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K-P & Sons operates a small, sustainable mill in Humboldt County

by Susan Nolan

ISF is a big supporter of small mills. We were really disappointed when last year’s trip to the K-P & Sons mill had to be cancelled, as the corona virus crisis deepened. But when things opened up this year, we were able to reschedule for June 18.

There was a great turnout, including curious and supportive friends and neighbors, potential customers, young people looking to get into the business, and a couple from our kindred group, Roots of Motive Power in Willits.

A log’s journey through the mill begins with getting trimmed to usable lengths and then being brought to the 1972 debarker. As the log is rotated, bark gets ground off, leaving spiral grooves. KP’s debarkers can handle up to 36” logs; anything bigger is debarked with a backhoe. KP is one of the few mills left that can still handle really big logs.

Log with spiral grooves at K-P & Sons mill
Log with spiral grooves at K-P & Sons mill. Photo by Ann Constantino.
Waste is carried off to a pile,K-P & Sons Mill
Waste is carried off to a pile. Photo by Ann Constantino.
Next, logs are brought to the LT-40 to be cut into cants. Cants are big beam-like cuts, intended to be sawed down further into smaller lumber.
K-P & Sons Mill
Logs are brought to the LT-40 to be cut into cants. Photo by Ann Constantino.

They also use a mobile dimension saw to cut the really large logs that do not fit on their other mills. This saw can also produce slab materials. The mobile dimension saw makes two cuts in one pass, with a vertical blade and a horizontal blade both running at once. Here it is slicing out 2 x 8s. Good lumber is stacked to the operator’s left, and offcuts to his right. Defective boards can be directed to other uses. This happens at each machine. Every stick gets processed into marketable product as much as possible.

K-P & Sons Mill
Cutting a large log with a mobile dimension saw. Photo by Ann Constantino.

From there it goes to a Wood-Mizer resaw, which cuts the 2 x 8s into 1 x 8s, producing one of the mill’s main products, fence boards.
The Wood-Mizer EG200 edger puts a nice clean edge on both sides of a board in one pass:

K-P & Sons Mill
Producing one by eights with a Wood-Mizer resaw. Photo by Ann Constantino.
K-P & Sons Mill
Fence boards bundled and stacked. Photo by Ann Constantino.

At the very end of the line, 1” boards with defects that won’t make good fencing are cut into 1 x 1 lath using a five-blade gang saw, and then banded in bundles, salvaging as much useable product as possible.

K-P & Sons Mill
Bundles of 1 x 1 lath. Photo by Ann Constantino.

Of course, much material can’t be made into lumber: the rounded edges of logs, bark, sawdust, trim ends, etc. The Paines are trying to find responsible uses for all their waste. Their sawdiust and ground bark get processed into “forest peat” and mixed with bat guano, worm castings and chicken manure by NorCal Gold, and sold in bulk at the mill. It’s a new prodcut this year;  “we’re getting good reports from users, “ Kelly notes. Finding a use for their woody waste is a work in progress. They’re considering chipping it, if they can find a market for chips, and making biochar.

A variety of machines power the mill. Many are older. The debarker dates back to 1970. One runs on an old VW motor. As their business grows, he Paines are reducing their need for “muscle and diesel” by upgrading to more efficient electric machines.

Redwood is the KP Mill’s mainstay, as it is the market that they have focused on. Douglas fir and hardwoods require different saw blades. Buying logs is a challenge—“that’s the rough part,” Kelly observes. They prefer sustainably produced trees, and will be buying 600,000 board feet this year from the Redwood Forest Foundation, with whom they have a good relationship. They also sustainably harvest a small amount from their own land.They don’t do grading, drying, or planing, but there’s a steady demand for the products they do make. “Not quite two truckloads a day” go out, with 16, to 18,000 board feet per truck.

The Paines started milling on their own property, then moved near Garberville, and are now working at the old Coombs mill site in Piercy, a great site with old mill buildings and plenty of room. Recently they’ve opened up a retail outlet in Santa Rosa, KP & Sons Custom Redwood, which offers fence boards, 1 x 1 x 8’ lath, slabs, timbers, beams, custom orders and more. The family’s two oldest sons, Levi and Jayden, along with Levi’s fiance Caitlin, run the store. This is a new project for the the Paines, and they are enjoying teaching their kids the trade and the ins and outs of running a retail store.

To learn more about KP and Sons Custom Redwood, see https://kpcustomredwood.com

We had a great time with the Paines, and learned a lot. ISF intends to visit more local mills. If you are interested, please contact us at contact.newforestry@gmail.com

K-P & Sons Mill
The group listens to Kelly in the main building, K-P & Sons Mill. Photo by Chip Tittmann.
K-P & Sons Mill
Kelly gives pointers to two men thinking of starting out in the business. Photo by Chip Tittmann.
K-P & Sons Mill
Sustainably harvested redwood logs. Photo by Ann Constantino.

