Table Rock Lumber, Last log sawed at a 40+ year old sawmill

I have to say that I really miss the mill life. I was a millwright for many years. Four of my six sons worked at the mill. Three of them were sawyers until the mill closed down for the last time. I still run our own family mill. Its a Woodmizer LT40. We have a mill pond on our homestead but we pump water onto the log deck. I used to keep the logs in the pond but one broke loose from the dead man and blocked the spillway during a winter storm and we almost lost the dam. I breaks my heart every time a mill closes. thanks for sharing this video!

Just watched Marvin and crew again and while it was sad it was nice to see it all again...I hope Marvin is doing ok...Your all a great crew thanks for sharing this video with us...

I could almost smell that cedar as he was cutting it. Love the video Sharia. Thank you for old memory's. Grinnin'.

Thanks for the memories! It's so sad to see mills like this shut down. Thanks for the video

God I love to watch sawmills work and this one was no exception.  Also incredible that the last log was so beautiful.  Highly computerized operations are taking over but it is always a treat to see any mill operate whether it be 40 years old or 100 years old. Thanks for the vid Sharia!

That is the best looking cedar ive seen for awhile. ... after he was done it didn't have hardly any knotts in the boards.... he definitely knows something!

Marvin does know what he is doing...Very gifted man...feel sad for what this last log must mean to him...Wood must have a nice smell to it...Best of health to you Marvin...

Very sad to see it saw for the last time. Been in the sawmill business for over 40 years, so I know how Marvin feels. God bless.

Ive worked as a chief engineer is a saw mill where we had a twin blade set up for milling really big timber . In 1980 we stripped the whole mill out (the building was built using enournous logs for the uprights and cross beams ) and we installed a similar type cariage and a 9 foot bandsaw headrig. Our new Breast bench saw where the cut timber is reduced to the finished sizes ,was as big as the lower blade . >looking on you tube recently i found a vid of the mill i helped build,burnt out by vandals because of the nature of cutting logs into timber like this mill you tend to get a different feeling for trees and old style sawmills.

those stacks of lumber are a wood lovers dream.

Thanks for sharing this video with us. I love watching these ole mills working. Thanks.

Marvin says he is embarrassed that he took so long to quarter saw this log.  I should have explained in the video that he was taking his time in order to work toward getting two finely matched boards.  It was also his last log to saw at the mill, and he was a bit sad about having to finish it off.

At one point Marvin said he had a 3 man crew and himself working and sawed over 200  logs in  an 8 hr. shift. This was without any resaw , every  board was cut on the head saw and edged with the edger, then end trimmed,and stacked , at the time there was not a green chain. Small walnut would measure 12"  to 16 " at 8 ft  ( 16 to 32 board feet each.) Walnut saw logs are not straight and require turning more than 4 times so  appreciate and realize this  little cedar got a lot of extra attention considering a 16 ft long 36 in Oak (736 bd ft) would usually be through the mill in  5 to 10 minutes.depending on the order.`

Absolutely make vertical grain with a clear log. Beautifully done.

From watching your video of the cedar Log... I swear I could SMELL the aroma of the log while you were cutting it. WOW!

I believe I met Marvin when I came thru Table Rock when I was with the Veterans Awareness Ride to Washington DC. This was in 2012, May! Stopped in the main part of the town square to see my uncle Riefards name on the plaque place visited my family grave sites!

Thank You from south Ga.

That sure started as an Ugly log!! I worked at Millard Lumber for a while, they had some Gorgeous cedar. The 8x8 timbers are some Magnificent stuff! So Sad to see this gone!! (Hello from LaVista, NE)

That mill is a solid unit

Just to note. I maybe wrong. Quarter sawn lumber is prized for strength and beauty, but the main reason it was invented was for shrinkage plane sawn logs produce a better yield. A 1/4 saw board shrinks in thickness so old carpenters used extensively for doors. It also steam bends better.