International Paper is selling its Maine and New Hampshire forestlands, approximately 1.1 million acres, to GMO Renewable Resources, LLC, (GMORR), a private forest investment management company, for approximately $250 million. The sale is expected to be complete by first quarter 2005.

Though not as impressive as the saw in a six- or seven-foot bandmill, and not nearly as hot and sexy as the high-speed, thin-kerf saws spinning in an optimized gang, the canter head chipping knife remains one of the most critical cutting tools in a sawmill. In many cases, a canter head chipping knife is the first sharp edge a log touches when it’s routed through a mill’s primary breakdown system.

Tim and Rhonda Kendrick are nearing the home stretch of a five-year expansion and modernization program that has replaced or updated every breakdown center in the family-owned hardwood sawmill. The next step of the program, slated for mid 2005, will install a cogeneration facility to fuel Kendrick Forest Products’ dry kilns and generate electricity.

Things are slowly coming back up to speed at Burt Lumber Co. after riding the waves of a multi-year slump in the forest products industry. For mill principals Burt and Barry Goolsby the three-year period meant layoffs, reduced shifts and limited upgrades to balance production costs with sales. Even International Paper closing and dismantling its Washington sawmill didn’t help the situation very much.

Well known industry veteran K.J. (Barry) Barratt died of cancer on July 19 at his home in Big Rapids, Mich. He was 82. Barratt was respected throughout the sawmilling community worldwide for his support in the continuing education of the workers in the profession of saw doctoring. He was a founding member of many of the saw filers educational associations in North America, as well as associations in Australia, New Zealand and Africa.

Williams & White offers the Accu Sharp TFX-C two-axis CNC top and face grinder. The TFX-C uses two servo-driven axes to produce precise and repeatable geometries. The on-screen programming allows the operator to input the tooth profiles with simplistic accuracy. This process reduces setup times and increases productivity. The TFX-C can store up to 99 saw geometries in its on-board memory.