At Country Wood Products in Mio Michigan I have this large pile of over sized and oddball logs that I got from other sawmills. These are sawmill rejects. They had flaws that made them unfit for lumber at the mill. But those flaws are exactly what I am looking for in my live edge slabs.

These logs have been sitting neglected for years. Insects and certain fungi and minerals get into the wood and cause some beautiful colors and patterns to form.

I got the 36 in Stihl chainsaw onto my mill. This is a 95cc chainsaw. Working with this saw is like picking up a lawn mower by hand and running it all day. It is powerful and heavy. But it saws through logs nicely.

This log is a bit too large for my normal band sawmill so I decided to use the chainsaw mill. This log measured over 27 inches at its widest point and I can saw about 28 inches on the chainsaw mill with a 36 in bar.

To prepare the log for the first cut I had to make a rack to let the mill run down a straight edge. This gives me a straight edge for all following cuts. I used some 2×6 lumber I had milled out earlier in the year and some 2x4s as cross bracing.

The first cut took off the round with the rough part that was under the bark. I will likely keep this to make something with it later. But the beauty of the colors and wood grain inside was awesome. See the photo below. Photos cannot quite do it justice though but you get the idea. Look at all those colors in this wood.

The next pass with the chainsaw mill can be made right across the top of the log now. I can leave the rails that I made aside for future use on another log. Again you see some incredible colors and grain patterns inside this old maple log.

The next two slabs I sold right off the log. These are a matched set and have some unique markings and colors in them. See the next pics.

Those two slabs measure 24 inches at the narrow point and about 27 inches at the widest point. It has been raining but I plan to saw up the rest of the log when I get a chance. I will be listing the live edge slabs on the store when they are ready.

Come visit Country Wood Products at the old Permalog Warehouse in Mio Michigan. We are just South of Mio on M33.