Generations of Exceptional
Craftsmanship
History
Mountain Voice Inc., a small Canadian sawmill with a rich history built on 3 generations of sawyers. With specialty products such as instrument wood, timbers, house logs, and back-country cabins as the backbone of the family business; never a dull day at the sawmill. The mill yard itself was founded off grid, run on an old 20Kw hydro generator and a handful of gas motors. That said, the fleet of wood slicing, chopping, lifting and grinding machines is well used, and inevitably requires a millwright.
David, although arguably inheriting the business from his father Gordon in 2019, quickly rebrands to Mountain Voice Inc. and begins prototyping all sorts of strange things. Cedar saunas, wood speakers, and large piles of composting wood waste. One day, a container arrives from Germany; inside, a 2 tonne wood stove that burns on wood chips, is computer controlled, and feeds itself. The cutting edge wood stove however, is unable to request more chips because it lacks cell service or wifi.
Instrument Wood
Mountain Voice Inc supplies some of the finest quality Englemann Spruce tonewood for many types of instruments such as guitars, violins, violas, cellos, and upright basses. In addition to standard grading, Mountian Voice Inc. offers beautifully figured and bear clawed guitar tops.
Our wood is sustainably harvested from high elevation Englemann Spruce forests in North-Eastern British Columbia. Standing dead trees are often selected for better ageing and stability. Stock includes wood from over 400 different logs, providing a broad selection of widths and types of grain, colour, stiffness, hardness, etc.
Instrument wood can be purchased online and shipped to makers worldwide.
Sustainability
Mountain Voice Inc. is committed to ethical and sustainable environmental practices. All of our logs are carefully selected from locally sustainably harvested trees in the Robson Valley of British Columbia. This, in itself, reduces the carbon footprint of our products by half, as each tree travels a shorter distance by truck before being refined into a finished product. The wood we cut is tailored to meet the specific needs of our clients, minimizing excessive inventory and reducing waste. This not only streamlines our operations but also aligns with our eco-conscious approach.
Interestingly, the first steps toward sustainably produced products began in 1986 when local farmer Jim McKirdy decided to construct a hydroelectric power plant to run his home, shop, and provide some irrigation for a neighbouring farmer. His shop, which has become the headquarters of Mountain Voice Inc., runs nearly all of its equipment on renewable energy, and the regular maintenance required to run a hydroelectric plant continues with Jim’s grandson and the current sawmill owner, David.
Recognizing the environmental challenges associated with wood waste in the industry, we have initiated a forward-thinking energy generation project. This innovative endeavor transforms excess wood chips and shavings into heat and powers our custom-built dry kiln, providing value-added services and the stepping stone to finished projects. Any highly compostable wood waste is sorted, chipped, and rapidly composted over 2-3 years, after which it is available as garden-grade mulch and soil, contributing to the local agricultural community's ability to cultivate sustainable crops
SUPPORT RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION
Every Dollar Goes Towards Maintenance and Improvements of Sustainable Power Production