Sawmill Business Podcast

HOW END GRAIN FURNITURE BUSINESS STARTED Mike Rupich first started all by himself doing custom furniture. He thinks is his parents really trusted him when they let him run around with big power tools when he was younger! He would build stuff and work with tools and as he got older, this became a passionate hobby although he never thought he could ever make money from it. For years, he built himself furniture because he couldn’t afford the ones he wanted. Then one person after another wanted to buy his furniture and it surprisingly turned out to be a full business. He’s acquired different sawmills over the 10 years he’s been in business and now it's a full-scale metal and wood fabrication shop. In addition, they also sell the wood that they mill themselves. BUSINESS CHALLENGES & INVESTMENTS Being just a passionate man with no business skills, handling the day to day business operations was quite a task for Mike. It's one thing to burst with talent and skills, it's another to handle the business side of

How Zach got started Zach, from Old Technology, got started when his friends in the tree service started giving him the trees they were removing from properties. He first invested in a chainsaw mill to start milling these trees, then bought a kiln for drying and is now producing his own furniture from his wood. Originally a general contractor with a passion in woodworking, as interest grew he was able to go full-time. Investing in Equipment The first piece of equipment Zach invested in was a backhoe to assist with the removal of the trees. As the trees started to pile up in his yard he found a lot and started milling and air-drying the wood. The game changer for Zach was buying an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill. It meant they could mill the trees on-site, in places that were inaccessible to heavy equipment and would be able to get the wood out. How Zach funded the business Zach's business was all self funded. He began with savings and then as he started selling wood, reinvested the money in his business. This wa

HOW IT'S NOT TRASH STARTED. Today, we have Marji Medina from It's Not Trash, a reclaimed wood design company. Marji was working as a VP in sales consultant for a hospital for quite a while but was not satisfied with it. Coming from a wood work family, she missed getting her hands dirty with physical labor which resulted in her furnishing her first apartment with making her own pieces. After that, she created a side business on Craigslist which made an extra hundred dollars a month. Around 2014, her wife, as she calls her, (never actually married) was getting a 2nd degree and everything was so tight. Coincidentally, people kept on telling Marji she needed to make her own furniture designs. She thought of taking broken stuff like IKEA designs and fixing them, she tears them apart and makes her own. This brilliant idea was supposed to only fund their wedding but within 4 months they were already making over $3000 a month. In a year, she was able to fully fund the wedding and fully pay her wife’s college fees.

HOW CLAY STARTED THE BUSINESS. Clay Klener, from Evolutia, specializes in reclaimed wood. They started salvaging large textile mills in the South East in the early 2000s as a family business. Although they’re from Birmingham, Alabama the first project they did was in South Carolina. A lot of the textile mills they were after were in South Carolina, Georgia, or Alabama. What they did was dismantle old structures, salvage the wood and bricks, bundling and tag it, inventory it and sell it wholesale. Now, they are more on the retail side and they salvage wood from all over the country as well as buying wood from brokers. They then put out finished products like architectural pieces and other products for most interior applications. Starting the business was very difficult because, as it's a new industry, there are no standards or standardization like there is with new lumber. The business is rewarding, however, you might encounter issues with purchasing or salvaging material, having a large waste factor, or ge

HOW BARN BOARD STORE STARTED About 16 years ago, Mike and his wife bought a house that had the worst-looking garage at the back of the house and he wanted to do something about it. Later, a barn had blown over at a friend’s town and Mike together with his wife rented a truck and bought all the barn boards. He then collaged the garage in barn boards and made it look like a barn. Fast forward to 6 years later, they needed to expand the garage and they ended up tearing it all down. There was this barn board that was in still in good shape after all this time and he couldn’t really dispose of it. He opted to sell it on Craigslist where he got a massive response. Days later, he would still get requests from people asking where they could get barn board and that’s when the business idea came to mind. TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH After tearing the garage and getting requests for barn boards, Mike would work with barn boards during the weekends and sell them off. Luckily at the same time, his career in management in

