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Kolkata Timber
Company Expanding

LT20 Sawmills

Although traditional bandsaws are used that can be matched to the W 5 , and which
throughout the production area, over the past allow one operator to process timber without
several years more and more machinery utilising interruption.
thin-kerf bandsaw blades have appeared and
been incorporated into the production process. The bidirectional chain turners, hydraulic rollers
ANAND KUMAR SINGH
and heavy-duty log clamp provides for easy
Manag ing D irec t or
The first two Wood- i er machines implemented handling and processing of large diameter
S yl v an Pl yb oard , K ol k at a, I nd ia
were a W 5 industrial sawmill and an LT15 logs efficiently. The operator station gives the
sawmill with a 15-metre cutting length capacity. operator full control over the entire process.
WOOD-MIZER
The electronic etworks allows cutting lists to
MACHINES
r. nand umar ingh, the anaging irector, be pre-programmed, with the head adjusting
W 5 , LT15, Three LT s,
stresses that quality, productivity, and reduced automatically for each pass to cut the required
, resaw,
waste were driving factors in the acquisition and board thickness.
G edger, lade sharpener
implementation of the new Wood- i er machines.
& toothsetter
We use the LT15 or the W 5 to cut the
Sylvan Plyboard India logs into the various si es as re uired, shares
Pvt Ltd. has added r. ingh. Performance is very good. nd the
productivity – what we get from the machine – is
additional Wood-Mizer
better, because the blade thickness is less.
sawmills to continue
optimising their timber The blade thickness is around 1.5 or 1. mm,
production. so in every cut we get 1 mm saving, which is a
big benefit with this machine. We can reali e the
cost of the machine within one or two years.
We are focused on quality The W 5 is a robustly constructed thin-kerf
and customer satisfaction. sawmill designed for high volume production of
larger diameter, -metre pine logs. fterwards, an
That is the main thing... incline conveyor transfers the cants down the line
Quality has to be good! for further resawing. The incline conveyor and the
log deck form part of the material handling options
Next to the W 5 sits the Wood- i er LT15 mill - a very basic,
but capable sawmill which ylvan Plyboard uses to cut smaller
diameter pine logs into boards for block board manufacturing. As
opposed to the W 5 , all log loading, turning and offloading is
done manually with the LT15. The LT15 has been extended to a total
length of around 15 metres so that long logs can be cut easily, or so
that two logs can be loaded on the sawmill end-to-end to increase
productivity.

New sawmills added

ylvan Plyboard has very recently implemented a whole new line
of Wood- i er sawmills. The line begins with three LT sawmills
connected in series. Three teams of workers keep each sawmill
head busy, as logs can be added to the bed anywhere along the
HR700 Resaw
whole -metre length. Logs are simply cut on one side, flipped 1
degrees, and a second cut is made. The two-sided cants are then
taken to the ( ingle ertical saw) which removes the third side
of the cant.

The cant is then passed through Wood- i er s new industrial

multihead resaw. With a large s uare cant capacity of
mm x mm, the cuts the cant down to the final re uired
board si es. The can be configured from one to six sawing
heads, and is equipped with electronic setworks for quickly adjusting
cut si es depending on the orders being fulfilled.

Any boards that still require edging are then passed through
Wood- i er s G board edger for further trimming.

We always tell everyone to buy Wood-Mizer LT15 Sawmill

machines because of the excellent performance.

