WOOD CREATIONS … Roland King (left), co-owner of King Lumber Company in Fulton County, recently shared the history of the sawmill that his father started as a retirement project on County Road J near Tedrow in 1989 with Archbold Rotarians. Roland’s nephew, Brent King, is the other co-owner of the specialty sawmill. Roland explained if a customer can imagine a wood project that they would like to have created, their sawmill can probably create using one or more of the nearly 40 varieties of locally grown lumber that they generally have in stock. The program was arranged by Luther Gautsche. (PHOTO PROVIDED)
King Lumber Company, located on County Road J between Tedrow and the Fulton County Fairgrounds, is likely much more than anything most people who simply drive by would ever imagine.
The specialty sawmill, which began in 1989 as a retirement project, is the go-to place for persons who have a wood project that needs to meet a special need.
Roland King, co-owner of the lumber company along with his nephew Brent King, explained that nearly every project that they undertake — whether furniture, household trim or flooring, cabinets, or truck and trailer beds — is unique.
It might require unique dimensions or type of wood or maybe it’s just an idea that a customer has created.
Regardless of the project, King Lumber can probably make the idea a realty using any of the 40 or so different varieties of native wood that they list on their website — kinglumberohio.com.
The listing currently includes four types of oak and five types of maple, along with Kentucky coffee tree, ossage orange, sassafras and many more.
The website also includes examples of a few of the projects that they have completed for customers.
Their customers find them mostly by word of mouth from other satisfied customers. Currently, they are busy.
Orders placed today using lumber that they have in stock or lumber provided by the customer won’t be completed for about six months.
Roland explained that they work with a variety of logging companies and tree services in the area to keep a supply of lumber on hand.
They air dry the lumber for a year and then finish the process by kiln drying. For the first 18 years of business, they manually adjusted the saw for every job.
However, they replaced that sawmill with one that is computerized about 2007. “If you can imagine it, we can probably create it,” Roland said.
