Milling saves me more money than I thought...

[Andrew96]

A lot of good stuff in this post now.
We know who takes all the good lumber in the yards, see how wholesale prices are going....
however, when it comes to me goofing around with my saws......I only have to look at my other hobby..motorcycles. I spend more on insurance than my saw cost new...every year. I spend even more money riding around in circles off road than anything remotely to do with wood working. I think if I had to buy a new saw every year....I'd still chose to go buy one and go milling. It's fun..keeps me fit..gives me 'my' wood to play with. The value of fun needs to be considered. Yup...just a hobby miller I guess.

 

[Hddnis]

There was a time here when 2x4's were so cheap guys were buying them instead of cutting firewood.

For me milling saves a little money I suppose, but mostly it lets me get more value out of wood. That is value to me, not always $$$.

I have a rotten out cottonwood log that I made cookies out of. When it dries a little dress up and one of those cookies is going to be a clock face for our Lodge Room. (What we call the big room in our house.)

Then there is the spalted maple logs. I've traded some of that wood for wood working tools and machines; so I'm getting value out of it, but not money.

The cost of milling with a CSM is the saw, the fuel/oil and bar oil, chains, bars, files/grinders, milling attachment, rails or guide boards. A total cost package is a lot of money and if it were a business would be factored into each board foot.

Time is a factor too, as is transportation. The true value of a CSM is portability and versatility. It is value added if you already own a chainsaw as it allows more use of the tool.

Like anything if it is a hobby then don't count the cost too much or you'll stop enjoying it. lol



Mr. HE

 

[stipes]

To me the hardest part was...

There was a time here when 2x4's were so cheap guys were buying them instead of cutting firewood.

For me milling saves a little money I suppose, but mostly it lets me get more value out of wood. That is value to me, not always $$$.

I have a rotten out cottonwood log that I made cookies out of. When it dries a little dress up and one of those cookies is going to be a clock face for our Lodge Room. (What we call the big room in our house.)

Then there is the spalted maple logs. I've traded some of that wood for wood working tools and machines; so I'm getting value out of it, but not money.

The cost of milling with a CSM is the saw, the fuel/oil and bar oil, chains, bars, files/grinders, milling attachment, rails or guide boards. A total cost package is a lot of money and if it were a business would be factored into each board foot.

Time is a factor too, as is transportation. The true value of a CSM is portability and versatility. It is value added if you already own a chainsaw as it allows more use of the tool.

Like anything if it is a hobby then don't count the cost too much or you'll stop enjoying it. lol



Mr. HE

:agree2:

Getting started and learning....The total cost getting started is kinda high,,but then once you get settled in,,it really isnt that bad expensive once you started , and you can cheat as in guide boards,,rails,take a older chain and grind it for milling,, but in all honesty,,,it isnt a hobbie when you can mill up a log and make something from it...Alot of tallent on here that makes some great things from their wood. Of all the things I searched for to get somekinda enjoyment for to last years down the road,,this is it...

 

[Backwoods]

I still have a board tucked away that I bought several years ago ¾”x 10”x 8’ It cost $30.00. When I go out, fire up the mill, and can mill up all of the wood that I will use for a goat barn or other project in a days time, and have nothing but some time into the logs, it just feels good. I know, my mill cost more then any truck I have bought, but it makes me money during the week by not competing with the box stores. I mill a better product and my customers know it. I provide a service that many of the old timers thought was gone for good, as all of the small mills around here got pushed out by the big mills. The bandmill has made sawing logs efficient enough that it is practical for a land owner to hire me to pull in and mill up a whack of logs for them and save them money on the cost of there project and in this economy saving money is high on most everyone’s list.

As far as the lumber yard piles. Back when I was working in a production mill I went down to the lumber yard to get a few 2x4’s, since all there stacks of wood had the logo from the mill I worked at all over them I asked for Hemlock 2x4’s. The guy behind the counter corrected me, and stated that you can not get Hemlock, but they had Hem-fir. Need less to say the stacks he showed me were all Hemlock with no white fir mixed in as we had been separating them out for half a dozen years at that point.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

That seems high, but I think your talking about Canadian $$$s.

I've been told that I could get 6x12 at $4/linear-foot. Even if 8x12 was $5/linear-foot, that would still be about $125 for the beam.

But does that hold true for a 26' beam? Or is that price only good on shorter stock? It's been a looong time since I paid attention to stuff that big, but I seem to remember that you pay a premium for the longer stuff.

 

[TraditionalTool]

But does that hold true for a 26' beam? Or is that price only good on shorter stock? It's been a looong time since I paid attention to stuff that big, but I seem to remember that you pay a premium for the longer stuff.

I believe it does, but it was 6x10 I was quoted at $4/lf, not 6x12.

That is what the big mills are selling for when I was researching. My rafters are 21' long, so close to the 26' your talking about. I'm hoping to cut them myself now, but don't have enough fir...

 

[stipes]

That says it all...

I still have a board tucked away that I bought several years ago ¾”x 10”x 8’ It cost $30.00. When I go out, fire up the mill, and can mill up all of the wood that I will use for a goat barn or other project in a days time, and have nothing but some time into the logs, it just feels good. I know, my mill cost more then any truck I have bought, but it makes me money during the week by not competing with the box stores. I mill a better product and my customers know it. I provide a service that many of the old timers thought was gone for good, as all of the small mills around here got pushed out by the big mills. The bandmill has made sawing logs efficient enough that it is practical for a land owner to hire me to pull in and mill up a whack of logs for them and save them money on the cost of there project and in this economy saving money is high on most everyone’s list.

