charge for planing 1 side

[brdmkr]

I ran into one of my few custom sawing customers this evening and he asked if I could plane one side of some of the lumber for him to use as paneling.  I told him to come by and we would run a few pieces for him to see if he liked the results.  We did not discuss price at all.  I have never really thought seriously about planing for others, but I have a planer and always sort of knew that this could be an option.  I only have a Woodmaster 718, and while it meets my needs, I know it is not made to S4S in a production environment.  However, to plane one side would not be a big deal.  The wood in this case is SYP.

[Tom]

My old buddy, James Hill, used to always have something going.  He had a 20" , cast iron, Chinese planer and called it his "Planer Mill".   He would plane cypress, cedar and pine for about 10-15 cents a foot and Oak or other hardwoods for 20-50 cents a foot.   That was a square foot.  If you wanted the other side planed, that was extra.  :D

I sure miss that guy.  :D :D

[Cedarman]

For cedar, we charge 10 cents per square foot for one face, 17 cents for both and 25 for S4S.  We do the edges while in the cant.  For 4" we saw 4 1/8"   3 sided cants. Run the sides first, then resaw and finish planing.  Works for cedar, but probably not for other wood as the cants would be too big to handle.  We have a jointer for anything over 7 1/2" wide and charge extra for the wide stuff.
Planer is a 26" helical head Northtech. Can take off 5/16 in one pass on a 15" board, so it has the power.

[Dave Shepard]

Baxter took an 18" wide 5/4 board through by accident once with it set at 3/4. Won't do that again, I hope. Now I now why Baxters big brother has a 30 HP motor on each head. Do you have to joint one side when making S4S?


Dave

[brdmkr]

Do you have to joint one side when making S4S?

I don't know when doing this for a customer.  This is the first time out on this one for me, and I would only be planing one side to thickness.  However, if I am S4S for myself, I do use the jointer.