A single person, in a single moment, can change the course of your life. The course of my life’s journey was set when, on my ninth birthday, I listened to one man speak about African wildlife conservation – he was a senior conservation officer from the Cape Point Nature Reserve, on the southern tip of Africa. From that moment forward, I knew that outdoors was where I would spend my life.
My working career started with wildlife management, anti-poaching and game capture and, over the past 30 some years, I have been fortunate to work and hunt in some of the most beautiful areas of Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa. For the past twelve of those years, I have focused primarily on guiding dangerous game hunt safaris.
The course of my life’s journey was set when, on my ninth birthday, I listened to one man speak about African wildlife conservation … From that moment forward, I knew that outdoors was where I would spend my life.
But throughout, the trees have been what defined true wilderness beauty in my mind. Always in awe of how old, large, tall or majestic they were, I planted trees wherever I could (and sometimes where I could not!). Inquisitive by nature, and about nature, I wanted to watch them grow – to see their development year after year has always given me great satisfaction.
I started cutting fallen trees into planks to see what they looked like; I was amazed by the beauty locked within each log. Harvesting one particular log took me three years – I had found a massive 20-foot (6m) log washed up on the beach where we have our holiday home on the Indian Ocean. Over the course of three consecutive vacations, I managed to mill the whole thing into planks … using just my chainsaw! It was quite a saga … but I got them back home.
With the recent closure of trophy hunting in Botswana, I was forced to look for alternative means of providing for my family and this “silly” idea of cutting planks for resale kept popping up. Although there used to be 2 or 3 sawmills around thirty years ago, there is currently no sawmill industry in Botswana. The lack of a sawmilling industry is mainly due to two reasons: the government prohibiting tree harvesting and elephant damage (Botswana is teeming with an over-population of elephants which, in large numbers, wreak havoc on the forest). This, essentially, only leaves fallen timber and crooked timber, both of which are unsuitable for large-scale sawing operations.
But, what a large sawmilling corporation would overlook, I see as real potential. While they may be stunted and crooked, the timber is highly valuable African hardwood, prized for its rich colors and grains.
My major concern was choosing a machine that would be up to the job – These African species are some of the hardest woods on the planet and, what is more, they are mostly long dead and very dry.
After considerable research on how best to maximize the potential of the local fallen and dead timber, I decided on a Norwood LumberMate LM29 band sawmill. My major concern was choosing a machine that would be up to the job – These African species are some of the hardest woods on the planet and, what is more, they are mostly long dead and very dry. Leadwood (Combretum imberbe), knobthorn (Acacia nigrescens) and mopane (Colophospermum mopane), to name a just few, are all in the vicinity of 70 – 77 lbs/cubic foot (1120 – 1230 kg/m3).
I took the plunge and placed the order for my Norwood at the same time that I accepted a commission to build a 10’ x 4’ (3m x 1.2m) live-edge leadwood table. Wow, I jumped in at the deep end! But, as long as Norwood could ""cut it"", I was willing to try.
I knew of a massive old log that had been cut down some years’ ago by Botswana Telecommunications – I had always envied who might manage to do something with that log; it was huge! Out I went with a seriously heavy-duty trailer that we used to use to remove and transport elephant carcasses. By means of chain-blocks, and some serious sweating, we managed to get the beast loaded! Getting it onto the mill was also fraught with hassles as the log, being any and every shape except round, tended to do pretty much as it pleased. So, as when out on safari, I called on my trusty Land Cruiser to add a little gentle persuasion. And, voila! … On she rolled. My lovely new Norwood did the job smartly and soon I was into actually making the table.
[The Norwood] is not simply a toy, but a tool capable of cutting even the hardest wood on earth!
I have got to thank the Dale family and the entire Norwood team for getting a sawmill of this quality out there for the likes of people like myself who want to play – although, it is not simply a toy, but a tool capable of cutting even the hardest wood on earth!