As far as the lumber yard piles. Back when I was working in a production mill I went down to the lumber yard to get a few 2x4’s, since all there stacks of wood had the logo from the mill I worked at all over them I asked for Hemlock 2x4’s. The guy behind the counter corrected me, and stated that you can not get Hemlock, but they had Hem-fir. Need less to say the stacks he showed me were all Hemlock with no white fir mixed in as we had been separating them out for half a dozen years at that point.

Backwoods....The service.....This day in time it's all about the money,,but I seen all you made on here and it's pride,,,craftsmanship...Thats something thats becoming a lost art anymore in this day intime.....
*I provide a service that many of the old timers thought was gone for good*
My Grandpa and Grandma's home was made from each board of these woods that I live on.....Portable mill....You see a 2x4 in that home,,it is a true 2x4....Nothing in a box store that says 2x4 can match up.A 2x4 isnt a 2x4 now days...Door frames is ruff cut....Slat celings....
The crap I see now days in a box store,,and alot of lumber companys,,,if I was a manager I'd be ashamed to try to sell it on someone....Profit over pride...Thats whats killing this country ...Sometimes I think,,we just aint gonna make it much longer the path the country is goin to......When a man sells something he would be ashamed to take home himself,,he sold out his family's name,,his generation on down....I was raised to never do that to a man..Anything I make,,,do,,I want familys to enjoy years on down....Thats just the way I am my friend.......

 

[DRB]

That beam would currently be about $420 here in Vancouver, rough sawn finish and you pick up from the mill. (assuming it would be select grade structural)

That seems to be the going rate. $2 per bd/ft. It seems like a high price to pay when you can buy high grade fir logs for about $80 to $120 per cubic meter. A logging truck load of nice fir for $3600 or less.

Lets see $3600 divided by $420 = 8.6 ( 8 x 12 x 26 )

I am sure you could get a few more than 8-1/2 8x12's out of a truck load of logs.

Sounds like good profit to me.

Now if you value add that 8x12 by planing, CNC machining it for a timber frame and it appearance grade FOHC then the price goes to $4.88 per bd/ft. That does not even include timber frame set up.

 

[TraditionalTool]

But does that hold true for a 26' beam? Or is that price only good on shorter stock? It's been a looong time since I paid attention to stuff that big, but I seem to remember that you pay a premium for the longer stuff.

Mark,

Here's some fir for $2.50/lf for 6x8s, up in the Portland, OR area.

 

[DRB]

Mark,

Here's some fir for $2.50/lf for 6x8s, up in the Portland, OR area.

Why do we always pay such high prices up here?

We must like it or something

 

[isaaccarlson]

I haven't milled a whole lot on my mill yet but it is definitely worth having. Yeah, sure they cost more than a used car but they save you money at the pump and in wood. I can't even find a straight board anymore. I dug through two stacks of 2x4s at fleet farm a while back to get 10 half way decent boards!!! The people there were looking at me funny as I muttered stuff about how I should have just milled up a nice pine log and used it wet.....they got kinda upset when I had a fit about paying $20 for 10 2x4s. There was only one 2x4 that I would have felt good about selling!!!! Besides...I can mill up ANY dimension that I need/want.

 

[Brmorgan]

More red tape to get it? If I want to salvage dead standing Douglas Fir, I have to go through the same procedure as if they were live. Makes no sense to me.

 

[discounthunter]

just remember some lumber we cut is not really workable for some time (if air dried) upwords of year(s) .

 

[Brmorgan]

I suppose, but 90% or more of what I mill is already dead and destined for structural lumber anyway; so I have it a lot easier than guys milling green hardwood for finishing/furniture use.

 

[SilverBox]

But tryin to find a decent guide board without a bow you have to start digging tru the pile and the local lumber store,,box store,, the people workin there starts coming over and ask ,,,can I help you,,,I want to say,,yes,,you can dig tru here and find a half azz decent board that isnt twisted and bowed....Seems like any 2x4,,,2 x6,,8's ect,,is junk for what I been seeing....I wanted to do some short milling without using the ladder and have so much overhang,,and I bit the bullet and bought a 2x8 10' the best I could find,,and cut off 4' of it on the radial arm saw...I'll end up using the 4" section for kindling,,yes,,it's that bad....I'm just wondering if anyone is havin a hard time finding decent lumber too....

Don't buy the wet ones, buy the straight dryer boards, they tend to stay that way. Wet wood at the yard from the middle of the unit will look straight when you buy it, but literally within a few days will warp, always been that way.. Cull wood always ends up on the top of the stack, been that way for the last 30 years that I can remember buying wood at the yard/box store, will always be that way.. If your getting it delivered send the load back if its airplane props, or just tell em when you order it that you'll send it back if its cull wood.

At the box store I throw all the cull wood off in front of the racks on the ground, then get what I need from deeper in the unit and if it needs to be really good I eyeball it from the end and buy dry ones, if its not so critical, I just look for major defects as I get what I need. Rarely does box store staff ask me if I need help when I'm loading alot of wood on a cart, they do come along after I'm done and stack all that cull wood that I tossed on the floor back on top of the unit, lol. They must get rid of some of the cull wood at some point thu, because it never seems to be really deep, just a layer or 2 at the most.

At the yards around here, the busy ones with better pricing have less cull wood on the top of the stacks, the slower ones with higher pricing have more cull on top of the stacks, and once, the yard guys asked me to restack the culls back on the unit, I was feeling charitable that day and actually did it, in retrospect I should have left that crap wood on the ground.

Now that I think about it, in an outdoor yard, you probably want a layer of culls on top of the unit, keeps the wood underneath fresher longer.