Custom Milling: Process and Pricing

Here are answers to some common questions regarding the cost and process of milling your logs.

What is your rate for milling?

We charge $140 per hour for our main Woodmizer sawmill. We also charge a per-blade fee of $25 per blade used or $35 per blade damaged. On our Lucas Mill, we charge $250/hour with a per-blade fee of $100 per blade used or $150 per blade damaged.

How much does it cost to mill a log?

Most medium-sized sawlogs (12-24” diameter, 8’-12’ long) take us 45 minutes to mill. Our rate is $140 per hour, so expect to pay around $105 per medium-sized sawlog. We also charge a per-blade fee of $25 per blade used or $35 per blade damaged.

Large sawlogs (24-36” diameter, 8’6” long) take us 60 to 90 minutes to mill. Expect to pay $140 to 210 per large saw log in addition to the $25 or $35 blade fee.

Extra large sawlogs (over 36” diameter) require the Lucas Mill, which is billed at $250 per hour and $100 per blade used (or $150 for blade damaged). Typical rates for extra large logs are between $850 and $1400 per log.

Do you have a minimum?

Yes, we have a minimum of three hours per project. 

On our Woodmizer, this means that our minimum is $445 ($140 per hour, for three hours, plus at least one blade at $25). For the Lucas Mill, we can either use it to mill live-edge slabs, which has a three hour minimum, or use it initially to break down a big log into cants millable by the Woodmizer. If we’re just using the Lucas Mill for slabbing, its three-hour minimum is $850 (three hours at $250/hour, plus one blade at $100). If we’re using the Lucas and Woodmizer together for three hours, the minimum is $765 (two hours at $250, plus $100 per blade, and one hour at $140, plus $25 per blade). 

How much would it cost to make one cut, or just a few cuts?

Any project that requires less than our minimum of three hours is still billed at our minimum of three hours ($445). 

How booked out are you?

We are usually booked out for four to six weeks.

Do you mill by the board foot?

We do not charge by the board foot. We charge by the hour.

Does it cost more or less to cut live-edge versus dimensional?

In most cases, it works out to be about the same cost for us to mill dimensional (square four sides) versus live-edge (square two sides). We prefer to mill dimensional lumber. The exception to this is when we’re cutting slabs on the Lucas Mill: in that case, live edge is cheaper.

What information do you need from me before milling?

Before we mill, we will need to know the width and thickness of the lumber you’d like. It’s fine to drop logs off at the mill then follow up with lumber requests later. 

What’s the maximum width you can cut?

On our Woodmizer sawmills, the technical maximum widthcut is 34 ¼”.  Practically, though, we ask folks to expect around 30” wide. On our Lucas mill, the maximum width is 72”.

What’s the thinnest you can cut?

½” is a good minimum. Technically, we can cut ⅜” but it becomes unmanageable and hard to dry any lumber that thin.

Which sawmill will you use on my log?

In most cases, we will use one of our two Woodmizer sawmills. If your log is over 36” diameter, and/or over 4400 lbs, will we likely use the Lucas mill.

What’s the longest log you can cut?

Our main sawmill can cut up to 26’6” long.

What’s the shortest log you can cut?

We prefer to cut logs at or over 7’. We can cut logs between 4’ and 7’, even though they are labor-intensive. Anything shorter than 4’ requires us to build a custom jig.

Can you cut cookies, or rounds?

Yes, but remember they tend to split when they dry.

What’s the heaviest log you can cut?

On the Lucas Mill, we roll logs into place using our skid steer — so we can handle most large logs. The largest we’ve ever cut was around 12,000 lbs. On our Woodmizer, we try to stay below the 4400 lb weight limit for the loader arms. 

What if there’s metal in my log?

In most cases, your log is still millable if there is evidence of metal in it. If we hit the metal with a blade, then the per-blade fee changes from $25 to $35 for every blade damaged. If we hit metal while milling with our Lucas mill, then we charge $150 instead of $100 for our per-blade fee. There are occasions when logs have so much metal in them that we recommend that we stop milling. 

What kind of sawmills do you use?

We run three sawmills– one 2025 Woodmizer LT40, one 2023 Woodmizer LT50, and one 2020 Lucas Slab Mill.