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Thick Lumber Slab Workshop

Started by scsmith42, March 20, 2018, 07:58:02 PM

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scsmith42

Sponsored by NC State University, along with The Wood Education and Resource Center and Sawmill and Woodlot Magazine, the focus of this workshop is to present the foundational ideas needed to successful operate a thick lumber slab business that is profitable and produces quality thick lumber slabs for sale to the public.

It will be held at the Burke County Agricultural Center in Morganton, NC on May 24, 2018.

A brochure is attached.

Register Online at:  https:// thicklumberslabworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

LeeB

Is there anything scheduled for Julie or Audrey?  :D
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

xlogger

Thanks Scott, I'm going to try to go. I see where they don't discriminate because of age so I should be good ;D. 
Timberking 2000, Turbo slabber Mill, 584 Case, Bobcat 773, solar kiln, Nyle L-53 DH kiln

scsmith42

Quote from: LeeB on March 21, 2018, 02:58:44 AM
Is there anything scheduled for Julie or Audrey?  :D
Not that I know of but I've heard a rumor that they will accept payment in SGU's......  :D
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Tom the Sawyer

Well, its a thousand miles each way, and five days of lost production during prime time of the year... but only 31 miles from my wife's newly found little sister, so I'm gonna try to make it.
07 TK B-20, Custom log arch, 20' trailer w/log loading arch, F350 flatbed dually dump.  Piggy-back forklift.  LS tractor w/FEL, Bobcat S250 w/grapple, Stihl 025C 16", Husky 372XP 24/30" bars, Grizzly 20" planer, Nyle L200M DH kiln.
If you call and my wife says, "He's sawin logs", I ain't snoring.

Don P

I had trouble with the link above, this link got me to the ticket order form;
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thick-lumber-slabs-workshop-tickets-44154266600?aff=es2

See you there :)

DR_Buck

I received the email notification for this event and another being held is WV June 7th on the Firewood Business.    I would have liked to attend the slab event but I have way to much going on right now and taking the trip to the Logging Expo in Richmond on the 18th is all I can fit in.
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

fishpharmer

Thanks for sharing Scott.  I plan to be there..
Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Tom the Sawyer

Did anyone notice that the Southeastern Dry Kiln Club annual meeting (also sponsored by NC State) is set for May 24, 25 in Conover, NC.  The Slab Workshop is on May 24th, only about 30 miles away in Morganton.  Seems like they might be drawing from the same audience. 
07 TK B-20, Custom log arch, 20' trailer w/log loading arch, F350 flatbed dually dump.  Piggy-back forklift.  LS tractor w/FEL, Bobcat S250 w/grapple, Stihl 025C 16", Husky 372XP 24/30" bars, Grizzly 20" planer, Nyle L200M DH kiln.
If you call and my wife says, "He's sawin logs", I ain't snoring.

xlogger

Just checking to see how many here are going. It about a 3 hour drive for me so I'll have to leave here early or go tonight and get a room.
Timberking 2000, Turbo slabber Mill, 584 Case, Bobcat 773, solar kiln, Nyle L-53 DH kiln

Tom the Sawyer

Ricky,  we rolled yesterday.

Tom
07 TK B-20, Custom log arch, 20' trailer w/log loading arch, F350 flatbed dually dump.  Piggy-back forklift.  LS tractor w/FEL, Bobcat S250 w/grapple, Stihl 025C 16", Husky 372XP 24/30" bars, Grizzly 20" planer, Nyle L200M DH kiln.
If you call and my wife says, "He's sawin logs", I ain't snoring.

Don P

We (the two Don's) just put in a long day but got 'er done, we'll leave here about 0600. Check your emails, Harry sent one today.

Nomad

     I'm here now.  See y'all in the morning.
Buying a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
WoodMizer LT50HDD51-WR
Lucas DSM23-19

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

scsmith42

See y'all in the morning.

Scott
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Don P

That was a good workshop, thanks to everyone for taking the time to put it together. Scott is a fountain of experience and wisdom both in wood and business. Dean, @copperhead10, is quite an artist, has an amazing showroom, sawmill/workshop, and staff.  After a few minutes with one of his employees I told him the tips he passed on to me were well worth the price of admission and I learned a great deal from others as well. Thank you all for sharing. We had quite a conversation about what we had seen and learned on the way home. I got to put faces to a few of the names I see on here which was fun. Several of you travelled quite a distance, safe travels home. I sure didn't need supper after that lunch, well done!

WDH

What was the most significant thing that you learned?
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

samandothers

Thought about you guys and this workshop quite a bit recently.  Would loved to have come but had some others stuff that needed attention.  Hope there is  another sometime.

Don P

Quote from: WDH on May 25, 2018, 07:18:38 AM
What was the most significant thing that you learned?
From the morning classroom session;
From Scott, and I'm sure he can explain it better, don't forget to factor in the amount of time your slab investment is tied up. If I have say 10 grand tied up in slabs for 3 years drying and processing. If I had invested that same amount in the bank or somewhere else I would expect a return during that period, don't forget to factor that in, it becomes major on these timeframes.

We should be thinking about a way to rank slabs along the processing chain in a way that lets the customer know what processing has gone into a slab. There are 5 basic steps along the way to finished product: Green, Air Dried, Kiln Dried, Sterilized, Surfaced. A star system was suggested with a green slab being a 1 star and a planed slab being a 5.
Think about the costs associated with each step along the way.

From the afternoon showroom and shop tour; prices were more in line with what I expected than what I've seen on the net. I didn't see any slabs that knocked my socks off in character or in price, the prices were in line with what seemed reasonable for urban recovered trees. There was a good mix of finished work and slabs for sale. Lots of ideas in the showroom. I'm still adjusting what I have looked for and used in lumber, generally high grade material, and what a slab is, a more rustic large live edged timber. We sawed a healthy pile of recovered trees this winter and as a storm closed in we got off the mountain ahead of it, trailered a couple of loads down and I told the hired man to just firewood the rest. In my mind it was too far gone. I now realize it probably wasn't. I'm more of a technician than artist and look at wood differently and in this case probably wrongly. The customer may prefer that character.

Dean was using shade cloth curtains and had quite a bit of covered shed storage, it was well organized and accessible. Just like that grass fed burger, low and slow is the way to go drying. He ratchet straps his piles and cinches them up monthly.

The electric bill on the DH  container kiln runs about $500/month, solar is probably a better way to dry with daily equalization but it would take much more dryer space. The electric bill in a little over a year eclipses the cost of the unit. My little Ebac probably just puked. I think we'll go solar till time is the problem... which brings up sterilization. Might be worth thinking about solar/ borate, and is that then a 4 star or 5?

The big hit for us was chain grinding angles on the slabbing bar. We ended up in the tool room with one of the employees talking about sharpening angles, tension, drag heights, bar grooves, etc. We are going to try some changes tomorrow. We were talking about that at our table, I can smoke the belts pretty easily, the other guys weren't having trouble. One thing we've learned is its almost always the sharpening and we've been experimenting. It is always good to kick ideas around with them that's doin'.

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