Edging size

[lazyflee]

Question for all the Master Sawyers??? When I mill logs I usually cut 1x's off to get to the cant I'm looking for. So I end up with a bunch of 1x's to edge. The question is do you guys edge your stuff down to a certain size or just get the most out of the boards? I just edge it down to have as much as possible but then my stack is full of 1x4, 1x5, 1x6 etc all mixed up. I figure I could table saw it to size if needed. I'm not selling anything yet but maybe someday. A buddy said to hoard 1x and sooner or later someone will scoop it up. I bought the mill for fun but I see I could maybe make a few bucks someday when I get better at cutting and judging the lumber. Any input appreciated!

[Stephen1]

I don't know if I'm a master sawyer, but I was told when I started. softwood width is 4-6-8-10" 0r multipes of 2". Length, the same , multiples of 2' - 6'-8'-10' -12'
Hardwood is different as it is more expensive , I will try to keep it unifom in width x 1"  Lengths will start @ 5' and go up by 1' increments. 

[lazyflee]

I don't know if I'm a master sawyer, but I was told when I started. softwood width is 4-6-8-10" 0r multipes of 2". Length, the same , multiples of 2' - 6'-8'-10' -12'
Hardwood is different as it is more expensive , I will try to keep it unifom in width x 1"  Lengths will start @ 5' and go up by 1' increments.

Do you cut your logs to length 1st or trim the boards? Trying to stay organized, amazing how quickly things (the mess) gets out of control!

[WV Sawmiller]

   I normally cut my logs in 8,10,12, & 14 ft lengths with 4-6 inches of trim. I will sometimes save a 4'-6' log to make crib blocks (ash) or stickers (Poplar or ash) out of. If it is walnut, cherry, maple or oak I may cut it into LE slabs for benches or such. 

[Chuck White]

I most always advise my customers to cut their logs 6" longer than optimum, 8'6", 10'6", etc.

They can cut to the exact length after the boards are ready to build with!

I usually edge inch boards to 4, 6, 8, 10, etc., unless the customer wants something specific!

[moodnacreek]

I only edge to odd widths in clear pine or high grade hardwood. Customers hate random width boards and I have many thousands of feet of random width and mixed width that hardly ever sells. The units of same width stuff always sells. The problem is that people figure there order in like widths and not square foot and never consider the savings of random or they want all the same width. It is just so hard for me to burn all those 1 to 1 1/2" strips of clear but I probably should. Business is not about doing the right thing.

[WV Sawmiller]

Moody,

   Have you tried advertising and selling them as "Project Wood" to crafts people? I started saving 3/8" lath strips by edging my 2" framing in half inch drops and 1/8" kerf. I use them to make crates - nail them on 2 boards as sides and ends and they work. I've had customers say they are going to use them as battens the next time they build a shed or such. I used to sell a few at flea markets and ladies would buy them for projects and such. Your strips sound like something people making cutting boards and such might be interested in.

[GAB]

I only edge to odd widths in clear pine or high grade hardwood. Customers hate random width boards and I have many thousands of feet of random width and mixed width that hardly ever sells. The units of same width stuff always sells. The problem is that people figure there order in like widths and not square foot and never consider the savings of random or they want all the same width. It is just so hard for me to burn all those 1 to 1 1/2" strips of clear but I probably should. Business is not about doing the right thing.

Once dried I think you will have the raw stock for battens and stickers and fire starter material.
GAB

[luap]

I only cut wood for my own projects and I avoid the odd widths as much as possible except in high quality hardwood. Odd widths don't stack well when mixed in with other sizes and to run that piece thru the tablesaw is just one more time consuming operation for little gain. My time is worth more than gaining one more board when it would have been less time to do it before hand on the mill and I still have the board. If the proposed project suits random width boards that's fine, but I have more projects than time. Once you have been at this a while and basically are board rich then time is the greater value commodity. I do save out random widths greater than 10" but have also ripped them into narrow pieces for trim also. 

[cutterboy]

When edging flitches I get the widest board I can. My customers don't seem to care about even numbers.

