KENTUCKY SAWMILL PROVES
SIDE GRINDING SUCCESSFUL

In 1997, Premium Hardwoods built an on-site sawmill filing room, started up a brand new bandmill operation, and began side grinding their band saws to improve recovery, increase production and to produce smoother, more uniform lumber. Prior to that time, Premium was strictly a circle saw sawmill.

"Before our filing room was built, we toured numerous mills and talked to filers, sawyers and mill managers. Some were side grinding their band saws and others were not" said David Mayes, head filer at Premium Hardwoods. "We compared lumber quality and appearance. We liked the planer-smooth boards the side ground saws produced."

"We chose the SidePro because of the overall design. It is easy to set-up and operate on our 40’ long, 12" wide, 15 gauge X .125" kerf (12m,300 mm,1.8 mm,3.2 mm) headrig and resaws. We especially like the digital displays" said David. "The side ground saws have less deviation than those that are traditionally swaged and shaped."

"We need exceptionally level saws because we have less than .025" (.6 mm) clearance per side when we reswage" said David. "We evaluated all the levelers on the market. The Armstrong Leveler was the most advanced machine available with the push button display and the Saw Tracker option. Though it is a sophisticated machine, it is very simple to operate."

In addition to the SidePro and Leveler, Premium also has an Armstrong PRO-Filer full flood band saw sharpener, No. 4 Stretcher Roll and Armstrong bench with anvil.

The sawmill runs one 8 – 10 shift per day, depending on log supply, and they saw 40,000 board feet daily. "The log size obviously has a direct effect on production. We are currently sawing about 93% of design capacity" said Michael Perry, the sawmill owner.

Perry handpicked Mayes for the head filing job. "We wanted the right man for the job. David has always demonstrated a good work ethic, dependability and a strong desire to learn" said Michael. The saws are run 4 to 5 hours before they are changed and Premium gets two runs per swage job.

After working for his father in the sawmill industry for nearly twenty years, Perry founded Premium Hardwoods in 1994. They saw red oak, poplar, white oak, hard maple, cherry and ash primarily for architectural millwork firms and cabinet and furniture companies.

"In a sawmill the size of ours, everyone plays an important role in our profitability" said Perry. Maintenance Engineer Dwight Rickard oversees the filing room and Deron Harris is the Plant Manager. "We are constantly striving to improve the quality of the lumber produced. It is a team approach and we need input from everyone on our team to be successful."

A special thank you to David Mayes and Michael Perry for their help in preparing this article and Ben Mroz of Menominee Saw for taking the photos.