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mill charges

4K views 41 replies 27 participants last post by  OggieOglethorpe 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I took some endgrain cutting boards to a local mill and asked them what the charge would be to run them thru there drum sander. The office said it would be the minimium fee and that was 15$. Great I though I toook them to the mill and the worker asked me what kind of wood was in them? I told him maple,cherry ,and walnut .He said it wouldn't of been a problem to do them but they can't run anything with walnut in it thru their mill becuase they sell their sawdust to horse farms and it cant have ANY walnut in it it is bad for horses. So i take it to another lumberyard and the guy says yes he can do it for 9$ for every 10 minutes, i was reluctent but decided to have it done he estimated it would take 30 minutes I said ok do it. He called me when they were done and said the bill was 57$ with tax and it took 30 minutes. I told him he said 9$ for 10 minutes when it is actually 9$for 5 MINUTES he told me. We had a heated discussion in which I was told not to come back and i told him not to worry I won't be back who could afford to at those prices. I went to the mill office to pay and discuss it some more with someone else they agreed to let me pay the price i was told (9 bucks for 10 minutes) but their fee really is 9$ per every 5 minutes! This seems outrageous to me especialy when the other place was going to do it for 15$
I'm in ohio i guess after my long winded story what I'm really courious about is, is 9 bucks for 5 minutes of work really a fair charge?
 
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#6 ·
That is outrageous. You are a better person than me. I would have been naming names of the business and doing my best to tell of not only their inflated prices but their trying to not stand by the original quote. Businesses live and die by customer service and word of mouth.
 
#11 ·
How many endgrain boards did they sand for you in half an hours time , and were they to your liking when through? How many grits did they sand through to get the finish you wanted ?
You couldn't have done it yourself for less if you had to buy the equipment and supplies if you think about it.
Even a decent belt sander and belts would have cost more than that .
 
#16 ·
I don't think your friend who is charging $18 per hour will make any money. Belts cost more than that and will probably be worn out with an hours worth of end grain sanding. Either way, I would not even consider running a big machine for that price.
 
#17 ·
Ditto that , John O..
How much is the person running the machine getting paid per hour , besides the cost of the machine , belts , electricity , insurance , and all the other overhead costs involved in running a business ?
 
#18 ·
I think the price is still way to high. Car dealerships, auto mechanics dont even charge that much. I work in construction and our time and material rate is 65 an hour. Plus that is not the rate I was quoted when I droped off the boards to be done. He says it was what he told me but i didn't just pull the 10 minute number out of the air I know thats what he said. He also said that the belts were not cheap but come on you dont ruin a belt on 5 blocks of wood end grain or not. i seen the belts they had one 12 inch wide wear spot that was used but still had plenty of grit left to be used more
 
#19 ·
That yard has to pay the operator, pay for the machine, buy belts, electric, rent, taxes, possibly Social Security, all that stuff. Doesn't sound unreasonable to me. Only alternative is to buy your own - looking at Grizzly's site their cheapest wide belt sander is $3,600. You decide.
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have a wide belt sander. Cost $17k. The belts are $60 each and they are not life time belts. I purchased 80, 100, & 120 belts, two of each. Cost $600 to have have a new 3 ph breaker and some wire to get it to run. $1800 more for a upgraded compressor plus another $200 for electrical to get the compressor to run. Needed to run a new air drop, which I did in an afternoon with used parts . Cost $320 to have a pro come in and set the sander up, get it adjusted & calibrated, etc.

Did I mention I need to rearrange the shop to the new equipment in?

I guess I will not be doing any custom sanding as it appears those that do not have the sander have no idea what it cost to obtain and operate it.
 
#21 ·
Expensive yes, doing it for 18 bucks an hour is a slow death in a shop. Wide belt sanders are high dollar machines and provide a far better finish. I figured even at $45 per hour, 40 hrs a week, 50 weeks a year doing it myself I would barely make 20k a year after shop rent, insurance, electric, and I did not even figure in replacement belts….. or any problems with machines that might arise. Go flip burgers and make that much a year and I would not have that big investment. How much is your time worth?

Unless you own your big shop and have all the big equipment one would really understand the true cost of running these machines. Switching from Hobby to Production is a total diffrent game. So the 100 bucks does not sound all that bad considering.
 
#22 ·
Really?, the machine cost and over head, still not buying 108$an hour is fair. You dont have to make all your money back from 1person and the mill has been around a loooooog time definately not a new $17000 machine and it has been set up for a long time all those cost for new and set and wire part of doing business.
@rustfever as for custom sanding No you will not be doing much if any for those of us who have "no idea" guess you just wasted $20280 and alllll the effort to rearange your shop
 
#23 ·
So I am required to give my time, machine, disposables, insurance, general overhead to you for nothing?.
Were I a union employee, the cost to my employer would be over $1 per minute. [ Yes, that is $60 per hour. Oh yes, the sanding belts are disposable and will cost another $20/$30 per hour.]

NOT!
 
#25 ·
Hate to break the bad news here but a 17,000 belt sander is not a lot, when many cost 4 times as much. I bet just to have 1 employee dedicated to run that machine is around 60-70 bucks an hour. This would not even include any breakdowns and there will be…... Just to get a return on machine cost only is almost 2.00 a hour over a 5 year period…. You make a investment you expect a return don't you? That 2.00 a hour for the sander is rated over 5 year time and no return. Dust Collection, we are not talking your shop canister system but the 100k plus systems many of these companys have to have just to be in touch with the OSHA and Health depts….. There is a lot you do not know and can expect to know but do not think for one moment it is cheap. Running a belt sander in your garage is one thing, going to a commercial shop with that equipment and rules and regulations is a total diffrent world…. Commercial Wood shop have the highest rating for fire, even more than a welding shop…. Insurance for these shops is sky high. Replacement cost for my shop as of a year ago is over 650k…... Insurance company took 2 days listing equipment and a week later told me what it would take and they would not do it….. To big of a risk…... I have a small shop…. nothing compared to these large shops. I am just talking about insurance for equipment, health insurance is another sky high cost.
 
#26 ·
To be fair, one can't compare the price of a belt sander to the cost of doing 5 boards. On the other hand investing 17K on a belt sander is probably out reach for the average woodworker who does woodworking for a hobby. In the end you must decide whether $11.40 per board is too much or not. The way I think about it is "will I be willing to sand that board for $11.40?"

On the other hand considering that the first mill only charged $15 then the second mill's prices were probably to high. My 2c worth.
 
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