Saw Mill Tips and Identifying Wood 

I really enjoyed the trip. I was disappointed when it was over. You should go back from time to time. One of my all time favorites Izzy, thank you.

Thank's for posting this Izzy! We need a lot more people to stop going to the home center for their wood and start buying from local sawmills.

dang, such 4inch thick wood is so rare but nice it's great that you find a local sawmill man like Albert! Wish I lived closer to you guys :D

Plant, tree and not least wood identification is a knowledge that is diminishing all over the world, also among people that live in and of the forests. I know because I'm doing research on it. Thanks for highlighting the subject Izzy.

Seen this video now makes me feel wood more valuable though I have always appreciated wood worker's work highly. They bring all the treasures out of the wood to us. This is a great video.

I love the shop organization with all the bins and the jigs and past projects hanging on the wall It looks great. You are lucky to have a guy like Albert to buy from, all I have been able to find around here is big box and you know what their selection is like. Regards, Bob

Yeh good one Izzy, we have the same problem here in Aus, there are a lot of different species but knowing them all here is an impossibility but our local mills are starting to close down

gonna nick name you Dizzy Bizzy Izzy for the week. You are staying real busy while your family's gone. Thanks so much for sharing. I have to walk about 200' to my brother in laws mill. I catch him gone sometimes too

found your vids last week. must say I am hooked. I have been a cabinet maker for 30 plus years . so glad you are doing this on youtube. your info is priceless . I have trouble getting young guys to work in the carpenter trade. they just don't care for it. woodworking will lead to good carpenters for that I thank you . SO now my new carpenters must watch your vids. I call it school by izzy . Thank you so much for keeping woodworking alive and simple .. keep up the good work . Brian from the Adirondack Mountains upstate NY

Hi Izzy, You are in a wood workers dream world when it comes to finding wood! I use to buy from a saw mill near Conway, SC and bring it back to Texas! (Colleyville,)When I would visit back East! The Mountains of NC have some really great finds too! I found Walnut from a barn that was built before 1900 South of Charlottesville, VA. (Covesville) 6 quarter thick by 18 inches wide and 12 feet long. It was on my brothers farm and they where Reclaiming and rebuilding a barn. Ya just have to look around! Great Video Thanks. Here in West Texas exotic wood is found in pallets. Hi Izzy, You are in a wood workers dream world when it comes to finding wood! I use to buy from a saw mill near Conway, SC and bring it back to Texas! (Colleyville,)When I would visit back East! The Mountains of NC have some really great finds too! I found Walnut from a barn that was built before 1900 South of Charlottesville, VA. (Covesville) 6 quarter thick by 18 inches wide and 12 feet long. It was on my brothers farm and they where Reclaiming and rebuilding a barn. Ya just have to look around! Great Video Thanks. Here in West Texas exotic wood is found in pallets. Hi Izzy, You are in a wood workers dream world when it comes to finding wood! I use to buy from a saw mill near Conway, SC and bring it back to Texas! (Colleyville,)When I would visit back East! The Mountains of NC have some really great finds too! I found Walnut from a barn that was built before 1900 South of Charlottesville, VA. (Covesville) 6 quarter thick by 18 inches wide and 12 feet long. It was on my brothers farm and they where Reclaiming and rebuilding a barn. Ya just have to look around! Great Video Thanks. Here in West Texas exotic wood is found in pallets. Hi Izzy, You are in a wood workers dream world when it comes to finding wood! I use to buy from a saw mill near Conway, SC and bring it back to Texas! (Colleyville,)When I would visit back East! The Mountains of NC have some really great finds too! I found Walnut from a barn that was built before 1900 South of Charlottesville, VA. (Covesville) 6 quarter thick by 18 inches wide and 12 feet long. It was on my brothers farm and they where Reclaiming and rebuilding a barn. Ya just have to look around! Great Video Thanks. Here in West Texas exotic wood is found in pallets. Hi Izzy, You are in a wood workers dream world when it comes to finding wood! I use to buy from a saw mill near Conway, SC and bring it back to Texas! (Colleyville,)When I would visit back East! The Mountains of NC have some really great finds too! I found Walnut from a barn that was built before 1900 South of Charlottesville, VA. (Covesville) 6 quarter thick by 18 inches wide and 12 feet long. It was on my brothers farm and they where Reclaiming and rebuilding a barn. Ya just have to look around! Great Video Thanks. Here in West Texas exotic wood is found in pallets. Hi Izzy, You are in a wood workers dream world when it comes to finding wood! I use to buy from a saw mill near Conway, SC and bring it back to Texas! (Colleyville,)When I would visit back East! The Mountains of NC have some really great finds too! I found Walnut from a barn that was built before 1900 South of Charlottesville, VA. (Covesville) 6 quarter thick by 18 inches wide and 12 feet long. It was on my brothers farm and they where Reclaiming and rebuilding a barn. Ya just have to look around! Great Video Thanks. Here in West Texas exotic wood is found in pallets.

