Thread: Thought i should say Hi

G'day Craig,

Please put up some picks of your Wesford rail mill in action if you can?
I was looking at one at the wood show last week and they seem to be great little unit.
I lived nearbye you in Nannup for ~ 19odd years & had Timeless Timber Treasures in the LIA for that period in partnership with my father from ~ 1987 - 2006. Used to mill a lot of jarrah with a Lewis mill etc. These days my eldest lad lives in Collie and is keen to get a Jarrah Flitch or 2 with his chainsaw for bar top and outdoor table etc hence the interest in the Wesford rail mill.
Gods own country the southwest & its forest...fond memories of Nannup & Manjimup.
Caught a lot of trout back in the day round Nannup and Manji, and some nice Redfin in dams round Manji and in the Warren R down at Pembi.
Miss the place some days.

Cheers

As soon as i work out how to do this on my ipad i will put a couple of pictures up

Come on Gents
We need some milling pictures

Willy
jarrahland

image.jpgimage.jpg

here are 2 photos of my Wesford Rail Mill in action

Way to go Craig,
That looks like a Marri log with all that keno...(sap lines).
When they dry they will come up pretty schmick I reckon.
Looks like that Husky is eating it up too.
Must send a link of this to my young bloke.

Cheers for that!

Takes 3 minutes to cut a slab this long, 3.4 meters, this one was classed as A grade Marri.
if you want any more pictures just let me know,

Originally Posted by Skip64

image.jpgimage.jpg

here are 2 photos of my Wesford Rail Mill in action

Wish i had one...they will sneak into places that the lucas or tractor can't go ..have seen many a good slab peel off the ol' Westord mill,a great innovation in milling...MM

So between the Wesford rail mill and the Yas Slabmaster now i have it made

Gidday Craig, welcome aboard, may your journey be a pleasant one.

g'day Craig, welcome mate, hope you have a heap of fun here and even more makin sawdust

Just ordered some add ons for the Yas Slabmaster. Keith the owner of Yas engineering was great to talk to all the way over there in Queensland and is a wealth of knowledge. We have ordered the router, drill and power saw attatchments. I have been having numerous queries from people wanting slabs dressed but i dont know what a reasonable price is, what would people here think is a reasonable price? And be preparred to pay without going overboard?
looks like extensions to our shed might be in the works lol

LOL, funny how a simple thing like a new slabber turns into an new shed, new saw, new ute, new trailer and new anything else ya might need, as ya get more into it and the more fun ya start having and the more orders you are gonna get.
Enjoy

Skippy

Pleased with the Yas slabmaster, it has dressed everything i have thrown at it so far, including Burls

Maybe as a suggestion - work out how long it takes you to surface a slab time wise, and calculate it's square surface area...to get a square meter rate per hour of production.

Then allow what you think is a reasonable wage to earn per hour ($80 an hour?) if your supplying the machine know how and power etc

Just work out a square meter rate that returns you the hourly rate you need to earn to pay your bills, feed your tin lids and keep a roof over your head etc.

Allow in that rate - a percentage for wear and tear, consumables, and a depreciation rate on the equipment if its likely to wear out and need replacement... so lets say 15% a year for 6 or 7 years before you need to replace the Yas slabmaster?. So you need to allow that proportion of the total capital acquisition cost of the machine as well on an annualized basis (how many M^2/year the machine will be producing) - that way when the machines worn out and you need to replace it, you'll have earned enough to be able to do so - and you won't be subsidizing others wood projects with depreciation and wear of your gear...and be left high and dry when its no longer working and needs to be replaced.

Some guys work on a rough formula of 1/3 for your labor, 1/3 for materials & 1/3 for overheads (power, water, lights, your vehicle, sharpening & maintenance etc).

So if your after say $80 an hour for your labor - you'd need ~$240 an hour for labor, materials & overheads... divided by how many square meters an hour you can do....gives you a starting point for working out a square meter rate.

That way everyone pays the same M^2 rate and any time it's working it's making you $80 an hour...as well as covering its own depreciation and maintenance / replacement costs.

Maybe others have a different idea....on how to set an acceptable rate. Can some one else do the same job much faster and cheaper, with for e.g. a wide thicknesser in a couple passes? I.e. can someone else out compete your technology with a different machine?

So once you work out your preferred rate you have to see if your competitive with the marketplace... and maybe adjust upwards if the market will bear it or downwards if it won't and you need to be competitive to get the work.

My wise old accountant once said "you'll never go broke making a profit" so your calculation SHOULD include a modest profit margin percentage - there's not much point running a business to just make wages - you have to do all the paperwork for BAS (GST) etc so a business should make a profit if it is to grow and expand over time.

Somewhere within all that calculation is hopefully a price that will work for both you and your customer/s.

Others mileage may vary.

edit - just remembered, if your an electrician or doctor / lawyer etc you should just imagine a very large number, double it, then double it again!