Sawmills from Houston to Austin?

[Tony Bilello]

I will be traveling from Houston to Austin in a few a few weeks. Does anyone know of any really cool sawmills along the way? I'm not looking for really cool hardwood lumber yards, I have some locally. I want to hunt down some nice slabs.

Thanks in advance

Tony B

[Derrell W Sloan]

This is one I have been to that I thought was nice and the folks that were working there were great to work with. It is near Smithville off of highway 71

http://www.texaskilnproducts.com

They even have directions to get there from Houston.

Here's another place to check for slabs www.wix.com/billstuewe/billswoodshop (http://www.wix.com/billstuewe/billswoodshop)that is in Georgetown just north of Austin

And here is something that appears in the Austin Craig's list sometimes that could be interesting http://austin.craigslist.org/mat/2377526456.html (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/austin.craigslist.org/mat/2377526456.html)

[Tom Winship]

Tony, this is not on the way to Austin, but west of Huntsville. Have not been there but looks very interesting.

http://www.mgsawmill.com/product.htm

[Scott T Smith]

Tony, give Brandon Berdoll a call. He is outside of Austin, and mills a lot of really large pecan and live oak slabs. I'll send you a pm with his e-mail address.

Scott

[alex grams]

Tom,
I stopped by M&G on the way from North Texas to Houston today, they had a lot more walnut in stock than they did a year ago, and their stock is much nicer, straighter and clearer than most walnut I could find at Houston Hardwoods or Clark's, and at a fair cheaper price. They are also stocking a lot more natural edge walnut in 8/4 up to a decent size, which is nice. I would qualify their walnut as 5/4 they milled to 1" thick rather than being rough 4/4 which you have to mill down to get 3/4" wood from, but at as good of a price as any 4/4 you could get from most places in Houston.

[Tony Bilello]

Thanks all

I will eventually get to all of them. My first stop will be the guy in Smithville. I can catch him on my way to Austin.
Not sure if I can squeeze the other guys in this trip, but I will try.
Thanks again to all

Tony B

[Tony Bilello]

195448195447195446195445
I managed to stop at 2 of them Friday.
First stop: Texas Kiln Products - Smithville, Tx. Less than 5 minutes off of Hywy 71. When we got off the highway and onto a dirt road with no signs of life, I started to joke with my wife about "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Wrong Turn". When we finally got to the sawmill - literally in the middle of nowhere, i got out of the truck first, looked at her and said "if you see me running out of the place, fall on the hood with a pitchfork in my back - just take off". Being a brave soul, she got anyway. The people were very nice and the prices were reasonable. I bought 2 boards of Mesquite for $30 each. They were very flat. Even though they are considered rough cut, all they need is a good sanding and no planing. It is amazing what a good bandsaw mill will produce. Anyway, I saved it in my GPS. I as Arnold would say "Ill be back".
Next stop: Berdoll Sawmill and Furniture. Now this place was VERY IMPRESSIVE. The owner - Brandon Berdoll, was really a neat guy, both figuratively and literally. The place so well organized it was incredible, but not nearly as incredible as his lumber and slabs. Words cannot describe the quality of his pecan and mesquite. The prices were great also. When I am 'slab hunting', i don't pay attention to board foot prices, I just ask how the slab costs. I bought a beauty for $200. This will be an easy $2,000 coffee table. He put cardboard under my slab because it had already been through his SANDER!!!!. He also stretch wrapped it because there was a threat of rain over the weekend. How cool is that. The slab is 2" thick. "HE IS A "MUST STOP" for anyone within a 4 hour drive.
Thanks for the info guys.

[Russell Johnson]

Do you have the phone number and address for Berdoll Sawmill?

[Tony Bilello]

Do you have the phone number and address for Berdoll Sawmill?

Brandon's Tel. No. is 512-497-5910

I dont hvae his address offhand, I left it in my shop. It is easy to find. When I called him he told me to meet him at a Pecan store. You know the one when you head south on 71 that has a real tall electronic billboard and under it there is a Pecan shop of sorts. If you ever drove south on 71 you would remember the sign because of the small store under this large sign.
I met him there and followed him to his mill behind that shop.

Have fun.

[Tony Bilello]

195551
This is a better shot of the slab after I removed the stretch wrap. It will also give you a better idea of size approx. 4' square. BTW, did I mention that it was already flattened and 120 grit sanded?

[Russell Johnson]

Thanks. I'll have to call him some time since I'm so close.