$$$ $tickers $$$

[drobertson]

 A rant is a rant, nothing wrong with it in my opinion, one has to plan every cut, whether it is going to be stickers or boards,  all said, they can not be given away in my opinion, I have done it many times, and whether I did or not made no difference on return customers,  they are valuable, and everyone knows it,  I say charge what you want or need, but never give them away, unless of course you are making plenty on the bd/ft custom charge, then whatever.  A product is a product,  they come naturally from edging, but  separating is part of the process, unless of course this is a hobby, then by all means, give it to them, done it many times, just saying it takes time,   
this is my rant,   
david

[red oaks lumber]

i give lumber away as well!
like i said before i don't advertise so giving "scrap " lumber or crappy stickers away i claim that dollar amount as advertising. word of mouth is the best way.do you guys get it now? 

[drobertson]

Figure 10,000 bd/ft of stacked lumber, sticker stacked, then go through the numbers, not really a give away situation, 
david
Just to clarify,  an 8' 1" sticker is .6 bd/ft.  to separate and saw to length comes out to just over 1900 stickers. this could be close to $500 with my figures, I'm not a tight wad, never have been, just saying,  a years worth of stacking has its value,   

[barbender]

I have always just edged some of the customer's 1" boards on the mill and got the stickers for them that way. I chuck them off to the side of the slab pile for them to use. If I had to supply dried and trimmed stickers I would have to charge for them. I haven't done many mobile jobs, and I need to decide how to approach this. I'm leaning towards just charging enough per bf that I can saw the stickers they need without the need for an additional charge, I don't want to have to argue over something like that with a customer. But then, my wife was reading this thread over my shoulder earlier and told me "you would just give people their stickers because you're too nice and don't charge people enough" I need to write up a contract like the Magicman has, and specify whatever route I decide to go with.

[backwoods sawyer]

All my sawing is portable now so I do not stock stickers anymore. I have just made it a habit of sawing stickers out of the jacket boards.
Example:  I clamp up several jacket boards and if I am milling 2" stock I just drop an inch at a time if I am milling 1" I drop 1 ½" at a time (I don't like 1"x 1" stickers) this makes a batch of sticker stock in a short time and I mill a batch ever so often so as at the end of the job there is enough sticker stock that the customer can trim to length and have plenty left over. Some use a chainsaw, some use a chop saw to trim to length, one spent the day breaking them to length.
Am I giving them away? Or am I giving the customer the opportunity to take care of their lumber so that in the end they wind up with the best product possible out of their logs? After all it is green lumber so it needs to be stickered to dry.
I just consider it part of sawing portable, and most customers really appreciate this extra step.

This is where the business profile of a stationary mill differs from a portable mill after all I never own logs or stickers.

[red oaks lumber]

i sell all my  slabs and my sawdust and shavings but, giving some stickers away is wrong. say_what

[Magicman]

My sawing profile mirrors backwoods sawyer above.  I do not sell lumber and saw stickers for free as I edge the flitches.  I do saw 1X1's.

One note.  Never ever allow stickers to have bark.  Insects are attracted to the exposed cambium layer.   :-\

[chickenchaser]

One note.  Never ever allow stickers to have bark.  Insects are attracted to the exposed cambium layer.   :-\

Thanks, Magicman. I will change my approach.

CC

[DanG]

For those of you who are using chop saws and such to cut stickers to length, take a couple of crap boards and five minutes, and make yourself one of these jigs.  This one is 12' long and will take 12 or 15 1x1 strips at a time.  Just use your chainsaw to cut them at the pre-measured slots and you will have 48-60 stickers in seconds.  ;)

[redbeard]

Thanks good idea Dang! Good use of cull boards also.

[fishpharmer]

That's a DanG good idea! 8)

[Nomad]

     Well so much for thinking I'm smarter than DanG! :D  Great idea.

[kensfarm]

It would be interesting if you could stamp or brand your business info on 2 sides of the stickers you give to customers..  free advertising for the life of the stick!!

[schmism]

It would be interesting if you could stamp or brand your business info on 2 sides of the stickers you give to customers.

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