![]() As long as Woodmaster continues to do pleasant customer service, I believe they’ll have us as customers for life. I believe it’s a good product the company stands behind. “If you’re thinking about getting a Woodmaster, go see and talk to people who own one and I believe it’ll sell itself. At some point in time, a second machine is in order. I’d like to make log siding on an ongoing basis and have a second machine set up for planing. “We’ve got the Woodmaster and room for a second machine at some point. I wanted to run my own life and call the shots. Steve tells us, “This is a way of making a good, decent living, doing something I enjoy, without breaking my back, working for myself. But they often choose to buy lumber to run through their Woodmaster to make siding. Steve and his faithful companion have 300 acres with a virtually endless supply of timber to turn into log cabin siding. As I get older, it’s easier to put boards through the Woodmaster and make money than it is sawmilling by myself.”Īnd at the end of the day, “You can sell log cabin siding and make a whole lot more money for that piece of pine than you can straight off the sawmill. I’d like to do more work like build cabins. Working and building with wood is something I like doing. ![]() Making log cabin siding interests Steve personally and his philosophy is, “To keep in business, you do something you like doing. I’m looking to get the best source so I can sell cheaper and still make a few dollars.” I’m looking at getting #1 to make siding out of. We’re buying #2 select and choice lumber. “Some is making siding some is making cabins. “Some of our business is sawing out wood,” says Steve. The carpentry – I look at buildings and figure out how to do it and build it and learn.” “Nobody taught me sawmilling or carpentry but 20 years of experience teaches, and everybody can learn something. “I want to give the customer the best I can make and that he can get.” And he’s self-taught. Steve confesses to being a perfectionist. But we have a choice to buy lumber or cut our own.” “Right now for ease, we’re buying lumber. “Run it through the Woodmaster and you’ve got your log siding.” Steve can do it either way: cutting timber or buying lumber. ![]() “With our sawmill, I can cut trees, log them out, saw them into boards, dry them, and dress them down into log cabin siding.”īut if you take all those steps into account and all the time it takes to do them, Steve feels it’s cheaper to just buy high grade lumber. Steve and his family live on a 300 acre farm that’s endowed with lots of timber. “In the last couple years, with the economy as it is, I’ve considered going to work for others but with the Woodmaster, making finished products can help keep me from having to do that.” “I sell green oak boards off the mill for 50¢ a foot, but once it’s dried and planed, I sell it for $1.50. Just as Steve does custom sawing, he’s finding, “I can also do custom planing for the public.” And there’s money to be made. “When you get into crown molding, you’re increasing value ten times.” Yes, you read it right: 10 times increase in value - that’s 1,000% value added. Steve’s tripling value by making log cabin siding, but says much more is possible. It’s scary doing something new or branching out in this economy but the Woodmaster is relatively low investment and if you can dry and dress the lumber, you triple its value.” That’s 300% value added. Steve continued, “It was really Daddy’s idea to get a Woodmaster Molder/Planer. SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Drum Sanders – sale prices, online specials SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Molder/Planers – sale prices, online specials Steve (right) and his dad, Bill, set up a clever display on the road by their property. I started thinking what we could do to give them some income and increase mine, too, while still working with wood.” On top of that, as Steve turned 50 recently and started wondering, “How can I keep from breaking my body? How can I work smarter rather than harder, make more money, and still be dealing in wood?” The idea of planing wood was appealing. “Mom and Dad retired two years ago from driving a truck. “I started part time taking the mill around to people’s places and custom sawing” and things were fine until the economy fell apart a couple years ago. “In ‘96 I quit FedEx and started a sawmill business,” Steve said. Sinking economy, rising financial pressure Steve Patrick, owner of Patrick Custom Sawing, in Ramer, Tennessee, told us an inspiring story about how he and his family have turned today’s tough economy into a profitable family business opportunity. Read Steve’s STORY, then heed his HOW-TO BUSINESS TIPS…below! Steve and his folks make log cabin siding, and lots of it! This profile creates a distinctive look and the shiplap detail sheds water easily, making this a very durable siding material.
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