Washington State Small-Scale Sawmill Directory

About the Directory

The Washington State Small-Scale Sawmill Directory is a compilation of professional sawyers around Washington State who provide milling services to private forest landowners. The purpose of this publication is to facilitate small-forest owners in finding milling operations that can meet their needs and to build awareness of the availability of small-scale milling operations. Many small-forest landowners do not harvest the quantity of timber necessary to access Washington’s traditional forestry infrastructure and are looking for sawmills who will accept smaller quantities of logs as well as species that wouldn’t go to a large commercial mill (e.g. walnut). The list will also assist forest owners who wish to utilize timber from their own property, homeowners who would like to find a creative use for a backyard hazard tree, or woodcrafters looking for a local source of custom milled wood.

All information is provided by the forestry professionals themselves.

Disclaimer:

The firms or individuals listed herein are engaged in forestland related work in Washington State. Consultants and contractors working for a private landowner do not represent or speak for Washington State University. Washington State University is not responsible for nor guarantees the quality, accuracy, or cost of the services provided by any of the consultants listed below. Information presented in this directory was provided by the individual service providers and is published on an “as-is” basis. Washington State University did not verify the validity of the information provided. Information is current as of May 1, 2023.

How to get listed in this directory

If you would like to have your or your firm’s information added to, removed from, or updated in this directory, please contact Kevin Zobrist at Washington State University Extension Forestry.

View or search the online directory

An accessible PDF version of the directory will be available in the future. In the meantime, if you have any issues accessing this directory, please contact Kevin Zobrist for assistance.

About Small-Scale Sawmills

A small-scale sawmill operator provides milling services to landowners. For the purposes of this directory, we have included any mill that is willing to work on the smaller scales required by many small-forest landowners, from milling a few trees to purchasing logs from modest harvesting operations. These operations are highly variable in the services they offer, but may include other services on top of milling, such as planing, molding, kilning, and the sale of other specialty products.  Many of these mills are also portable, allowing the operator to bring their mill and services to your property.

Learn more about small-scale sawmills

Glossary Sawmill Terms

 

  • Board and batton siding: A type of building siding characterized by vertical boards linked by smaller vertical strips (battons).
  • Boom stick: Logs formerly used as the retaining logs (booms) in floating log rafts.  This lumber is now prized for its worm eaten qualities and aesthetic.
  • Burl: Wood coming from an abnormal growth in a tree that gives the grain a deformed characteristic.  This wood is often prized for it’s aesthetics and hardness.
  • Clear: Refers to wood that is clear of knots.
  • Figured wood: Wood exhibiting unusual grain patterns that are deemed to be aesthetically pleasing when finished.  These can take the forms of waves, stripes, spalting, or other patterns.
  • Glulam: An engineered wood product consisting of layers laminate pressed together with an adhesive.
  • Jointer: A piece of cutting machinery designed to cut an flat, even, surface on one side of a board.  This does not, necessarily, create a board of even thickness (see Planer).
  • Kerf marks: The marks left by the saw after cutting wood.  Certain kinds of kerf marks, such as those left by circular saw mills, can be sought after for purposes of historical restoration or aesthetics.
  • Kiln: A piece of equipment or structure used to dry lumber.
  • Lap siding: A type of building siding characterized horizontal overlapping boards.
  • Live edge: Lumber, often slabs, that retain un-sawn edges.  These natural edges may include the bark of the original tree.
  • Moulder: A machine that uses a horizontal, or combination of horizontal and vertical, cutting heads to cut profiles into boards or beams.
  • Planer: A cutting machine designed to make a board an even thickness, with sides perfectly parallel to each other. This does not, necessarily, create a perfect flat edge or board (see Jointer).
  • Remanufacturing: The re-processing of finished wood products into another size, shape, or form.
  • Resawing: Similar to remanufacturing, but generally refers specifically to cutting larger lumber into smaller lumber.
  • Rough-cut lumber: Refers to lumber that is not finely finished, and often exhibits kerf marks or other signs of processing.
  • Self-loader: A log truck with a loading arm, capable of loading itself.
  • Shaper: A machine that uses a vertical rotating head, similar to a large router, to carve profiles in wood.  Also called a spindle moulder.
  • Skidding: The process of removing felled trees from the forest, or place of felling, to the location where you want them.
  • Slab: A large, wide, board.  A slab is often the entire width of the source log.
  • Slabber: A type of mill with a wide capacity, used to create particularly large, wide, slabs of wood.
  • Tongue and groove: A method of fitting wood planks or other pieces together using a groove on one side and a protruding ‘tongue’ on the other.
  • Veneer: A thin layer of wood used for facing.

WSU Extension publications contain material written and produced for public distribution. Alternate formats of our educational materials are available upon request for persons with disabilities. Please contact Washington State University Extension for more information

Issued by Washington State University Extension and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, sex, religion, age, color, creed, and national or ethnic origin; physical, mental, or sensory disability; marital status or sexual orientation; and status as a Vietnam-era or disabled veteran. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local WSU Extension office. Trade names have been used to simplify information; no endorsement is intended.