Once dried, the lumber can be planed. The first process is to remove the strips from between each layer of lumber in a bundle. This is taken care of at the tilt hoist in the planermill. As the bundle is lifted and tilted, each layer of lumber slides off onto a queuing deck and the strips drop out to be stacked and used again in the sawmill.

Each board is planed individually by a Stetson Ross planer, originally manufactured in the 1930′s but upgraded extensively for high speed production. The planer averages three hundred and ten thousand board feet per 9 hour shift. The shavings and sawdust that is recovered from the planing process and later on through cutting processes is super absorbent and clean and sold for a variety of uses within the region and all over North America.

After being planed, the lumber goes through a grading machine that detects length, width, thickness and also determines the grade of the lumber. The trim saws finish the ends of each board with clean cuts to the most advantageous, correct lengths for market. Then, based on the scan results, the board is stamped with the appropriate corresponding grade stamp identifying strength and quality.

Grading is determined by a number of factors which includes knotholes, insect damage, disease, rot, cracks, wane, and stain. Any of these factors will decrease the desirability for the board and lessen the grade. From highest to lowest, the lumber is graded from a number one, a number two, a number three, or an economy board, which includes grades four and five. Alberta Forest Products Association inspects Northland’s product, its grading system and its graders on a monthly basis to ensure we are adhering to established grades for international markets.

Again, because the boards have been scanned, the computer has the information necessary to sort every board according to its dimensions and grade into one of forty bins in the planermill J-bar sorter. As in the sawmill, when a bin is full, the operator is alerted by a red light and the bin can be lowered to running floor chains below. The chains then deliver it to the planermill stacker.

At the planermill stacker, the boards are layered in the same process as at the sawmill. This is the last opportunity for Northland staff to check that the boards have the correct grade and are acceptable for distribution. Strips of cardboard are placed between every couple of rows of boards while stacking to provide stability to the finished bundle.

The bundle is then put through the squeeze making the bundle compact, sturdy and balanced. Dunnage is strapped to the bottom of every bundle (dunnage at Northland is grooved so strapping will not slide; dunnage is used to keep a bundle off the ground and facilitate the loading and unloading process). Every bundle is labeled but if it is higher than economy grade it is also wrapped in polyethylene as a tight, secure and clean package that is then labeled and ready for shipping into the worldwide market.

In one day, the sawmill and planermill can process up to 310,000 board feet for sale. This is enough wood to construct approximately 31 homes.