumber for the New Covered Bridge

Two of the Wood Mizers set up on Monday and started cutting on Tuesday. The third one set up and started cutting on Wed. The largest one (Don Price’s) cuts the longest pieces. The second largest (Dan Collum’s) cuts the shorter pieces like the cross members and the X braces. The smallest or shortest one (Terry Rooksberry’s) cuts up the slabs produced by the other two. The slabs are created by making a round log square and then cutting it down until the center is the size of a post or two posts. The first cut is to remove the bark and this is waste. Then there are several 2 inch cuts (slabs) to get it down to the size they are after. The slab might be 12 to 30 inches wide and 2 inches thick. This is then loaded onto a skid steer with several others and taken to Terry. He then cuts them into 2 X 4s, 2 X 6s or 2 X 8s . Terry first trims the pieces to remove any bark or imperfections because he wants the boards to be clear or perfect. The trimming creates sticks that are 1 X 2s. These are thrown into a pile and later cut into 4 foot pieces to be used to separate the boards when we stack them. This keeps them from molding and allows them dry quicker. Then the ends of the lumber are painted to keep them from checking. (The end of the board dries quicker than the center and it causes it to crack – check. The paint slows down the drying on the end)

There are suppose to be two photos on this blog. Little red Xs showed up on the preview instead of photos. If the photos make it through cyberspace one is of Don Price cutting and the other is Dan Collum cutting.

Mike Roe

Bridgeton Mill