When Karl retired last summer, he got to spend a lot more quality time with the ones he loves - including his HM126 portable sawmill. He began milling ovals and rounds which he decided to post on Facebook Marketplace. People loved them, especially brides. They made beautiful wedding centrepieces and welcome signs. As the rounds became more popular, he took on larger projects.

One was for the Rainbow Routes Association, a not-for-profit that encourages the residents of Sudbury to be healthier and connect with nature as they promote the local urban trails. The Sudbury Rainbow Roots Walk used 250 of his smaller rounds as medals for their participants who completed a 30km hike. Karl is always happy to support a good cause. He was then approached by local schools asking him to donate small rounds made of Ash for them to paint at Thanksgiving. The kids had a ton of fun making handprint turkeys on them. His love and support for the community has also landed him an invite to the Sudbury Home Show this year.

Although he still considers his milling a hobby, Karl has lots of customers interested in his work. A friend reached out and offered to make Karl a business logo for his mill, so he came up with the name "God's Country Live Edge Wood Milling". Karl mills some of the prettiest live edge slabs you'll ever see and always has lots of lumber to choose from for his clients. When he invested in a Woodland Mills Sharpener and Tooth Setter to renew his own blades, sawyers from all over started asking him to sharpen and set their blades, as well. Restoring blades is now a popular service he can offer his fellow sawyers.

Karl works out of his home in Northern Ontario. He may not have the biggest yard, but he certainly takes advantage of every bit of space he has. It is hard to pass by his house without picking up on the fact that Karl has a passion for wood milling. All over his property are neat piles of lumber. He built a shelter where his HM126 sits, beautifully maintained and regularly cleaned. Beside the mill, leaning against the walls of his garage, is an ever-changing assortment of gorgeous live edge slabs. One thing is certain, there is always something nice to see over at Karl's.

Karl does not like waste. He does his best to use every bit of the logs he mills. Some of the leftover pieces are put aside for local artists to come and pick through for free. The pieces with too much texture or holes throughout are perfect for his police buddies who enjoy doing resin pours as a pastime - a hobby Karl is sure he will one day get into. Some of the leftover pieces from cutting live-edge slabs are quite small. Karl uses these to make Charcuterie boards in a variety of shapes and styles to give out to friends and family, even adding a free one to a customer's order now and then.

With the amount that Karl mills, he needs a constant supply of logs. He is fortunate enough to have a beautiful 100-acre property on Manitoulin Island where he has thousands of trees to choose from. For now, his HM126 is the perfect size to tackle the logs he mills, but one day he hopes to add an HM130MAX to his inventory.