[Magicman]

My edging thickness depends upon the cut list.  If I am sawing framing lumber, the edgings will  make framing lumber and/or stickers.



I recently sawed this framing lumber job and did not saw a single 1" board.  Why?  Because 1" lumber was not on the customer's cut list.

Also, I do not charge for sawing stickers.  For me, providing stickers is just part of doing the job.

[WV Sawmiller]

  I guess I fat fingered another post off into cyberspace. Oh well, it will have plenty of company out there.

  I edge to the customer request but I don't remember the last time I had a customer with anything other than 2" increments listed. A couple of good reasons for me to edge in 2" increments is it makes the tally easier since I generally sell and saw by the bf. Also they fit better on my standardized stacking pallets.

[Brad_bb]

I'm not master sawyer nor do I sell anything.  I edge my 4/4 boards to the widest they will make.  They will shrink in the kiln and you'll have to edge them again anyway.  So why waste good wood right off the bat?  Especially if you're not sure what you need.  After it's dry I can decide I reckon.  

It's preferable to trim your log lengths clean and a little bit over the number of feet you need.  It's less work doing it up front than trimming every board after.

[SawyerTed]

No master sawyer here, as others have said if sawing for a customer they get what they want.

For my own use softwood gets edged to 4,6,8,10 wide and occasionally wider.  Hardwood gets edged to random widths if the lumber doesn't have a specific purpose.  Hardwood can be anything from 4" wide to 10" wide.  

Things can get messy quickly if you don't have a place for every product that comes off the mill.  We spent Saturday and 3 half days this week cleaning up random lumber piles and slab piles.  I now only have stacked and stickered lumber sorted by width and thickness and by length.

[Stephen1]

I was also told when I started, actual sawing is a small part of the equation. 
Material handling/management is what a Sawyer really does!

[moodnacreek]

Unless it's an old friend I can't spend an hour with a customer for $20.00. I will gladly give them strips or small pieces so I can get back to work. There is much more work than I can do here. Logs are spoiling as I type. All the oversize red oak and the hard maple the buyer is not coming for so I have to saw that or watch it rot over the summer. The maple must be done now. Nickle and dime customers attract more of the same. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Yep, its obvious we have different goals and business plans. Sawing and selling lumber is more of a social affair for me than a business. I started because I had time on my hands to fill after I retired. If I can bundle a bunch of small/short boards and sell them and make a new friend happy I am doing so. 

[stavebuyer]

Unless it's an old friend I can't spend an hour with a customer for $20.00. I will gladly give them strips or small pieces so I can get back to work. There is much more work than I can do here. Logs are spoiling as I type. All the oversize red oak and the hard maple the buyer is not coming for so I have to saw that or watch it rot over the summer. The maple must be done now. Nickle and dime customers attract more of the same.

I know many folks sell retail or retail service(custom sawing) and heck it might be the better way to operate but I sold almost exclusively wholesale. When I bought my first mill(Timberking B16) in the early 90s I tried to accommodate all the neighbors and stoppers by. Advertised in the local buy & sell paper etc.  Wasn't too long in figuring out I was heading backwards. Before I retired I got to where I would not turn off the mill or listen to what they wanted. I would not give them the opportunity to waste my time. I would wait until I finished the task at hand and then tell them I was 100% wholesale; did not sell lumber and did not custom saw. No exceptions. Engage clutch and go back to making sawdust. Typical conversation that may or may not result in a sale=10 minutes lost production. Switch over to accommodate custom order minimum 20 minutes lost production. Time lost to accept payment at pick up= 10 minutes. Time to load fender trailer with no fork dunnage 10 minutes. Accounting to produce receipt and track/maintain sales tax records 5 minutes.  So in my mind it costs about an hours production time to take any retail order before you figure any actual time and costs devoted to actually producing their order. In the meantime running a bandmill devoted to wholesale you have to maintain x amount of production to finish the pack/bundle/truck etc. Missing half a day meant missing the truck or sending a partial load upping freight costs. My hats off to those that pull off the retail game. I wasn't wired for it.

