For those of you who charge for milling

[bigmillman]

The way I charge, whether at the mill site or at their site, is after I have a cant, I measure the cant size and calculate the board footage (T"XW'XL') before any cuts are made.  Then the average that I charge is .30 BF;  4/4-5/4 will go a little higher and 6/4 up will be a little less.  If I have to bring my help I charge more too.  As has been said, I make certain folks know up front how I calculate and what the charges are, including for blades ruined by metal.

Stacey Freeman

[Tom]

bigmillman, it sounds like you might be losing revenue by not producing the jacket boards. There is a log of lumber removed before the cant is square.

[bigmillman]

Tom,
I do charge for those jacket boards...I did leave that part out!  When I saw hear at the mill, I take the jacket boards that will produce lumber through our Tower edger and figure the BF on those.  When on the road I edge on the Woodmizer and charge for that BF.  When I am sawing on the circular mill I figure the BF the same as mentioned before and send everything through the edger.

Many thanks for pointing out what I had left out...one of those mornings!

[spencerhenry]

i mostly do hourly. i mill alot of reclaimed stuff and so i hit alot of nails. my hourly rate for me and the mill is $95, with the resaw on it, i charge an extra $10/ hr. i used to charge a haul in fee of $60. now i just charge from the moment i get there until i am done milling. for some other people when i am resawing new doug-fir, i charge $87.50 i never hit nails in the new material, and they always pay their bills on time. they tell me that i am actually cheaper than the big mill in denver, and my quality is better. i also add in blades, if i hit metal, they pay for the blade, if it just gets a little dull, i charge them half.

[Part_Timer]

Here latley I've started to just charge by the job.  I've tried by the Bf and by scale and by the hour and it just doesn't seem to work out for some reason.  Seemed like someone was always upset or nitpicking about something. 

I take and figure out all the bf by scale, adders and such and shoot them a price.  If the logs have rotten spots in them and are no good I kick them off the mill and deduct by the bf and show it on their bill. 

This just seems to work the best.

[Part_Timer]

OOPS I do have a blade damage adder that I explain up front that is in addition to the job charge.  just a grind $25, broken off tips $50, real damage is $150 deposit on actual cost of repair differance is refunded with a copy of the bill.  never had any problems with this policy. 

[Frickman]

Back when I still custom sawed logs on my stationary circle mill I charged $.30 / bf, International 1/4" scale in the log. We'd have to saw so many different sizes that it would take too long to scale the lumber, so I scaled the logs. We had too many problems with nails, so now I send them to you band guys.

[inspectorwoody]

Frickman and to all other circle guys:

How are you charging for hitting hardware?

I know most band guys are charging 25-30.00 which covers the cost of a new band.

On a circle, it seems to get a little more complicated. Teeth, shanks etc. can get pretty exspensive.

[blueduck]

Frickman and to all other circle guys:

How are you charging for hitting hardware? .......

I guess Ive got it pretty good only having 6 teeth inserted in each of 3 blades I am running on the Mobile dimension the most ive had to charge for was 7 teeth on one log, for the most part generally i dont lose more than a couple when i hit a nail  and then only part of the tooth due to running a stellite tipped insert, which may not be a good as carbide tips, but are nearly as good for me in the woods i have sawn over the years.

On a custom job the owner of the logs knows up front that if i hit metal from a known yard tree or fence line I get new teeth cost and if I bust a shank i get that as well, and Ive threatened double cost for the down time of changing teeth but never charged it..... most folks will make sure to butt the log above the fenceline and they will all mark a yard tree for me to look at before i cut it..... no one wants to pay extra if they can avoid it..... for theose folks who dont care, I more than likely would hesitate to cut their material, but since i get a move in fee and it does not all come back out on the first weeks sawing, I have a hole card in that i already have dollars to charge out..... making it easier to come to terms of the signed contract...... yes i make folks sign a contract just for the one or two idiots over the past 21 years who  balked at paying for their wood in a reasonable time frame, and to know what is expected of them and what i am expected to do as well.... very simple and not written by an attorney, but will hold up in Idaho courts.

William

[Frickman]

inspectorwoody,

I don't custom saw anymore because of the hardware issue. When I did, the customer paid for all teeth, shanks, etc. that were destroyed. Sometimes I would put an old saw on the mill in case I ruined it.