# Milling cost?



## gideon (May 26, 2010)

I just picked a bunch of rough cut walnut for cheap and need a lot of it jointed/planed. I don't have all the tools I need and want yet.

I was quote $100 per hour to basically joint and plane a bunch of boards. 

Is this for real? Forgive me, I'm a novice.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

That seems high to me. Especially not knowing what kind of equipment will be used. If this is a big outfit that can do 1000 bft in an hour, sure...if it is some guy with tools you could buy yourself (decent benchtop planer and jointer, nothing fancy) for $500 and it is going to take him 1/2 a day or more to do it...well you could buy those tools for the same $ he is charging for labor. Then you have the tools to use in the future if woodworking is something you plan on doing for awhile.

Around here it is $0.35 bft to plane and straight line rip (last I heard, don't do it as a service at my mill-never paid to have it done myself) The local Amish will run anything you bring them through a wide/commercial drum sander and thickness sand for $30 hour. I have done that in the past/sent customers to them also, they can do a pickup truck load in 30 minutes.


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

thats what I was thinking exactly. I have a few boards to clean up - like 5. I'll eventually wind up getting the tools anyway.

I emailed these guys and told them that I have just a few boards - more smaller project stuff, no volume. Their response was that its a minimum $100 charge to start milling anything.

I asked if they were hiring.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

5 boards sounds like you just need a buddy right now with a planer. I said I don't really do it for customers, just because they have the tools to do it themselves...buddies on the other hand I do it all the time. For example last weekend a buddy was hanging drywall in a house his brother is fixing up. He needed some 1/2" thick stock to flush out some window trim (or something like that), he had 3/4'' pine laying around doing nothing. I just ripped it to width on the table saw and shot it through the planer real quick. It only took a few minutes and gave us a chance to BS for awhile and catch up.

I think the outfit you called just threw $100 at you to blow you off, didn't want to mess with 5 boards. I bet you could find a smaller shop willing to help you out, depending on how busy they are...most around here are not busy at all, in fact some of those Amish shops I mentioned when I drive by the lights are off and the parking lot is empty in the middle of the week :huh:


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