Logs to Lumber

One of the most fascinating experiences I have had in my career has been the ability to tour lumber sawmills. I have been through multiple production operations in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, as well as toured southern pine sawmills in the southeast. The process (and they are all unique) is captivating and powerful. You cannot walk away from the encounter without having immense appreciation and respect with all the complexities of what goes into breaking down this resource as well as all the sophistication in the process to utilize and maximize a log. It is truly impressive.

So what I have done is locate some of the best video footage of the sawmilling process that I could find and shared the links below. It is all YouTube footage and most are void of narration. Still, I think you will come to appreciate the amount of work and financial investment goes in to making finished lumber goods so we can all do our jobs. 

There are five different video links of various running times. Pick and choose at your leisure and you can always return to our website under the blog tab to revisit them as needed.

An Aerial Journey Through The Sawmill – Vaagen Brothers, Colville, Washington 5:21

Fascinating and comprehensive aerial tour through one of Vaagen’s three sawmills.

Manufacturing Process of Machine Stress Rated (MSR) Graded Lumber – Vaagen Brothers 2:01

This is What We Do – Vaagen Brothers 3:28

An interesting perspective about forest management and the processing of small diameter trees.

Oregon Mill Walkthrough – D.R. Johnson Lumber Company, Riddle, Oregon 10:08

Another non-narrated walkthrough of a Douglass Fir sawmill.

Last Steam Operated Sawmill in the U.S. – Hull Oaks Lumber Company, Monroe, Oregon 15:26

Old school lumber mill still able to process large logs. They also feed the mill out of a log pond.