Mill Owner Started By Building His Own Saw

Mill Owner Started By Building His Own Saw “I had a normal family life growing up, went to college, got a degree in mechanical engineering, and had a good job, but I guess a squirrel got in my head somewhere along the line and landed me in the sawmill business,” Will Feyder says with a laugh. Now in his early 30s, Feyder owns Lester River Sawmill north of Duluth, Minn. “My interest in lumber began when I started building a bandsaw in college at age 24. I finished it a couple of years later, found logs online, on Craigslist, or saw them for sale around town. I cut them into usable pieces and made furniture,” Feyder says. “That, along with having a portable Wood Mizer for two years, was a hobby that produced some good income, and I enjoyed the work. I graduated from college and used my mechanical engineering degree to get a good job, but I was always intrigued by lumber.” After seven years, Feyder quit his engineering job and bought Lester River Sawmill. He ran it solo for 18 mos. and says, “It was truly baptism by fire, like juggling a dozen balls at once. I had to be a mechanic to keep the equipment working, a process engineer to convert a log into money-making finished wood products, a scrap yard manager to use the waste products, a salesman to sell what I produced, and an accountant to keep track of everything.” Feyder says, “When people think of a sawmill, they think we just cut logs, but that’s just the beginning. I have a lot of equipment to operate and maintain, including a 48-in. circular saw, a drying kiln, a straight-line rip saw, a planer, a molder, a wide belt sander, and yard machinery.” After 18 mos. operating the mill alone, as the previous owner had done, Feyder was able to hire an employee. “Now, I can turn out a lot more products and serve more customers,” he says. “From native logs, we produce tongue and groove paneling, modern shiplap, moldings, trim and surfaced four sides (SFS) lumber. We also produce dimensional lumber, timbers and ground contact tamarack, which is naturally rot-resistant and ideal for ground-level boardwalks used in Minnesota parks. “With our location in the Northwoods, we have a large source of birch, ash, maple and tamarack,” Feyder says. “I do what’s called grade sawing, so I don’t sort the logs. I load up the deck, and each log dictates what I’ll cut out of it. The goal is to get the most high-grade boards out of each log in different widths and thicknesses. I stack the sawn boards, dry them in the kiln, then trim, straighten and mold them into finished products.” Feyder and his employee are also improving the mill by building a 24-ft. by 80-ft. addition next to his 48-in. circular saw. “The goal is to produce more volume and have space for more equipment. It’s also a new space to keep sawdust dry, which we sell for animal bedding.” Feyder says. “That, along with the scrap, is a valuable byproduct of the boards, timbers and trim.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Will Feyder, Lester River Sawmill, 5769 Rice Lake Rd., Duluth, Minn. 55803 (ph 218-721-3400; www.lesterriversawmill.com).

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