Profitable Sawmilling / Wood-Mizer UK 2019

Cutting edge news and stories from the sawmilling industry

Profitable Sawmilling UK EDITION

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From sawing raw logs to moulding finished flooring Wood-Mizer releases affordable MP260 4-sided Planer/Moulder A Norwegian ice cutter modernizes a traditional art form

2019

info@woodmizer.co.uk 01622 813 201

CONTENTS

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Scottish Wood – a sawmill successfully utilizing local Scottish timber

NEW SAWMILL UK millers to achieve higher performance and handle bigger logs with LT70WIDE sawmill and 2" blades NEW EQUIPMENT Wood-Mizer releases affordable MP260 4-sided Planer/Moulder

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New high production MP360

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GOOD PRACTICE From sawing raw logs to moulding finished flooring — One Scotsman can do it all with Wood-Mizer equipment BUSINESS IDEA From ice cubes to ice hotels – A Norwegian ice cutter modernizes a traditional art form EVENTS 2019 Wood-Mizer Show Calendar

INTRODUCTION Welcome to the 2019 edition of WoodMizer’s profitable Sawmilling.

2018 was a good year with a very successful APF producing many sales.

The LT70WIDE, introduced at APF has proved to be popular, with 5 mills already installed.

Details of the LT70WIDE can be seen in the article on page 2.

We will be demonstrating the LT70WIDE at 3 open days this year, Scotland (26th27th April), Cumbria (17th & 18th May) and at Wood-Mizer UK Headquarters in Yalding, Kent (20th & 21st Sept). We will also be at a number of other shows throughout the country demonstrating other products. Check out the list on page 32.

You will find a number of case studies in this edition, detailing how customers with different backgrounds and requirements are all making their business’ successful with the help of Wood-Mizer products.

The role out of the Wood-Mizer range of moulder/planers has produced a steady level of interest and enquiries and sales.

Read one man's story on page 20.

I hope you all have a successful and profitable 2019.

David Biggs

© Wood-Mizer, 2019

General Manager Wood-Mizer UK

Wood-Mizer UK 01622 813 201 info@woodmizer.co.uk www.woodmizer.co.uk

Northern England Martin Phillips 07572 999 406

Scotland Keith Threadgall 07789 551 686

Connect with Wood-Mizer for all the latest sawmilling news, videos, and success stories: www.facebook.com/woodmizereurope www.youtube.com/woodmizer08

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NEW SAWMILL

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UK millers to achieve higher performance and handle bigger logs with

LT70WIDE sawmill and 2" blade 3

Global sawmill manufacturer Wood-Mizer says the new LT70WIDE will fit the needs of UK millers who demand a highproduction machine with the ability to cut big logs.

The LT70 is already popular with the UK sawmillers but an optional WIDE head configuration now appeals to a broader audience with its capacity to handle logs up to 105 cm in diameter.

The maximum cut width is 86 cm and the maximum cant width is 78 cm.

In addition to the WIDE head, the LT70 can be configured with non-belted blade wheels in order to run wide 50mm blades. The blade wheels and 50mm blades can be ordered for either the regular head width or the WIDE head.

“Wood-Mizer is always committed to providing timber processors with the best available products and features in the industry,” said Robert Baginski, President of Wood-Mizer Industries. “The new LT70WIDE gives customers more capacity for sawing wider timber, while being able to achieve production results that are expected from more expensive wideband sawmills.”

The new products are available from Wood-Mizer UK and more information can be found at www.woodmizer.co.uk

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NEW EQUIPMENT

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Wood-Mizer releases affordable

MP260 4-sided Planer/Moulder The new MP260 Planer/Moulder delivers full flexibility to produce finished timber products for timber processing workshops.

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Wood-Mizer has released the MP260 four-sided planer/moulder – a versatile, compact machine engineered for professional woodworkers, carpenters, or joiners in the construction trade.

Affordable and easy to use, the MP260 planes and moulds boards on all four sides in a single pass into a variety of professionally finished products including flooring, planed boards, crown moulding, cabinet trim, paneling, door and window frames, and furniture components.

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Top Features: • 4-sided planing and profiling in one pass.

• Large 4-sided cutting capacity – 260 mm wide x 100 mm high.

• Even larger 1-sided and 2-sided planing/ moulding capacities.

“The MP260 Planer/Moulder is the perfect companion to a Wood-Mizer sawmill,” said Robert Baginski, Wood-Mizer Industries President. “With this versatile and durable planer/moulder used in

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combination with a Wood-Mizer sawmill, our customers can truly realize their full creativity and produce whatever timber is needed by their clients – from log all the way through to finished timber products.”

The MP260 ships on a pallet and requires minimal assembly. Wood-Mizer supplies planer knives and moulding profiles through their line of cutting tools, and also supplies comprehensive sawdust extraction systems to accompany the MP260.

The release of the MP260 Planer/Moulder builds on Wood-Mizer's position as a worldwide manufacturer and supplier of narrow band sawmills, now offering a full range of equipment that can seamlessly convert logs into timber and finally into finished wood products – all backed by Wood-Mizer's expertise and commitment to excellent customer service.

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NEW EQUIPMENT

MP360

New high production Planer/Moulder from Wood-Mizer Wood-Mizer has released the MP360 four-sided planer/moulder — high-production, large capacity machine engineered for professional workshops. With a larger capacity and higher hourly production levels than the popular Wood-Mizer MP260 planer/moulder, the MP360 planes and moulds boards and beams on all four sides in a single pass into a variety of professionally finished products.

Top Features: • 4-sided planing and profiling in one pass.

• Large 4-sided cutting capacity – 350 mm wide x 160 mm high.

• Even larger 1-sided and 2-sided planing/moulding capacities.

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For the ultimate in workshop flexibility, the MP365 is an expanded version of the MP360 that features a fifth spindle cutter that can tilt up to 270 degrees, so the operator can add additional profiles from any side, or attach sanding or brushing tools to deliver a final finish to the 4-sided profiled timber.

Requiring minimal assembly, the MP360 ships to the customer on a pallet. Planer knives and moulding profiles are available from Wood-Mizer through their line of cutting tools, and comprehensive sawdust extraction systems are also available from Wood-Mizer.

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GOOD PRACTICE

Scottish Wood – a sawmill successfully utilizing local Scottish timber

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In Dunfermline, a little village north of Edinburgh, Scottish Wood has grown substantially over the past 20 years. They are a social enterprise – a charity which owns a sawmill and supplies local builders with locally grown timber.

“We are primarily a hardwood sawmill. We cut Scottish grown hardwoods and also some larch and Douglas fir,” Jim Birly from Scottish Wood says.

Why homegrown woods?

Jim notes that the demand for local and homegrown timber is growing. His customers are now much more aware of the importance of supporting local business and the environment with their timber buying choices.

“People now realize, that to buy a piece of wood, actually contributes to woodlands. It doesn't diminish... It means the tree is being used, and that gap is being refilled with more trees,” he says.

“They like to know that they are contributing to the homegrown market and to the industry.”

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“People now realize, that to buy a piece of wood, actually contributes to woodlands. It doesn't diminish... It means the tree is being used, and that gap is being refilled with more trees,” says Jim Birly. “They like to know that they are contributing to the homegrown market and to the industry.”

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A sawmill without a saw “We initially started without a saw at all. We called ourselves a sawmill with only a kiln and a chainsaw,” Jim recalls.

They had to hire a mobile sawmill once a month to mill their stock. It took lots of time and was inconvenient to continue long-term. It soon became clear that they needed their own sawmill.

“We started with a Wood-Mizer LT25, and then we graduated to an LT40, of which we've had two or three. Now we run an LT70 and a new LT70 Remote” Jim explains.

The LT70 Remote line provides several features enhancing the productivity of the sawmill.

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“The line consists of a log deck, LT70 sawmill, conveyor and a transfer table - that is our unit geared toward production, so it is cutting our stock sizes,” he says.

Making Scottish timber work Despite the industry standard of using imported timber, Scottish Wood has demonstrated the viability of using locally grown and harvested timber for their clients, who more and more are looking to support local industry. A contributing factor to their success is their choice of the Wood-Mizer thin-kerf sawmilling equipment that increases recovery from their logs.

“The softwood industry works on a fairly low recovery rate. It could be even as low as 50%,” Jim explains. “We have much higher recovery. I would estimate that we probably have more like 75 percent.”

