Sawing Paneling

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 28, 2016, 08:10:11 AM

How are you guys charging for paneling if you own the logs.

You saw a 300 bf log into 1 inch boards.....sell by the bf at your price.
You saw a 300 bf log into 1/2 or 5/8 inch paneling......what are you charging?

Magicman · January 28, 2016, 08:20:54 AM

I would scale the ½" as if it was 1". Same as sawing.

WV Sawmiller · January 28, 2016, 08:31:42 AM

Quote from: Magicman on January 28, 2016, 08:20:54 AM
I would scale the ½" as if it was 1". Same as sawing.

Ditto. Anything under 1" is billed same as an inch. Takes me just as much if not more time to handle and cut.

Sixacresand · January 28, 2016, 08:40:19 AM

Same as what WV Sawmiller and the MagicMan said.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 28, 2016, 08:41:13 AM

Thanks for the info.

The logs I was going to saw from were given to me at no charge.
I charge 60 cents a bf for a 1x8x10 Pine board which comes to $4.00.

The customer raised cain when I told him the price would be the same and he even ask me to reconsider my price.
Well.....I did. I told him I could do it for $3.50 a board.....he slammed the phone down.
I'm swamped with work anyway.....I hate it.....but I agree with y'all.

Magicman · January 28, 2016, 08:58:23 AM

I think that your counter offer was very generous. If he calls back and wants you to re-reconsider the price, tell him $4.50. smiley_contract_point

Sixacresand · January 28, 2016, 09:18:56 AM

You are doing good at 60 cents/bf, Post.

I quoted a guy a milling price of $300/m for his logs and he argued that if we are cutting 4 inch lumber, then it ought to be lots cheaper, because of less cuts.

homesteader1972 · January 28, 2016, 09:48:16 AM

It depends on the situation. If its a good customer that wants a little I charge it at 3/4. If they want alot then I bill it at an inch. I did have a customer that somehow couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that I would bill an inch for 1/2 inch material. I wound up not doing his job. On bigger jobs, I gladly throw in some freebies for the customer, like mill a crotch or some thin stuff for hobby. It all depends on the situation. Thus far, all I do is portable milling though, so my situations are different than yours.

WV Sawmiller · January 28, 2016, 09:52:38 AM

Quote from: POSTONLT40HD on January 28, 2016, 08:41:13 AM
Thanks for the info.

The logs I was going to saw from were given to me at no charge.
I charge 60 cents a bf for a 1x8x10 Pine board which comes to $4.00.

The customer raised cain when I told him the price would be the same and he even ask me to reconsider my price.
Well.....I did. I told him I could do it for $3.50 a board.....he slammed the phone down.
I'm swamped with work anyway.....I hate it.....but I agree with y'all.

Sounds like a good guy not to have for a customer.

I tell every customer and have had no complaints about my policy. Had one customer drive 85 miles each way and rented a 12' trailer to pick up 28 3/4"X6"X16' poplar boards which I billed at $.75/bf and counted each as an inch. He knew up front (I'd have cut him full 1" for the same price) and was a very happy customer. I guess he couldn't get them any closer. He first planned on putting them in the back of his truck till I reminded him of the length issue and he agreed probably needed something longer.

drobertson · January 28, 2016, 09:56:48 AM

Yea this is always a tricky situation for me too, there is in the pallet industry another lumber scale used which takes into account the thinner boards, but for our application on the wmz mills its hard to justify milling for the actual thickness.. I've been told that I have sold air, so where is the line in the sand. I basically sell 0 to 1-1/2" same money,
over 1-1/2" is counted as 2" posts and beams are what they measure.

WV Sawmiller · January 28, 2016, 09:57:57 AM

Quote from: homesteader1972 on January 28, 2016, 09:48:16 AM
It depends on the situation. If its a good customer that wants a little I charge it at 3/4. If they want alot then I bill it at an inch. I did have a customer that somehow couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that I would bill an inch for 1/2 inch material. I wound up not doing his job. On bigger jobs, I gladly throw in some freebies for the customer, like mill a crotch or some thin stuff for hobby. It all depends on the situation. Thus far, all I do is portable milling though, so my situations are different than yours.

Homesteader,

I have never yet let a customer leave without throwing in something extra. May just be a few thin trim cuts, an extra board or two or a short slab he had been admiring.

If your customer could not understand same price for thin stuff you are probably better off without him. I bet whomever he did buy from, if he ever bought, wish they had never met him.

beenthere · January 28, 2016, 10:41:05 AM

A way to explain it is 1" and above will be by the board foot measure.
Below 1", it will be by the surface measure.