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Biochar Workshop, March 13, 2020, Miranda, CA

with T. Gray Shaw and Susan Nolan

On Friday March 13, 2020 Gray Shaw and Susan Nolan of the Institute for Sustainable Forestry presented an afternoon workshop on making and using biochar from forest waste resulting from fuel reduction. The site was Lonnie Whitlow’s Workhorse Welding shop in Miranda. Lonnie built a 4’x4′ biochar kiln last year for ISF and offers to make more on request.

Susan built a top-lit fire in her mini-kiln while Gray explained the process and answered questions.

Gray’s farmer/neighbor Ingrid Leon explained biochar inoculation and the results from adding 5% biochar to the soil in 2019: 25% less water use, healthier plants, and double productivity. Gray demonstrated his homemade charcoal grinder, which makes 1/4″ biochar from forest waste. This hand-powered grinder processed all the char for 10,000 square feet of garden.

For the full story leading to this workshop, see www.blackripple.com.

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020
Biochar Workshop, 3/13/2020

 

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Reading A Creek
Geomorphologist Mary Ann Madej guided participants along Prairie Creek, Lost Man Creek, and Redwood Creek in Redwood State and National Parks, talking about how creeks function, how they change in a changing environment, and the history of restoration in the parks.

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Red Mountain, BLM, northern Mendocino County, September 13-15, 2019

Red Mountain 2019, slide 1
A typical view of plant life on Red Mountain: native bunch grass, incense cedar, Jeffrey pine, manzanita. The mountain is surrounded by the usual Douglas fir and hardwood forest of the north coast interior.

 

Rattlesnake
Wildlife is scarce on Red Mountain, as the plant life doesn’t support many species.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 3
View toward Usal on the coast from the rolling summit plateau.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 4
Early morning fog spilling over from the East Branch of the South Fork into the mainstem Eel drainage.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 5
Not volcanic, instead brought up from the deep ocean: serpentinite rock, which creates the unusual vegetation of Red Mountain.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 6
The group hiked cross country to Cedar Creek to investigate why this watershed contributes so much water to the East Branch of the South Fork, probably related to the unusual geology. Here Bryan McFadin from the State Water Boards takes measurements of depth and velocity to determine streamflow.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 7
The route in was a little more rigorous than they anticipated. They hope to return for further investigation.

 

 

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Canoe Fire Transect, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, October 13, 2018
We began at the Chapman Ranch, where owner Mark Chapman discussed how his family integrates cattle and timber management, improving grazing and the condition of the forest while making a living off the land, and how the 2003 Canoe Fire affected his stands. From there we walked into Humboldt Redwoods State Park, where the fire had been allowed to burn freely.

Canoe Fire
The Canoe Fire was a rare example of a severe fire in old growth.

Grasshopper Peak
Final climb to the top of Grasshopper Peak.

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Cahto, August 5, 2018

Our trip to the Bureau of Land Managment’s Cahto holding began with a climb to Cahto Peak for sweeping views along the coast and all over northern Mendocino County. From there we walked to Stoten Opening, a peculiar long narrow grassy meadow.

Acorn grinding rock
Acorn grinding rock.

Festuca californica
Huge native bunchgrass, California fescue, Festuca californica.

Stoten Opening
The group botanizing and exploring in Stoten Opening.

Lunch break on Cahto hike
Lunch break with much interesting discussion.

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Lassics, June 23, 2018

The distinctive humps of the Lassics peaks can be seen from some distance around Southern Humboldt. They are good representatives of the confused geology of northwest California, where many types of rock have been jumbled together by tectonic forces. Conical Black Lassic is often mistaken for a volcano, but is actually marine sedimentary rock; Mount Lassic was formed from a different mix of sedimetary rock; Red Lassic has material from a deep ocean trench. We looked at a possible glacial basin from the last ice age, and a recent wildfire.

Geologist Tim Bailey discussing serpentinite rock.
Geologist Tim Bailey discussing serpentinite rock.

The Lassics lupine, Lupins constancei
The Lassics lupine, Lupins constancei, known only from the Lassics, a rare plant adapted to difficult soils.

Mount Lassic
On top of Mount Lassic, looking west toward Salmon Creek and the King Range. The monument was built by an early survey team based there.

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Red Mountain, June 9, 2018
Red Mountain is a Bureau of Land Management property in northern Mendocino County, and a favorite with ISF for its interesting geology and botany.
This sparse forest has never been logged, though it looks like it. Difficult soils containing toxic minerals limit vegetation. Only a few species can survive.
One of the specialized rare plants that lives on Red Mountain is Red Mountain buckwheat, Eriogonum kelloggii.
Participants relaxing amid old mining gear. This remote area was the site of industrial activity which fortunately never became profitable.