Jim is pleased with what Scottish Wood has become. “It feels good to use local resources sustainably, work with a lovely material and with nice people,” he says.

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GOOD PRACTICE

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From sawing raw logs to moulding finished flooring —

One Scotsman can do it all with Wood-Mizer equipment

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Just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, Sandy Crook has retired from his full time tree surgeon business to spend more time with what he really enjoys, seeing timber turned into final products. With his full complement of Wood-Mizer sawmills and new MP360 planer/moulder, he can do everything inhouse.

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For 17 years, Sandy ran a successful arborist business in Scotland. Now he’s ready to settle down, and his version of ‘retirement’ is building his own house among the rolling green hills west of Edinburgh, while investing in more and more Wood-Mizer equipment.

“I had built up my range of equipment, forestry mulchers, chippers, grinders, stump grinders…but after reaching a certain age, it started to hurt, and bureaucracy kicked in as well.” Sandy laughs, reflecting on his arborist career. “It was just too much and it wasn’t enjoyable anymore. So I sold a lot of my equipment and instead bought sawmills to focus on doing what I enjoy.”

Sandy has a mobile LT40 sawmill, plus a WM1000 wide capacity sawmill, which was the first of its kind in Scotland.

“The WM1000 is for breaking down large timber to make tables tops and furniture,” Sandy shares.“And I have an LT40 that’s mobile to be able

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to go onsite, whether for contract milling or just milling for myself.”

“And just recently I’ve bought a MP360 Planer/Moulder from Wood-Mizer,” Sandy says. The MP360 planes and moulds on all four sides of boards at once - a necessary step in producing finished wood products from rough-sawn lumber. This ability to plane and mould timber was previously missing from Sandy’s workshop.

“I was starting to make tables, and I had customers looking for tongue-in-groove and such. I looked around and did a lot of research on the internet, and the MP360 covered everything - all the bases I needed.”

One of the main reasons that Sandy was attracted to the MP360 was for its ease of use and its flexibility to handle different kinds of moulding projects in large or small quantities.

“I don’t want to spend half a day adjusting the machine to do half an hour ’s cutting,” Sandy says.“With the MP360, I can be moulding big timber one minute, and then be making tongue-andgroove the next. It’s a ten minute job to switch out a couple of knives. Its ease of use and compactness make it a very user-friendly machine.”

Now with his planer/moulder in place in the workshop, he can

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handle just about any custom timber projects that come his way.

“Customers come into the yard and pick a log,” Sandy says. “I personally felled them all, so I know the history of each one. I put it on the WM1000, and break it down into cants. Then I resaw it on the LT40, and finally I put it through the planer/moulder to their specification. By having it all in-house, The MP360 Moulder/Planer will help me diversify into a much larger market. I fell trees and I produce a finished product.”

Sandy is planning to build a house next to his current workshop and equipment barn. The MP360 will be put to good use throughout the build.

“I’m also going to be building a house on site, so I can do my own design, I can do my own skirting boards and basically the whole interior design,” Sandy shares. “My house is going to be unique inside. Just about everything is going to be wood tables, skirting boards, railings, staircases. And I have a lot of elm, so probably elm floorboards.”

“Running my tree surgeon business I’ve managed to collect some unique hardwoods, which I intend to use the WM1000 to break down, plus using the LT40 and MP360 moulder/planer.”

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BUSINESS IDEA Sawmills cut more than wood, and at DesignIce, a Wood-Mizer LT15 Sawmill cuts ice in -5 degree temperatures year round.

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From Ice Cubes to Ice Hotels A Norwegian Ice Cutter Modernizes a Traditional Art Form

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Thanks to the hit Disney movie Frozen, a whole new generation of children became aware of the traditional art of harvesting ice from frozen Scandinavian lakes. Their cold winters and many lakes made Norway a source of refrigerating ice blocks 150 years ago for Europe. Although modern refrigeration has reduced the need for block ice, the industry of ice cutting is still alive and well for more specialized applications.

Thomas Orderud, owner and operator of DesignIce, started harvesting ice from a local lake in Southeastern Norway about 15 years ago. Today Thomas can supply “everything from ice cubes to ice hotels” from his frosty 400 square meter workshop. Even in the winter he keeps the temperature at a steady -5 degrees Celcius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) so his 500-600 ton stock of ice blocks stay frozen solid.

