Rustic Milling & Craft LLC

About

Lumber milling, custom wood items, barn quilts & blanks, artisan pottery, rustic housewares, unique accessories, photography, workshops & more!

Story

Our philosophy

We are old fashioned in spirit. We believe in treating people fairly, doing a good job and selling a quality product. In our wide range of merchandise and services we take cues from the past and are not afraid to touch on the unexpected. We are not set in doing things in a certain traditional way-we like to experiment and see what might work and see where it goes. We are creators and the process is as satisfying as the final result.



As new pieces evolves they tell you what they need, they are not just put together like a jigsaw puzzle. Creativity is what drives us to make our own handcrafted pieces-we make each piece as its own individual piece and it contains a little bit of us. We do not make factory cookie cutter products assembly line style. We thrive on self expression and take pride in quality craftsmanship and artistry. Our pieces are inspired by our materials, the world around us and the artist in us.



Every board we cut on our sawmill is rough cut, planed, sanded, cut and turned into something special. We take pride in using local woods and utilizing a natural resource that is often though of and treated as a waste product.


The tree to lumber milling that is done on our sawmill for our ready made pieces are trees that were not wanted by the land owner or business that did the initial tree removal.



If you are a landowner a reasonable distance from Cozad Nebraska. We do not do tree removal in town or in areas there are power lines but if you have trees in the wide open we can cut them down and remove them. If you have mature or standing dead trees that you are interested in getting rid of please call us instead of sending them to the burn pile. The years that tree has lived and grown can then continue in another form-one that will be appreciated for generations to come. Not to mention the big trunks take a long time to burn and may require additional disposal after the brush fire is out.


In a world of waste and excess we are proud to say also use reclaimed wood and reclaimed items for some of our creations. As children we were taught to be not wasteful and this mentality has become our mantra. We take pride and find inspiration in the fact that we can upcycle something and change its purpose in life in a way that will bring joy to the person who brings it home.


We cherish the notion that we reuse and recycle what we can in our milling and wood cutting process. Cedar shavings and small pieces of scrap wood are sewn into decorative fabric or muslin bags and turned into closet and drawer deodorizers. Cedar shaving are supposed to repel fleas naturally (so "they" say!) and are added to our dog and cat bed cushions. I guess if nothing else it will make the beds smell better after they have been in use awhile. Other types of wood shavings are made into fire starters for camping or for starting fires in stoves. Another use we have found is using the sawdust in the firing of our Raku style pottery. If we can find a way to keep it out of the landfill we are happy. Larger flat pieces are cut into components to be used in other pieces or sold as cedar planks for grilling and as rustic hot pads.

Barn Quilts are a way to honor a past quilter...or just have fun with a new exciting design! We sell ready made barn quilts, have workshops, make custom barn quilts and sell the already primed and sealed barn quilt blanks that are ready for color! Our Barn Quilt Facebook page is Barn Quilts by Rustic Milling & Craft llc aka @barnquilt101


The pottery that is created in our shop is made by using the traditional technique of once firing raw glazed pottery. I do not add the bisque fire step that was invented by the Industrial revolution. I feel that by adding this step the piece loses its momentum as an individual art piece and becomes stagnant and commercialized. Art is unpredictable and discoveries are made by being spontaneous. Commercial clay is used for now but I am also interested in the idea of using locally sourced clay and glazing components used in our pottery products. We use an electric kiln for the majority of smaller products but use different methods of firing depending on the piece and the size of the ware. Eventually I want to install a wood fired kiln to do some of the firing.