iDRY Vacuum Kilns

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New to the board and the Sawing world

Started by No_Dude, August 04, 2018, 08:08:06 PM

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No_Dude

Thanks for the offer stour! As for my metal costs, I came across a slew of pallet shelves, and I sure like that rectangle tube it's made out of, can get 2 shelves about 8 foot long for about 100$, so I think that's my rails right there, and the frames could probably be canabalized to make most if not all the bracings. Past that it seems that we are covered up in lawn mower motors, ranging from 10-20 HP, so that was my next major cost. After that it's bearings and sheaves and everything small stuff.

No_Dude

Was talking to a buddy who may want to throw in with me to start sawing logs, and we discussed seeing if we couldn't get with the local tree services since they have to dump their logs SOMEWHERE, why not next to my sawmill :) The question after that became, what do we do with all the lumber? We figured cabinet makers would be the go too for hardwood, and pines and other construction type wood is near non-existent in my part of the state, so contractors are out for the most part, after that  ??? ??? ??? Outside of individuals and cabinet folks, who would be worth trying to sell hardwoods too?

Tom the Sawyer

No_Dude,

You might want to seek out the craft or artisan market. I doubt cabinet shops would be interested; unless you can offer graded, kiln-dried, planed and straight line ripped, in quantities.  Contractors in most areas must use graded, certified lumber when building for human habitation.  Maybe less stringent when building sheds. 
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.

SawyerTed

First and foremost - create a business plan if you want to make any money in this business AND don't expect to get rich.  I'm making a little money part-time on top of a retirement income that pays my personal bills.  Then expect to hustle.  Can't make money standing around in this business.

Expanding on what Tom shared, after sawing, the secondary processing is what increases lumber value.  Lumber coming off the mill, not dried etc will sell for pennies compared to lumber that is kiln dried and surfaced on four sides.  Then additional secondary processing like tongue and groove for flooring adds value.  A 5/4 pine board of the mill might sell for 60 yo 70 cents a board foot compared to a square foot of high quality pine flooring might sell for $5 to $7 a square (board) foot. But that pine flooring has been kiln dried and molded on four sides with tongue and groove and a relief cut on the back.  More processing requires more machines and more labor.

Otherwise you are selling to the guys building barns and sheds or to the artisans and crafts people who want custom lumber as Tom mentioned. 

There are two sides (at least) to making money at this business.  One is the technical - sawing, stacking, drying, planing, molding etc.  The other is the business/marketing side.  Learn to saw and process wood very well.  Make sure you can produce high quality products.  Then market your skills to at least a couple of segments of your market.   Get established in a couple of segments and the other areas will grow.

In my case I've gotten a good reputation for custom (quarter) sawing red and white oak.  I've also established myself in the non-graded/non-certified construction lumber side.  I've sold/sawn lumber for hobbyist wood workers and have sawn lumber for the artists but I've also sold/sawn many many sticks of lumber to the farmers and hobby farmers around.  The cookie business and rustic garden benches came later.  This month is really the first month that I've covered all expenses and had a balance above where I started - 6 months in.  I'm lucky.

It is not a business that you can be successful without a plan, a market and very hard work both mental and physical.
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

No_Dude

Yea, business planning is where we are at now. I figured I'm a freshman in college, I'm on scholarship, and it'd be something to do on the weekends. Heck class ends at noon for me 3/5 days. In a perfect world I'd start just doing porta/custom milling, until that pays enough to purchase a kiln, until that pays for a planner, until that pays for a moulder/resaw/whatever other equipment. The benefit I have, is that I don't have to feed myself off it, so as long as it pays for itself and a bit, I'd be perfectly happy for the next 4 years. So I suppose a 5 year plan would just be saw to buy tools, and once the tooling is all bought, evaluate my position and see how the market is. Having looked around, my area is covered up in cabinet guys, tonight's search will be other Craftsman, then onto flooring I suppose. Long term if someone wanted to get into making graded lumber, what all goes into that?

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