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED. Ryan Walsh started lumber lust designs about 2 years ago. His background is in media and marketing and his other business was going through some economic changes due to technology and political climate. He had been doing woodwork as a hobby for his home and when his son was about to be born, he and his wife decided to replace all their furniture with those that were more vintage style. He self-taught wood finishing and restoration for anything that needed some changes. That is how Lumber Lust design was born. He incredibly improved his skills and most of his orders are now custom orders furniture pieces and installations according to the customer’s needs and style. However, his business style is more of the West Coast vibe combined with a rustic wooden element with the modern geometric modern framework. MARKETING AND HOW HE RUNS THE BUSINESS When you start a business everyone wants to see what your style is. At first, Ryan and his wife built up a lot of inventory just to get exp

HOW TIM STARTED THE BUSINESS Tim believes he got into this space by mere chance. He was in a really bad wreck in 2013. He was in a wheelchair for 7 ½ months and during that time is when he started building stuff, which resulted in building some stuff with reclaimed wood. They then contracted their first barn, saw how they were handling their woods and that’s how South East Reclaimed was born. They’ve done 60 barns in the last 2 years but what’s shocking is that they never find the barn, the barns find them. Aside from being in the barn harvesting industry, they’re also on the manufacturing end. They're trying to produce wall material by processing the lumber out and process it into wall materials. As a company, they don’t build anything. They stick to the aspect of the barn and that’s by providing the material which they do around the areas of South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH He was still working fulltime for a builder until it got too hard to juggle the two. Tim called hi

A LITTLE ABOUT KARL TAYLOR WOOD Karl Taylor wood is owned by Justin Steinburg and is Located in Abbotsford, an hour from Vancouver, British Columbia. They offer people kiln dried slabs. Drying the slabs takes 6-8 weeks, which they later sell the rough slabs. No sanding or finishing is done on them but just sold as is. In addition to that, they also do coffee tables, headboards, and are currently starting on table projects. HOW JUSTIN GOT STARTED IN THE BUSINESS A year and a half ago, Justin did a couple of projects for his local church and thought it would be fun and interesting if he would make his own wood to use for projects. He spent some time researching and later on they got the saws and started cutting wood, drying it, and started on some projects. TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH The research he did, in the beginning, made him realize there was a market for what he was making. It was then that he decided to just get into the business with his brother. They would cut and dry stuff and later put ads on cra

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED On this episode, I chat with Mathew Wlotkowski of Rough Sawn Detroit. For Mathew, the business started out as a hobby. He had and wanted to get into cutting lavage material he had been buying for a while for his own stuff like tables, but later on, figured it would be best to get some cash out of it. He’d been going through the Detroit area sourcing his material from trees that had fallen or cut out from people putting up houses. He then started posting pictures on social media in order to get his products out there and that is where he sourced his customers. RUNNING THE BUSINESS AND CHALLENGES FACED Currently, his biggest challenge is getting time to get his projects done on time and building the business because it's a side hustle for him. He’s been practicing landscaping for 15 years now, but his new business is growing at a faster rate than he thought. Due to this challenge of lack of time to really engage in projects, he is milling wood to provide to other makers and woodwork

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED Kyle Schloss, the owner of Southern Grain Craftsmen, had done a few different jobs in his lifetime but was really passionate about woodwork ever since he was in middle school. He used to build things in his garage and one time he found an old cabinet shop from an owner who had run out of business. Luckily, he knew him and he called to ask whether he could move in which he accepted. He then moved in swung right into work. TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH Starting this business was a huge risk for him as he didn’t know what lay ahead. This move meant that he had to partake responsibilities such as having to pay for rent and other costs that came with the business. He obviously didn’t know where his next check would come from or if he’d actually get paid for his work, but he just hoped that his work would speak out for itself, and it did.   RUNNING THE BUSINESS, LESSONS LEARNT AND MOTIVATION The business has been running for a year, which has three workers but is seeking to employ more. Th

