Logosol Goes “Hollywood”

“They’re gonna put me in the movies…and all I gotta do is act naturally!”  Remember that song by Buck Owens? That’s the tune the WoodWorkers Mill is singing these days. 

The WoodWorkers Mill - a star in the video Logs to Lumber. “The mill did great!” George Vondriska, woodworking expert, says.

The Logosol WoodWorkers Mill was recently used in a WWGOA (WoodWorkers Guild of America) video titled “Logs to Lumber.”  The video, hosted by nationally recognized woodworking expert, George Vondriska, covers how logs are converted to usable lumber, plain sawn versus quarter sawn, and air drying versus kiln drying, including a visit to a solar kiln.  It also touches on hardwood grading and, once dry, how rough sawn lumber becomes suitable for high quality cabinet and furniture work.  It promises to be a valuable video on the basics, as well as advanced techniques of bringing the best lumber out of a log.
Vondriska is the Managing Editor of the WWGOA web site where users have free access to a variety of woodworking articles covering tool reviews, shop improvements, and assorted tips and techniques.  He also owns and operates The Wild Earth Woodworking School in Hudson, WI where he teaches hands-on woodworking classes.  George, who is a former contributing editor and writer for American Woodworker Magazine, remembers the WoodWorkers Mill from when it was recognized as one of the top New Tools of the Year by that magazine.
The WoodWorkers Mill was chosen by WWGOA for this video because of its position in the marketplace. When Vondriska had to choose a sawmill for the upcoming DVD, the WoodWorkers Mill’s price point, intuitive use, and versatility made it the clear choice.  “I’d had some previous experience with small scale sawmills prior to this,” Vondriska said.  “I knew, from talking to many woodworking students over the years, that the Woodworker’s Mill would be a great fit for the video.”
The video, which was shot over a two day period, will edit down into two hours when complete.  In addition to lending his own expertise, Vondriska used industry experts to help explain how to optimize what a log can produce, and how the solar kiln works. The DVD will be released in Spring 2009 exclusively through the WoodWorkers Guild of America (WWGOA).
So, how did the WoodWorkers Mill perform?  “The mill did great!” George says.  “It performed right on cue – never missed a line.  However there was some confusion whenever the director yelled ‘cut!’”
Now that the shooting is complete the Woodworker’s Mill will remain at The Wild Earth Woodworking School where it will be integrated into the curriculum.  Vondriska does frequent presentations for clubs, guilds, schools, and woodworking shows and the mill has already traveled to some of those events.

Perfect sawing in the circus tent

Per Simon Edström with his sawmill.

Per Simon Edström has the perfect saw house for his Logosol Sawmill: an old circus tent, which also has room for the sawn lumber.

It is never too late to realize your dreams. Ask Per Simon Edström, 78 years old and busy creating the perfect acoustics with the help of 200 spruces and one Logosol Sawmill.

Per Simon Edström has devoted his life to realizing his theatre dreams. He has done the most: Written plays and books, directed, acted, worked with lighting and as a theatre architect. He is mostly known for being the driving force behind the theatre boat Arena, a government-funded region theatre, which berthed at 60 places in the Stockholm and Lake Mälaren archipelagos. This adventure ended in 1985.
”The politicians thought we were too left-winged, so they closed us down,” Per Simon says.

Cognac in the sauna

But instead of retiring, he took the opportunity to realize his own ideas, everything from an experimental theatre at home on his farm, to a wood-heated sauna built of a gigantic cognac barrel.
”The first time we used the sauna there was a delightful scent in it. Later on, the scent disappeared and you needed a bottle of cognac each time to recreate the atmosphere. It became too expensive to use the sauna, Per Simon says jokingly.
His great passion is the theatre on his farm. He compares it to an instrument, which you have to give the correct acoustics, and there also has to be a closeness between the audience and the actors. In order to exploring the possibilities, he built his own theatre called Modellen (the model) with room for an audience of 80 people.
Here he has produced plays in all kinds of theatre forms, and the experiments have proven what Per always has maintained.
”The classical arena theatre is superior,” he says.
The arena is like a circus with the audience around the entire ring. A circus tent lacks the acoustics, and the arenas of today, like the Globe Arena in Stockholm, lack the closeness to the audience. The best would be an arena of wood, like the Drottningholm Theatre.
“The walls will speak if they are built of two inch thick spruce boards,” Per Simon says.
He designed an arena theatre for Ramallah, the Palestinians’ temporary capital on the West Bank. It was never built, but everything needed for realizing the dream was closer at hand, at home on Värmdö.
“50 years ago, my father planted spruces in an enclosed pastureland. To be honest, I did not like that the pastureland disappeared,” says Per Simon, who after a couple of years changed his opinion.
”Instead of thinning, we sold Christmas trees. People came here by car with newly-bought roof racks and axes. They cut down their Christmas trees themselves and paid 25 Swedish kronor each.”  As time went by, the spruces grew tall. Per Simon saw the opportunity to restore the old pastureland and get himself building material for the perfect arena theatre. He bought an extended and completely equipped Logosol Sawmill, which was placed in a circus tent.
”You can’t find a better sawing house. The sawmill and the lumber are protected from wind and weather.”
The theatre manager had no difficulty in learning how to handle the sawmill.  When he was young, he worked as a timber estimator in the forest, and he trained two persons who used the first chainsaws. Nowadays, he also has help when sawing, but he himself takes care of the most important job: sharpening the chains.
“A sharp chain means everything, especially when you are cutting into a spruce with hard knots in it,” Per Simon states.

Officially a barn

Actually, it is not a theatre he is building. The 24 metre (79 ft) long building will primarily be a hay barn for the ewes and lambs on the farm. Today the bales of hay are stored in two old circus wagons.
”But when the barn is empty in the summer, there is nothing stopping you from having a theatre here, so you might as well build it right in the first place,” Per Simon says.
The ’theatre barn’ will also serve as an exhibition room for a travelling waxworks show from the 19th century. It has been exhibited in the Museum of National Antiquities, but today it is stored up. *