# question about a milling charge



## phinds (Jul 15, 2013)

I needed to have an 8"x8'x3/4 clear pine plank resawn lengthwise and surfaced to two 1/4 planks. The local lumber yard did a great job but they charged me $20 which seems steep to me, but then I don't know anything about that sort of thing, so I'm just wondering what some of you more knowledgeable folks have to say about that. I may want to use the place again so I'd like to know if I'm getting really ripped on the charge or if it's reasonable. The bill said 20 minutes of milling at $1/min = $20.


----------



## Kevin (Jul 15, 2013)

Sounds fair to me especially since you're happy with the quality of work. You can look at it as a $1 a minute, but from their point of view, consider the overhead a place like that has and the risk they take on a non moneymaker job like that. very small reward for the risk. If they had screwed up the job the replacement and redoing it and getting a bad rap on their local reputation and on and on could have cost them hundreds or even thousands in lost revenue and future jobs if someone decided based on your word of mouth not to give them a try on a large job. 

$1 a minute for 20 minutes is a lot when you're paying, but for them, it's not considered a profitable job - it's more like a service. If they could line up 24 jobs like that back to back in an 8 hour day it would be highly profitable but they can't. I think you ought to be ecstatic to have found a potentially reliable high quality service that will do small jobs like that and count yourself lucky. JMO.


----------



## Treecycle Hardwoods (Jul 15, 2013)

I would second what keving said. I do not resaw at my location but the sawmill across the county does and they charge a $5 minimum for resawing (its a per Bf charge after that) and .25/bf to plane. What is a bit steep is their sanding charge at $1.85/min


----------



## Mike1950 (Jul 15, 2013)

Kevin said:


> Sounds fair to me especially since you're happy with the quality of work. You can look at it as a $1 a minute, but from their point of view, consider the overhead a place like that has and the risk they take on a non moneymaker job like that. very small reward for the risk. If they had screwed up the job the replacement and redoing it and getting a bad rap on their local reputation and on and on could have cost them hundreds or even thousands in lost revenue and future jobs if someone decided based on your word of mouth not to give them a try on a large job.
> 
> $1 a minute for 20 minutes is a lot when you're paying, but for them, it's not considered a profitable job - it's more like a service. If they could line up 24 jobs like that back to back in an 8 hour day it would be highly profitable but they can't. I think you ought to be ecstatic to have found a potentially reliable high quality service that will do small jobs like that and count yourself lucky. JMO.



I have to agree with Kevin- $60 an hour- includes the machine operator- the machine, buildings, power and the liability ins. Nobody is getting rich at that rate. Now if you brought 100 boards in you should get a discount.


----------



## phinds (Jul 15, 2013)

Thanks, guys. I see completely what you are saying and I appreciate the feedback. I should have also mentioned that they did not plane it, they belt-sanded it, and it IS a terrific finish ... just what I needed so I didn't mind the money, just want to make sure it was reasonable.


----------



## jimmyjames (Jul 15, 2013)

Sounds fair to me, I had those amborsia maple slabs respawn at a cost of $145... roughly 4'x18"x 3" cut into 2 6/4 slabs each and they were horrible, I had to take 1/2" off to get them flat and then sanded down to less than 7/8......... you can't get much done for $20 these days........


----------



## gvwp (Jul 16, 2013)

jimmyjames said:


> Sounds fair to me, I had those amborsia maple slabs respawn at a cost of $145... roughly 4'x18"x 3" cut into 2 6/4 slabs each and they were horrible, I had to take 1/2" off to get them flat and then sanded down to less than 7/8......... you can't get much done for $20 these days........



Holy cow man!  I wish I had known Jimmy. I don't like to resaw either because the mill doesn't always give desirable results but better than 1/2" should have been no problem.


----------



## rdnkmedic (Jul 17, 2013)

I'm no expert by any means. But When I got the bill from my sawyer for cutting my walnut tree up, I nearly fell in the floor. He sawed the whole tree, 4 logs, one very crooked that we cut in half. It took us about 3 hours to do the milling. We were very careful to orient the logs to existing cracks and checks and all the rotten sapwood had to be removed. 

I'm expecting at least $150. Nope $56.77. Like I said, I nearly fell in the floor. Not sure if I got the family discount or what. We are not family. I did help him so he didn't have to pay any labor. I got a fantastic deal in my opinion. I was expecting a $50 minimum and then we go from there. I actually argued with him some that there was no way he was making any money. Maybe he just likes me.

WHat do you guys think? Did I get an awesome deal or what?


