Out of the Woods

"This is a review for Out of the Woods saw milling services. I am a woodworker and lucked into a set of black acacia logs. The city considers it an invasive species and was taking down some trees just across the street, but it's beautiful wood. The arborists left me waaaay more material than I could handle, including some logs that are too big for my Alaskan mill and wimpy little Husky 445 chainsaw to even think about. I initially went with another sawmilling service based in San Jose, which I won't name here, but they have a garden design service and a sawmill. They don't have both portable on-site and warehouse mills like Out of the Woods does, so this would have been a pick up/ mill/ kiln-dry /divide the slabs situation. I never met anyone there IRL though, and can't comment on how good a job they might have done - because when people repeatedly change schedules, when you've already re-arranged work meetings etc, without so much as a text message or email to let you know, and two months have gone by with no progress, you get kind of fed up. So I looked for Plan B and found Ed at Out of the Woods. Should have been Plan A all along. He sent the guys (Kyle and Harry) out a week EARLIER than expected, with no notice, but fortunately on a day I could make it work, and he would have called it off without any issues if I'd said "no not today." They came with a Woodmizer Super Hydraulic, an awesome piece of kit that can pick up, re-position, clamp, and slab logs. Ask Ed for the specs but I think it can handle up to ~32" throat width and at least 12-14 ft length. After about 8 hours of work, we'd slabbed about 7 logs into about 35 usable slabs. It was beautiful stuff coming off the mill. Time will tell if Kyle gave the right advice on rough thickness and how much it will warp and move as it dries, but both guys were skilled, hard workers. They made sure they finished stacking the slabs in a shady spot, well leveled and stickered, before they left. There are probably 5-6 tables, a massive headboard and bed frame, drawer fronts, some benches and sideboards, and a few fireplace mantles in that stack. I may end up selling some of it down the road. All in all, a great experience working with Out of the Woods, and I can recommend them without hesitation for your urban or not-so-urban wood reclamation needs. Per Kyle most of their business is BFR logs (R = redwood, won't translate the BF) which they can Alaskan mill in-place in difficult locations if too big to move."

"At first I was a bit concerned about hiring these guys without a formal contract/paperwork, but it turns out they were amazing. Came to our property to mill a bunch of wood and created beautiful slabs and boards. They worked long hours, were professional, and skilled. Recommend without hesitation."

"I work for an interior design studio in San Francisco and needed to have a few of our client's wood slabs kiln dried before they were turned into custom furniture. Ed was really great to work with and always very responsive and friendly. The slabs turned out in a great condition and I would definitely recommend working with Out of the Woods!"

"We selected Out of the Woods for our redwood needs, while landscaping our home. We received beautiful rough-sawn beams and boards for various pergolas, decks, planters, propane tank and generator surrounds, and bocce court framing. All true-dimension with awesome grain and color. Highly recommended!"

"Beautiful drive up though the redwood forest getting to Out of the Woods Mill. Seeing all the amazing logs and boards once you arrive makes for a great end to an amazing journey."