INGRAINED
\nLUMBER IS LIFE TO THE LAMOREAUX
\nFriday, August 23, 1996
\nPage: 1
\nBy DAWN SHURMAITIS; Times Leader Staff Writer<\/p>\n
Lumberman Dennis Lamoreaux runs a calloused paw over the rough bark of a
\njust-felled hemlock.<\/p>\n
“You can read a log,” he says.
\n“There’s a lot of history in a log.”<\/p>\n
There’s a lot of history at Lamoreaux Sawmill, too. Worked by third- and
\nfourth-generation sons of Maine woodsmen, the sawmill relies on a
\nreputation honed by decades of hard work and fine craftsmanship.<\/p>\n
If you call the mill, don’t expect an answering machine. If you’re lucky,
\neither Dennis, Dennis Jr. (known as Sam), Harry or Nora will answer and
\nhappily give directions over the rotary phone.<\/p>\n
The sign pointing the way to the five-acre plot, which straddles Plymouth
\nand Lehman townships, is located miles off the main road, Route 29. Once
\nthere, you’ll be greeted by Daffodil the dog, not a salesman with a fancy
\nname tag.<\/p>\n
Lamoreaux, one of a handful of sawmill operators still in business in this
\narea, does things the old-fashioned way.<\/p>\n
The right way, he says.<\/p>\n
He’s never advertised, relying on word of mouth. When he speaks of the mill
\nstarted by his grandfather, his voice swells with undisguised pride.<\/p>\n
“Why are we timbermen?” he says, soon answering his own question.<\/p>\n
“Because we come from generations of timbermen.”<\/p>\n
Throughout the day, customers — some sent by lumber yards — visit what
\npasses for the “showroom.” It’s actually a low wooden shed where Lamoreaux
\nand his sons toil over floor boards and moldings.<\/p>\n
Against one long counter rest samples of their craftsmanship:
\ntongue-and-groove boards of oak, ash, maple, tulip poplar, pine and hemlock
\nthat soon will be turned into kitchen cabinets and floors.<\/p>\n
In addition to the standard sawing, grading and shipping, Lamoreaux adds
\nanother step: fine finishing.<\/p>\n
To prove his point, he shows off a board he cut and finished 12 years ago.
\nIt’s still straight as, well, a board.<\/p>\n
“We’re making good material,” he says. “We’re sold out all the time. Our
\nwood goes all over. Guy called me last night from Boston.”<\/p>\n
The boards sell for between $1.80 and 84 cents a square foot. Moldings
\nusually sell for 50 cents a foot.<\/p>\n
The prices are competitive.<\/p>\n
When customer Anthony Toluba talks about Lamoreaux’s prices, his voice
\ndrops to a whisper, as if he’s afraid word will get out and a customer
\nstampede will ensue.<\/p>\n
Lamoreaux can stay competitive, he explains, because he’s a small,
\nfamily-run operation.<\/p>\n
“Labor costs kick you,” he says. “Worker’s comp is so high I can’t afford
\nto hire more men. That’s why I keep it just me and the boys.”<\/p>\n
The boys are Dennis Jr. and Harry, who work alongside their father Monday
\nthrough Saturday. The mill is open officially from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
But, Lamoreaux jokes, “We only work half days. From 6 to 6.”<\/p>\n
Lamoreaux refuses to let out any of his trade secrets, the special touches
\nthat distinguish Lamoreaux lumber.<\/p>\n
“We’ve learned the hard way,” he says. “So why notify the other guys?”<\/p>\n
In this business, patience is essential.<\/p>\n
Oak grows for 70 years before it’s harvested. If taken too early, the young
\nwood will warp and twist.<\/p>\n
Once, Lamoreaux cut open an oak to find a musket ball wedged deep inside.
\nIt must have waited there a hundred years or so.<\/p>\n
Lamoreaux harvests most of his wood locally. It’s good wood, he says,
\nbecause it’s dense and less subject to rot.<\/p>\n
“We select cut,” he says.<\/p>\n
“It’s just like going into your garden and picking out ripe tomatoes.
\nYou’ve got to be able to judge it. You know what boards will come out.”<\/p>\n
Stacks of mixed hardwoods in various stages of drying are piled 10-feet
\nhigh in the yard. The lumber, which gives off a pleasant woodsy scent, will
\nstay in the yard, turning slowly from blond to gray, at least nine months,
\nuntil much of the wood-bending moisture is gone.<\/p>\n
Then, for about 10 days, the wood is kiln dried in a kind of giant oven,
\nwhose temperatures reach nearly 100 degrees. The finished boards will
\nalmost certainly stay straight for years and years to come.<\/p>\n
The sawmill itself is located next to the kiln. Most of the cutting is done
\nin the summer, leaving the finishing and flooring for winter. The
\ndiesel-powered, 56-inch, 50-tooth Swedish steel saw can cut logs as wide as
\n48 inches.<\/p>\n
Scrap is either burned as boiler fuel or chopped into landscape mulch,
\nwhich is sold by the truckload. Sawdust is used for horse and cattle
\nbedding.<\/p>\n
Nothing is wasted.<\/p>\n
The mill man started out 40 years ago, at age 15.<\/p>\n
“The schoolhouse burned down,” he says. “So I quit school and went to
\nwork.”<\/p>\n
His sons are the fourth generation of Lamoreaux to work the wood. The first
\nfamily sawmill was built on the same grounds.<\/p>\n
“It never had no name,” he explains of his father’s mill. “We sawed mostly
\nfor the mines, for mine flats thrown down in the mud to put the railroad
\ncars on.”<\/p>\n
Both sons say they will continue the Lamoreaux tradition.<\/p>\n
“I like everything to do with wood,” says Harry, 33. His brother is 35.
\nBoth live with their parents in a small home located next to the sawmill.<\/p>\n
The family keeps mostly to itself. A big night out for Lamoreaux and Nora
\nis a trip in the pickup to McDonald’s for hamburgers.<\/p>\n
“Work is my hobby,” he says. “Sunday is the hardest day of the week to get
\nthrough because I’m not doing anything.<\/p>\n
“The fellow that works will always work.”<\/p>\n
Cut 1: At left, a stack of logs awaits processing at Lamoreaux Lumber Sales
\nin Lehman Township. Inset, from left, Sam Lamoreaux, Daffy, Dennis
\nLamoreaux, and Harry Lamoreaux.<\/p>\n
Cut 2: Above, Nora Lamoreaux works alongside the men, helping to cut timber
\ninto log planks. At right, Harry Lamoreaux stacks fresh cut boards, which
\nwill be stacked and dried before being sold.<\/p>\n
Cut 3: Dennis Lamoreaux operates the sawmill as pine logs are cut into
\nboards to be used for paneling and flooring.<\/p>\n
Cut 4: Lamoreaux Lumber Sales in Lehman Township.<\/p>\n
Lewis Geyer<\/p>\n
————————————————————————
\nAll content \u00a9 TIMES LEADER and may not be republished without permission.<\/p>\n
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INGRAINED LUMBER IS LIFE TO THE LAMOREAUX Friday, August 23, 1996 Page: 1 By DAWN SHURMAITIS; Times Leader Staff Writer Lumberman Dennis Lamoreaux runs a calloused paw over the rough bark of a just-felled hemlock. “You can read a log,” he says. “There’s a lot of history in a log.” There’s a lot of history […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}