know where their new beams or garden furniture is coming from ,” says Henry . “ We like to source our timber locally .
Editor ' s Note : The European LT20 is similar to the LT35 sawmill .
For example , I acquired a beautiful piece of sycamore that was destined to be chopped and burned , and milled it instead . It had stunning grain timber with
stunning character in it . Here , there is no waste .”
After several years , Henry decided to upgrade to a larger Wood-Mizer portable sawmill . “ I wanted to start to push the business on ,” Henry recalls . “ I had a herd of Aberdeen Angus cows , which were inside six months a year and were not generating a vast profit . I sat down and decided I would rather grow my timber business . Selling the herd allowed the introduction of the [ portable mill ], and it has certainly produced a larger profit on a yearly basis than the herd had ."
“ Being able to go out and do mobile milling has helped to grow the business ,” explains Henry . “ We are not on a main route , so that ability to do mobile sawmilling did open up our name . We also revamped the website , and it helped dramatically . In this last year , I have been astounded at how busy we ’ ve been !”
Adding a kiln to dry timber for use in indoor projects has really helped to expand what he can offer clients . “ My love is with the small interior and exterior finishes , that ’ s where I see the business going over the years ,” says Henry . “ That is an area I would like to develop – showing wood off in its true , natural look . The great thing is , with this type of sawmill , you can do that . There are so many angles that you can mill a piece of timber on it . For a wedding , we cut oblique disks , because we could stand the log up and cut slices from it .”
With the timber business expanding , Henry is considering hiring someone full time to manage the farm for him , which will free him up to focus on the timber side , which is his passion . To others interested in doing what he has done , he shares the following advice - “ If you are going to buy a sawmill , know the direction that you are going to take it in . When I started here , we focused on the oak route , nothing else .” He mentions that although they have received requests , they have turned down work for post-and-rails and flooring , choosing instead to focus and grow their niche for tailored projects for specialist clients .
Product models , specifications , and availability may vary by territory .
Watch Henry Brown ' s video at woodmizer . com / brown or woodmizer . ca / brown .
Caption
10 The Wood-Mizer Way Spring / Summer 2017