Cal-Tex Lumber Company opened a plant in Nacogdoches in the 1980s as a result of harvest interruptions in California, which the company believes is caused by extremist environmental groups. The latest technology permits, according to Bob Currie, “much higher conversion factors of logs to product, . .”. The mill is able to cut curved lumber because of the use of lattice gang saws that are to follow curves in a log. Currie also notes that the volume of sawdust is reduced with this kind of saw.
The company is working with Northcutt Woodworks in perfecting the drying and curing procedures that will make “Southern yellow pine stock a replacement for Western white pine” in trim and mold milling.