any demand for a portable saw mill???

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taandctran

New User
Thanh Tran
As most of you have saw I posted about me being interested in purchasing a portable bandsaw mill.... I was wondering if there is any demand in my are for a come to your location band saw mill... or if anyone would be interested in bring their logs to my area when or if I do decide to get a saw mill.... I live in Davie county... just to give you a idea of where I am, I am around a hour west from Greensboro.. 30 minutes west from Winston Salem, 30 minutes east from Statesville, 20 minutes north from Salisbury and 1 hour north from Charlotte. My wife is worried that I would find enough people interested in a saw mill service... Thanks for the replys ahead of time...
 

NCPete

New User
Pete Davio
I think it basically works on a 'build it, they will come' sort of rule. Sometimes it just takes longer for them to find it.

but, I gave Jeff... some pretty serious and frank coaching (I was in the middle of a Managerial Accounting course) when he was looking at getting his. And, at the time, he was able to justify it to himself (and most importantly, his WIFE) as a hobby that he wanted to get into. Now that he has learned the ropes of running a mill, he is turning it into a for profit business, which some of the other guys have also done. Careful searching may reveal the original counseling that I gave, but I haven't bothered to go look for it, because if I did, I might have been forced to look at the way I have dived into a cabinet shop. Passion seems to overcome reason, but I might have been a little embarrassed to realize that I prolly didn't follow my own coaching. :oops: It doesn't matter, as my best friend and I are learning a lot about business, as we try to run one around our regular jobs.
 
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pcooper

Phillip Cooper
Corporate Member
The way I look at it, if there are saw mills around close to me, and yours would be close enough, I'd use the service if you had lumber I could use. I don't normally have logs to cut, but would buy part of a log as I had money. Like was said before, if you build it, they will come. :eusa_danc
 

Tarhead

Mark
Corporate Member
If I were looking at this I would contact the companies making the saws you are interested in and ask for some references (both local and outside of your local area (ie: East Tennessee, South Carolina, Northern Virginia) and visit/talk to them. I remember Kyle Edwards saying once when I was there that there is a mighty good market for used bandsaw mills because lots of people get the fever to buy one and then they sit and collect dust. I would try to figure out why this happens and if you are at risk for the same thing.

You definitely have an instant customer base (996 members!) here if you decide to go for it. If you have access to a kiln an even bigger slice of this group would be captured...especially if you can offer a good product at a discount vs Wall Lumber, NC Hardwood, etc.

Good luck with your decision!
 
J

jeff...

I know where there is a WoodMizer LT40SH that has less than 100 hours on in and has been sitting under a shed for over 2 years.

That poor sawmill has not been cranked up in 2 years let alone sunk it's theeth into any log. It amazes me how some people buy sawmills thinking they would like to run them but quickly learn it's hard dirty heavy work. Why in the world someone would let a $35,000 peice of machinery sit like that I'll never know. And yes I already talked to the owner, he will not sell it :roll:, why? God only knows...

Fernhollow man stopped by and ran the mill for a while. I think he liked it. Here's the thread of Jim slicing up some 5/4 QSRO.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6479

Give me a call on my cell phone and we'll work something out so you can come over and see what it's all about.

Thanks
 

zapdafish

New User
Steve
just curious, what kinda log size is worth calling someone with a sawmill for? And is it mainly the area from the ground up to where the branches start that gets good lumber for woodworkers?
 

Kyle

New User
Kyle Edwards
1- I wouldn't saw anything less than 10" too much immature wood.

2- I wouldn't saw limbs. Tension wood is almost always present.

3- The main butt log is of primary interest and the crotch especially if it does
not have inclusions.
 

chris99z71

New User
Chris
Good ole Auto Matic has closed it but you can still read it, just not respond

Rules about re-opening threads are pretty loose. If you have something significant to add or ask in an old thread that you feel the whole group would benefit from, it can easily be reopened.
 

NCPete

New User
Pete Davio
I was looking for the thread where we discussed the business case for owning/operating a mill on a part time basis... but reopening a thread is kind of like throwing a switch, any mod can do it, course Otto will still close it a month after inactivity.
 

zapdafish

New User
Steve
wow, thanks, that was an interesting read. awhile back I used to see trees in peoples yards and think to myself how lucky they were to have a possible cheap supply of lumber, hehe.

Would a single tree in a yard be considered wind shook then? full of stress?
 
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