Recently I went on a vacation trip to the Florida Keys. Like any dutiful woodworker, I

prepared for the trip by scoping out interesting woodworking destinations in that corner

of the world. I got a lot of good suggestions from the WoodCentral gang, including a

note to visit a fellow named Mark Butler, who owns a small sawmill business called Urban

Forest Recyclers, in Tavernier, FL, just south of Islamorada. Mark was featured on the

cover of the Sept '97 Woodshop News.

When I visited Mark, he told me how he got started in this unusual business. He was working

for a tree trimmer and found out they were grinding up Cuban mahogany in the chipper.

In the Keys, you must have a permit to cut down anything, and it costs a fortune to take wood

to the dump. The foreman told him that there was no money to be made cutting the logs into boards.

Despite the tree trimmer's discouraging comments, Mark set up a Wood-Mizer sawmill in his back

yard and started sawing lumber. He has done a nice job of screening the sawmill off from his neighbors.

He gets his wood from local tree services; it helps everyone and is good for the ecology. In a way, the

foreman was right: Mark said he doesn't make a profit doing this; he does it as a hobby.

The species that Mark cuts are virtualy unknown outside this tiny corner of the

U.S.: Yellow poinciana (yellow flower), red ironwood (darling plum), Jamaica dogwood (fish

fuddle/fish poison), black ironwood (leadwood), crabwood (oyster wood), Cuban mahogany(Swietenia

Mahagoni), buttonwood, black olive, tropical almond, Norfolk Island pine, lignum vitae, Spanish

lime, red mahoe, joe wood, prince wood, wild plum, black mangrove, wild tamarind, white

ironwood, ficus, acacia, gumbo limbo, avocado, sea grape, blue mahoe, coconut palm, mastic, ink

wood, woman's tongue, sapodilla, Java plum...the list goes on and on.

The trees don't grow as big in the Keys as they do in most other areas, so the board sizes are

generally smaller than what we see at the lumber yard. He would be a great resource for box makers,

carvers and turners. I saw a few great-looking samples, very highly figured, with lots of color. I drooled

the whole time I was there.

Mark air dries everything under roof in his yard. He uses "DuraSticks" from David Bane, plastic

composite stickers with U-shaped grooves that allow air to circulate. This way he avoids problems with

mold and mildew where the stickers touch the wood.

Mark had 8 or 10 species of wood waiting to be sliced; but, since time and space is limited, he stick

to 2 or 3 woods at a time. This way he produces more boards of the same type for customers to

choose from. This makes selling a lot easier. He also has to educate customers about his limitations and

tell them how they can work together. He has customers that have standing orders for specific wood,

and he calls when he has a shipment ready.

305.664.2924 voice/message - FAX