WM3500 Sawmill

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New Delhi Sawmill getting more

from each Imported Log

Near the heart of the New Delhi timber market, “We were using Wood-Mizer sawmills in Africa,
Mr. Vikas Choudhry, partner at Sree Rani Sati so we already knew this machine before we
Overseas, was happy to share how his company imported it for use in our sawmill in India,” Mr.
has improved yields from the logs they are Choundhry shares. “The traditional bandsaw that
processing at their company. we are using in India, the thickness of the blade is
VIKAS CHOUDHRY
3 mm and something. And the Wood-Mizer blade
Manag ing D irec t or
Mr. Choudhry runs a Wood-Mizer LT15 sawmill, is only 1.5 mm. That is the reason we imported
S ree R ani S at i O v erseas
which uses thin-kerf blades to cut his teak logs the Wood-Mizer.”
New D el h i, I ND I A
that are imported from Africa. The sawmill
bandsaw blade used is much thinner than that “We are importing different types of woods like
WOOD-MIZER
on the traditional sawmill machines used in India, teak, hardwood, pine. Basically all the wood
MACHINES
thereby getting more sellable timber from each species imported to India, we specialise in it.”
LT15 sawmill
log, because less of the log is wasted as the The sawmill is very well organised, with lots of
Blade sharpener & toothsetter
thinner blade passes through. light throughout the production area.

A sawmiller with
operations both in
India and Africa lowers LT15 Sawmill
operational costs and
improves log yield by
relying on Wood-Mizer’s
thin-kerf LT15 sawmill in
his business.

The benefit of Wood-Mizer

is that your production
cost will be low...
“We produce everything from planks to moulding - from 6 inch
planks to 25 mm mouldings. That is our product.”

The LT15 sawmill is equipped with additional bed sections that make
the sawmill longer, enabling Mr. Choudhry’s workers to cut longer
logs, or simply to increase their production level by loading two logs
at a time on the bed. oards can be offloaded from one cant while
the sawmill is busy cutting the other one. Mr. Choudhry shared this
advice for other sawmillers and wood producers in India - “I would
advise sawmillers who are using the local bandsaw machines in
India, that they should go for Wood-Mizer, because whatever the
cost is, I know we can recover it within a year.”

The benefit of Wood- i er is that your production cost will be low,

r. houdhry concluded. nd the second major benefit about it is
that you don’t need a specialized operator for this.”

According to Bobby Joseph, country manager for Wood-Mizer

in India, more and more sawmillers are following Mr. Choudhry’s
example to improve profitability I have experiences with
customers where they, in order to produce a 5mm thick piece, first
a 10 mm piece is sawn in the traditional mill, then they use the
double-side planer… then they do the sanding… which means the
waste is 50%! The same customer now has purchased the Wood-
Mizer Horizontal multi-head resaw, in which 6.0 mm thick sections
are sawn (instead of the 1 mm), then sanded and finished. Now the
saving per sawn section is 4.0 mm.”

“Wood-Mizer sawmills are a perfect solution for customers looking

for a higher recovery,” Bobby shares. “Somebody who is importing
timber like teak, Wood-Mizer can help to get a little more from the
timber they have imported... For the customers who are looking
for a higher yield, we proudly offer the thin-kerf technology as the
solution.”

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SERAFIN CHAN
Manag ing D irec t or
L at im c o
S an F ernand o, Ph il ippines
WOOD-MIZER
MACHINES
W wideband sawmill
G edger 115 resaw
lade sharpener toothsetter
Latimco upgraded to
Wood-Mizer’s WB2000
wideband sawmill to
process hardwoods for
export and for their own
door manufacturing.
We get around 70-80%
timber recovery from
each log with WB2000,
compared with the vertical
saw which is only 50-60%.
Phillippine Door Company
Upgrades Sawmill
ou can find a lot of things in the Philippines metre. We prefer to cut on this machine, as it can
friendly people and our culture is very rich. We now give us a higher yield. Then the timber is
have ,1 islands and each island is very uni ue. packed and sent to the other plant for kiln drying.
very place you go, you feel the warm welcome fter drying for 5 days, we manufacture the tim-
of every ilipino ber into doors, jams, mouldings and other client
orders such as kiln-dried timber which we send
About Latimco to apan for panelling.
y name is erafin han, and I am the oper-
ations officer at Latimco. y father had a lumber
business since I was young. fter my father
turned over the business to us, we started import-
ing logs and started manufacturing and milling
our own timber.
We manage everything from importing to the end
user. We manufacture doors, door jams, mould-
ings, facia boards and other products for private
and government clients and also for exporting.
The sawing process
irst we import our logs. We are primarily cutting
meranti, but we can cut whatever the client
needs. When these logs arrive in our port, we un-
load the logs and cut them into lengths according
to the client s specifications.
Then we send them for milling on the Wood- i er
W wideband sawmill, and then edging on
the G twin-blade edger, and the slabs are
cut on the 115 hori ontal resaw. The W
we use to process anything smaller than one
Importance of upgrading sawmill technology
efore, speed was the primary objective all businesses were look-
ing for. ut if you can only recover 5 , then what s the point

