# Outsourcing Woodwork



## Smadison11 (Jul 18, 2018)

I have a wood sign making business and we are very busy in the summer. How can I find a woodworker to outsource some of the work to. Or maybe even pine wood blanks. I just need someone to cut them to size 5.5×11 and 7.25×12.5 and sand them I will finish it myself. What is a good price for each piece?


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## RobHannon (Dec 12, 2016)

You may have luck on craigslist or some of the social media marketplaces, but right here is also a good source. May help to put your general location in the post and if you can post pictures (not sure on the rules for new users), a sample one of your work would help.


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## John Smith_inFL (Dec 15, 2017)

sharing what part of the world you live in would be of great help.
if you have an established wood sign making business, 
you should already know the cost of materials (in your area).
what is your estimate of each size that you use in one Summer??
what species of wood are you currently using for your signs ?
I have seen sources online that sell unfinished wood craft/sign blanks.
they are mass produced and finish sanded - the shipping and handling cost
may be enough to be non-affordable for your profit margin.
like Rob said, finding a local source would be your best bet. . . 
plus you would have that Face to Face relationship for the best results.
finding someone with a drum sander shouldn't be too hard (cabinet shop??).
in my town, there is a millwork shop that does just about everything imaginable.
you have only mentioned the generic rectangle shape - you don't want any
fancy profiles or routed edges ??


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

What is a good price for each piece?

That would depend on how many you need. The larger the quantity the lower the per unit price.


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## Smadison11 (Jul 18, 2018)

I wish I could buy wood blanks online but our customers love the character in wood that has good grain, knots, etc. We are located in Locust Grove, GA and need about 400 pieces every 2-3 weeks.

We just need basic rectangles. I literally sand the wood with 120 grit paper, cut it to size, and lightly sand the edges. That's it.


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## JCamp (Nov 22, 2016)

That sounds like a pretty dang easy job. You might check with some local high schools to see if anyone in the woodworking classes there would want a easy job. Also I've found that most folks that work at mom and pop shops or ace hardware to be pretty handy so one of their employees might wanna make a little side money doing that. 
Do you have any nieces or nephews that could come help out?


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

There are cut-to-size outsource contractors coast-to-coast in this great nation of ours.
Surely, it wouldn't be too difficult to find someone who will make panels for you.

There are shops all over the place making raised panel door blanks that are set up for just this type of thing.

Give one of these guys a call;

https://www.thomasnet.com/nsearch.html?cov=GA&heading=56741408&searchx=true&what=wood+panels&which=prod


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

> There are cut-to-size outsource contractors coast-to-coast in this great nation of ours.
> Surely, it wouldn t be too difficult to find someone who will make panels for you.
> 
> There are shops all over the place making raised panel door blanks that are set up for just this type of thing.
> ...


The OP obviously wants to get the lowest price for the bare wood blanks. A commercial contractor wants to make a profit, so would not provide the best price.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I find $2.50 per 5.5×11 and $3.25 per 7.25×12.5 to be a fair price. This is based on common 1×6 and 1×8 boards; add 50¢ each for clear boards (no knots). My calculation comes out to $1150 for 400 boards, 50% of each size. Shipping would be extra plus any sales tax. I'm not personally interested as I am retired and busy with my own projects, but if I were doing it, that is the price I would charge. I base this estimate on lumber from Lowes, but a local lumber yard may have a better quantity price.


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## AZWoody (Jan 18, 2015)

> There are cut-to-size outsource contractors coast-to-coast in this great nation of ours.
> Surely, it wouldn t be too difficult to find someone who will make panels for you.
> 
> There are shops all over the place making raised panel door blanks that are set up for just this type of thing.
> ...


It really depends. A commercial place like that is already set up to do large volume blanks and can purchase in bulk at a better price. Many times, that would be cheaper than someone doing it out of their garage who has to buy their wood at Lowes at retail.


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

> There are cut-to-size outsource contractors coast-to-coast in this great nation of ours.
> Surely, it wouldn t be too difficult to find someone who will make panels for you.
> 
> There are shops all over the place making raised panel door blanks that are set up for just this type of thing.
> ...


You took the words right outta my mouth!

The proper contractor also has specialized tools that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce this stuff extremely efficiently. Often, this ends up being a lower cost than doing it in house with less efficient means - even after you pay his profit.


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Just a note to anyone expanding from basic product manufacturing into more volume work; Don't ignore outsourcing.

Outsourcing gives you access to machinery and floor space that you wouldn't be able to capitalize on for years and vastly expands your capacity.

Usually, a product will have more than one profit center on its way to the consumer. e.g. Sales commission, design profits(royalties), raw materials profit, manufacturing profit, distribution profits, etc.

If your product can withstand the burden of those layers of cost, then YOU can afford to relinquish some of those profits to outsourced vendors in the interest of scaling from your garage to mainstream production.

If you haven't figured some of those costs into your pricing structure, your product likely will not scale up to larger production volumes.

So, outsourcing 1) helps a small guy scale up production without a large capital expenditure, 2) often improves quality and process control, 3) works out large scale production issues in preparation for dedicated manufacturing lines, and 4) often costs LESS than doing it yourself.

There is VERY little downside to outsourcing.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

I would start by contacting local lumber suppliers asking for a referral. Next contact local woodworking clubs.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

Try the Wood Products Manufacturer Association.

WPMA


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## BroncoBrian (Jan 14, 2013)

> I wish I could buy wood blanks online but our customers love the character in wood that has good grain, knots, etc. We are located in Locust Grove, GA and need about 400 pieces every 2-3 weeks.
> 
> We just need basic rectangles. I literally sand the wood with 120 grit paper, cut it to size, and lightly sand the edges. That s it.
> 
> - Smadison11


I'll do it for $10,000 a week, and I will use knotty Alder, the best wood option there is!


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)

just invest a couple hundred bucks and glue them up. I use a clamping system that hangs from the ceiling. you could have a ton of blanks glued up in no time.

16' pipe hung from ceiling. Pipe clamps with hooks on one end. Best investmest I ever made pertaining to glue ups.


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## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

I am interested.


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)

it really is as easy as it sounds. I had my welder make some 3' brackets. one end lag screws to the ceiling trusses, the other end has a hole that accepts a 1/2" pipe. 4 supports per 16' pipe. I also had him weld 3/4 hooks on all my pipe clamps. So after I get everything clamped up, I just hang it from the pipe.

Takes no floor space. Lots of pipe clamps though.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> it really is as easy as it sounds. I had my welder make some 3 brackets. one end lag screws to the ceiling trusses, the other end has a hole that accepts a 1/2" pipe. 4 supports per 16 pipe. I also had him weld 3/4 hooks on all my pipe clamps. So after I get everything clamped up, I just hang it from the pipe.
> 
> Takes no floor space. Lots of pipe clamps though.
> 
> - CWWoodworking


Please post a photo of that.


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)

Well I would if I could figure out how?


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

> Well I would if I could figure out how?
> 
> - CWWoodworking


Under the red +View the posting rules

Hit the right img button and follow the drop down menu


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)




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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

I like it, it's out of the way.


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