Creation's Natural Edge
Randy Simmons has been involved in the timber industry for over 40 years. The day after graduating from Port Angeles High school in June of 1972, Randy went to work setting chokers for ITT Rayonier in Forks, Wa. Shortly after that he was hired by a small logging company and began to learn how to effectively thin stands of timber and do custom logging. That is when his love for working outside and with wood began.
In 1979, he and his wife of 6 years, started their own business, and began expanding their family, so he built his first sawmill to saw lumber for their house. After several upgrades on the mill and building a large log home, his love for building things out of wood continued to grow.
Randy went to Hawaii in 2007 and met Elmer Adams who was a world class wood turner. In Hawaii, Elmer helped Randy discover the gift of bringing out the natural beauty God has concealed in wood. He named the business “Creations Nature Edge Slabs” because of a conversation he had with Elmer concerning where the beauty of wood really comes from. (Gods fingerprint put there for our enjoyment and amazement.)
Randy has bought and sold specialty hardwoods since 1999. He began thinking of a use for large Big Leaf Maple logs and other species that were not salable because of the large size or poor quality. He began building a specialty mill that could cut logs up to 8’ wide and 24’ long. After 2 yrs of designing, building, testing the mill and with the help of several friends, he was able to start sawing smooth, accurate slabs.
Because of the trend to save old growth forests, large logs are no longer available in quantity, so northwest mills have retooled to accommodate small logs and more production. The result has been there are no mills that can handle logs over 22” in diameter. The larger logs are often split into smaller pieces and made into chips for paper. Randy’s desire is to preserve these large logs and convert them into beautiful tables, mantles and other furniture that can be passed down and enjoyed for generations.