----------



## Mike1950 (Jul 17, 2013)

rdnkmedic said:


> I'm no expert by any means. But When I got the bill from my sawyer for cutting my walnut tree up, I nearly fell in the floor. He sawed the whole tree, 4 logs, one very crooked that we cut in half. It took us about 3 hours to do the milling. We were very careful to orient the logs to existing cracks and checks and all the rotten sapwood had to be removed.
> 
> I'm expecting at least $150. Nope $56.77. Like I said, I nearly fell in the floor. Not sure if I got the family discount or what. We are not family. I did help him so he didn't have to pay any labor. I got a fantastic deal in my opinion. I was expecting a $50 minimum and then we go from there. I actually argued with him some that there was no way he was making any money. Maybe he just likes me.
> 
> WHat do you guys think? Did I get an awesome deal or what?



More then awesome- You might owe him a bottle or????


----------



## ripjack13 (Jul 17, 2013)

I'd give him At least a nice custom pen to continue writing up those cheap charges for you...


----------



## Kevin (Jul 17, 2013)

rdnkmedic said:


> ...$56.77. ...
> 
> WHat do you guys think? Did I get an awesome deal or what?



Yes I think so but I'd be a little concerned why he felt it necessary to add the 77 cents. That seems a little greedy.


----------



## jimmyjames (Jul 18, 2013)

That's an excellent price, he must do it for the love of the wood, charging you $56 he probably made about $10 off of you if that after paying for fuel, blades etc. That man did you a favor, I would be sure to take that man something cool made out of the wood he cut for you. My old milling guy would have charged me probably $400 to do that milling, and then after he milled it he'd let it sit in the sun and warp and check and it would take him 2 months to do it.......


----------



## rdnkmedic (Jul 18, 2013)

I totally agree Jimmy. I plan on doing something for him. he has given me tons of wood also. I have free rein to pick through his scrap pile. He called on Tuesday and said he was cutting some burls off some oak and did I want them. Of course I said yes. He is in the business to make some money but he is a retired Army guy and i guess is not depending on this to eat. It's a great connection that I have made that is really close to the house.

I sometimes go to his woodyard when he is not there and just rummage through the scrap pile and can find some really cool stuff.

I will take care of him. I surely dont want to make him mad. The price will go up. I took some bowls up to show him and he was really impressed with a box elder bowl I turned from a piece I found on a clear cut. That will be his soon.


----------



## jimmyjames (Jul 18, 2013)

rdnkmedic said:


> I totally agree Jimmy. I plan on doing something for him. he has given me tons of wood also. I have free rein to pick through his scrap pile. He called on Tuesday and said he was cutting some burls off some oak and did I want them. Of course I said yes. He is in the business to make some money but he is a retired Army guy and i guess is not depending on this to eat. It's a great connection that I have made that is really close to the house.
> 
> I sometimes go to his woodyard when he is not there and just rummage through the scrap pile and can find some really cool stuff.
> 
> I will take care of him. I surely dont want to make him mad. The price will go up. I took some bowls up to show him and he was really impressed with a box elder bowl I turned from a piece I found on a clear cut. That will be his soon.




Nice to find a sawmill owner not trying to get rich, 2 out of the 3 local sawmills here the guys went and mortgaged they're homes and spent $25k+ on brand new mills and they don't have the work ethic to make money to pay for they're investment, I understand making money on services rendered but when they charge over $1 a foot its not cost effective , plus neither one have any clue on how to efficiently mill lumber, both of them just flat saw the log all in one shot from top to bottom. The 3rd guy has been milling for a long time and hasquite the neat setup for quarter sawing, also has high knowledge of milling. He's a really good guy to deal with, he doesn't charge by the board foot and only charges $50 an hour and can mill 500' an hour of straight logs, his son helps him off bear and he even has an edger which makes it that much sweater, he does charge an additional $25 an hour for edging, but that's cheap considering he would have to edge for a bazillion hours to pay for the edger...... if the guy is looking for more work I wouldn't hesitate to post his info on here for him given he is OK with it, again take care of that gentleman, guys like that are very very hard to come by nowadays


----------



## rdnkmedic (Jul 18, 2013)

jimmyjames said:


> rdnkmedic said:
> 
> 
> > I totally agree Jimmy. I plan on doing something for him. he has given me tons of wood also. I have free rein to pick through his scrap pile. He called on Tuesday and said he was cutting some burls off some oak and did I want them. Of course I said yes. He is in the business to make some money but he is a retired Army guy and i guess is not depending on this to eat. It's a great connection that I have made that is really close to the house.
> ...



Oh, I forgot about the edging. We took care of that too. I kept all the scraps but I have lots of clean pretty lumber. I have mentioned this site to him, he does some turning too. I will see if I can get him hooked up on here. He is in Buena Vista, GA if anybody is close. PM me and I will give you his contact info.


----------

