Sawyers and Loggers
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:13 pm(I had briefly talked to Ehlanna about this, but I thought I should formally put up a request on this Topic).
Okay, so where does all the wood products in the area come from? Wood construction during this time is either Pole (similar to ballon framing) or Timber Framing. This means that the structure of buildings is made up of very large posts and beams, which fit together through joinery and pins - not nails. Generally, carpenters will harvest trees and hew them into dimensional lumber for posts and beams etc. However, materials such as boards and narrower lumber such as 2x require the use of a sawmill or pit-saws. Ehlanna has told me that sawmills are too high tech, so the step below that is pit-sawing, which involves two men, a two man saw, and a big hole in the ground. Anyway, its very laborious work, which is done by specialized tradesmen - hence sawyers.
What I am proposing is that my character, Garrit, start a pit saw and lumber yard operation. On one end he provides the boards and small dimensional lumber to The Works. On the other hand he serves as a clearing house for timber variously needed throughout the area and especially in town. Not everyone has a wood lot they can draw building materials from. Also, not all wood is of the same quality. Garrit can also provide more basic things such as cedar shakes, raw materials for furniture building, and firewood.
Garrit can either purchase land to log, he can create arrangements with landowner to log their land, or he would import timbers from another region. That could be transported, for example, down the river.
In summary, here is the list of goods I hope Garrit can provide through a saw and lumber yard:
Large dimensional lumber (hewn)
Small dimensional lumber (sawn)
Boards of any length (sawn)
Quality floor slats (sawn and finished)
Quality siding such as lap siding (sawn, carved, and finished)
Quality paneling such as bead board (sawn, carved, and finished)
High quality boards and panels as raw materials for furniture (sawn and finished)
High quality small dimensional lumber for furniture (sawn and finished)
Cedar shakes (split)
Fence rails (split)
Poles (split)
Firewood
Okay, so where does all the wood products in the area come from? Wood construction during this time is either Pole (similar to ballon framing) or Timber Framing. This means that the structure of buildings is made up of very large posts and beams, which fit together through joinery and pins - not nails. Generally, carpenters will harvest trees and hew them into dimensional lumber for posts and beams etc. However, materials such as boards and narrower lumber such as 2x require the use of a sawmill or pit-saws. Ehlanna has told me that sawmills are too high tech, so the step below that is pit-sawing, which involves two men, a two man saw, and a big hole in the ground. Anyway, its very laborious work, which is done by specialized tradesmen - hence sawyers.
What I am proposing is that my character, Garrit, start a pit saw and lumber yard operation. On one end he provides the boards and small dimensional lumber to The Works. On the other hand he serves as a clearing house for timber variously needed throughout the area and especially in town. Not everyone has a wood lot they can draw building materials from. Also, not all wood is of the same quality. Garrit can also provide more basic things such as cedar shakes, raw materials for furniture building, and firewood.
Garrit can either purchase land to log, he can create arrangements with landowner to log their land, or he would import timbers from another region. That could be transported, for example, down the river.
In summary, here is the list of goods I hope Garrit can provide through a saw and lumber yard:
Large dimensional lumber (hewn)
Small dimensional lumber (sawn)
Boards of any length (sawn)
Quality floor slats (sawn and finished)
Quality siding such as lap siding (sawn, carved, and finished)
Quality paneling such as bead board (sawn, carved, and finished)
High quality boards and panels as raw materials for furniture (sawn and finished)
High quality small dimensional lumber for furniture (sawn and finished)
Cedar shakes (split)
Fence rails (split)
Poles (split)
Firewood