FAVORITE WORK FOR LIFE – the story of a woodworker from Sweden

“The lumber they sell at hardware stores is costly, so people look for ways to buy it cheaper. They call me, and I make all sorts of things for them – flooring, walls, and roof paneling, even some specialty moulding for historical houses. For these quality products, I use logs from 200-year-old forests,” explains Hans Larsson, a sawyer and carpenter from the Swedish town of Vansbro.   

Hans Larsson worked on a farm as a boy, helping to breed cattle. When he finished school, he bought a chain sawmill to be able to do some carpentry work for himself. However, more and more people from the neighborhood asked Hans for help making good-quality timber for their constructions. Hans quickly outgrew his sawmill and purchased a band sawmill. 

“The demand for quality wood products is constantly growing,” he explains. “I needed to upgrade my tools to keep up with the trend. Initially, I was satisfied with working just for myself, but when I received more customer orders, I had to buy a bigger band sawmill and an efficient planer/molder. With these machines, I can increase the capacity of my business.”

“If you look around in hardware stores, all timber products are expensive. No wonder people look for cheaper ways to get timber for their projects. They call me, and I make all sorts of timber products for my customers. I’m so busy with sawing and planning that I don’t have time for anything else,” admits Hans.

Hans sources logs from nearby forests in his hometown, Vansbro, near Ockelbo. There are about 6000 inhabitants in this town, but it is enough to keep him busy all year round. 

“I purchase logs from the local farmers in Ockelbo,” he says. “They have perfect forest areas. I preferably use good quality logs that are 150 – 200 years old, and I do all the sawmilling myself.” Hans can mill many species from these local forests, like pine, spruce, aspen, and even larch. “I avoid planing already sawed, purchased wood. I always saw the logs myself.” 

The band sawmill that Hans uses has hydraulic functions, allowing him to work safely and efficiently. He appreciates the machine’s solid design, as well as its good quality and the availability of spare parts. 

Hans improved his carpentry workshop with attachments and solutions he developed himself. “I rebuilt the area a little so that handling the timber would be easier,” he says. “Today, I use a loader to pack and unpack the lumber without carrying too much weight.” There is also a special meter counting the volume of timber processed on the planer/moulder that Hans added himself.

Hans utilizes the Wood-Mizer MP360 planer/moulder to do edging, planing and profiling in his commercial projects. He admits that making various wood products on the MP360 is easy because it is enough to replace the cutting knife, readjust the machine, and start making the desired profile. 

The four-sided MP360 planer/moulder is a compact and functional machine well-known to those carpenters who appreciate efficiency, versatility, precision, and easy operation. It allows users to produce many finished wood products, such as floorboards, profile boards, decorative borders, window frames, furniture finishings, and more. The MP360 features two horizontal and two vertical cutterheads driven by separate motors, efficient feed rollers and a cast-iron worktable. 

“My clients always get what they want. I plane everything for them, from flooring to walls, interior and exterior design, edgings of all kinds, etc. Recently, I’ve been working on a special order edging the boards for historically protected houses,” he points out. “Today, I’m 73 years old and still busy seven days a week,” smiles Hans.

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