ou increase your volume, you cut more, you have more sawdust
everything becomes more. o if any sia business wants to achieve
maximum recovery less sawdust, less waste then they should
think about investing in Wood- i er products.
Our company and products are uni ue in the sense that we have
now upgraded to the latest technology. New machines have new
capabilities, new strengths, and new effectiveness you can t get
from old machines.

If we continue to cut logs for hour shift daily, our OI for the
W machine will take about or years. It will not take long
because of how effectively it recovers the timber. nd this is not
just a theory, we actually did the figures after we had been cutting
for a few months. We could see the difference between the vertical
saw and the Wood- i er bandsaw. We get around timber
recovery from each log with W - compared with the vertical
saw which is only 5 . s well, the energy consumption is
almost half. The W now runs on a hp motor, and for the
vertical saw the motor is around 1 hp. That s a big difference. ou
can save electricity. ertical saws have the speed, but they can t
maximise the recovery.

Useful features of the WB2000 sawmill

With the Wood- i er wideband W saw- mill, we have all the
features we need heavy duty construction, upgraded technology,
higher recovery. The controls, setworks and everything is perfect.
Now my operator knows how he is cutting, exactly without any loss
or increase in the si e of the timber.

nd the hydraulic log handling functions are truly designed for tough
timber like tropical hardwoods, so we can cut large hardwood logs

WB2000 Sawmill

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Sri Lankan Timber Yard Busy

with Domestic Orders

Not far from Colombo, Mr. Mahawatta’s company “But with Wood-Mizer sawmills using new
- Sampath Sawmill - buzzes with constant motion. technology and narrow bandsaw blades, a lot of
He runs two Wood-Mizer sawmills, an LT20 wood is saved. The sawdust produced is minimal,
sawmill and an LT40, which both use thin-kerf which saves a fair amount of wood.”
blades to cut his logs. But years ago, he started
MR. MAHAWATTA
small with just one small LT15 sawmill. “Normally we bring in logs, saw them into timber,
Manag ing D irec t or
and supply our customers. From that process we
S am pat h S awm il l
“I used to work in my uncle’s sawmill as the can earn a good profit.
C ol om b o, S R I L A NK A
sawmill manager,” Mr. Mahawatta shares.
“Afterwards, I started my own business. I have Previously we had an outside sawmill company
WOOD-MIZER
worked in this industry for twenty years, and over that we hired to saw the logs. But now with
MACHINES
time I noticed how much waste there was when our sawmills we can save a lot by doing the
LT20 sawmill
sawing logs.” work ourselves. Our logs come from all over
LT40 sawmill
Blade sharpener & toothsetter

A Sri Lankan sawmiller

reports reducing
operational costs and
improving log yield by
relying on Wood-Mizer
thin-kerf sawmills in his
business.

You can get 85% yield from

a good quality log if you use
a Wood-Mizer sawmill...
the country. We get logs from every corner of Sri Lanka. We cut
kumbuk, jack- wood, turpentine, grandis, and more here.”

No value addition is done on site. “We only do sawing here,

and we saw special kinds of wood depending on the customer’s
requirement.” “Using the Wood-Mizer sawmill to cut the logs, we
can prepare all the orders in time because the sawmilling process is
fast. Our customers are very happy with the quality of the wood we
supply, because the dimensions of the sawn wood are exactly what
they re uested, and the surface finish is also good.