For me, it's the bark. Leaves are great--until you're cutting trees in the Winter; then, 'Know.Your.Bark'. Nice video, Izzy ! ;)

Yup, wood identification is a tough subject today. Back in the day some could identify wood as they walked along. Not a lot of need for that to the average guy as we work in such a narrow range of wood. We should know more and as I get into wood turning I wish I knew a lot more and now I have to play catch up. Like your music selection.

I've a degree in Forestry Science n I remeber my teacher of Forest Botany, who is one of the most expert here in Italy (wonderful person, I've been very lucky), said "I'm still learning!"

Well done, thanks for sharing your experience.

Good tips. Thanks for sharing!!

Wish I had an Albert! Awesome place!

It was good seeing Albert haven't seen him in about 15 years wonder if he's still known as the gourd man of Johns Island. cool vid

I have been buying rough cut Cherry and Walnut that was cut 30+ yrs. Back then they used a saw blade. 2.50BF. BUT, you have to crawl over stacks of new lumber to get to it. The thing we do to get nice lumber.

have you ever used sweet gum. I know people hate the twisting and the hard to dry straight. but I have cut some on my sawmill and made some beautiful things from it. gun stock makers love it for the graining. john

I LOVE places like that. I could spend a day there even if I didn't need wood.

Great video.

thank you i know nothing except ohhh pretty sad to say but will try to learn thank again Izzy

great vid...thanks.

Enjoy your videos. My problem is here in southeastern NC, theres nothing but pines aand scrub oaks! Ilove to see beautiful wood, thanks. One question can any one tell me the name of the music played on this svideo clip?

Cool trip, good thoughts on how to find a local sawyer! Were you thinking of Hoadley's Identifying Wood book?

Great advice.

Nice vid but whats that yellow ting i have seen it in the other vids and thought is was some sort of cover for a drive belt but now i have no idea

Alright, Great Vid, But I'm surprised that no one's asked you this. What is that yellow thing on the bench behind you? I've watched your recent vids and seen it in pieces now it it's together or is that part way together? I am intrigued.

There are apps now from the maker of the books. You can narrow things down by the description of the bark, leaves and wood coloring as well if I am not mistaken. Some even offer services to help identify the more complex tressEs using photos and videos.

im torn on what i should use on my farm house table. my choices are 150 yr old fir or some ash? whats your recommendation

Good video Izzy, and good advice. As crazy as this sounds I use my nose to identify many woods if I'm not sure. They all have a different smell but like you I can only identify maybe 30 - 40 types. That said, rough sawn pieces need to be ricked for up to 7 years unless it's kiln dried. Especially walnut. This is my first comment. Love the videos. Please keep em coming.

There is a long slit on one of the wood, is that still good to use? What about those round circles (looks like eyes) is it good wood with thouse kinds of circles?

Izzy, I'm loving all of your videos, they are very inspiring. I'm also in Charleston and have been looking for someone with a mill locally like this. Any chance you could share some more info on "Albert" and his location?

Thanks Izzy. I live up north, and people are tree crazy. They have all these trees growing in there yards, and they cut them down foe fire wood. The species are often exotic, are expensive, and people burn it. I see piled fire wood so beautiful it break your heart. Sometime local tree surgeons cheat old people by telling that their trees have emerald ash borer, and they cut the trees for free. Then they take the wood with them. One guy had five black Walnuts taken, and the tree were 150 years old.