LeeB · January 28, 2016, 10:46:27 AM

Quote from: beenthere on January 28, 2016, 10:41:05 AM
A way to explain it is 1" and above will be by the board foot measure.
Below 1", it will be by the surface measure.

That ought to put a kink in the brain waves for most of them.

drobertson · January 28, 2016, 08:00:24 PM

pretty much explains itself,, done deal, selling air in some folks opinion,

jmouton · January 28, 2016, 08:10:14 PM

we sell or cut anything under an inch, it is a bd ft ,,, it is too hard to manually measure accurately anything under an inch , we dont have accuset or anything like it , we use the scale or measure with tape and then it becomes less accurate ,

jim

WDH · January 28, 2016, 08:19:52 PM

If he thought that $.60/sq-ft was too much for pine paneling, tell him to go to Home Depot or Lowes

.

Piths me off, and I wasn't even the one dealing with him.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 28, 2016, 09:44:05 PM

Quote from: WDH on January 28, 2016, 08:19:52 PM
If he thought that $.60/sq-ft was too much for pine paneling, tell him to go to Home Depot or Lowes .

Piths me off, and I wasn't even the one dealing with him.

4x4American · January 28, 2016, 09:51:42 PM

Quote from: beenthere on January 28, 2016, 10:41:05 AM
A way to explain it is 1" and above will be by the board foot measure.
Below 1", it will be by the surface measure.

That is the best thing I've read that you've wrote!

thecfarm · January 28, 2016, 09:55:36 PM

I get the ones that want a deal on sawing when they find out I have a mill. I don't saw for others and have no need too. I always quote them a sky rocket high price and that shuts them up fast. I try to tell them I don't saw for others,but the high price trick works every time.
He will find the price he wants to pay and than complain about how bad the lumber looks.

WV Sawmiller · January 29, 2016, 01:20:29 AM

Quote from: thecfarm on January 28, 2016, 09:55:36 PM
I get the ones that want a deal on sawing when they find out I have a mill. I don't saw for others and have no need too. I always quote them a sky rocket high price and that shuts them up fast. I try to tell them I don't saw for others,but the high price trick works every time.
He will find the price he wants to pay and than complain about how bad the lumber looks.

I agree. If he is griping about the price up front he will likely gripe about the quality or quantity at the end of the job. Best value may be to just send him on down the road. When someone tells me my prices are too high I agree, thank them for checking with me and wish them luck. They called me - I did not call them.

Nomad · January 29, 2016, 05:41:02 AM

Yeah... Poston's potential customer was a guaranteed pain. When somebody tells me my prices are too high I tell 'em "no problem; just deal with somebody else." And have a great day!

bkaimwood · January 29, 2016, 07:37:54 AM

Funny, I feel the pain in this thread, and run into it all the time...just recently, yesterday. Older nice feller wants 1/2" x 6x assorted 8's, 10's, and 12's to do clapboard...4000 LF!!! Oh yeah, and needs it air dried at the least for a late spring install. I explained the thickness vs. $ logistics, and told him I'd try to meet him in the middle, as I'd like to earn his business and do this for him. The twist is in this story, its a constant struggle for me to get decent EWP, no good steady supply. Despite being in an area with lots of it, 1/2 the timber had dead porcupines and black knots, so those are useless... Having to pay, at times, upwards of .50 a bf for nice logs, where do I end up? Minimum .75 to 1.00 a bf...high, but must this situation must plague plenty of guys in my region, as I seldom don't get job based upon price. So .60 bf is cheap, its the customer's loss!! I decided to meet mine in the middle, charging halfway in between 1/2" and 1"...and add in the labor cost of paying my helper to clean boards, stack, and sticker to dry. I'm essentially not charging anything for drying/storage. Maybe I'm foolish, but the old fella's really nice, and surely on a budget...these circumstances always remind me of my late uncles, grandparents, and so on, and I want to treat them as I would have hoped treating mine...I let you guys know if I get the job, calling him today with the numbers...

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 29, 2016, 05:28:14 PM

The guy called back today and said he would take the paneling at $3.50 a board.....5/8 x 8 x 10.
He was just as polite as could be.
He did tell me I was the only mill within 50 miles he could find to even consider sawing paneling. :D :D :D

4x4American · January 29, 2016, 05:31:05 PM

Heck you shoulda said you missed out on that deal it's back to my original $4 or nothin!

Deese · January 29, 2016, 05:35:40 PM

QuoteYou saw a 300 bf log into 1 inch boards.....sell by the bf at your price.
You saw a 300 bf log into 1/2 or 5/8 inch paneling......what are you charging?

The number 300....Coincidence? I think not :D :D :D :D