“We don’t export wood. We only supply to local companies and

individual customers,” Mr. Mahawatta shares in regard to the current
market conditions. Sri Lankan sawmillers are busy with orders, and
their forests are well stocked with quality trees, but unlike many
Asian countries, they are not exporting their timber. The timber is
mostly for local use.

I spent five million ri Lankan rupees for this sawmill. In one and
half years, I have earned my investment back three times,”
Mr. Mahawatta shares. “You can get 85% yield from a good quality
log if you use a Wood-Mizer sawmill. In the old days, we were only
getting 50-60% yield from our logs. Everything else was waste.
But now we are saving a lot of wood.” “My advice for the Sri
Lankan sawmillers is that people should be educated on how to use
Wood-Mizer sawmills to meet their sawmilling requirements. We
have limited forests in Sri Lanka, so you need to save wood and not
waste it unnecessarily.”

I spent five million Sri Lankan rupees for this

sawmill. In one and half years, I have earned my
investment back three times...

LT20 & LT40 Sawmills

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15% more log recovery helps Indonesia

sawmiller compete worldwide

In Gresik, East Java – about 15 kilometres Japan and Asia. In additional, he produces
away from Surabaya, we visited a plywood flooring and construction materials.
factory and also a woodworking factory where
Michael, a local sawmiller and businessman, His products are characterised by their
does sawmilling and kiln drying. The company extraordinary lengths while maintaining extremely
MICHAEL
originally started with Michael’s parents before accurate width and thickness along the entire
E ast J av a, I nd onesia
they passed it on to him at the age of 19. length. Generally, he processes hardwoods with
high densities including red balau, merbau, red
WOOD-MIZER
Michael’s company produces high-end hardwood meranti, and agathis.
MACHINES
decking for export to clients in the USA, Europe,
LT70 sawmill
Blade sharpener & toothsetter

An exotic hardwood
decking factory in
Indonesia recently
upgraded their sawmill
to increase material
recovery from every log
and reduce costs.

This is my family business,

so I must run this business
as good as I can, so that is
why I buy Wood-Mizer!
“Competition is getting tougher, so we had to think of something
new which can support us to go into the worldwide market.
We had to think how to make our recovery better, so we chose
the Wood-Mizer LT70 sawmill.

“The LT70 improves our recovery 15% or even more and produces
even cutting. For example, when we use the vertical bandsaw, then
we have to give 6 mm allowance. But with the Wood-Mizer I can
save about 3 mm in allowance on every board. So you can imagine
how much I save!”

In addition to the additional timber recovery from every log, Michael

reports that his power consumption for the new sawmill is very
efficient. The vertical bandsaw uses around 1 hp. ut the
Wood-Mizer is only around 30 hp. So that saves us a lot of money.”
A common concern in South East Asia is that sawmills need to be
able to deal with extremely hard-to-cut wood species. The LT70
successfully runs RazorTIP blades manufactured by Wood-Mizer
specifically for this application.

“I cut all of the wood species without problems, we cut merbau

without any problem. Before using the Wood-Mizer blade, we tried
a lot of types of blades… And we found that Wood-Mizer’s stellite
blade is suitable for our needs. Michael’s LT70 sawmill came
complete with electronic setworks that calculates board sizes for the
operator, so the operator can focus on maximising his production
speed and spend more time making sure quality is maintained at the
company’s high standard. As well, all log handling (log loading, log
turning and clamping) is done easily from a hydraulic control box.

“For my operator, it is easy to operate. It has no problem for three

tonne logs. We already tried it. The Wood-Mizer sawmill doesn’t
give us any problems. And if so, it’s very easy to settle. Support
from the Indonesian agent is very good. So this is important for us.”

