Transformation of Old Ranch Wood to Millwork

Here at Reclaimed Lumber Products we are deep into the process of transforming the wood off the Oxarango sheep ranch in Rupert, Idaho to new flooring and doors for the Oxarango's new home to be built in Emmett, Idaho.  We are so excited about this project that as we film a documentary on the history of the ranch, lumber, and the repurposing of the antique boards into unique custom building materials we hope to post updates of the progress.  You will have the opportunity to view several picture blogs on this process.  Here are just some teasers of us at work this last Friday.  Who thought making sawdust could be so fun?

Leverage is the nail puller's best friend.

The magnet can make short work of a big mess picking up nails.  One would be shocked at the pounds of scrap iron RLP generates in old nails alone.

This is a high security operation.  All staff must go be TSA certified to inspect and metal detect all lumber to be free of hidden nails.

Here boards that were once stalls and pens in a lambing shed get a shower.

After the essence of sheep gets washed off, the boards get stacked to dry.  Later they will become on of the most artistic floors one could ever imagine.

This bandsaw is a resaw, and it can split boards into precise thin layers.

A feed chain pulls door parts through the ripsaw.  The operator can use a laser or a fence to line up the cut.

Here we feed veneer skins through a double head wide belt sander to calibrate for thickness.  This machine sands very precise so our laminated and engineered glued up door parts come out to a consistent thickness.  Can you believe this 1/4" thick skins were once feed bunks for sheep?

After verifying that this rail core is the right thickness with a caliper it is ready to be laminated.

Here we spread crosslink water based PVA glue with a type 2 water resistance on both side of a door rail core prior to attaching veneers and placing in the cold press.

This stack of rails sits patiently waiting for each end to be coped (the tenon) & drilled for dowels and the edges to be grooved.

The boring machine prepares the end of the rails to receive 1/2 x 5" dowels.

All machining must be verified.

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