By Wood-Mizer, USA
October 8, 2019
Mack Lowery turned a tragedy into a dream come true when he finished his stunning hand built, two-story, timber frame home in the dense woodlands of Mississippi.
The first log cabin Mack originally built as a young man in 1976 burned in a massive fire that left his family homeless and devastated. After he was finally able to visit his 125-acre farm again, Mack was inspired by one of his close friends to start building.
“I visited my good friend Jimmy Luft who had just bought a brand new Wood-Mizer LT40HD,” said Mack. “He introduced me to milling logs and offered to help me mill timber for a new home.”
Mack spent about a year cutting timber and eventually purchased his own LT40 sawmill to continue milling for another four years. While still working at his regular full time job, Mack used the weekends to mill lumber for the first few years.
“All the lumber came from my place except the cypress and cedar,” said Mack. “The hydraulics on the LT40 enabled me to handle huge logs by myself, some of which were over 30 inches in diameter.”
Mack even milled a 100 year-old pine tree, which gave him enough lumber for the majority of the downstairs flooring.
A small crew helped Mack on the project when construction finally began. While working on the house, Mack also built sheds to store his lumber and a woodworking shop to build his doors, cabinets, countertops, and furniture for the home. Instead of notching, he used handmade metal brackets to connect the beams and rafters in the house. As a special feature for the home, Mack added a handcrafted oak and live-edge cypress wet bar that took one month to complete.
Mack appreciated his Wood-Mizer’s ability to cut both thin and thick slabs of wood so he could add a unique, creative touch to the interior of his home. In total, Mack put more than 1,000 hours in the 2,600 square-foot home, saving an estimated $200,000 on materials and building the project himself.
“I could not have done this project without a heavy-duty and reliable sawmill,” said Mack.
As expected, he received many nice compliments from others who have seen the completed home. In the end, Mack was grateful that he was able to move back into the home of his dreams.
“I lived in the city for 12 years after our house burned down,” said Mack. “When the new home was finally finished, I got to move back out to the country, the place I really cared about.”
Project Overview
Sawmill: LT40 Super Hydraulic
Blades: DoubleHARD
By The Numbers:
- 2,600 square feet
- 65,000 board feet of pine, oak, cypress, and red cedar
- 90% of project completed with Wood-Mizer sawn lumber
- 7 years to complete
- $200,000 saved