A Money Maker During Slow Times

[Nose_Full_of_Dust]

Hi All,

  We all have various ways of making a few extra bucks when we can fit it into our schedules.  I have one you may wish to look into.  My partner and I cut tomato stakes for local nurseries, greenhouse, etc..... from Yellow and Black Locust (occassionally - white oak).  As you are aware, locust is a highly rot resistant lumber and the locales go crazy over them.  We wholesale them by the 100's and 1000's at $1.00 per stake. Each stake is 1 1/2"x1 1/2"x72". Hence $.89 a bf.  There's a lot of handling in cutting the stakes but once you and another get into a groove, you can make a pile of them fast.

  Do any of you have any weird money makers to share?

Thanks,
Pete

[Ianab]

Dont know if I'd call it a money maker yet, but this is one of the more unusual items I make... and actually sell  :D
Pet rats are all the rage with kids at the moment, and these are little wooden nest boxes. Untreated pine, they dont seem to like knawing it, and it wont poisen em too fast if they do. It's 1" thick stuff so it will take em a while to demolish the thing. Anyway it turns 2 board feet of worthless pine into $10
Not a fast way to get rich though  :



ian

[Nose_Full_of_Dust]

Ian,

  Neat idea. Amazing what sells these days. I have a friend that has a rat as a pet and I'm going to make her one. I'll let you know how their rat likes it.

Pete

[Preston]

Good idea to both!
Well I have an idea just have not had the time to do it yet! Benn thinking about building a tool shed out of 3 sided "D" logs 6" by 5" and it would be 10' by 12' with a 4' porch! Not sure if this would take off and sell good but worth a try! Tell me what you guys think!

[dmcc]

Do any of you know if Bois d' Arc (horse apple tree, osage orange) is used for tomatoe stakes? It's also very rot resistant.

[Lem]

 dmcc,
 Yup,and easier to mill than Locust.At one time it made the most valuable Indian bows on the Great Plains...which may have been used to ward off the Western Ho settlers traveling in wagons e/w Osage wheel hubs and hoops too... 8)
 Lem

[Kedwards]

Do you put a "pointy" end on the 'Mater stakes or keep them straight?

[ARKANSAWYER]

  I was wondering what a slow time was? ???
ARKANSAWYER

[karl]

Slow time is when you feel the need to have one more means of loosing money, or when you need an excuse to spend money on tools that you don't already own for projects you don't yet do. ;)

[Frank_Pender]

I resemble that paragraph, Karl. ;D

[Frickman]

My cats like the rat.

[ARKANSAWYER]

     If that be the case then Karl I stay in slow times! :D :D :D
  I make tables and benches from slabs of wood so I had to have tenon cutters.  I bought them all sizes from 1/2 up to 2 inches.  The only one I have used in 2 years is the 1 1/2 inch.  Which reminds me I have orders for 4 benches.  Shoot now I have to get back to work.
ARKANSAWYER

[Nose_Full_of_Dust]

Kenward,  we cut a small point on each stake. Set up correctly (and I doubt we are) we can cut 200 plus stake points in an hour.  Luckily, most of our Locust comes fresh cut and cuts well on our mill.  We don't worry about them being straight either. We let em bend and twist. the "Maters" don't care and neither do our buyers.

Arksawyer,  I agree. NO TIME to cut stakes yet this year. Behind on orders worth $2,000.00 anbd the phone is starting to ring. Our regular jobs are really starting to back up too. I GUESS that's a good thing.  All I know is my shoulder's killing me tonight. Since Sunday (not counting MOnday) we cut 6,000 BF on our manual LT40. Luckily, we have all the logs in place, no mud (knock on wood) and the customer is hauling away all the lumber as we cut. He also cuts all the slabs up at night and start a fresh the next day.
  LOVE the becnch idea.  I've been gathering a few VERY unusual slabs lately and would like to try and make a few of those.  Should be easy enough to market a few.  What's the wood in the bench pictured?  Very pretty!

[Frank_Pender]

When there is a bit of slowing at all I am either pressure washing Big Leaf Maple back from the burl or coating it with sealer.  I just purchased 3.000 lbs. of Burl in the last 3 days from one fella.  It was enough to fill 10 pallets.  One piece weighed in a 145 lbs and the smallest was a burl cap that was 25 lbs..   He packs them himself to his pickup and heaves them in on his own.  He normally is a "cutter", but he is far ahead of the yarding crew.  He said that he had the week free and thought of bringng me some burl. 8)   I then wholesale it out to folks around the country.    I have one customer in the vicinity that buys most of what I can acquire.   I am now experimenting on drying some burl in the kiln, very slowly. :-/

[redpowerd]

whatever do you do with that burl, frank?

[Captain]

Small Outbuildings like this:




In the slow times, I build custom outbuildings.  This 4x4 "outhouse" is used as a garden shed.  I build all manner of buildings..sheathing is a great way to get rid of low grade logs.

Captain

[shopteacher]

Captian: I be afraid to have that in my yard. I live near the road and would probably have people using it for a rest stop? :D Oh, by the way does it come with a coin machine on the door?  I might make more money off it than the mill. ;D

[Frank_Pender]

Red..., I keep very, very little of it for my own use.  I sell it all across the country.  Like I said earlier, Ther is one fella that wants to try and purchase everything that I have in the line of burl.   Some has even gone into fishing poles as part of the handles.  Another fella uses some for jewelery boxes and music boxes.  Lots is used by turners for bowls, vases etc.

[redpowerd]

i have a very large maple packed full right up to thirty feet. thought about slabbing the best face for countertops. how does it look in slabs?

[Kedwards]

These are some great ideas guys. Arkansawyer I like the way you made the feet on that cedar bench. I have been focusing on Walnut and Cherry as benchs and sell them for a premium. So so far here you can cut the lumber, from the tiny pieces make pen blanks, pepper mills, make log furniture and the outhouse is pretty cool.. ;D

[karl]

Wow- sure like that bench- 8) wish we had red cedar 'round here, guess I got's to start winterin' down south an' trucking some of them exotic woods back here to sell to the "Summer Folk" ;) ;D

[Nose_Full_of_Dust]

Thanks all for the good ideas. My partner and I will be cutting stakes all day Monday and Tuesday (boringgggg). Then, back on the road for custom milling.  Keep the ideas coming.

Thanks again,
Pete