LT70 Sawmill

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MR. PASSANG
O ng d i T im b ers,
T h im ph u, B h ut an
WOOD-MIZER
MACHINES
LT70 sawmill
Blade sharpener & toothsetter
Mr. Passang is an
experienced Bhutanese
sawmiller and wood-
worker who describes
in this interview how he
introduced new saw-
milling technology
to Bhutan to help other
sawmillers make better
use of their resources
and lower costs.
Introducing new sawmilling
technology to Bhutan
Can you describe what makes have a vast advantage especially in terms of
Bhutan’s timber industry unique? the waste aspect. The old sawmills are handled
Bhutan is a solid wood market, and considering completely manually, so it is a very difficult job.
all the vast Natural forest resources, Bhutan is
The new Wood-Mizer sawmills provide a good
ideal for sawmill businesses.
opportunity for our youth to be employed in the
sawmill industry. There are many safety issues
How did you become involved with
with the older technology, so those issues have
woodworking yourself? been addressed by the Wood-Mizer sawmills.
My parents used to run a small sawmill. After
my schooling, I joined and slowly took over the Another reason is the rising price of timber…
sawmilling business. We produce value-added and so the appropriate technology was more
products like furniture, and building components important to bring in to conserve. So especially
like doors and window frames, shutters, flooring, from the conservation point of view, the
wall panelling, and ceiling panels from a variety of government fully supports this. Any technology
wood species. that gives an added input/output is highly
appreciated.
What kind of clients do you serve?
Mostly contractors. Then big projects like hotels,
and then some high-end customers like the Royal
families and Resorts.
Why are you advocating the use
of thin-kerf sawmills, versus the
traditional sawmills currently used by
the majority of sawmillers in Bhutan?
First, it is because of the recovery percentage
that we get out of the logs that we are sawing.
Compared to existing sawmills, thin-kerf sawmills
Have you incorporated thin-kerf sawmilling into your
own woodworking business?
Obviously, yes. If we bought our wood from other sawmills, there
would be a lot of timber waste, energy waste, and it is just time
consuming. With the extra yield that we are getting, our profitability
has increased over time. It is very important that we save labour
and electricity, so the Wood-Mizer is playing an important role in our
industry.
What are the advantages of your particular model,
the Wood-Mizer LT70 sawmill?
First, the remote station gives the operator full access to all controls.
He does not have to move around much with the remote system.
Second, the hydraulic loading function is helpful, which used to be
very labour intensive, and so it saves a lot of time. Third, because of
LT70 Sawmill
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the timber sizes we require, this sawmill is capable of producing any
size we need - bigger, smaller, whatever sizes we require. So the
sawmill is very flexible.
How does thin-kerf sawmilling fit in with Bhutan’s
policy for development, which also extends to the
forestry sector?
The whole idea is to make the most out of our resources, and
this particular technology – Wood-Mizer technology – is actually
conserving our resources. When building a house, for instance, we
may have required ten trees. Now, with this technology, we require
eight trees, or maybe seven trees. The remaining three trees remain
there unfelled for the next generation to utilise, which will conserve
our resources for the future generation.
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New Delhi sawmilling family improving
ANIL KUMAR SINGAL
S . S . W ood c raf t ,
New D el h i, I nd ia
WOOD-MIZER
MACHINES
LT15 sawmill
Blade sharpener & toothsetter
A sawmilling family
business producing
teak lowers operational
costs and improving
the yield from their
imported logs by
relying on Wood-Mizer’s
thin-kerf LT15 sawmill.
profits with upgraded sawmill
Just off the main road leading through New “Our logs come in from Nigeria, Ghana, Ecuador,
Delhi’s timber market, Mr. Anil Kumar Singal, Germany, Ivory Coast, South America and also
owner of . . Woodcraft, runs an efficient and from a few other European countries. The logs
highly organised sawmill, now along with help are imported, unloaded and stacked. Then logs
from his two sons - Sharat and Sarang - tall are sent to the sawmill. Some are converted into
identical twins. They proudly produce a range cants. Logs suitable for beading or moulding are
of more than 70 products, many of which are on sawn accordingly. We then process the wood
display in their showroom. into the final product, with the desired design and
size. And then we send it out to the customer.”
He runs a Wood-Mizer LT15 sawmill, which uses
thin-kerf blades to cut his teak, beech, and ash “We can design the products according to the
logs into accurate dimensions for making requirements of the customer. The key is quality,
mouldings and other woodwork. accuracy and proper supply to ensure 100%
customer satisfaction. We sell our products all
“Our company philosophy is to supply good over India - from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.”
quality products to our customers and make sure
they are satisfied. To maintain a good relationship
with our customers and mutually benefit together.
By having good quality, we ensure that our
distributors never have a problem selling our
product.”
The sawmill is a busy place, but very clean and
well organised. Everyone has a job, whether it
be transporting logs, or classifying and bundling
the final product for shipment and sale. We
take special care for our workers - their safety at
work, health, food, drinking water, etc.” Mr. Singal
shares. “We take labour welfare seriously here.”
Their LT15 sawmill starts off the entire production process. All the
wood they process is first broken down to si e on the LT15.
“We purchased the Wood-Mizer in order to get better sawing
performance, perfect timber sizes, and above else, to have a
quality product,” Mr. Singal shares. “The machine works very
well and is giving us a good uality surface finish. We got the
Wood-Mizer because the timber waste from our traditional-style
sawmill was very high when compared to the Wood-Mizer.

