Sawmill - Product Definition

A Sawmill enables custom lumber production on site using locally available timber. An easily replicable lumber mill creates real value for the producer at a low cost of entry, a necessity for self sustaining community decentralized economy.

Sawmill - highly versatile and valuable lumber if woodlot is available - or lumber may be bought from neighbors.

Decentralized sawmilling may obviate clear-cut lumber companies in a new economy. Many uses.

General

Wood construction is one of the earliest methods of building shelter.

As we continue our CEB building lumber has been purchased to construct the trusses and will be needed to ruff-in door and window jambs.

Current lumber production is highly concentrated industry save the specialty wood shops producing for novelty wood workers. Unsound harvesting practices and high transportation costs make commercial lumber environmentally costly. Timber can be locally harvested and with a simply designed, low cost sawmill we can produce fine quality lumber sustainably and economicaly.

Product Ecology

The ecological impacts of commercial logging are devastating. Much of that lumber consumed is harvested by means that are unsustainable clear cutting forests and devastate ecosystems. Timber is BIG business, the inertia the logging companies have continues the cycle of centralized production and unpractical philosophies of every growing industry. The sawmill we aim to develop has the capabilities to restore lumber as a local resource using local woodlot that is harvested in a responsible and sound way. Thinning of forest, fallen trees, cleared lots all afford the opportunity for usable lumber while the scraps and sawdust are used for fuel and/or mulch. This method lends itself to a closed circle product cycle that returns production to the masses.

Localization

Any ecosystem that has trees offers the opportunity for local production. Thinning of woodland promotes diversity and creates space for new trees to grow while preserving the ecosystems natural cycle.

The design for dis-assembly proposed enables the sawmill to be transported over the road and to the trees.

The potential for efficient midsized wood milling is no joke. With mill capabilities to produce 2400 linear foot of wood in a day, pretty reasonable, you may not see the lumber yard again. With a sawmill like this you will be friends with every farmer, woodworker, and forester in the area. Sawing your own lumber affords you the ability to create beautiful and quality planks for peanuts while offering piles of satisfaction.

Scaleability

How can the product scale to larger or smaller operations/enterprises.

Lifecycle Analysis

An analysis of the life of the product, its materials, and its effects. For example, the sawmill makes lumber from the local trees, and the wood decays and returns to the ground to be used by more trees.