Tag Archives: Robert Parmer

“VALUE-ADDED” IS THE KEY TO WOODWORKING BUSINESS SUCCESS — going from “tree to trim” adds value by THOUSANDS of dollars.

Posted on by
Here's something you don't see every day -- a genuine log cabin travel trailer. The Parmers renovated it with log cabin siding outside and custom paneling inside...all made with their Woodmaster Molder/Planer.

Here’s something you don’t see every day — a genuine log cabin travel trailer. The Parmers renovated it with log cabin siding outside and custom paneling inside…all made with their Woodmaster Molder/Planer.

We hear this question a lot these days. “How can I make a good living in these economic times?” Robert Parmer, owner of Parmer Lumber Company of Dawson, Georgia has found an answer.

Robert Parmer in his shop with his "4-Way Money Maker" -- his Woodmaster Molder/Planer

Robert Parmer in his shop with his “4-Way Money Maker” — his Woodmaster Molder/Planer

“My son and I make a living with our Woodmaster Molder/Planer and our TimberKing sawmill. We work with them about 10 hours a day, five or six days every week.”

Father & son business started with a TimberKing sawmill

The Parmers have a long history manufacturing wood products. “I have 42 years sawmill experience,” Robert told us, “and my son has 18 or so years.” Robert had 37 employees for about 25 years. “It was just about driving me crazy,” he says. “Now instead of 37, it’s just me and my son. We are enjoying life now.”

“We know sawmills. We looked at one with a cantilever head (cutting head supported on one side only) and my experience said that would be a problem over time.” Instead, he chose the TimberKing’s 4-post cutting head with support at each of its four corners.

SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Molder/Planers – sale prices, online specials

SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Drum Sanders – sale prices, online specials

The Parmers saw logs into high quality roughcut lumber with a TimberKing sawmill and a Talon edger. The TimberKing Sawmill saws out the boards; the Talon Edger removes the raw edges (“wane”) from the boards. Acquiring logs is easy, says Robert. “We saw roughcut lumber from trees in a 150-mile radius,” he says. “I’ve been in this business all my life so I know how to get a log.”

1,500% value added with a Woodmaster

“Value added” is the name of the game in the wood business. Each time you perform an additional process, you add value. Sawing logs into boards adds value; edging them adds value; but turning them into saleable wood products adds far more.

Just about the most valuable wood product you can make is wood molding. Starting with a board worth $5, a motivated woodworker can manufacture $75 worth of wood molding. That’s a 1,500% increase in value!

Woodmaster & TimberKing: sister companies

Robert's been in the lumber sawing business a long, long time. When he and his son started their own business, they chose a TimberKing sawmill because it has a rugged 4-post head.

Robert’s been in the lumber sawing business a long, long time. When he and his son started their own business, they chose a TimberKing sawmill because it has a rugged 4-post head

To add value, Robert added woodworking equipment: a Woodmaster Molder/Planer with a Woodmaster 3-Side Molding System. “When I learned that TimberKing and Woodmaster were sister companies, I knew Woodmaster was the Molder/Planer I wanted.” Product reviews by Woodmaster owners clinched the deal. “Another reason I bought a Woodmaster was because of the things other owners had written about them.  If they liked them that much I figured I would be happy with one, too.”

But, ultimately, it came down to service. “TimberKing took care of us very well. Their sister company, Woodmaster, makes a good product but the main thing is the service — the speed of service and the quality of people they have manning the phones.  If you have a problem they will tell you how to fix it, and they haven’t been wrong yet!  That is important when you are thousands of miles away in the middle of an order and something tears up.”

Here’s real business savvy

Added to the Woodmaster Molder/Planer, the Woodmaster 3-Side Molding System allows the woodworker to shape 3 sides of his workpiece in a single pass. The Woodmaster cuts the top surface; 2 Milwaukee routers shape both sides.

Added to the Woodmaster Molder/Planer, the Woodmaster 3-Side Molding System allows the woodworker to shape 3 sides of his workpiece in a single pass. The Woodmaster cuts the top surface; 2 Milwaukee routers shape both sides.

“I wanted to add value to our roughcut lumber and I figured we could sell some molding and paneling,” says Robert. “We make V-groove paneling out of cedar, cherry, and cypress and molding to match. If a man buys cedar paneling, he wants cedar crown and baseboard to match and you can’t go down to Lowe’s and buy cedar molding.”

Robert explained further. “We have high dollar items here with custom paneling and molding. We get a good dollar for them and we’ve kind of cornered the market down here. I don’t know of anywhere else you can buy these things here.”

The Parmers got a 3-Side Molding System at the same time as they got their Woodmaster Molder/Planer. It’s an add-on “outrigger” piece of equipment added to the Woodmaster’s outfeed. It enables the Woodmaster to shape three sides in a single pass. Molding knives in the Woodmaster’s cutterhead shape the top side; two heavy-duty Milwaukee routers shape two more sides; and variable-speed feed rollers move the workpiece through…all in one pass.

Parmer Lumber Co. mills roughcut lumber and adds tremendous value by turning boards into finished lumber with their Woodmaster...then building high-value items like this beautiful custom deck.

Parmer Lumber Co. mills roughcut lumber and adds tremendous value by turning boards into finished lumber with their Woodmaster…then building high-value items like this beautiful custom deck.

“We make log cabin siding with the Woodmaster Molder/Planer and the Woodmaster 3-Side Molding System,” Robert told us. It’s a complicated shape but Robert cuts the entire profile in one pass. “I can make one pass and make the whole thing, rabbet cut and all. There’s no reason to dress the backside. If I’m doing the board for myself, I don’t bother with the backside because its hidden and you have exact thickness all the way down the board.  But if it’s for a customer, I run it through another time to dress the back. I’m very well pleased with Woodmaster’s double router system.”

Bigger shop, more Woodmasters

If you're ever in Dawson, Georgia, stop and say hello to Robert and his son at Parmer Lumber Co.

If you’re ever in Dawson, Georgia, stop and say hello to Robert and his son at Parmer Lumber Co.

“Log cabin siding is going real well,” says Robert. They’ve built three display buildings with it but their most ambitious log cabin siding project is a mobile home they renovated. “We stripped it down to the studs,” says Robert. “Then we put log cabin siding on the outside and V-groove cherry, cypress, and cedar V-groove paneling inside.”

When we last spoke with Robert, he had big plans for the future. “We are seriously thinking about growing.  In fact we are going to build a bigger shop and add one or possibly two more molder planers, and they will be Woodmasters.”

SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Molder/Planers – sale prices, online specials

SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Drum Sanders – sale prices, online specials

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

3 WAYS we can help you!