The Gilkey Lumber Process...

Gilkey's sawmill equipment consists of a complete Salem band mill with the latest Innovec controls. A six foot band mill and a six foot line bar resaw is utilized as well. A Salem Optimizing Edger and Progress Chipper was installed in 1999.

Gilkey Lumber maintains an inventory of about 12 million board feet of timber in the supply pipeline. The log inventory is kept at about 1 million board feet. The inventory of finished lumber includes about 2.4 million board feet of 4/4 to 8/4 oak in its sheds and another 1 to 1½ million board feet of kiln dried lumber.

All lumber is inspected for grade and quality by NHLA certified inspectors before and after kiln drying. Green lumber is coated with an end wax to control moisture loss and maintain quality during the drying process. Lumber is then put on sticks and air-dried under covered sheds on concrete foundations to assure flatness and bright color. The company has taken the additional step of installing forced-air fans in the shed roofs to increase airflow so that stain and mold does not occur. In addition to rough lumber, Gilkey also has the ability to provide lumber surfaced-two-sides (S2S) and straight-line-ripped on one edge (SLRIE).

By selecting only the best quality logs for sawing, Gilkey Lumber has the ability to meet the needs of the most discriminating buyers around the world. Increasing production is not a top priority. Rather, Gilkey Lumber intends to continue its commitment to producing consistent, top quality lumber, one board at a time.