Thread: How much for milling timber

Originally Posted by Barterbuilt

There has got to be some middle ground in there somewhere.
I wouldn't go around promoting yourself as a miller just yet, but by the same token, if you work for a couple of days and produce a stack of nice straight timber you wouldn't say to the owner "it's free because I don't know what I'm doing"
The chap I worked with recently couldn't cut a straight stick if he tried. He works in a sawmill and has owned a lucas for 12 years.
I spent quite a while aligning his mill for him when the blade kept jamming ( rails out of by 15 mm ) so I don't know if it's the newbies that give lucas millers a bad name.

At the end of the day, I guess that only you will know when you are ready.

Hi BB, I haven't at all spread myself around as a timber miller or even looking for milling jobs! As I said earlier, I live in a place where everyone knows everyone. The word got around in just 2 or 3 days. Now a hundred (possibly seveal hundred) people at least know I have a Lucas Mill. I'm fairly social so I know most in my community. I've already decided to figure out a price per cube. At a discount of course. I'm not looking at making milling timber my bread maker! No @#%^^$# way! It's just I know there are lots of friends and aquaintances will want some timber milled at some stage. So why not make a bit on the side?

Rick

[QUOTE=Rickaroonie;1739445into Hi BB, I haven't at all spread myself around as a timber miller or even looking for milling jobs! As I said earlier, I live in a place where everyone knows everyone. The word got around in just 2 or 3 days. Now a hundred (possibly seveal hundred) people at least know I have a Lucas Mill. I'm fairly social so I know most in my community. I've already decided to figure out a price per cube. At a discount of course. I'm not looking at making milling timber my bread maker! No @#%^^$# way! It's just I know there are lots of friends and aquaintances will want some timber milled at some stage. So why not make a bit on the side?

Rick[/QUOTE]
Above all else Rick, ease into it, enjoy yourself and have fun with the new toy

Originally Posted by Barterbuilt

...The chap I worked with recently couldn't cut a straight stick if he tried. He works in a sawmill and has owned a lucas for 12 years.
I spent quite a while aligning his mill for him when the blade kept jamming ( rails out of by 15 mm ) so I don't know if it's the newbies that give lucas millers a bad name....

You are certainly right - it isn't "just" newbies that can give a bad name, but the 'oldies' already think they know what they are doin and regardless of how much help and assistance you give them they still 'know better'...much easier gettin hold of them young and trying to get them to do the right thing

Originally Posted by Sigidi

You are certainly right - it isn't "just" newbies that can give a bad name, but the 'oldies' already think they know what they are doin and regardless of how much help and assistance you give them they still 'know better'...much easier gettin hold of them young and trying to get them to do the right thing

Exactly. Here is a case in point: Recently received a phone call from a chap with a large Forest Red Gum. He was going to have it removed as it had suddenly started dropping large amounts of leaves. And though the tree was some distance from the house, the prevailing winds had loaded his gutters and water had run into his ceiling during recent storms. He had been quoted $2000 to have the tree dropped and mess removed. His question to me was how much to mill it, hoping to offset some of the felling cost. I gave him a ballpark figure, explaining that without seeing the logs it would be impossible to be more specific. He obviously needed something more concrete, so contacted another "miller" who offered to do the whole job for $2000. He couldnt believe his luck.
Delayed by recent rain, the miller arrived on site the first fine day. Chopped the back yard to pieces with his truck and bobcat and felled the tree ready for milling. Oh dear, the tree was all pipe and full of white ants. Then the Council inspector rolls up and wants to know what the hell he thinks he is doing. The "miller" tells him he is following instructions.
The property owner now has a bill from the "miller" and a fine from the Council, a back yard that looks like a war zone (his description.)
The question to me, when he rang this morning was, "Should I pay the miller?" I responded with what I thought was a reasonable question, "What's it got to do with me?"
Just for the sake of giving the trunk a clout with the back of the axe or driving a vertical plunge cut into it, all would have been revealed.

Why is everyone so secretive about charging? It's not as if there are territorial crossovers....heck, you guys range from FNQ to WA to Tassie....about 15% of the earths surface!

$100 an hour? $300 a cube? $800 a day? $200 site setup then $x per cube/hour? ($20 more if they want to help!)... Spit it out!

As an IT pro, I wouldn't hessitate a second to charge these prices....and they are the mates rates. As a pro, my time, skill, effort and inginuity are no different to a craftsman on a mill.

Heck, I would very strongly argue that the Lucas miller is 500 times more honest and socially valuable work than mine!

Lawyers and bankers gentlemen....

Originally Posted by Evanism

Why is everyone so secretive about charging? It's not as if there are territorial crossovers....heck, you guys range from FNQ to WA to Tassie....about 15% of the earths surface!

$100 an hour? $300 a cube? $800 a day? $200 site setup then $x per cube/hour? ($20 more if they want to help!)... Spit it out!

As an IT pro, I wouldn't hessitate a second to charge these prices....and they are the mates rates. As a pro, my time, skill, effort and inginuity are no different to a craftsman on a mill.

Heck, I would very strongly argue that the Lucas miller is 500 times more honest and socially valuable work than mine!

Lawyers and bankers gentlemen....