[moodnacreek]

When I started to cut wood full time I had a nice wood working shop with planner and cut off saw, etc. I remember a customer coming here and wanting boards for a pair of barn doors. Upstairs I found him some almost clear, very dry white pine. Thought I was done. He decides that I am going to cut to length and plane. He leaves to get bigger vehicle and returns with friend who says that in order to sell the boards , I need to make the doors. This is just one story about that first summer. By fall those shop doors where closed and I don't plane or cut to length except for very pretty woman.      W.V., I got myself in way to deep to be a nice guy every day. I always have an order to fill for somebody and if I want to plant the garden or go fishing that order must be done first as there will be more when I get back.  My socializing or blowing off steam is done here.

[WV Sawmiller]

Moody,

   You remind me of a dear friend and neighbor here. I was talking to him one day and a guy pulled up beside us on our winding mountain road in a fancy new 40' motorhome and in a real snide tone of voice almost to the point of "Hey Rube, where does so and so live." My friend rushed over and very contritely said "Oh yes sir, you go up here about 3-1/4 miles and turn right and go just over 4 miles and you'll see his place on the left. You can't miss it." The guy drove off without a word of thanks. I told my neighbor "Keith, you know so and so doesn't live there. You just sent him up Freezeland mountain. Its awful steep and there is no place for him to turn that rig around up there and he's going to have to back it all the way down. Why did you do that?" My neighbor replied "I thought about it a second then I decided I hadn't done nothing good for nobody all day and couldn't see no reason to start now." :D :D

   Right now I'm enjoying myself sawing and meeting new friends and neighbors so I'll continue wasting time and such and probably never get rich. I have not felt abused by any customer. If they ask for something I'm not interested in doing I just tell them no, I don't do that. To each his own. Stay safe and have some fun today even if you have to shut the mill down and go chase a fish or turkey or something.

[moodnacreek]

W.V., I don't kill myself everyday. And I have always had to many hobbies. But when I promise somebody something it gets done and that the problem [I created] a long time ago. I run a 270 hp. generator not a 10 hp. band mill and the fuel costs money. I don't send people down the wrong road even if I should. Dealing with people has always been hard for me and I mostly work alone. Never the less I have made some great friend through the wood business. These relationships have been my greatest profit.

[WV Sawmiller]

Moody,

   My neighbor would normally not do something like that either but the guy was super arrogant and seemed to think he owned the world and everybody in it. This same neighbor and his family have been so great for us it is unbelievable. He has come up in floods when I was overseas and dug ditches to divert water run-off from our yard, his SIL saved my bridge during a flood one day when a big piece of culvert pipe upstream broke free and blocked by bridge and was washing it out. He jumped on my ATV and pulled it free. My wife was at work at school and never even knew it till she came home. He knew I was overseas and she was at work so he just came to check on things for us. They do all my welding type repairs and such for me. But they are folks you don't try to run over either. Friends and neighbors like them are way better than money in the bank.

   I'd still love to see a video of you running your circle mill. I don't see how anybody can operate one of those beasts without at least 2 and preferably 3 or more operators. I am sure it keeps you hopping. Yeah, my 25 hp machine sipping about a gallon of fuel an hour allows me to be more laid back in what I do.

[moodnacreek]

W.V., Understand I don't get a lot of production working the way I do. It is a hand set manual circle sawmill built before w.w.2. However there are many modifications that took years to work out. Log are loaded with and old picker truck onto a live deck and kicked on the carriage, dogged by hand, mud saw pulled down, slab sawed off and lands on live [spiral] rolls on to belt and pushed on kicker table and kicked on slab drag that will feed slabwood saw another time. Next board [needs edging] screwed of onto floor that is a lift table to rise to edger when full. When a finished board is sawed it goes out like the slab did but is kicked the other way onto green chain. The edger has a sweep table and it's own green chain. The stuff gets stickered on the big green chain and carried away with a forklift. When everybody was learning computers and cell phones I was working night and day making a living and building above sawmill. So I never learned to use smart phone or shoot movies, can't do everything.