Today was the second local Georgia woodworkers event and we had a great time again. For this event Lamar set up a tour with the owner of CAG Lumber Steven Brown.
When Lamar set up the tour to visit Steve's mill I expected a large saw mill but when I arrived at the address typed into my GPS, there was nothing there. I asked a neighbor if she knew where the saw mill was and she said she didn't know there was a saw mill around....I thought I was totally lost. I called Steve and he gave me directions on in the way guys back home in North Carolina give directions, second road on your left after the church at the mechanics sign.
After arriving, Steve brought us up the hill to watch him slice up a Beach with his Wood-Mizer, wow that thing is awesome, I have watched this before but am still amazed at how easy the machine handles the logs. The first pass just cleans the bark off and makes a thin cut after that he can slice whatever thickness he wants with no binding. The first few boards cut are mainly 8/4" but later Steve made a few cuts for mantle boards that where 4" thick and the Wood-Mizer cut the boards with no strain at all, amazing to watch.
Other than the Georgia heat the only part of the work that brought a sweat was when Steve had to change the blade, it is crazy to think that the blade on this saw cost pretty much the same as the blades on my own band saw in my shop!
After finishing with the Beach log we took a tour of Steve's shop and a few project going on in there while having a cold drink. Several tables and chairs made from beautiful Walnut and I couldn't help but admire the corner Big Green Egg stand...
Next Steve brought us around to see his stored lumber, I must say that I was not expecting the stock pile that he had. He had rack after rack of Walnut, Cherry, Maple, Oak, Cedar and much more. He even pulled out a few pieces of his private one-of-these-days-I-will-build-something-with stash and has some beautiful and interesting stuff, like Sassafras (smells just like root-beer).
Steve was a great host and we all really enjoyed the tour around his mill, he has a great stock of most any thing you want and can get just about anything else, and with great prices...plus he is just a nice guy. You can visit Steve online at
http://caglumber.com/.
The past two events have allowed me to meet many great local woodworkers and I really hope we continue and grow to bring in even more woodworkers. Any others that are interested in joining our group let me know and I will add you to the e-mail list of events to come.
Keep on woodworking!
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