July August 2002 - Logging and Sawmilling Journal

BC's Downie Timber is successfully battling the industry downturn with a focus on western red cedar and value-added product.

The Downie Timber sawmill in southeastern BC has had its ups and downs over the years- especially in the 1980s. But these days the mill is finding its way with a strong focus on a range of western red cedar products for the US market, and a move into the value-added market. Through the 1980s, the mill-located in Revelstoke-was hit at times with tough market conditions and a labour dispute that resulted in its closure for several years. But that is history at this point.

Supported by $10 million in recent mill improvements, Revelstoke's Downie Timber is now moving forward. The mill has switched almost exclusively to processing cedar to meet the needs of an associated value-added operation on site

Downie Timber is now moving forward, supported by $10 million in recent improvements, including a new trim line, over the last 18 months. The trim line, which was completed this past fall, included the installation of a CAE Newnes optimizer system, as well as two Cypress grade readers which simultaneously work together to read each piece of lumber. "As far as I know, that's a first in the industry," says Rod Sherlock, Downie's sawmill superintendent. "It allows us to have several grade marks on the board."

An individual grade reader has its practical limits, but with the two Cypress readers they are able to have several grade marks on each piece-sometimes up to three or four where there is a lot that can be done with a particular piece. "Two grade readers working together allow us to move away from the industry standard of trimming to nominal lengths.

It allows us to trim within a 1/4 of an inch, which permits maximum recovery." The goal, he says, is to deal with each piece only once. "We want to avoid having the cedar going around again," explains Sherlock. "It's a somewhat fragile product and the more it goes around, the more likely it is to develop splits and cracks. With two readers, we can get the best use of each board in one pass." The initial-and ongoing-alignment of the readers is key to their success.

Downie does a large amount of log trading, with much of their wood coming from the BC coast. The operation can see anywhere from 20 to 80 trucks a day through the yard, depending on what timber they can source.

If they are out of alignment, the line will continue to run, but all pieces will end up going into one product, like board grade, rather than the wider variety of higher value products that are essential to the Downie Timber operation. "Our quality control people are making checks on an ongoing basis every day to make sure the readers are working properly." Alignment of the graders with the CAE Newnes system, which trims the pieces, was also very important. "There was a bit of a challenge in getting the two systems to work together properly."

Added to that, pieces then go through a Quasar moisture reader, with sorting by moisture content. The effort has delivered, however. "The payback on our new trim line has come not just in increased production, which we have started to see recently, but also in more sorts at the J-bar sorter because we can sort for more grades and for moisture. Now, we have products that come out of the sawmill and can go directly on a truck, or go to the planer, to our added value operation Selkirk Specialty Wood, or to the kiln. "We now have four different ways we can go.

Upgrades at Downie continue

Downie Timber continues to do upgrades. The mill recently purchased a single scan zone Perceptron log optimizer system with turning that will use Smart TriCams for the Optimil DLI machine. The mill has also bought a dual scan zone cant optimization system with Smart Tricams. In the back of the mill, they're optimizing a 20-foot transverse edger with Perceptron scanning and optimization. The mill will also receive the Dynastar Maintenance Management system.

Before, everything that came out of the sawmill had go to kiln or the planer. That was it." The production gains are certainly there, as well, as the system ramps up. Prior to the installation of the trim line, they were producing 240,000 board feet a day, with two-shifts. That is now up significantly, to 340,000 board feet. While numbers are clearly important, the Downie Timber operation is also about value. "We define ourselves more as a specialty mill, focused on cutting cedar to grade, rather than a production mill," explains Sherlock.

The project, about a year in duration, went quite smoothly. The only unanticipated challenge they faced, says Sherlock, came in the form of a much greater stream of residual wood from the trim line. The mill installed another chipper, a Precision unit, to handle this material. All of their chips are trucked to the Celgar pulp mill in Castlegar, two hours south.

The trim line changes follow some other equipment additions in recent years. These include two new Nicholson debarkers, a new seven-foot McDonough headrig and Ultima carriage by Gillespie Sales -accompanied by new scanning equipment at the headrig, a new USNR twin band re-saw, a CAE Newnes eight-saw optimized edger and a Brooks chipper. Most of the production at Downie Timber is driven by its sister operation, value added company Selkirk Specialty Wood, which shares the 40-acre site.

Production at the Downie Timber sawmill is driven by its sister operation, Selkirk Specialty Wood, which shares the 40-acre site.

With its 50,000-square-foot plant and warehouse, Selkirk is well equipped with reman equipment-including Precision chop saws, McDonough & Turner resaws, Rose re-rip saw, Western Pneumatics finger jointer, Weinig moulder, a Stetson Ross planer, CAE Newnes stacker and Signode strappers. Selkirk produces a wide variety of cedar product, such as decking, tongue and groove paneling and beveled siding, for the large US housing market.

The company was set up two years ago, but business really picked up at the start of 2001. At the same time, Downie Timber switched almost exclusively to producing cedar to meet the needs of Selkirk. "Whatever Selkirk needs, we produce it," says Sherlock. "If they need 1 1/4 inch beveled product or more 2x12 clear, we'll cut heavier to that. We have constant communication back and forth. We have meetings every day to discuss their orders and what they need."

Downie Timber has cutting rights around the Revelstoke area, but their present approach calls for the company to do more log buying and trading than harvesting. Their timber rights include some cedar, but there's also a lot of hemlock, spruce, fir and balsam. They will trade non-cedar timber with mills in the region, and even outside, to get more cedar. That's where the wheeling and dealing of Jack Heavenor comes in.

Heavenor owns Downie and Selkirk, along with long time BC sawmill operators Gorman Bros, who have their own mill in Westbank, near Kelowna. It was Heavenor who along with two others-including flamboyant Vancouver businessman Nelson Skalbania-took over the mill in 1988 after its period of struggle and re-opened it. Heavenor is a very hands-on owner and is involved in much of the log buying for Downie down on the BC coast.

Recently, all of their cedar was coming from the coast. "We've got logs going back and forth and in and out of here all the time," says Sherlock. "As well as being the mill yard, and handling the logs for processing in the mill, it's also a transfer point for logs going to other places and mills. We can have anywhere from 20 to 80 trucks a day through the yard, depending on what Jack finds down on the coast and buys."

Sherlock says the log trading and selling at Downie benefits other mill operations in the region which are able to take Downie's hemlock and spruce and produce lumber in a more economical way at their high volume mills. But it also benefits smaller local companies and artisans who will come in and bid on spruce "piano logs" or "violin logs" or for other fine wood products.

The timber they get in from the coast is first-class material, says Sherlock. "That cedar is big and solid, with lots of clear and not much rot. The cedar we bring in from our forests can be up to 50 per cent decadent. We can still get high value clear wood out of it, but it takes a lot more time to cut, and reduces production." As with all mill facilities, the equipment is only as good as the people who run it.

In addition to the trim line training provided by supplier CAE Newnes, Downie has put on its own training programs and continues to do so to keep employees up to date. At a time in the industry when operating margins can be razor thin, it's extremely important to have a flexible, well-trained and motivated workforce, says Sherlock. "No one is dedicated to just one job, everyone is versatile." That versatility extends to management. "If Jack Heavenor is in the mill, he'll be in there helping out where he can. It's good morale for employees to see that the bosses aren't afraid to pitch in and help out on the production line."

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