For episode 032, our guest is Danny Torres of Deadwood Revival Design. DANNY TORRES TURNED AN INTEREST INTO A BUSINESS Danny Torres turned an interest into a true passion called Deadwood Revival Design. It is a testing, wood and steel fabrication outfit out of San Luis Obispo, CA, serving customers for a year and a half. While talking with a guy he met, Danny discovered that he had a Granberg Mill, with plans to learn how to cut so that he could start his own woodworking business. This inspired Danny and he committed to buying his own his own Granberg Mill, though he didn’t have any experience in woodworking. It wasn’t until he met Scott Romain that things started falling into place of what would eventually become Deadwood Revival Designs. Danny knew people who work to combat forest fires which exposed him to to the problems the country has with big fires. During his off time, he put down some hazard trees and realized that they could be utilized and converted into lumber. His interest in woodworking began

HOW BRODYE CHAPPELL GOT STARTED IN THE BUSINESS Brodye worked in his father’s custom home building business for 15 years. He humbly began by selling lumber but quickly worked his way up to being the lead finish carpenter in his crew. Dedicated to his work and building some really cool stuff, his friends started noticing him and would ask for a hand in their businesses. Some clients would even specifically just ask for him. Brody then started taking some time off in the evenings and weekends and it wasn't long before he got really busy to the point he would ask his dad for some days off. Reluctantly, he accepted his plea. Things then got really busy and it was then he decided to start his own business away from his dad.   TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH. Brodye gave his all in whatever he did and everything would just click. He felt happy in his work. Of course, clients noticed this. The compliments he received from them made him feel as though he was capped in his father’s business. With all the ideas he had in

Get insights, and motivation from incredible interviews from people inside the sawmill business industry. Get the marketing and business skills that you need to be able to grow you sawmill business. In this episode Host, Steve interviews Joshua Kincaid a sawmill business owner from Rockford, Illinois. [00:00:53] Woodworking with his grandfather as a child he saw his passion. In 2016 he started his own woodworking business creating custom furniture. He climbed the ladder from woodworking small furniture to getting a Granberg Alaskan mill and started a sawmilling business! [00:02:24] Joshua started his business with Granberg after doing some research. Granberg is one of the best products out there. Granberg was most appealing to Joshua mainly because it is a brand that stands behind their product, and is a decent expenditure. [00:02:32] While in the grind stage he is actively doing things to grow his business and get his name out there. In the area he lives he goes door to door giving out his business card.

On this week's episode we interview Victor from The Stump Shop. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario in Canada he runs a small wood shop business that repurposes tree stumps and reclaimed wood and makes them into furniture. What's amazing is that he takes the overlooked and often discarded part of the tree and found a niche to build a successful business. Are there parts of the tree or pieces of wood that fell off the mill that you had ideas for? Well make it happen! Visit The Stump Shop at:  https://www.instagram.com/thestumpshop/  

This week's episode we talk with Rick from Wood From The Hood -- a sawmill and wood business in Minneapolis. They've been around for almost 10 years and he talks about how he started the business on a dare.... and how that was one of the best decisions ever. Wood From The Hood has been able to skillfully outsource some of the sawmilling so they can stay focused on drying, processing, and sales of wood products. They have 2 main revenue streams, small wood products like cutting boards that sell in over 50 locations in their city. The other is working on architectural products like tables and flooring. They've also been lucky enough to work on large scale products involving the city government and sporting centers. This is a super inspiring episode. For more information on Wood From the Hood visit: https://woodfromthehood.com https://www.instagram.com/woodfromthehoodmpls/ For more information on Sawmill Business visit:  http://sawmillbusiness.com  

