Inside the Mill: How Cypress Lumber Is Precision-Milled at Three Notch Sawmill (Technical Breakdown)

When contractors and builders order lumber, most never see how it’s actually milled — and if you’re sourcing from a big-box warehouse or a wholesaler, you’re never going to know where your lumber truly came from, how long it sat in a yard, or what moisture content and structural consistency you’re actually getting.

At Three Notch Sawmill in Collins, MS, it’s the exact opposite.

Every post, beam, siding board, tongue-and-groove panel, or finished trim board is cut fresh to spec, from hand-selected Mississippi cypress logs, with grain orientation, moisture stability, and final application in mind.

 We do not mass-produce, we do not batch mill blindly, and we do not cut lumber that’s “close enough.”

This is precision-grade Southern milling for serious projects — here’s how we do it.

Step 1: Log Selection — Structural Integrity Begins Before the Blade

Most mills cut whatever logs show up. We don’t.

Before a log is even loaded onto the mill, we evaluate:

• Grain orientation and straightness — critical for posts, beams, and T&G
• Density and ring structure — slower-grown = tighter grain = stronger lumber
• Internal stress risk — logs with visible twist/sweep are rejected for structural use
• Moisture content and fiber condition — because fresh doesn’t mean stable
• Bottom line: we cut smarter, not faster. A good structural board starts before the saw touches the wood.
  

Step 2: Primary Sawing — Accurate, Stress-Relieving First Cuts

Most failures in cheap lumber (warping, twisting, cupping) come from improper primary breakdown.



We use controlled sawing methods based on the final use case:

Most mills do bulk flat-sawn cuts for speed; that’s why box-store lumber twists within days.

Step 3: Moisture Awareness and Stabilization

This is where most mills simply do not care.

You’ve seen warped 2x6’s at Lowe’s or Home Depot? That’s because they were kiln-dried wrong — or worse — never conditioned after sawing.

Our process:

• Logs are evaluated at intake for moisture content and density variance
• We mill and stack in airflow-preserving configurations if curing is needed
• Interior-use orders are stabilized further and offered pre-sanded or pre-sealed by request

Not “moisture guesswork.” Moisture strategy.

Step 4: Secondary Milling — We Cut for Function, Not Speed

This is where we transform the raw boards to actual finished building material.

Common secondary profiles we precision-mill:

• Structural beams & posts — up to 24 ft, hand-hewn or planed
• Tongue-and-Groove — ceiling, porch, interior-grade, zero-gap precision
• Chiplap / lap siding — modern farmhouse or historic restoration profile
• Board-and-Batten — vertical weather-resistant installations
• Architectural-grade fascia / trim stock — zero fuzz, crisp edge lines

We do not use universal settings.

 If its final use demands perfection, we mill to match that need.

Step 5: Inspection and Surface Refinements

No board leaves our mill without a manual inspection.

We look for:

• Unexpected stress release (micro-cupping/edge rise)
• Surface compression tear-out (common in fast mills — we avoid it)
• Accuracy to spec down to 1/32″ tolerance if needed
• Grain match if boards are part of a visible installation set



And if you request pre-sanding, pre-sealing, or stain-ready prep, we execute based on final environmental conditions, not just appearance.

Why Serious Builders Come to Us — Not the Big-Box Store

This is not the lumber you buy just to “get the job done.”

 This is lumber engineered to build it right — once.

Order Custom Cypress Siding from Three Notch Sawmill

Whether you’re framing a porch, installing 16-foot exposed beams, or need T&G ceilings that won’t separate with humidity, we’ll mill it right — to your specs, with structural and visual performance built in.