“We’ve been asked to do lots of crazy stuff” Equipped with a Wood-Mizer LT15 sawmill, a Kuka CNC robot, tractor, forklift and a plethora of chainsaws, Thomas has assembled all the tools he needs to build anything his clients can imagine from ice. And his clients truly come up with some unique requests.

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Thomas regularly builds ice hotels, manufactures ice objects for corporate events, and creates large ice sculptures for ceremonies and even for movies.

He has produced sculptures of cars, company logos, usable beer mugs from ice.

Once he transformed his workshop into a winter wonderland for a Japanese fashion company that was shooting a TV commercial for winter apparel.

And even Hollywood needs ice. Thomas produced all the snowmen and an ice sculpture for the movie The Snowman that starred Michael Fassbender, which was filmed in Norway and released in 2017.

Harvesting Ice “Our company uses nearly 100% natural ice,” says Thomas. “The difference between natural and artificial ice is that you can really see that it’s natural – there are bubbles, special cracks and shadows.

Especially when you put light onto the ice, it’s more spectacular to look at. The life inside makes it unique.”

During a normal winter, Thomas harvests all his ice from a nearby lake, having all the needed permits from the local government to do so. He harvests the ice with a tractor-mounted saw and chainsaws.

Each block of ice is 1 meter wide and 2 meters long.

These blocks are stored by the hundreds in his refrigerated workshop, until they are used in a project.

From ice block to ice art Once Thomas and a client have planned out a project, Thomas first cuts his ice blocks to the approximate size needed on his Wood-Mizer LT15 sawmill, which he has modified specifically for ice cutting. The sawmill bed has a plate added to the rails to make it easy to slide the ice blocks on and off. Since the workshop is always kept at -5 degrees Celcius (23 degrees Fahrenheit), the blades and belts need to be kept above freezing to avoid ice buildup, so Thomas added two small heaters to the sawhead.

According to Thomas, ice is not complicated to cut.

“As long as the blade is sharp, the Wood-Mizer is good for cutting ice.” In a full day of cutting, Thomas changes the blade 2 times a day.

The sawmill even goes with Thomas when he makes certain projects that require on-site ice sawing. “I’ve brought it north of the arctic circle several times for projects.”

“When I have some problems with my Wood-Mizer saw, I just call Wood-Mizer, and they support me by

phone and I can get parts by the next day. They are a reliable supplier.”

After the sawmill, the ice blocks are then shaped with Thomas’ Kuka robotic CNC robot, which he can use to scan any object and make a 100% copy in ice.

Year-round ice deliveries “A lot of customers don’t ask us for service in the summertime because they can’t believe it’s possible to use ice during the summer. But we can. If you have 1 cubic meter ice block, and you put it in the shade in 30 degree weather, each surface will melt only about 6 cm in 24 hours, so it actually lasts pretty long.”

“Call us and we can deliver ice in the summer and in the winter. The attention from people when they see ice in the summer is huge, because they never expect to see ice in the summer.”

Usefulness of a sawmill in Norway “A lot of farmers are interested to do things with their own hands and could benefit from a Wood-Mizer sawmill. It’s not expensive, it doesn’t take a lot of space. It’s easy to run. Great for someone who wants to build their own small cabins!”

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EVENTS

Visit Wood-Mizer shows at upcoming events in 2019 April 20-22 April 26-27 May 17-18 June 14-16 June 15 June 20-23 July 9-11 July 12-14 July 30 - August 1 September 5-6 September 7-8 September 12 September 14-15 September 20-21 September 28-29

Sandringham Craft and Wood Festival Keith Open Day Martin Open Day Three Counties Cumberland Show Royal Highland Yorkshire Show Woodfest Wales New Forest & Hampshire CONFOR Belmont Woodfest Westmorland County Midland Game Fair WOOD-MIZER OPEN DAYS 3 Counties Autumn Show

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Kings Lynn Linlithgow Graythwaite, Cumbria Malvern Carlisle Edinburgh Harrogate North Wales Brockenhurst Longleat Faversham Cumbria Staffordshire Yalding, Kent Malvern

www.woodmizer.co.uk