Learning

Sarah Duval · March 16, 2012, 11:41:56 PM

Hello all, my wife and I have started a small business with my father making and selling grade stakes and trailer decking. I am a heavy diesel tech by trade so i am not familiar with cutting lumber. I am looking for some help finding good books and possibly a tech school that i could do part time to learn. My father loves finish woodworking and has been doing it for years but we never milled our own lumber. We live in southern NH. We bought the mill originally as a hobby for my dad but he knows so many people in the construction industry here that we started making the grade stakes. Now i want to take it further and make a bussiness out of it. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks Robert.

Cutting Edge · March 16, 2012, 11:48:25 PM

Welcome to the Forum!!! I cannot offer any advice on books or tech schooling, but there is an abundance of information located here. The "search" box can be your best freind. Hours of enjoyable and educational reading. I know, I have been doing it. Best of luck in your endeavor w/ your business goals...You've come to the right place!!! Great Folks Here!!

Sarah Duval · March 17, 2012, 12:11:12 AM

Thank you I have been checking out the forums for about 2 weeks now and was a little hesitant about posting, I didn't want to sound like a total newbie but that's what I am. I have found a ton of info here already and I am absolutely amazed with the fourmus here.

beenthere · March 17, 2012, 12:12:32 AM

Welcome to the forum ~~Sarah~~ Robert.

Pull up a stump.

Sarah Duval · March 17, 2012, 12:17:06 AM

wait no need to cross out my name i am here too.......

tcsmpsi · March 17, 2012, 06:53:22 AM

Everyone is, or has been, a newbie. ;)

Quite a few ol' grandfathers hanging around here and have tendency to shine when able to share.

Welcome, to you both! :D

eastberkshirecustoms · March 17, 2012, 07:07:51 AM

Welcome Sarah and Robert! What kind of mill do you have?

Chuck White · March 17, 2012, 07:59:40 AM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Sarah.

WDH · March 17, 2012, 08:01:07 AM

Sounds like there are two of you, but I am just checking

. Welcome to the Forum.

bandmiller2 · March 17, 2012, 08:03:48 AM

Welcome Rob,I assume you have a small bandmill.Milling is one of those things you learn by doing, like riding a bicycle.Put some logs on the mill and have at it.Some of the manuf. have instructions and all bandmills are about the same as to sawing.There are probibly some FF members close to you mayby you could work with them a day or so thats all it takes. Do you sharpen your own bands.?? Frank C.

Magicman · March 17, 2012, 08:17:39 AM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Robert/Sarah Duvall.

Meadows Miller · March 17, 2012, 10:09:42 AM

Gday

And Welcome to The Forum Robert & Sarah

;) ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) I dont know about courses in the States but I personally think nothing beats getting time in on your mill and I am pretty sure we will help you as much as we can here ;) ;D ;D 8) 8)

Regards Chris

Jim_Rogers · March 17, 2012, 12:21:20 PM

Where abouts in southern NH are you?

I may not live/work far from you and I could come over and show you a few things.

Jim Rogers

POSTON WIDEHEAD · March 17, 2012, 03:07:23 PM

Welcome Robert and Sarah Duval to the Forum.

Robert, you were great in "OPEN RANGE". I love westerns!

KyTreeFarmer · March 17, 2012, 06:33:35 PM

Welcome Duvals!! Sounds like an interesting undertaking, I know a guy that makes surveying stakes partime for spending money. Did OK with it.
KTF

Sarah Duval · March 17, 2012, 10:02:19 PM

Thank you everyone. We bought a band mill from hud-son forestry equipment it's an Oscar 328. Not a big or high tech mill but it does the job for now. We are located in Brookline NH and would be very excited to have anyone from the forum come visit us. WDH I fragged one computer and now I'm labeled for life

the wife won't let me near the computer with out her around, Can't blame her though. We are sending our blades out to wood-mizer right now but that may change down the road. Time is thin for us right now because my father and I work full time and run the mill on the side.

Sarah Duval · March 17, 2012, 10:15:35 PM

Oh yeah Sarah said Hi to everyone too.

WDH · March 17, 2012, 10:23:21 PM

Is it Sarah/Robert or Robert/Sarah? ;D. I can see that you have a split personality :D.

Take some pics of the sawmill for us (Robert, if Sarah is the computer guru, she might have to help you with this, but it is not hard to do. There is a tutorial on how to post pics.)

Ga Mtn Man · March 17, 2012, 10:57:13 PM

Sarah and Robert, welcome to the newbie class of 2012! Lots of knowledge and other "stuff" :

to be found here on the FF.

Magicman · March 18, 2012, 10:15:28 AM

Looking at your picture, you are a very nice looking couple and I do not see a "split".

Kansas · March 18, 2012, 10:33:30 AM

Welcome. I think trying to make a living out of cutting grade stakes would be tough. We cut some for one company, haven't really had much demand beyond that. The stakes they pound in through small square bales or erosion netting is different. There is a lot of those used. Only problem is, you will have to find a way to put a point on them.

Trailer decking is something else. If you can cut to width and thickness, along with some length, thats a good business to get into. Sideboards, outriggers, a whole lot of products that construction companies use. i will suggest this though. When someone calls, ask questions. When they say the want 2 inch, about 70 percent of the time they really want 1 1/2 inch thick. Ask where the break points are on a longer bed trailer if they have to splice. If they start asking for a whole bunch of odd sizes, just ask them what size of space they have to fill in.A lot of times over the years boards have been cobbled together as boards broke, and its easier and better just to cut to fill the space. Its also necessary as a general rule to have logs on hand to cut. Construction companies generally have no patience. On the plus side, they rarely are concerned about the price. You can charge good money.

customsawyer · March 18, 2012, 12:45:20 PM

Welcome to the forum.

Okrafarmer · March 18, 2012, 03:11:20 PM

My cousin cuts a lot of grade sakes up in Maine. He does a lot of other things too. Don't limit yourself to only one or two things-- start with one or two things and find other markets too. You can make a full-time endeavor out of milling, over time, if you work at it. It doesn't happen over night.

r.man · March 18, 2012, 04:39:43 PM

Welcome to the forum Duvals. How are you putting the points on your stakes?

Sarah Duval · March 18, 2012, 11:36:21 PM

We plan to expand into other things as we progress, the biggest thing right now is to learn how to cut the products correctly. As a heavy diesel tech I have done alot of trailer work so I am some what familiar with what is needed to do trailers but I want to make sure I'm cutting the lumber correctly. We keep a good 5 to 10 cords worth of logs on hand, my father works for a property management company so we get a decent amount of lumber there. That is also how we have gained so many contacts in the construction and landscaping fields. I figure it will be at least 3 years before we can even think about doing this full time for a living right now we all work full time so every dime we make from the mill is going right back into the business. Right now we are pointing are grade stakes on a small unit we bought from the dealer we bought the mill from. We got a package deal, mill with an extra section of track, 5 extra blades for it, the pointer with an extra set of blades and an extended warranty. That whole thing cost us 5600 and it was all new. Last month I built another section of track so now we can cut out to 21'6'' is there much call for cutting anything longer than that? Well thanks again for the info and Sarah says thank you for the compliment on the picture.