From firewood to family heirloom
- As the excavators and bulldozers worked to pile the trees they were clearing so there was more land to grow crops, Litchfield native Rastus Snow couldn’t help but think that there had to be a better use for all that lumber than just to strike a match and make it all disappear. It wasn’t just a single grove of trees that was being knocked down, but all through the Midwest, farmers were clearing trees and even tearing out planted windbreaks to make room for center pivots and grain production.
That notion continued to surface in Rastus’
mind as he served out a tour of duty with the 1074th based out of Broken Bow. The 2003 Litchfield graduate was actually in Iraq, when he purchased his first sawmill on eBay and had it shipped to his parents’ home north of town. He put the sawmill together while he was home on a two-week leave but didn’t get to use it until his tour was completed.
Snow was thankful the mill came in boxes on pallets and required full assembly because that gave him a good understanding of the works of the machine from the ground up. That knowledge would clearly come in handy once the mill was working.
Rastus admitted that he had taken a wood class in high school and wasn’t particularly good at it, according to his shop teacher Mike Gilming. His current endeavor, however, has proven to be much more successful. I’m not sure you would call him a wood worker or a carpenter as much as you would call him an artist that works with wood. His creations are truly amazing and this is absolutely not a process that happens overnight.
Once a tree has been delivered to Rastus or he finds one and gets it home, a process that requires diligence, time and patience as well as an eye for design and the ability to see the potential in a piece of wood, in spite of in acceptance of
Before becoming beautiful finished pieces, lumber goes through several steps to enhancing the natural beauty of the wood. The unusual looking piece of maple shown at left has been dried, planed and sanded. It’s well on its way to becoming a unique light fixture that will radiate light both up and down when fully completed.
any flaws, cracks or knotholes that tree may have. The wood tells a story, from the rings and the indents to the insect trails under the bark, each one is unique. Rastus shared that wood is a living, breathing element that will continue to change within its environment depending on temperature and humidity, even after the piece has been stained.
The trimmed tree is placed on one of his two mills, depending on the diameter of the tree. His original mill, purchased in 2007 on eBay, has the capacity for a 16 foot log that is a maximum of 24” in diameter. About 8 years ago, he made the jump from doing wood projects as a side business to a full-time enterprise and Native Lumber and Sawmill was born. He purchased a larger mill about four years ago that will handle the really big trees that are 24’ long and up to 48” in diameter. The mill is used to slice the tree trunk into slabs of a desired thickness. The slabs are then stacked with spacers between them and allowed to begin the drying process. Rastus allows the slabs to
begin the drying process naturally, which can take about a year per inch of thickness to go from “green” to ready to work. He also utilizes a kiln on-site to expedite the process, depending on the size of the piece.
Once the drying process is to a point that the wood can begin the next phase of development, it is run through a planer several times to smooth and level the surface. It is then cut to the desired length or size and made into the requested design. In some instances, the wood has a crack or knot hole that can be enhanced or may require a bowtie support from behind. Rastus also utilizes epoxy to enhance or minimize “imperfections” or “the life story” of the wood, depending on the preference of the customer.
Rastus has made everything from benches to desks, dining room tables to conference tables, a beautiful inlaid communal table located at the Alley Rose in Kearney, mantels for fireplaces and so much more. Photos of just a few of his amazing creations are available on his Facebook page at Native Lumber
and Sawmill. His favorite pieces are those with sentimental value that will become family heirlooms. He shared the story of a tree that had been planted by a man’s father many years before that Rastus was able to make into ten pieces of furniture including a dining room table, 3 hall tables and 3 desks for the man, his children and grandchildren, thus honoring what the elder patriarch had planted decades before. Knowing the history of the tree, getting the family story or seeing the tree in photos from years before can make the transformation into a cherished piece of furniture even more meaningful and a way to continue the story.
Rastus has chosen to use only wood that is sourced in Nebraska and particularly enjoys hard woods like walnut, honey locust and ash. He finds that pine and spruce are the hardest to work with because the sap plugs up his equipment but there are intricate grain lines and natural beauty in any kind of wood. Each tree has it’s own story to tell of the issues it has