Evan, I take umbrage at being compared to an IT person. I see no comparison. Milling is real work.
It is not a matter of being secretive. The subject has been discussed at length in other posts. If you were experienced in milling you would understand our reticence when it comes to beginners. I realize the machine sounds like a lawn mower, but the complexities are far greater and the acquired skill level, or lack thereof, becomes quite evident in the finished product.
As there is no avenue for formal training, it is the school of hard knocks where the skills are obtained. One way of speeding up the learning process is to work with a skilled operator. It doesn't take long to realize there is much to learn.
When it comes to pricing, there are a lot of factors that can vary job to job. Yes, you can work on a flat rate, but in many cases this will be unfair on one party or the other. I prefer to work on an agreed rate. Over the years it has seemed to keep everybody happy. More than can be said for Lawyers and Bankers. As for IT rates, I aint going there.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Evan, I take umbrage at being compared to an IT person. I see no comparison. Milling is real work........

These are fighting words


Couple of years ago there was a thread asking who was a member of this site and who work in IT.

We all came out of the wood work.

I used to work in IT, does that count?

What really irks me about IT support and products is that it's like a never ending nose bleed.

When I mill a board I expect to get many years out of it but anything to do with IT lasts sometimes just a few months to a a couple of years and then "pay up again buddy"
Computers and peripherals, die or at least need upgrading
Software needs constant upgrade to fix incompatibilities, bugs and security probs etc
Virus protection upgrades.
ETC

Fortunately I am able to fix most things myself or get my son who works in IT support to help out, but I see less knowledgeable folks constant forking out $ to stay afloat.

BobL, rusty nail, I quote ....

"Heck, I would very strongly argue that the Lucas miller is 500 times more honest and socially valuable work than mine!"

No umbrage or nose bleeds needed

IT is pixels and vapourware. My biggest projects on the biggest businesses barely exist after 5 years. Woodwork, however, may last centuries.

Originally Posted by BobL

What really irks me about IT support and products is that it's like a never ending nose bleed.

When I mill a board I expect to get many years out of it but anything to do with IT lasts sometimes just a few months to a a couple of years and then "pay up again buddy"
Computers and peripherals, die or at least need upgrading
Software needs constant upgrade to fix incompatibilities, bugs and security probs etc
Virus protection upgrades.
ETC

Fortunately I am able to fix most things myself or get my son who works in IT support to help out, but I see less knowledgeable folks constant forking out $ to stay afloat.

Oh please..... the same thing could be said about many household items, clothing, most machinery inc milling gear, vehicles, water craft....you name it. They all require some form of remedial or preventative maintenance. Often this means modifying some new part to substitute for an older unavailable or non-compliant component. Some people are capable others are not. Some people don't know if they are capable until they've given it a go.

As for milled boards lasting for years - I have digital media produced in the 1980s that still functions as intended. Different purposes but same outcome wrt useability.

Originally Posted by dabbler

Oh please..... the same thing could be said about many household items, clothing, most machinery inc milling gear, vehicles, water craft....you name it. They all require some form of remedial or preventative maintenance. Often this means modifying some new part to substitute for an older unavailable or non-compliant component. . . .

Clothes??? unless you mean socks and jocks (yeah I could scratch my self a bit less and cut my toenails more often) or maybe if you are a fashion geek.
My work overalls and boots typically last a year or two longer than my computers but I also don't use a welder next to my computer.

Originally Posted by dabbler

As for milled boards lasting for years - I have digital media produced in the 1980s that still functions as intended. Different purposes but same outcome wrt useability.

So do I but I totally disagree about the long term usability of digital media.
To readily access that data on my current PC has required 3 changes of physical media format (ie more time and expense).
A quality piece of furniture/art even a well made and looked after photo should last for centuries without the need for constantly changing formats.
The way things change with computers and peripherals I cannot see this situation changing in the foreseeable future.
Yes there are and will always be data recovery companies around milking this situation but they costs money, sometimes BIG money.

I'm not against computers - they can do wonderful things, but sometimes I just wish some things would not change so quickly and that software and hardware was checked more carefully before being released.
I have discussed these things with my son and he says things like - "OK, would you like to be using the original version of Windows for 20 years?"
Of course not, but then again the last half dozen versions of any PC operating system don't seem to have made any significant visible improvements either.

LOL, you guys have taken my thread hostage!! somebody give me a price per cube at a discount, seeing I'm anewbie of course. I've gone through 7 logs now one was a bad one, cut it up just for experience. Anyone here put their neck out?

Rick

i charge $250/m3.

but i would not go out charging that when i just started, i milled for myself for 12 months before i even thought of doing a job for anyone else.

iv seen some shocking timber in my travels and people tend to blame the "log" but its all about skill, you can get perfect timber out of every log.

its not just whether or not its bowed, is it the same thickness all teh way along, is it the right thickness, dose it have defect, dose it meet the required grade, is it cut from teh right type of tree.

it dosent matter how cheap you are if you runin the log the bloke is never going to get that timber back.

even if its free, and it all comes out crap they have lost money because what they could have got for half the price they now have to go and buy.

worst thing, just becuase you have told them you are inexperianced, the bloke who comes and sees that timber that is not perfect dosent know that and he talks to old mate at teh pub and you have yourself a bad name.