During my spring break, Port Blakely delivered a load of logs to the farm. Dad and I only had TWO DAYS to saw them and get them to the kiln. Luckily, we both know how to work hard under pressure. 

For the dimensional lumber we used to construct the base of the kitchen table, we run it through our planer to smooth and straighten it out. We found out the hard way last summer that warped boards are hard to work with. Ya live and learn I suppose!

We provided the desk and table tops for Port Blakely, but the bases of the desk and meeting table were constructed by another company. For this project, my dad and I learned how to joint the wood. In this picture, our good friend Cort is showing my dad and I how to use the jointer we bought a few months ago. This machine allows us to get the straightest cut possible so the wood slabs will line up perfectly.

After we joint the slabs, we glued two of them together to get the full width we were going for. We bought some heavy-duty clamps and crossed our fingers that everything would work out right.

It worked out brilliantly! Do some sanding, add some urethane and voila! 

Especially for these larger slabs, it is important to make them as level as possible. To do this, I use a straight edge to find out where the high spots are and then I use my belt sander to level it out. It takes a while, but hey - I like a good work out!

For the 13 foot conference table, we used a trestle and slab-style legs for the undercarraige. We had never done anything like this, so it was a learning expereince! 

The amount of tools it took to make the tenon at the end was unbelieveable. This is my "this is hilarious/ridiculous" look. Again, after a trial and error process, we figured it out!

This is what the frame of the conference table looks like. I especially appreciate the way the dark wood compliments the lighter wood.

To ensure that the legs stay upright and wouldn't fold, we used the trestle and two "keys" to lock it in place. The holes for the keys had to be cut at a percise angle and we spent the better part of a morning just drilling those two holes. 

This is the undercarriage and the table slabs sitting side-by-side. Suddenly, our shop seemed a little small...

WE assembled the conference table for the first time in our shop the day before we delivered it. When we finished, dad and I just started laughing and high-fiving! We couldn't beleive that we had really done it! It was a moment that I will never forget as long as I live. 

The last challenge we had was cutting the hole in the middle for the audiovisual compents. Dad and I were so nervous! There was no room for error. After all this work, this one step could sort of make or break this table...

Luckily my dad is a boss, and he cut it perfectly! 

The finished product turned out to be a beauty. Not many people, especially at my age, can say they have made a 13 foot conference table. I am so thankful for this oppurtunity. 

This is the kitchen table we made as well. I love the way the table contrasts with the modern look of the kitchen. These tables now seem so small compared with the conference table!!

We completed our largest project yet! 1 lunch room table, 1 conference table, 1 desk, 1 sofa table, and a counter top. All of these were ordered by Wilcox Farms to spruce up the office. My dad and I also have a new workshop, which means we can work on big projects like these!

Our first step was cutting all of our flitches down to the right length. It is amazing how many different saws are needed when cutting the slabs. For this project, we wanted to make sure the cuts were especially straight because they had to fit together to make table tops. We used a metal edge clamped to the wood to ensure the cut would be good. I have discovered that one can never have too many tools in this business!

Sanding use to be the most time consuming part of the processes, but with this belt sander that we got last summer, I can get done with a slab like this one (20"x12') in a little over an hour. We often use three or four different types of sanders - like I said, we have a lot of tools around here!

While I work on sanding all the table tops, my dad worked on assembling the frames of the tables. It takes careful measuring to make sure that the table frames are secure and won't wobble.

This is the conference table and we used Douglas Fir to make it. For all of these projects, we chose to use a tough floor stain because it will stand up to a lot of wear-and-tear and also gives the wood a more natural look than some other stains we have tried in the past. We usually do 2-3 coats, but we sand between each coat to ensure that it goes on smooth.

This was one of my favorite projects. This is a desk or meeting table for my cousin's office. The two outside slabs are Douglas Fir, but the middle board is Maple. We have never worked with Maple before, so it was especially exciting to see how it looked after it was stained. The contrast between the woods turned out to be absolutly beautiful.

Here is the desk after we assembled it. Talk about a conversation starter!

This is a lunch table that we made for the office. Again, it is all Douglas Fir, and we ended up staining the frame dark, because it contrasts with the table top. These slabs are so heavy that we had to wait to attach them to the frames until we had carried them inside the office. 

This is me (on my 21st birthday!) discussing business with my grandfather at the finished conference table. My grandfather is 79 but I am pretty sure he is Hercules. He helped my dad and I unload some flitches that were close to 300 pounds! As for the table, I can image some impressive business deals happening around this table in the future! 

This is the countertop that we installed at the front desk. It makes quite the first impression, does it not?

This is the Cedar we cut down! It was so huge that I wasn't sure we would be able to drag it out with our little tractor!

Let me tell ya, we were in the thick of it out there! This is my dad cutting off the branches so we could drag it out without it catching on things.

Here is my dad operating the fork lift, moving the cedar logs to the mill after we had dragged them out with the tractor. One thing I've learned about the Wilcoxs on the farm is that they can operate any kind of machinery, no matter how old or new.

The ground the tractor was on ended up getting pretty torn up, and maneuvering the tractor became tricky at the end. My favorite part was when we were dragging out the last log. The way it was positioned meant that it could only be dragged out in a straight line, but I couldn't get that angle on the tractor. So my dad rigged up this pulley system, wrapped it around the stump, and attached one end to tree and the other end to the tractor. That way, it would be pulling it strait, but I could pull in a different direction! I was blown away by that ingenuity.

This was our first time milling Cedar, and the grain proved to be gorgeous! We have a small amount left over in inventory for future orders.

Here we are milling the Cedar. It smelled so good! I wouldn't mind milling Cedar everyday! 

Our lumber gets moved around a lot sometimes. From the forest, to the milling, and sometimes we move it back to our warehouse to dry. Lance likes to come and be a saw-dog with us. He is great company, but sometimes he tries to drag our lumber around because he thinks that they are just sticks for him to play with.

Charlie's order needed specific lengths, and this picture shows my dad measuring a post so we can cut each leg at a consistent length.

We took care to label the pieces carefully, to make sure we had everything Charlie needed. One of my favorite things about saw-milling is the fulfilling feeling you get when you see the end product. This was as far as we go on the project, but we can't wait to see the picnic table when it is finished! 

Charlie was sure excited to start on his project! We cannot wait to see how it turns out. 

Nice work Charlie!