The timber waste of the Wood-Mizer is half of the old sawmill when
you compare them.” “The LT15 produces less sawdust compared to
our traditional-style mill, which means we save a lot of timber.”

“The money invested in a Wood-Mizer can be recovered in about

2 years,” Mr. Singal continues. “Just considering the sawdust waste,
provided the rest of the business is functioning properly.”

LT15 Sawmill

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Bhutan’s GNH forestry policies

changing sawmilling across
the Himalayan country

“Gross National Happiness is more important
than Gross National Product,” His Majesty Jigme
Singye Wangchuck, the Fourth King of Bhutan,
once said. In 1972, he conceived and enacted
Bhutan’s development philosophy that is known
DEO KUMAR BISWA
as Gross National Happiness, or GNH for short.
General Manag er B usiness
D ev el opm ent & Mark et ing
To learn more about how Bhutan’s forestry,
Nat ural R esourc es D ev el opm ent
logging and sawmilling industries are abiding by
C orporat ion L im it ed
GNH principles, I visited Mr. Deo Kumar Biswa of
T h im ph u, B h ut an
the NRDCL in the capitol city of Bhutan.
“We have a very lofty ideal set by the constitution
WOOD-MIZER
of Bhutan – at any point in time, we should
MACHINES
maintain at least 60% forest cover,” shares Mr.
LT70 sawmill
Biswa. Currently, forests covers around 70% of
Blade sharpener & toothsetter
the country.
“We were mandated from the beginning to take
care of the natural resources, mainly timber,” he
continues. “Which means that we spend quite a
substantial amount of money for replantation and
reforestation programs. We are quite cautious
and mindful of replenishing what we extract.”
As environmentally sound as their forestry
conservation and logging policies have been,
the NRDCL is quite concerned by the current
level of many outdated technology being used by
private sawmills to convert carefully grown and
logged trees into sawn timber. Older, traditional
Indian-made sawmills are still used by a majority
of sawmillers in hutan, which re uire significant
energy to operate, have low recovery rates, and
frequently contribute to workplace accidents.

Interviews with Bhutan’s

forestry ministry, reveal
that the Himalayan
country’s happiness-
focused policies are
causing big changes in
the sawmilling sector.
Recently, some Wood-Mizer thin-kerf sawmills have appeared in
various regions throughout Bhutan, but wide-spread adoption has
yet to be seen. So in order to promote the adoption of smarter
sawmilling technologies among private sawmill companies, the
Natural Resources Development Corporation Limited had to think
about more proactive strategies, so they bought a Wood-Mizer LT70
sawmill themselves.

