Any of you guys have a sawmill?

C

CTS1999

Location
Athens
I'm kicking around the idea of picking up a sawmill at some point and wondered if it would be worthwhile. Mainly interested in salvaging lots of interesting crotches that we've been throwing away for years. Rough sawn lumber is cheap but these interesting crotches being sawn live edge 2" thick for bartops, tabletops, etc seem to be bringing a fair amount. Maybe worth even more, for the high end client that reluctantly removed a tree they loved in order to protect their home, to get a unique piece of furniture made from said tree. Just an idea I've been kicking around. Any of you out there doing this? If so, has it been worthwhile?

For my business, this would be something that would be "busy work" on wet days.

I'm open to any ideas you guys have as far as selling a part of a homeowners tree back to them in a different form for a premium price.

Let's hear what you guys think!
 
CTS1999 said:
I'm kicking around the idea of picking up a sawmill at some point and wondered if it would be worthwhile. Mainly interested in salvaging lots of interesting crotches that we've been throwing away for years. Rough sawn lumber is cheap but these interesting crotches being sawn live edge 2" thick for bartops, tabletops, etc seem to be bringing a fair amount. Maybe worth even more, for the high end client that reluctantly removed a tree they loved in order to protect their home, to get a unique piece of furniture made from said tree. Just an idea I've been kicking around. Any of you out there doing this? If so, has it been worthwhile?

For my business, this would be something that would be "busy work" on wet days.

I'm open to any ideas you guys have as far as selling a part of a homeowners tree back to them in a different form for a premium price.

Let's hear what you guys think!
Click to expand...

Do you have a way to efficiently move the wood to your mill? Log truck? Something to easily load the large wood onto the mill with? What about means of transport once the slabs have been cut? Show room space?
Any idea what size mill you would buy? Will it be big enough for the larger wood, or are you just focusing on smaller wood? I find people are really interested in the larger wood, mainly large main trunks with the deformities your talking about.
 
ROYCE said:
Do you have a way to efficiently move the wood to your mill? Log truck? Something to easily load the large wood onto the mill with? What about means of transport once the slabs have been cut? Show room space?
Any idea what size mill you would buy? Will it be big enough for the larger wood, or are you just focusing on smaller wood? I find people are really interested in the larger wood, mainly large main trunks with the deformities your talking about.
Click to expand...
Moving the wood to the mill, loading large wood on the mill, and storage isn't a problem. However, showroom space for finished products is very limited. Suggestions on mill size are welcomed.
 
My Alaskan chainsaw mill for my MS880 gets used infrequently, but does a decent job milling live edge slabs.
Have not tried to sell anything yet. The "hobby" aspect of this has had more appeal to me than it being a "business".
Bandsaw mill? Kiln? Planer? Thickness sander? Workshop facility? Showroom? Marketing? Where does it end? Lotta potential creeping scope here.
I'm curious of the economics...Have heard it takes a year +/- to air-dry 1" thickness hardwood, and some of mine are 3"+ thick..
 
Pelorus said:
My Alaskan chainsaw mill for my MS880 gets used infrequently, but does a decent job milling live edge slabs.
Have not tried to sell anything yet. The "hobby" aspect of this has had more appeal to me than it being a "business".
Bandsaw mill? Kiln? Planer? Thickness sander? Workshop facility? Showroom? Marketing? Where does it end? Lotta potential creeping scope here.
I'm curious of the economics...Have heard it takes a year +/- to air-dry 1" thickness hardwood, and some of mine are 3"+ thick..
Click to expand...

This might be an affordable way to start out. See if there is a market. The Alaskan mill can be had for a couple hundred bucks vs a band mill @ a few thousand. Could be a very good way to do control the scope creep too. I have seen walnut slabs 24" live sawn 8-10 ft long with $500 price tags around here.
Or you could do what this guy did. He can't have 50 bucks into this thing
 
I know a fellow who has milled several million board feet with his portable mill; he told me he gets fewer and fewer calls every year. Lotsa mills get bought, used briefly for a couple of projects, and then they sit. And rust. And the owners kids would far rather play video games and text their buddies than learn to mill wood.
I have a buddy ("tree service" = mostly lot clearing) who has a decent bandsaw mill. He used that mill briefly this summer for the first time in 4 or 5 years.
So, I'm inclined to think there is more money to be made in selling mills than using them.
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
This might be an affordable way to start out. See if there is a market. The Alaskan mill can be had for a couple hundred bucks vs a band mill @ a few thousand. Could be a very good way to do control the scope creep too. I have seen walnut slabs 24" live sawn 8-10 ft long with $500 price tags around here.
Or you could do what this guy did. He can't have 50 bucks into this thing
Click to expand...
Great Stuff ! ! !
 
My son bought a small saw mill from a friend. A band mill you walk the blade thru the log. Think he told me he can saw up to 20" dia. For what we use it for it works out. Mostly has been for personal use so far. Replacing roof on his house used it for that.

Plus my other son built work benches, also making benches for his outdoor wedding next year, cut a cherry slab for a bar top. Cut a black walnut he had a buddy make him a beautiful working electric guitar into. etc.

We used to sell most of our soft wood to a local shavings mill but when that burned, (didn't rebuild) had alot of logs left so now have a way to utilize some of them. Yeah it would be nice to be able to cut larger dia wood but it was definitely a worthwhile investment. He paid $1,500 for the mill.
 
IMG_3406.webp Like the others stated I'd start off small with an Alaskan mill or something similar first then move forward if it works out for you. I also see a lot of small mills just sitting around in backyards. Here's an ad from today's local CL
 
I have a local guy with a really nice portable mill that comes out for $40 an hour. There are a lot of guys with saw mills and no wood to run through them or ways to move larger logs. There are also guys who will come out in exchange for half the lumber. Might be better off seeing if you can hook up with someone like this.
 
My MS880 was originally owned by Steve Cirucci, an arborist who was killed in a tragic tree accident in 2013.
He, his wife, and a few relatives operated a side business (Crosscut Rustic Furniture) that they developed from using wood sourced from their tree removals.
Photo of a walnut table I made last fall.
IMG_20170115_125709136_HDR-2004x2672.webp
Lotsa arborists love living trees. But once the wood hits the ground it gets rammed through a chipper and that is the end of it. I think an appreciation for the subjects of our profession might properly extend beyond that time.
 
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tc262 said:
I have a local guy with a really nice portable mill that comes out for $40 an hour. There are a lot of guys with saw mills and no wood to run through them or ways to move larger logs. There are also guys who will come out in exchange for half the lumber. Might be better off seeing if you can hook up with someone like this.
Click to expand...

Guy by me gets $75/hr plus an hour setup fee. I obviously have access to lots of wood so I may see if he would do it on halves witb me.
 
2 part epoxy "bar top" pour on stuff I got at Home Depot, Jeff.
The wood sat in shade in carport for a couple of years; am hoping it is stable enough to not crack from low humidity levels this winter.
 
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