Les Bois Milling

Services

Live Edge Slabs

The heartbeat of our operation is the Wood Mizer WM1000 Horizontal Bandsaw. It’s the largest privately owned saw in the County. It can cut logs up to 67” in diameter and over 20’ long. It produces the finest live edge slabs of any thickness money can buy. Let your creativity run wild, we can provide.

Kiln Drying

Our Kiln sets our wood apart from everyone else. After the wood is milled it needs to dry. Rule of thumb for drying outdoors is one year for every inch thick it is. So if a slab is two inches thick it would need to sit outside under cover from the elements for two years to be stable in our dry climate. Our iDRY PLUS Vacuum Kiln can shorten this process from years to as little as a month. Fast isn’t always the answer when drying lumber, but we’re capable of it.

Another important feature of kiln drying is killing any wood boring insects. These bugs live in the outside layers of the wood and can come burrowing out of your finished piece if that lumber hasn’t been heat treated. Keep in mind that these trees were removed for a reason, most of the time disease and bugs are what kills trees. No matter who you’re buying from the heat treatment of the wood is the most important step. Lots of wood workers learn this lesson the hard way, don’t be one of them. 
Kiln dried wood
Kiln dried wood

Kiln Drying

Our Kiln sets our wood apart from everyone else. After the wood is milled it needs to dry. Rule of thumb for drying outdoors is one year for every inch thick it is. So if a slab is two inches thick it would need to sit outside under cover from the elements for two years to be stable in our dry climate. Our iDRY PLUS Vacuum Kiln can shorten this process from years to as little as a month. Fast isn’t always the answer when drying lumber, but we’re capable of it.

Another important feature of kiln drying is killing any wood boring insects. These bugs live in the outside layers of the wood and can come burrowing out of your finished piece if that lumber hasn’t been heat treated. Keep in mind that these trees were removed for a reason, most of the time disease and bugs are what kills trees. No matter who you’re buying from the heat treatment of the wood is the most important step. Lots of wood workers learn this lesson the hard way, don’t be one of them. 

Slab Flattening

Flattening is another valuable service we offer. As the wood dries it twists and warps as the water leaves and the wood fibers tighten. Getting these slabs flat is no easy task for your average woodworker. These large slabs are heavy and require large specialized tools to get them truly flat and ready for use. We have the largest slab flattening machine in the area, It can accommodate a slab 72” wide and 18’ long. The wood you buy from me will be flat and ready for layout when you pick it up if that’s what you desire. If you want to flatten it yourself we can accommodate that too.