“The government thinks that somebody should do proper value-

addition study on wastage through sawing by using the old
machines and cater to individual customer requirements,” Mr. Biswa
shares. “That is the whole reason why we had to come up with a
sawmill. We thought that this would be the ideal investment for us.
And of course this is one thing we can actually trust in terms of
recovery and lowered waste.”

“We also saw unsold, old timber to salvage it… We just want to set
a benchmark. We don’t want to waste anything that is not required
by the sawmillers.” “Value addition is something that we are very
mindful,” he continues. “Whatever we have done by getting this
technology, the Wood-Mizer sawmill, we feel that this is so far the
best technology, in terms of recovery percentage, and in terms of the
robustness of the machines.”

The LT70 requires only one operator, who uses hydraulic and electric
functions to load, turn, and then saw logs as required, all from the
comfort of the operator seat. Another worker removes boards by hand
and stacks the lumber, although automated board removal systems
are available from the company. The operator uses the sophisticated
onboard computer to pre-set board sizes, so no manual calculations
are needed, and production can continue without slowing down when
the operator wishes to change a board size.

For governments feeling pressure to make more of their resource

and reduce waste, thin-kerf sawmills will be the future.

LT70 Sawmill

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JESSE PRYOR
Missionary
Papua New Guinea
WOOD-MIZER
MACHINES
LT15 sawmill
Blade sharpener & toothsetter
Building medical and
educational facilities
while enduring cholera
and malaria epidemics,
the Pryor family share a
little glimpse into their
lives as missionaries in
Papua New Guinea.
Improving lives in the PNG jungle
– with a sawmill
Our family moved to Samban Village, in the East The Ap Ma people are well known for their
Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in carvings, mainly their storyboards. The local
2004 to work with the Ap Ma people. Our dreams carvers carve the off cuts to sell as income for
of building a permanent church building, medical their families. The carvers have showcased
and educational facilities here in the swamps their work on the 8x8 ironwood posts in our
hinged upon our ability to acquire a portable multi-purpose meeting house. This building
sawmill to provide the timber that cannot be boug preserves the Ap Ma people’s cultural heritage by
ht in our remote location. chronicling the history and stories of the people.
The LT15 was the right fit. In the jungles of PNG, The mill also initiates community development.
the LT15 has continued to provide OIPNG We never buy the trees from the local
(Outreach International of Papua New Guinea) with landowners. We do an equal exchange. We mill
quality building materials in a way that is one tree for the landowner, and then we mill one
sustainable, responsible, and conscious of the for OIPNG projects.
fragility of our ecosystem. What does our LT15
mean to the people of the Ap Ma language group
here in the East Sepik? The portability and
efficiency of this sawmill have made it possible to
produce timber for structures such as classrooms,
church buildings, cocoa dryers, clinics, houses, a
library, offices, fencing and pig pens.
In addition to the timber, no byproduct of the mill
goes unused. The sawdust is used as a source
of fuel for cooking food. The flitches and off-cuts
are carved into paddles, bowls, spoons, and all
sorts of tools that are used every day by our
people. Broken saw mill blades are used as
knives, chisels, and thin machete’s for cutting
grass!
Up to this point, the LT15 has provided timber for five different cocoa
dryers which are essential sources of income for these subsistence
villages. In addition, several houses have been built by the different
recipients of the exchange.

Lastly our LT15 creates employment for the local men who have
learned to operate, maintain, and service the saw mill. As you can
see, there are no limits to what a sawmill can do to improve the
lives of the people around it. The LT15 is fundamental to all of our
building projects. There is no way we would be as far as along to
the realization of our dreams without it.

Long before the Ap Ma people had a written language, the

carving of story boards was used to preserve history and their
culture.

They used to carve big murals of how things came to be the way
they are. The wood for this board was milled on our LT15, and
were carved by my next-door neighbor. We are encouraging
them to use their carving skills to supplement their income.

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