LFPDC Publications :: Fact Sheets :: #5

Chip-N-Saw Mills in Louisiana

The traditional sawmill consists of a circular saw or band headrig (a headrig makes the first cuts on a log, as opposed to a re-saw that occurs further down the processing line) which cuts slabs off of the outside of the logs and then runs the slabs through a chipper to make wood chips for a paper mill. The center of the log is then cut into lumber.

The term "chip-n-saw" originally applied to a brand of sawmill headrig that simultaneously cut logs into lumber while chipping the slabs, thus reducing the number of steps in an operation. Small logs of uniform size were chosen, allowing for fast production of lumber to make up for the poorer lumber yield and extra handling cost of small logs. Like the term "Elevator," "Chip-N-Saw" has become a standard industrial term and applies to several similar brands of headrigs.

Originally, chip-n-saw mills were considered a separate type of sawmill. However, traditional band mills and circular mills have also added chipping heads to their headrigs, so that now most of the larger sawmills in Louisiana have combination headrigs. The following three mills can still be considered chip-n-saw mills because they consider themselves to have true chipping headrigs and they use primarily small timber:

The following sawmills have chippers on their headrigs, but probably should not be considered chip-n-saw mills:

All species pine unless otherwise noted.
MBF = thousand board feet
MMBF = million board feet
1 board foot = 1 inch X 1 foot X 1 foot or equivalent amount of lumber