Our History

Kimwood Machine Company, as it was originally named, was founded in 1950. On May 17, 1951 Kimwood was Incorporated by Carlton Woodard and family with the primary purpose of serving as a maintenance and machine shop for the WA Woodard Lumber Company.

Original Kimwood Building Under Construction - 1951

Six people were initially employed in the original building that consisted of 16,000-sq. ft. of production, storeroom and office space. The machine tools first used at Kimwood came from a small machine shop located at the Woodard Lumber Company and a small machine shop purchased from the Daugherty Lumber Company.

During the time period from 1951 to 1957, the WA Woodard Lumber Company was involved in modernizing the sawmill, dry kilns and planing mill as well as constructing a complete plywood plant. Kimwood Machine Company was the primary company used to supply equipment to these various areas of the company.

In 1957 the WA Woodard Lumber Company was sold to Weyerhaeuser Company and the status of Kimwood Machine changed. Up until this time Kimwood had been involved with maintenance, sawmill repair and some outside job shop work. But now, having fewer direct ties with the lumber company, Kimwood management became aware that Kimwood must become a proprietary manufacturer of a product(s) to expand.

During the early 1960's new plywood plant expansion began and the necessity for better ways to sand and handle plywood panels became evident. It was at this time that Kimwood began to expand into this market and in 1963 secured patents and exclusive rights to manufacture sanding and handling equipment. During this same year Kimwood engineered and manufactured its first plywood grade and sorting line for Medford Corporation. The first high speed, multiple head plywood sander was manufactured by Kimwood and delivered to Weyerhaeuser Company in Coos bay, Oregon, followed by a high speed top head plywood sander manufactured by Kimwood and delivered to Tablopan de Venezuela in Caracus, Venezuela.

Through the years Kimwood has acquired various other secondary product lines and consolidated all manufacturing and sales at the Cottage Grove facility. Currently the floor space consists of 76,000 sq. ft. used for manufacturing and 10,000 sq. ft allocated to office space.

Looking north at Kimwood Buildings - 2001

Looking south at Kimwood Buildings - 2001

The marketing of the Kimwood equipment is handled through direct contact with the customer. Sales of some secondary product lines such as the Kimwood Stetson Ross line of Knife Planers and the Kimwood Ferrari Resaw are handled through dealers located outside the United States.

Kimwood Corporation, as it is known today, concentrates primarily in the manufacturing of sanding equipment for the abrasive finishing of lumber, plywood, particleboard, MDF board and other types of panels sold in the primary market. Sanders built by Kimwood generally range from 36" up to 114" in width with variations according to the specific application. To date, approximately 1,000 sanding heads have been manufactured and shipped to customers located worldwide. Kimwood has recently initiated a program to rebuild sanders previously manufactured by Kimwood.

Ownership and management of the company remains today as it has from its inception, by the local Woodard family of Cottage Grove, Oregon.