Milling Recommendation Needed - N. Illinois - Woodworking Talk

ThomasOSB · 05-21-2009, 04:47 PM

I have a beam that came out of a church. It is approximately 12' long, 4' high, 1' thick. I want to get it milled so that I can make something out of it, however I have never had anything milled before. Any helpful hints anyone can give me, reputable mill (I live in Kane County, IL), pricing figure, etc?
Thanks for the help.

**TexasTimbers** · 05-21-2009, 05:19 PM

HERE is a good resource for a nationwide sawyer-finder service.

As to the pricing, you just need to negotiate. I hear prices for custom sawing as low as 0.20¢ BF up to 0.65¢ BF.

0.20¢ is low, and 0.65¢ is a bit high. I don't custom saw anymore but when I did I might use a BF price or an hourly rate dpeneding on the job. Your beam, though very large, will be quite easy with the right mill so I bet you can get a flat price from a sawyer.

Can you deliver the beam to a mill or do you need a mill to come to you? This will vary the price a good deal perhaps unless you happen to have a mobile custom sawyer close to you.

We have to have pictures of this you know, or we'll hunt you down and paint your beam hot pink with yellow polka dots.

Gene Howe · 05-21-2009, 07:54 PM

Fr. Tom,
Daren, on this forum might know someone with a mill in or near Aurora.

I used to know some people in Elgin. But they only milled flour for pizzas. But, I could contact them for that paint job if we don't see those pictures. Beware of fat guys in suits, fedoras and carrying violin cases....that's where they carry their spray paint.

Gene

**Daren** · 05-21-2009, 08:58 PM

Am I reading this right, you have a solid chunck of wood 4 feet wide, 1 foot thick and 12 feet long ?

ThomasOSB · 05-22-2009, 08:47 AM

Naturally it didn't come from one tree, but from a couple of large blocks. My dimensions are only estimates as my woodshop, where the beam is located, is about 500 miles from where I work. But yes, it is one big piece of wood - I nearly threw out my back being stupid enough to try and move it by myself.

RHarkins · 05-22-2009, 12:54 PM

Wow.... That's a big hunk of wood. Just out of curiousity, what type of wood?

ThomasOSB · 05-22-2009, 05:26 PM

Douglas Fir

Kirk Allen · 05-22-2009, 08:03 PM

Thomas,
I dont know anyone near you with a mill but I do have a buddy that lives in N. Aurora and a brother in Naperville that might lead to the option of transporting it here on one of their trips down (they come down regulary) then bring it back in cut up lumber.

I am in Kansas, IL. $.35 BF is our current rate, $20.00 for damaged blades.

Julian the woodnut · 05-22-2009, 09:20 PM

Check this out. It's a complete list of sawyers in Illinois and it's broken down by what county they are in.
Robert Schmidt is the sawyer that I have used before and he's got the best rates I have seen anywhere. His listing is about halfway down in the list. He's about 40-50 miles east of you in LaMoille, Il. 25 cents a foot, and $6 per blade if he hits metal.

ThomasOSB · 05-24-2009, 10:46 AM

Thank you everybody for your help and suggestions, they are greatly appreciated.

ThomasOSB · 06-29-2009, 04:16 PM

When I got back to my shop, I realized my dimensions were a little off. The actual size was 99"x30"x5" and I had two of them. I took a couple of pictures before I had them milled.

**TexasTimbers** · 06-29-2009, 07:15 PM

Thomas, you have some old growth (or at least second growth) SYP. Longleaf possibly but could be any SYP species really. Megatons of SYP was exported out of the southeast region from the mid 1800s to the turn of the last century (and still today of course).

If the church they came out of was built anytime before the ealry 1900s it could be old growth. It could be old growth even up into the 20s or 30 depending on where it came from, but much of the old growth forests had been taken by the early teens. A lot of wood hobbiest are under the false assumption that all old growth forests are gone, but that is not true. There are still untouched pockets of hardwoods on federal, state, and even private lands; and other than just the big redwoods.

We even have stands of various species here in Texas that somehow survived the ax man over the past few centuries and are now under state protection.

I have some old growth SYP myself that came out of the Smith, Moore, and Williams building in Bonham, Texas that was erected in the late 1800s (still standing too). they came out of the floor when they had to redo it. they are 2" x 12" and that stuff is HEAVY even though it has been at EMC for oh, way over 100 years.

Nice find. You should gather all the history of the church you can, and if it is a really old church, go the local library and see if they have preserved their old news papers on disk. I used to look at the old local newspapers on micro-fiche (they are all on hard disk there now) when I used to treasure hunt this area back in the late 80s - early 90s. If the local library never burned down it would most likely have some form of copies of all the old newspapers that came and went in that town, and the story of the building of that church would almost certainly include the source for the timber.

Edit: I just noticed your post where you say it is doug fir. Looks exactly like old growth SYP to me but I am not familiar with doug fir so can't speak from experience on that.