David Smith Portable Sawmill

The sawmill business was started in 1994 to saw redwood logs on site into lumber of all sizes. Ten years ago, the business moved into supplying redwood products for sale. We now have a large quantity of air-dried redwood lumber, finished paneling and siding, natural edge slabs, and timbers of all sizes by special order.

We specialize in…

  • Custom full dimension redwood lumber

  • Dry siding/paneling

  • Natural edge redwood slabs

  • On Site Lumber Milling

  • Log Purchases and Removal

  • Custom redwood special orders

Bonny Doon: Here I was called in to produce full-dimension lumber to rebuild a house lost in the Martin Road fire. Since it was a permitted job, a grader was called in to stamp the lumber. This was a satisfying job because the owner was able to use trees that would have otherwise gone to waste.

La Selva: A cabinetmaker had me resurface old railroad ties recovered from dismantled narrow gauge railroad for an antique reproduction project. I had to use an extra hard cobalt tipped blade because of the abrasive nature of the work.

Lake Lexington: I squared off and resurfaced redwood barrel staves from an old water tank. The owner used them to build a virgin redwood deck.

Monte Sereno: A contractor needed the machine to straighten out some old oak timbers he needed for a remodel. They were 20 feet long and the bow and twist was to extreme to use in original form.

Los Gatos: A local tree company had to remove a redwood tree planted in the 1950’s that threatened the house foundation. I set up right in the street and make 6×6 and 3×8 to use for an all redwood retaining wall.

Stanford University: An old oak tree on the site of the Herbert Hoover house had to be removed and to which there was some sentimental attachment. I sawed it into 2″ thick lumber for use in furniture projects.

Watsonville: An architectural millwork company needed a large quantity of Indonesian hardwood broken down into smaller sizes. Because of the silica embedded within the wood, I had to use a carbide tipped bandsaw blade.

Services

  • Redwood lumber, siding and paneling, slabs and timbers for sale
  • Custom redwood special orders
  • On site lumber manufacturing Redwood, fir, hardwoods.

Treework:

Subcontracting, log removal, cleanup, permits, sawmill.

More Examples

A neighbor gave me 20 fir trees which I sawed into 30,000 board feet. Sent to Big Creek for planing and grading. Then sent half of that to Modesto for pressure treating. Used for retaining wall, sold some and have the rest for the next job.

I sawed 100 redwood trees in Boulder Creek.  Stickered and dried it then sent to Big Creek to make exterior air dried v-rustic and bevel siding.  After using it in a building project, I  sold the rest to owners and contractors wholesale.

Sent a truckload of 2×8 rough fir to be made into 2×8 T&G decking for open ceilings and floors which is not normally stocked at the lumber yard.

Recommended by Michael Hartrich Design-Build

Contact Info:

David Smith Portable Sawmill

Phone: 831-234-8407

Get Social With Us!
pinterest

Send us a message

  • * denotes required field

David Smith Portable Sawmill

Endorsements

from other members

  • 1Professionalism
  • 1Portable Sawmill
  • 1Custom lumber milling

9 Customer Testimonials
  1. Johnson Boothby says:

    I first met David in the early 2000s when we bought our house in Felton. He came to my flat driveway in front of our house and helped slab some madrone from a fairly magnificent tree that the previous owner of our house had limbed. By the time we acquired the house the tree was old and the previous owner had left it as a large madrone relic. In the process of moving into the house and burning the madrone he had cut I realized how special madrone wood is. My helper and I split the madrone trunk sections and David helped me mill them into quarter sawn sections.
    It was an awesome madrone. David helped me again when a western maple fell across Graham Hill Rd. I was lucky enough to be there when the county came with their 4 way bucket and I talked them into leaving the log with me. David helped me with the milling on that one too.
    One of the best slices is now a display table at Henry Cowell Park.

  2. Bob Polito says:

    We had a large, messy and unhealthy redwood felled in 8′ to 10′ logs, each weighing 1000 to over 4000 pounds. We didn’t want to “waste” the redwood. Our original thought was to have the redwood milled on site, but the noise and mess would have been substantial. Dave brought his tractor, dump trailer and equipment here, and incredibly was able to load and haul away all (7) the logs to be milled at his facility. Two loads, one each day, with minimal disruption to our property. I heartily recommend Dave if you have valuable wood you want put to good use rather than end up in a landfill.

  3. Shadley Stephens says:

    I’ve been working for David for a little over 3 months now, and I must say he’s a great man to do business with. He’s honest and fair, which this day and age is hard to come by. He means what he says, and he says what he means. Milling wood is what he loves to do, and he does it quite well….nothing but quality lumber at an affordable price. I’m glad to be helping David in his quest to keep the customers happy, and keep them coming back for more……cheers

  4. Karl Bareis says:

    David acted as mill operator during on-site milling operations leading up to custom redwood timber framing. I have employed six different mills to do similar work and Dave’s attitude, patience and knowledge all came into play during the six day milling process. His bandsaw mill was the perfect match for redwood 6×12, and smaller timbers.
    I would recommend him in the future to those wanting to mill wood off their own property and produce high quality wood products!

    Karl Bareis

  5. Patrick Dugan says:

    PG&E line protection program required that a number of redwood and fir trees be removed from our property. Instead of PG&E chopping up and hauling the material away, I contracted with David to mill the lumber into fencing material to be used on the property. The job was quick, clean and efficiently completed.
    Thank you David

  6. Rick Yamada says:

    David Smith is:
    > DEPENDABLE, he does what he says he will do!
    > AFFORDABLE, you get your money’s worth and then some!
    > EXPERIENCED, he’s been doing this for a long time (but he doesn’t look his age)!
    > KNOWLEDGEABLE, he knows his ‘stuff’, and county regulations (even more than the county)!
    > FRIENDLY, mild mannered with a great personality!
    Obviously I am a bit prejudiced, he’s worked for me before and has become a good friend. But he is well known in this county and well respected, even by county personnel.

Leave a Customer Testimonial

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *