“I’m a retired businessman but I’m busier now than ever. I’ve had a lot of mechanical experience. I ran a plant that manufactures big agricultural equipment. I’ve done a lot of woodworking and metalworking. I’ve done welding, sales and marketing, and I’ve run a restaurant. I’ve flown planes and even sung opera!
You can’t walk into Home Depot and buy a 2” thick table top. I wanted a sawmill to turn logs into wood products and materials you just can’t buy — you have to make them yourself. Everything in commercial lumberyards or big box stores is plain and generic. You can’t buy lumber with the fantastic figuring you get when you saw your own. Owning your own sawmill opens up all kinds of woodworking possibilities. What you can do is endless!
Best design, higher than some, less than others
I wanted a new sawmill, not a used one with someone else’s problems. I looked at all the mills out there and bought the TimberKing 1600 (now upgraded to the 1620). My decision wasn’t totally on price: TimberKing is priced higher than some and less than others. I decided TimberKing offered the best advantages. You can stand in one spot to operate everything. You don’t have to walk beside the cutting head as it moves down the log. And I believe TimberKing’s 4-post head is the best design. And I like the hydraulics, too.
I drove to Kansas City to pick up my mill — more than 600 miles each way. It tows and handles lickety-split on the highway.
Ed makes furniture, timbers, veneer, much more
I don’t do any commercial work. I make furniture like half-log benches, standard benches, river tables, and more. My work is rustic. I’m not a finish carpenter by any means but I have a Woodmaster Planer and a Woodmaster Drum Sander. I build things of pine, oak, ash, and elm. All are readily available around here.
Also, I sawed all the timbers for my new home. I sawed 20’ timbers into 10” x 10” beams. I sawed our interior half-log stair steps. I cut 5/8” oak veneer to panel a 60’ long support wall in our basement rec room. I’ll mount the panels right to the studs with the planed side out.
Slabs
And what do you do with slabs you cut off while milling wood? You see big piles of slabs wherever there’s a sawmill. I turned some of mine into a privacy fence 7’ tall and 95’ long. I used my red pine slabs mounted to pressure-treated stringers. I use my oak slabs as firewood.
Wood disks turn into $100 bills
I made an attachment for my saw so I can crosscut logs into disks. I give them to my son who’s an artist. He has frame shop and a laser engraver. He’ll laser-cut a bible verse or saying, urethane them, and sell them in his shop. He turns a simple disk of wood into a $100 bill!
I only wish…
Money-wise, I’m really happy with my mill. But there are always instances where you wish you’d gotten a bigger mill. For example, I sawed up a 30” diameter log that was 100 years old. I wish I’d bought a bigger TimberKing. The 30” cutting width on the 1600 can be a restriction. (Editor’s note: the TimberKing 1600 has been upgraded to the 1620 which takes logs up to 39” wide.)
TimberKing is far and away the easiest sawmill to use. It’s not the cheapest but I’m very happy with the mill, the access to parts and pieces, and the customer service.”
— Edward Ferguson, TimberKing Sawmill Owner, Fargo ND
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