Today's guest is Dan Richfield from RE-C0 BKLYN. Dan has a sophisticated approach to running his business, something we will take a deep dive into learning about on this podcast. Who Are Re-Co Bklyn And How Did They Get Started? The company officially started in January 2012. Dan's business partner, Roger had been learning and experimenting with a chainsaw mill and a homemade kiln for a few years prior to starting up the business. Dan, however, was a software/web developer. Using his 10 years experience as a successful businessman, Dan partnered with Roger and invested in a kiln, sawmill, bandmill and a yard. Urban lumber has come a long way since the early days of a small group of sawyers to the highly competitive market on the upscale across the states including the New York metro area. Both Dan & Roger are furniture makers and understand what a furniture maker wants to get from milling and drying wood. Armed with the requisite knowledge, they seek out the right types of logs and mill the right

For episode 026 Robert Rising of NY City Slab is our guest. A bit about NY City Slab At NY City Slab, Robert and his team mill urban lumber from what might seem an unlikely source. The idea began when Robert was building a house and wanted to use local wood. Robert found that trees in his locality were being used for mulch and wanted to put those cut down trees to better use. Robert started off using a Lucas mill but it found it slow in terms of production. At a woodsmen show, Robert bought the biggest mill he could buy with his money at the time. He went for a 14 inch bandsaw mill and built a 50ft track to go with it that enabled him to cut through 6-8 logs in a day. How Robert Got Into Milling After working in the White House, Robert decided to take a u turn from his planned career in politics. His initial goal for building a house was to use it to restore old Volkswagens and Porsches. Gradually, work transitioned from fixing cars to milling logs. The very first log Robert milled sat for 3 years before bein

For episode 25, our guest is Tom Loeschner from GreyWood Design. GreyWood Design specializes in commission based furniture and some milling work. Tom provides a 'tree to table' service which is very popular with customers who love the concept of having a table crafted from the tree in their backyard.  Tom has a strong background in metal work which translates to his furniture pieces, almost all of which have metal bases. Tom used to live overseas in West Africa doing consulting in sustainable forestry practices and advising on the proper running of sawmills. This inspired Tom to create his own slabs back at home in the United States. While Tom's primary line of product has been live edge slabs, he is currently diversifying into metal and wood designs and expanding into different types of wood for his furniture making. Along with the much favored pine, Tom is producing items made from red and white fir trees and experimenting with textures and surfaces. Having a mill of his own allows Tom to control the p

For episode 24, we're getting to know Jeff Perry from Angel City Lumber. Angel City Lumber was born out of the need to make the somewhat ad hoc sawmill services in LA more streamlined. The business grew from a small idea: sourcing trees marked for landfill and harvesting them for lumber to a full scale operation in supplying raw materials. For now, Jeff is committed to milling based on his assessment of his local community's needs. He stresses how imperative it is to create awareness of this need for urban lumber. Jeff's business partner, Charles found the current location for Angel City Lumber in Boyle Heights. This has allowed them to set up a structured professional working space and a network that has given the business legitimacy. Jeff feels it was always best to 'go all in' and learn as the business grew. Having good start up capital and a helpful and supportive local sawyer community was a huge boost in confidence. The consensus of feedback convinced Jeff & Charles to pick a Lucas sawmill as their

On this episode we're getting to know Shane from Cape Cod Sawmill Company Cape Cod Sawmill is located in Bourne, Massachusetts, the company started in April, 2016. Shane started the business with his brother in law, Brian, a tree surgeon who wanted to do something positive with the timber rather than see it consigned to landfill. Shane and Brian started putting together a business plan, Shane dealt with the financial side of things while Brian took care of the creative side. From there, they went on to source their equipment and set up their sawmill company. Brian had a lot of the equipment needed to start Cape Cod like skid steers, trucks and trailers. it was simply a case of purchasing a Wood-Mizer LT40. Shane readily acknowledges his struggle to learn the ropes of sawmill work. Having a brother in law who is not just an expert but has wood cutting down to a science is highly advantageous and has helped Shane become adept in the field himself. What makes Cape Cod a well oiled business machine is Brian'