I love goin to my local sawmill. I really enjoy talikin to the owner as well. I use a lot of oak and never realized just how many different species of oak there is till he told me about them.

Keep 'um comin'!

Not many species to deal with here, white, black/red, and live oak, madrone, alder, some kind of broad leaf maple, fir, sugar, lodgepole, ponderosa, and digger pine, western cedar just in my area, everything but white oak and lodgepole pine on my property. What I'd give for some hickory and cherry though. Work most with what you can acquire easily and find the rest as cheaply as possible.

Izzy, would you be able to give me Alberta information, I live in South Carolina very close to you and would like to check out what he may have for sale. Thank you

I'm taking a trip to my local sawmill for my garden bed. What type of wood would you consider to be the best for an organic garden bed? I'm thinking of cedar.

30-40? I barely use more than 3-4 species or even know more than that! haha. great vid.

'Identifying wood" by Bruce Hoadley. He is near the highest authority on wood in my opinion.

I have an old walnut tree in my back yard that I'm going to have to have cut down, will cost me 800 to have downed and hopefully a can find enough things to do with it to recoup some of my money, it's a big walnut 2000 if they cut it up and haul it off.

Another thing that can help identify species is the smell of the wood.

I can't agree more. Talking to the old timers is a lot of fun. Sadly, times are changing and there seem to be less and less of those old timers to talk to, with no one to take their place. It's like a whole generation fell off.

Beautiful plank. I would have to drive 500 miles to get to a sawmill. What state?

What is the name of the book?

Looks like Butternut from the bark. It's a close relative of Black Walnut.

what kind of wood is not good for making cutting boards ?

Mind if I ask what those boards cost?

Damn you!! for living so close to a saw mill that has something other than pine, guess it is true location location When I go back east I always load up with as much hard wood as I can. Just kidding about the damn you part, You resaw I am guessing? Great video and I hit the like and subscribe button

nice

Hey Izzy, I have a question for you. Why do woodworkers always want to know what kind of wood it is? Each tree grows differently each tree has its own unique features, I could tell you that this is a maple tree out of grandma Joyce's backyard and it's 70 years old, that's what kind of wood it is.

Looks like black oak. And everyone needs too find the Albert near them and learn from them!

Izzy I like your videos but why the music? I want to hear the saw not some unknown picking and whistling.

Why supid musik destroys every good video .... want to hear the sound of the machine .... not musik-noise ...

yeah learning wood species is hard. and you always gotta keep in mind that you have a 'working' knowledge of the trees. not really an exact science. when you go and look at the actual science of the classification of trees, it's like all sciences, it's not a set thing. It evolves, there's constant changes, fights and schools of thought. And then you got your local idiot who says,'this is maple'. like it means anything at all. you have to go one species at a time by region and throughout the seasons. you may not know for sure until some kind of fruit comes off that local tree. Some guys talk about branch pattern in winter too....also, if all else fails you can send a piece of wood to a lab for a small price and they will have it analyzed and identified. thanks for the upload.

love your tips and tricks. I work in a recycled timber mill in Warragamba Australia .we recycle timber telegraph poles, its also hard to identify spices some times, as all bark and leaves have been removed.it is all Australian hardwoods but still hard to identify. all beautiful timbers but very hard. great place to work when you love timber.www.recycledtimbers.com.au/

TIP, Make friends with your local arborist. They will know the local species well, and can let you know when something special you are looking for gets cut down or comes available.

I still don't know why that guy doesn't ease the clutch. Whatever works for him I guess. He needs a barn too.

I want 100 tons of white trees to buy

To find out wood species just go to your local university, they always have someone that knows local wood species.

Found this randomly, stayed for the whole thing.

That oak on the mill appears to be a white oak.

Please Dear Izzy. Cut the music, your videos will go from 10 out-of 10 points to 11 out off 10 !!!

couldn't you just give the tree a asbo hahaha

'Identifying wood" by Bruce Hoadley. He is near the highest authority on wood in my opinion.