Timber Processing and Kiln Drying
Timber Collection and Processing
We are fortunate to have a large steel fabrication company on our doorstep www.johncraigcontracting.com. This gives us access to a large flatbed lorry with heavy lifting gear, ideal for lifting roadside trees and transporting back to our yard.
At the moment we slab our trees with a chainsaw mill, which although slow, is in fact very accurate and produces a good clean cut if kept sharp. It is also particularly useful when it is not possible to get transport close enough to lift a tree back to the yard. A recent example was a beautiful water marked Beech tree in Killearn which, had we not been able to slab it on site, would have become fire wood. The dried timber from this tree went on to produce a kitchen, a Hi Fi cabinet and a couple of rocking horses.
When a tree returns to our yard it is stacked until we have a job for it. This allows us to cut the tree into sizes and type of cut that suits each job. We try to cut them a few months in advance allowing them to air dry until we are ready for it.
Kiln Drying
Over the past 3 years or so we have installed and refurbished our own heat vent kiln. This gives us the ability to dry all our own timber from locally sourced trees. It also means we can offer this facility to our clients, drying their own timber prior to building a kitchen or piece of furniture for them. We are also open to drying trees for other craftsmen and women as long as it doesn’t interfere with our own schedule.
Around a month before we are ready to start a project we transport the slabbed timber up to the kiln, load and set. The time in the kiln varies depending upon the timber and how long it has been air drying before it arrives at the kiln, but is usually between 3-6 weeks.
Trees Wanted!
We are always on the lookout for Trees we can use in our furniture making, so if you think you may have something of interest, drop us an email!
We should say that we are not tree surgeons; this is a specialized profession in its own right. We can only slab a felled tree on site or collect it roadside. We do however have the numbers of a few local tree surgeons which we are happy to pass on.
We are currently looking for a Woodmizer or similar horizontal band saw for installation at the workshop, which we hope will improve production in this area.
We would like to thank Scottish Wood for their help and advice, while setting up our kiln. www.scottishwood.co.uk