It's not exactly information related to my solar kiln, but all that lumber has to come from somewhere.  I was recently invited to give a demo of my sawmill at the Central Virginia Woodworkers Guild annual picnic.

The guild is a pretty active organization and every year it hosts a potluck picnic with various demos, a display of member furniture, and a swap meet.  This year my swingmill was one of the demonstrations.  My mill is an older (1998), smaller, Lucas swingmill that I bought used on the cheap.  It's a six inch model meaning it cuts a maximum board width of about 6 1/4".  Everything, and I do mean everything, is manual so it is a good workout, but it is a good match for a micro-sized one man operation like my own.  Me, the swingmill, my great Logrite 48" peavey, and some grunting is all that I need to handle most logs.

One of the guild members supplied a nearly perfect 21" diameter cherry log that yielded about 110 bd ft of beautiful lumber despite a few bad 8/4 boards from the heart.  The demonstration went well and I believe most people enjoyed watching me and my tailer, Matt Miller, make boards.  It's hard not to have a nice time with those million dollar views.

The first step was to get the log rolled onto my log bunks that hold it in place while milling.

With the log in position, the demo begins

Thanks again to Todd, Roger, and the Central Virginia Woodworkers Guild for letting me give the demonstration and take part in a fabulous day.  It was terrific meeting everyone and getting the chance to talk wood (logs, boards, kilns, furniture and everything else in between).  Thanks to Matt and Paul for your help tailing, unloading and loading the mill, and a big thanks to my Dad for helping get the mill ready, loading, unloading, loading and spending the day with me.