SAWING AT MONK CREEK'S SITE: We calculate our milling fee by multiplying the sawmill's machine hours by the rate listed above. This is tallied with an hour meter attached to the sawmill. We choose this method of billing, as opposed to charging by the board foot, to enable you to lower your cost if you choose to help remove and stack boards as they are being cut.

We calculate our unloading and moving fee by multiplying the time spent using equipment by the rate listed above. This is charged for time spent unloading logs from your trailer and moving them to the sawmill.

A blade charge is added for damaging a blade by hitting metal. This does not include the normal dulling of blades and broken blades due to fatigue. The blade charge is normally half the cost of a new blade.

SAWING AT YOUR SITE: We calculate our milling fee by multiplying the sawmill's machine hours by the rate listed above. This is tallied with an hour meter attached to the sawmill. We choose this method of billing, as opposed to charging by the board foot, to enable you to lower your cost if you choose to help load logs onto the sawmill's loader and remove boards as they are being cut.

Mileage to and from your site is charged at the rate listed above.

The initial setup is free, however, if it is necessary to move the sawmill during the job, we charge a moving rate as listed above.

A blade charge is added for damaging a blade by hitting metal. This does not include the normal dulling of blades and broken blades due to fatigue. The blade charge is normally half the cost of a new blade.

We recommend that you wear hearing protection as well as eye protection when working near the sawmill. Steel-toe boots are also recommended if you have them (in case you drop a slab or board on your feet).

No children or pets are allowed near the equipment.

You are responsible for any injuries incurred while working around the sawmill such as tripping, slipping, back pain, materials in your eyes, etc.

Special care must be used when working around the de-barker.

With Monk Creek's billing method based on the sawmill's machine hours, you can reduce your cost by providing help to move logs to the mill, take boards off of the mill, scoop up sawdust, and move slab wood to the slab pile. The more time that we are able to focus on sawing the boards, the more money you will save.

To make the milling process the most efficient, it is ideal to have two strong workers handle what is listed above. If you prefer, you can have an equipment operator move logs and two "helpers." This would be more practical if you are cutting larger boards that require a lot of heavy lifting.

When milling logs at your location, we can do all of the above except moving the logs to the sawmill.

You need to provide a level place to set up the saw that is accessible for the saw (roughly 20 ft. long) and a pickup truck. The truck will be unhitched from the saw and moved forward several feet for easy access to our tools.

You need to place the logs adjacent to the sawing site or have equipment that is capable of bringing the logs to the side of the sawmill.

You need to be able to supply water to fill 5-gallon jugs used to cool the sawblades. We will bring enough water for roughly half a day's worth of sawing.

If you provide helpers, we suggest having some drinking water for them, especially in the summer months.

If you don't have equipment to move the logs at your site on the day we mill them, the logs must be all in a line (or pile) so they can be rolled with a cant hook onto the sawmill loader. They must also be placed in a location where we can easily park the sawmill alongside them.

Yes, it's possible to cut larger logs on our sawmill. This is done by taking slab cuts until the log is small enough to fit into the throat of the mill. At times a “notch” must be cut along the length of the log to enable the mill to cut a few boards, then the log is turned to continue the process.

Our sawmill can cut up to 16-foot logs. The absolute maximum it can cut is 16 ft. 4 in. The shortest length it can cut is 4 ft. 6 in. This minimum length is required to ensure that the log will fit between the log retainers and the log clamp.

We can also cut "cookies" up to 23-1/2 inches in diameter if you request this in advance.

We can cut up to 23-1/2" in width. Normally, our customers do not want boards this wide, but it is possible.

If you need to lay several boards side by side with little gap (such as for deck boards), we recommend cutting the boards 1/2" wider than your final dimensions, which allows you to re-saw the boards to specific widths with no variance.

We can cut any thickness you need. Standard dimension lumber can be cut 1/4" thicker, which allows you to plane down the boards to standard thickness. It is possible to cut boards as thin as 1/4", however, thin boards have a very high probability of curling up as they dry. Our standard board thickness uses the hardwood scale which is 1-1/4" thick (less about 1/8" for the blade thickness) for 1” lumber, and 2-1/4" thick (less about 1/8" for the blade thickness) for 2” lumber.

If you request 1" lumber, you will need to specify if you mean 1" on the hardwood scale (1-1/4"), or 1" on the standard scale (which ends up being about 7/8" due to the saw kerf). If you plan to plane the boards to 3/4", you may wish to use the standard scale, but if you plan to plane the boards to 7/8", or if you are cutting oak (which is more unstable when drying), we recommend using the hardwood scale.

If you plan to use the boards rough cut (without planing them), we can saw it to specific dimensions for you (such as for raised garden beds).

If you plan to use the wood for furniture making, we suggest cutting the boards at random widths to obtain the best yield.

There are many variables when it comes to sawing logs, so it's not easy to calculate. A full day can be spent cutting a log that is 16 feet long and 4 feet in diameter, while only a few minutes might be needed for a short log with a very small diameter.

The most efficient sawing is with logs that are between 12” to 30” in diameter. Regardless of the diameter, there are 4 cuts on each log (or 8 for larger logs) to remove the outer slabs. On a 6" diameter log, you may yield only 3 boards but still require 7 cuts, which is not very efficient.

Another consideration is if your logs are not straight, such as having a large bend (dog leg) in them. This will cause you to loose a lot of wood when cutting off the outer slabs, while taking more time to saw. The only exception to this is if you ask to have the logs sawn using the live-edge method and want the dog leg to be a feature of the board's contour. It is possible to turn the dog leg on its side as long as the total width is less than 23-1/2".

Essentially, the more bends or limbs sticking out the logs, the longer it will take to saw your lumber.