oak hill iron sawmill operation - nc state university...• current sawmill capabilities –swing...
TRANSCRIPT
-
OAK HILL IRON SAWMILL OPERATION
Dean CurfmanOak Hill Iron
Morganton, North Carolinawww.oakhilliron.com
Thursday, June 2nd, 2016
WERC Small Sawmill Workshop 2016
-
Oak Hill Iron• Current sawmill capabilities
– Swing blade sawmill– Chain blade sawmill– Solar dry kiln– Dehumidification dry kiln– Nice wood shop-insulated and hvac
• Focus on making slabs – High end furniture customers– Combining slabs with metal components– Wholesale slab sales to retail outlets
-
Logs-obtaining from local tree trimmers
-
Swing Blade Sawmill
Peterson gas engine large diameter swing blade sawmill
-
Chain Blade Sawmill
Peterson 78” factory chain mill-electric motor powered with electric feed for carriage
-
Value of a Good Sawmill Building
Ability to saw at night and while raining, building protects equipment
-
Solar Dry Kiln
Based on proved design developed at VA Tech in the 1970’s. Took Brian Bond’s class at VA Tech.
About 1,000 board feet of capacity
-
Solar Dry Kiln-above view
-
Dehumidification Dry Kiln-1
Nyle2000 unit with about 4,000 board feet of capacity
-
Dehumidification Dry Kiln-2
Nyle 2000 dehumidification unit set outside the drying chamber
Has a cold water mister for adding moisture when needed
Has electric probes for monitoring moisture content
-
Dehumidification Dry Kiln-4
Using an insulated container as the dry kiln shell
-
Dehumidification Dry Kiln-5
Industrial quality fans
Plywood for baffles and fan wall
Good lighting for checking slabs and probes
-
Dehumidification Dry Kiln-7
Electric probes for monitoring moisture content
-
Dehumidification Dry Kiln-8
Wet bulb temperature probe
-
Covered Storage for Slabs
• Two ends covered with wood• Using shade cloth on entry side front and rear
-
New Wood Shop
• Insulated shop building
• HVAC for heating and cooling
• Basic woodworking equipment• Planer• Table saw• Mortiser• Belt sander
• Focus on making artistic style pieces
-
Future Directions
• Adding more covered storage-36x60’ building
• Want to better manage inventory so not having “peaks and valleys” in terms of dried slabs in inventory = steady level of dried slabs for sale at all times
• May add a couple of employees in the wood shop to make products
• More networking with other sawyers and tree trimmers