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For those of you cutting and selling pine...

Started by WoodenHead, July 01, 2013, 09:22:51 AM

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WoodenHead

I'm generally stationary, so I sell lumber.  Most of that lumber is pine.  Up until now I haven't really sorted the wood according to "grade", except that any clear pieces are segregated and sold at a premium.  I was wondering if anyone bothers to separate their wood and price each "grade" differently?  I realize that softwood is treated differently than hardwood in terms of grading, but it does seem to be categorized. 

bandmiller2

Short answer no,but if I'am cutting my own logs I will sort and keep the ice cream.If your cutting outhers logs your bound by the sawyers code to give them all the good stuff.I've found it more trouble than good to try to grade run of the mill pine. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

isawlogs

 Nope, I do what you  do, if there is clear I put it aside. Then again I really like to make doors and cabinets with the knotty pine, I find it has more caracter then clear pine.  :)  I have made shelving with clear pine before, as pine is plentifull here, there always another log if needed.
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

red oaks lumber

no sorting, its a "woods" run look. the small % of clear lumber isnt worth trying to keep it seperate.
there are times if we have an order for clear or mostly clear, we'll sort it at the planer.
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

drobertson

There are two factors that control what I do, my logs, customers logs, at this point I go from the material list, mine or theirs, we have quite a few good clear logs here, these are 2x's the knotty stuff goes to siding. This is what I suggest to customers as well, often times some tight knots show up as I get into the cant, but these are fine in my book, I sell by the stack, no sorting, I just try to make good lumber for the project at hand.  david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

GeneWengert-WoodDoc

I agree with the previous posts and add the following reason why.

Once you grade, then you are competing with the larger mills that have very low costs (except for the clear pieces).  These large mills can usually sell cheaper than you can tolerate.  The market that such lumber is sold in is called a "commodity market" meaning that every piece of a certain grade is sold at the same price regardless of which mill or part of the country that the piece came from.  Every piece of the same grade is the same in appearance and usefulness, so why pay more?

The key for mills like yours is to make a specialty product, rather than a commodity product.

Is this explanation too short to make sense?  I,hope not.  I am typing on my I-pad, so it is hard to get long winded.
Gene - Author of articles in Sawmill & Woodlot and books: Drying Hardwood Lumber; VA Tech Solar Kiln; Sawing Edging & Trimming Hardwood Lumber. And more

roghair

Quote from: GeneWengert-WoodDoc on July 03, 2013, 10:05:09 PM

Is this explanation too short to make sense?  I,hope not.  I am typing on my I-pad, so it is hard to get long winded.

No, not to short, it makes sense. Stay on the iPad  ;)
built a sawmill

WoodenHead

Thanks for your responses.

Quote from: GeneWengert-WoodDoc on July 03, 2013, 10:05:09 PM
Once you grade, then you are competing with the larger mills that have very low costs (except for the clear pieces).  These large mills can usually sell cheaper than you can tolerate.  The market that such lumber is sold in is called a "commodity market" meaning that every piece of a certain grade is sold at the same price regardless of which mill or part of the country that the piece came from.  Every piece of the same grade is the same in appearance and usefulness, so why pay more?

The key for mills like yours is to make a specialty product, rather than a commodity product.

That makes sense.  I'd like to stay away from commodity products, but at times I feel the market push in that direction.  And oddly enough one of my most popular products this summer has been something I consider a commodity - 1 x 6 V-joint pine.  I can sell it just below the retail price and still make a decent profit doing so.  There are others who are selling it cheaper elsewhere, but I seem to be in just the right spot (popular area for cottagers) to make it work. 

Sometimes I'm afraid that my quality is not the same as what can be purchased indirectly (through retail lumber yards) from the larger mills because they do sort their wood by grade and I do not.  To compensate I generally run off a few extra pieces for my clients if I think the quality isn't quite there and/or count 10' as 8' if there's a bad spot let's say.  That cuts into profit, but keeps the customer happy.

bandmiller2

We can't compete with the woody marts but we can offer one stop shopping.I cut a lot for sheds and small barns most guys say cut me the 2x4's and sixes wile were at it, and it will all match.Full cut lumber just smacks of over engineering and is pleasing to the eyes of most folks. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

woodmills1

really Gene it is hard for you to get long winded?



so obvious joke here
this is pun and a play on words and I bet all including gene gets it :D :D
cause I have the same long winded gene :P
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

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