We mill various board widths to suit different future uses and to maximize the wood’s quality. This stack is nearly complete. Once the last layers are added, it will be covered with a sheet of metal roofing weighted with four concrete blocks to shield the lumber from sun and rain. In about a year the wood will be ready to use.
Cutting a camphor beam originally milled in 2013. Once all horizontal kerfs are complete, the entire stack is rotated 90 degrees and recut at 1 1/4 inches to produce ten-foot-long sticks.
About a hundred finished camphor sticks are stacked in a jig designed for quickly cutting them to 30-inch lengths with the battery-powered chainsaw.
Aditya unloads the freshly cut stickers from the jig
Storing the stickers in our rustic sticker shed. Later we will organize the stacks neatly and paint the sticker ends red for weather protection. This aged wood is dry and ideal for preventing fungus transfer to new lumber.
Acharya completes a long rip down the side of one of the large rainbow eucalyptus logs, just under our mill’s 25-inch capacity. Each of the biggest logs required two such faces: one for the mill bed and one to stand upright against the mill’s left side.
Acharya marks his cuts with a wax pencil and straightedge. He sights carefully down the chainsaw bar to keep the rip straight.
Acharya using the Echo 7310CS chainsaw for the rip cuts.
Time to load a log onto the mill.
Years ago we laid eight inches of gravel and stone in front of the mill to create a durable work surface for the skid steer and milling operations.
Aditya takes a turn at running the mill. The saw head moves by hand as the horizontal bandsaw slices through the log at the set height. Sawdust ejects to the operator’s left, strategically downwind.
Acharya cutting a prime 2-inch plank. Finished boards are already accumulating on the utility vehicle nearby.
After sharpening saw blades, preparing foundations, sorting supplies, cutting stickers and trimming logs, this is the rewarding moment: seeing beautiful lumber emerge board by board.
Prime rainbow eucalyptus lumber for a future woodworking project.
Starting a fresh log. It has been trimmed to width and cleaned of loose bark and soil before milling.
Aditya places finished boards onto the designated lumber stands. Behind him is a previous completed pile. Stickers are placed 16 inches apart to ensure proper airflow through each layer.
This is the yeild from three shorter logs, 23” in diameter.
Two of three long new stacks with an old stack of camphor slabs in the background.
From September 25 to October 21, Aditya Vinadhara joined our task force and teamed up with Acharya Kumarnathaswami for a lumber adventure worthy of its own mini documentary. Seven massive rainbow eucalyptus logs—gifted by a kind neighbor across the highway—became the project of the month. The photos capture it all, from cutting hundreds of stickers for perfect airflow to trimming the giant logs, milling beautiful planks and finally stacking everything into tidy piles to sun-kissed perfection in Hawaii’s balmy climate.