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getting wood from a sawmill

Started by sorethumbs, March 09, 2004, 11:52:08 AM

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sorethumbs

Hi, I'm new here and I hope someone could answer a few questions I have. I'm expanding my wookworking hobby and would like to get some ruff sawn hardwoods directly from a sawmill. I'd like them to be dry enough to run through my planer just after bringing it home from the mill. Their are a few small sawmills around but I'm very intimidated about going up to them and asking if I can buy wood from them, should I be? Anyway, what do I say? I'm used to buying klin-dried plained oak from the home center, I buy it by the board. like a 1x6 8'. What do I ask for from the mill if I only want a few boards about this size? Will they just laugh at me or do small mills often sell such small qtys? What should I expect to pay for a quarter-sawn white oak board of about this size in the upper-midwest (wisconsin).
I've been reading on this forum for I while and finally posted, you guys are very knowlegable! and skillful!

Minnesota_boy

I can't claim to represent the other small mills, but if I had the material on hand and you had dollars in yours, we'd talk.  I'd even try to persuade you to cut a few trees and have me mill them for you.  ;D
I eat a high-fiber diet.  Lots of sawdust!

Frickman

Hello sorethumbs, welcome aboard. If you hang around here you'll see that alot of folks cater to guys like you. You say you need dry lumber. Well a sawmill is a good place to start, but you have to remember that sawing and drying are two different operations. There are sawmills like mine that saw only, and there are mills that saw and dry both. Most sawmills are run by friendly folks, so stop in and ask questions. If they can't help you, they probably know someone who can. A fellow asking me honest questions never bothers me. Only the folks who pretend to know what they're talking about and don't sometimes get my ire up. Sounds like you're not one of those, so you should do fine.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

Tom

Honesty is the best policy.  You will find that most custom sawyers of small mills keep a little wood for good customers and old folks.  If you let him help you pick some good wood 'stead of your telling him exactly what you want, I'll bet you will find him quite helpful and impressed too. On a small scale, it's better to become friends than a stock broker type.  A little humility will carry a man a long way. :)

Norm

Welcome to the FF sorethumbs, you must have the same luck as me scaring nails into boards with a nickname like that.

I'm not sure what size sawmill operation your asking about going to so I'll tell you how some work in my area of Iowa. The bigger mills here don't normally sell in small quantities, these would be the largest ones here, the next size do sell retail. They will sell what they have in stock, most times you can ask for 4/4 but not the width or length. Smaller ones will be the most likely to sell you certain lenghts and widths but may not have kiln dried wood. These are just general guidelines for ones in my area, the ones near you may be different.

That said I don't think you have to worry about them being rude to you for asking. If they are you wouldn't want to do business with them anyway. I've been to the bigger mills here and although they have higher minumum orders they have been just as nice as could be and will likely tell ya where you can get what your looking for if they don't have it.

sorethumbs

I like the idea of asking if the mill has any good wood they could recommend rather than specifying exactly what I want. Kind of like a suprise. I was thinking that air-dried would be ok to run through my planer, is this right? or does it need to be kiln dried? Also by "small mill" i mean one that has a few pole barns and a shed with a sawmill, not the big mills that have yards that look like train-yards, I think a few up by Hayward even are serviced by train, literally. I've never even seen a mill at work, other than the wood-mizer sales booth at the fair.

Tom

The small mills I'm talking about are the ones where the fellow has a mill hooked to the back of his truck and parks it in the back yard at night.  He might store his wood in a pole barn or out in the back with a piece of tin on it. You will find those guys on this site. ;D :D

Air dried wood is fine.  You may have to learn to build with it.  There are techniques that allow the wood to move and those are what you need to learn   We have fellows on here that can help with that too.  

Don't get caught up in "Good-wood-comes-from-somewhere-else" syndrome that appears to be so common. The wood from your backyard would be imported if you lived somewhere else. :D  Just think of how lucky you are to have all of that "imported",  "exotic", "specialty" wood growing right there in your front yard. :D :D

What would be good for you is to get involved in the drying topic down below on the forum and learn to air dry your own wood. If you did that, you would never be in need of wood.

dutchman

I saw part time for customers, and when I get good logs I saw for inventory.
If someone comes for  a few boards no problem.
I have a few furniture builders who look for price on Q sawn, 8/4, or special use lumber.
I check moisture on air dried lumber, then tell new customers how to finish drying.
Easiest quick check ,edge the board,check width with dial calibers.
Say 4.250"  when the wood stops shrinking it's useable.




Fred

I have sold 8/4 RO 3ft. long 14in. wide cut one peice off a good board. have another guy wanting a 2ft. long x 18in. wide 1 5/8" thick for a boat transom..I try to make my customers happy so they will come back or tell a friend
Baker 18M
Woodmaster 718 Planer/ molder

J_T

Welcom Sorethumbs I would go to the members map and see if one was close to me then IM that person. Just a though 8)
Jim Holloway

Bibbyman

I'd suggest you contact a sawmill owner,  in person or by phone,  and state what you are in the market for and how much you'd like to buy and ask if they were interested in doing business with you.  Then take it from there.  

We thought we were going to do a lot of retail sale of KD lumber and did a good little bit for a while.  But we soon found out it sure eats up a lot of time and you've got a lot invested in the inventory,  storage and handling.   Now we try to get it off the place as soon as it quits flopin'.

Seems every hobbyist and weekend woodworker had to pick through 500 bf to get 30.   Then we'd have to hear all about his project and provide technical advice, etc.  

The fun of "how much money" we were making by taking the log to KD lumber was soon replaced by the feeling of "how much time" I'm burning up here to sell $60 worth of lumber.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

smwwoody

Ok here is what went out of my mill today.  first it was a guy who stopped that needed 6 2X4X8's .  I told him sure just back over to that pile riite there lode the ones you want and pay my wife on your way out.[she's the one over there restacking that pile of oak I knocked over with the tractor earler]  next was a trailer load of 180 rail road ties.  then cane the guy looking for a few pieces of real nice red oak.  so we walked over to the 1 and better red oak pile and started picking through he found 3 boards that were just what he was looking for paid me and left with a big smile.  and last was the 20 1X6X10 fence boards that I loaded in my truck and dropped of at the farm down the road on my way to the gas station.  no one was home so I just stacked them on the barn floor and left.  Joe will be over some time soon to pay for them.  I love them little sales. I do about $50.00 / week on them and this is our fun money.  We are a small mill just me and my wife working there.

Here are some good tips on aproching a small mill.  don't drive right up into the middle of all the action.  park out of the way.  walk over but dont get to close.  let them see you and someone will come to you as soon as they get a chance.  I like to finish the log I have on the carriage before I shut down to talk to someone.

Good luck buying some nice lumber most small mills will bend over backwards to help you out

Woody
Full time Mill Manager
Cleereman head rig
Cooper Scragg
McDonugh gang saw
McDonugh edger
McDonugh resaw
TS end trim
Pendu slab recovery system
KJ4WXC

Frickman

Woody's right, don't get in their way. Just stand off to the side somewhere and watch. We'll see you and get to you soon as we can. Sometimes I'll have to finish sawing a deck of logs first for an order, but hang around anyhow. It sure makes for cheap entertainment.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

oakiemac

Welcome Sorethumb,

Don't hesitat to approach a small mill. Some of them, like myself, prefer to sell in 100bf increments, but will sell just one or two boards.
If you are ever in SW Michigan, stop on by and say hello!
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

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