Stavemill professions #4 – Sawing along a grain, always

The next step in the stave mill’s first transformation: sawing. This is where the quarter becomes a plank. At Maison Charlois, as at the Group’s other stave mills, each splitter supplies two sawyers who are responsible for processing the quarters prepared by the splitters.

Bark, sapwood and heartwood are still part of the process. One by one, the sawyer loads the quarters onto the saw bench. In front of him, a numerical control keyboard with several buttons corresponding to the different possible thicknesses from 22 to 42 mm. Precise. You have to think and think nimbly, while complying with safety instructions. Never put your hand near the saw blade.

A ray of green light indicates to the sawyer the cutting line to be followed by the bandsaw blade to cut the quarter into full-length planks.

The first step is to remove the “uncovered” part of the quarter, which doesn’t offer enough material to make a plank. The sawyer’s eye determines the part to be cut. The “uncovered” material, a by-product of production, is deposited on a central conveyor belt, where it is crushed and then processed externally. The sawyer then cuts a first board at least 8 cm wide from the quarter, followed by a second. Always along the grain of the wood. A third plate is sawn. The remaining part of the quarter, the off-cut, in turn joins the central conveyor belt to be recycled into firewood, wood panels, pellets, etc. As for the boards, they then go through the edging process to become stavewood.

Photographs © Christophe Dechanel