Shamus, please dont get me wrong,it looks great.But with your eye for detail,I just thought perhaps you werent aware of a couple of items.Off chute is basically your roller coming down from the mill.the log runs through the mill on the carriage(some are 2 head block but most are 3 head blocks)when the log is run through it is eyed by the sawyer and squared up.Starting on one side of the log,the first piece is cut(this we call a slab,it has the bark etc on it).The log is then turned a full 180 degrees so the flat of the log(where the slab was removed) rests against the Headblocks.It is then slabbed again.the log is then turned again and laid on the flat in the carriage and slabbed a third time.This gives you a log with 3 square sides.The log is then run through the mill at a set width of board.2" for a 2x4 1" for a 1x4 etc.Now the log may be cut into lets say 2x8's through 2/3 to 3/4" of it.it may then be turned,slabbed on the last side and then finished out in 1" Material.It all depends on the log.every Sawyer does things a little differant,but the idea is to get as much usable lumber out of the piece of wood as possibleAs the pieces are cut from the board they come down the chute(ussually made of rollers) the Tenders will then remove the roughsawn material seperating the slab from the dimension lumber and stack the dimension lumber into sizes on drays and the slabs onto another dray.. These drays can then be moved to the planing shed/slab pile,Planed on a 4 side planer,restacked on drays and run out to the kiln or in the case of old time mills,Curing shed and strip piled.In the case of the slabs,they are generally bundled and sold as firewood. A dray is a term used for any conveyance to haul logs,lumber etc from one place to another.Some are made of cants(squared up timbers) sliced off on one end at an angle to act as ski's(they are also called log boats.they generally have 4-6 upright timbers and several timbers for a platform across the cants.They were filled and then drug by a horse team or old tractor.Wagons were modified also to act as drays.Generally they were used only in mill service to move finished lumber and slab wood to designated area's
We use old truck rear ends with a welded pipe framework for our drays.Most oldtimers used wooden framing and old wagon wheels,Heavy duty ones and horses to drag them.If you are modelling the late twenties and your mill is prosperous, you may have an old tractor around with log forks for moving the drays and loading the skidway(this holds the logs that are to be sawed and generally has 3 rails or logs on uprights that meet up to the height of the carriage on the mill.it also has stops to keep the logs from rolling onto the mill).One of the nicest skidways ive run across was made from old rail. 3 rails in the 60-70 lb class were spiked down to ties dug into the earth and cut off at the proper height .the skidway was about 40 feet long and ive seen it stacked with 5-6 cord of red oak to be sawn.
Dangerous is the word for milling trees.The metal roof on the mill shed at the wifes uncle's has many holes in it from pieces of metal or from blade teeth being shot through it.A good reason not to bring trees from residential yards in to be sawed up.
I hope you find something useful to you here,i most certainly was not criticizing your work,i only hope mine is as good one day

Now, after all that, i have a question for you.Do you think i can make this work as a logo for a private road name ?and any thought on design would be appreciated
