Turning My Hobby Into A Career - From Logs To Finished Furniture

[@michaelquirk1707]

It seems like your doing something that you really enjoy, I'm 61, traditional carpenter, working mostly with green oak so I understand about things being heavy lol, I love my work and will continue for as long as I can, your work is beautiful and your video's are well worth watching, keep up the good work.

[@1alanman]

Excellent story! I can so relate to your journey. I have always loved cutting wood but in high school began working in a machine shop. While there I built a large bandsaw (before big was the thing) in the 1980’s. It would cut 40” then and now modified will cut 6’. I worked there 16 years then in a trucking shop for 3 yrs then on to self employed building houses for nearly 30 yrs. I am even now transitioning to basically the exact same thing you are doing using all those experiences to build tools, buildings, home, infrastructure. I should have done it 30 yrs ago so I applaud you for your work and thank you for sharing your kindred spirit. May God bless and prosper you in your life. Lee Lehman L&S Custom Sawmill and Woodwork

[@backstromwoodwork566]

A great read, super cool of you to share your story as well. Would love to check out that bandsaw of yours, and I’ll let you in on a little secret.. there might be something in the works over here that looks like a bandsaw with a 67” cut width, but we’ll see how that goes (time is not something i have a lot of at the moment) im happy you found your niche, and having 30 years of experience will certainly give you an edge. All my best wishes to you my friend!

[@bilalnkoana914]

I love your videos. You are so great at what you do as well.

[@briandolhun1968]

Great Video.. You do a wonderful job of telling your story. Like the gentleman who got a hold of you and professed to be your brother in woodworking journey, I have also been trying to find my niche in life and believe I might of found it in woodworking. In my opinion you would also be successful in making "how to" videos for KZbin and Id definitely be watching. A big hello from Canada and all the best to you and your family.

[@smigletat9634]

LOVED IT!!!

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Happy to hear that :)

[@matthewsmade]

I'm not surprised you got that call you are so relatable. I am trying to find my way to my niche after going off track for so long. You can tell you are in it you just look so natural like you are ment to be there.

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Thanks Tim! If I told you about all the times i got sidetracked then this would turn into a short novel. I hope you find success, thanks for commenting!

[@MrThenry1988]

Cool.

[@crisdebeer9763]

I absolutely love your videos. I just bought my own alaskan mill and have started making small pieces of furniture for our home. Please keep making them as out of the thousands of videos out there yours are inspiring and very well done. Keep it up!

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Cris, thanks so much! Glad you found the channel and are enjoying the content. Hope you get to cut some nice wood with your alaskan, such a great feeling milling your own wood.

[@stevemulqueen6210]

Great video. Really like the content

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Thanks Steve! I appreciate it.

[@jeffreyharrington5057]

I love the inspiration brother I want to be where you're at someday. I just started Alaskan milling last yr and I have a long road ahead of me.

[@thexylochannel]

Bra jobbat kompis

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Tack gubben :)

[@robintaylor-mockingeemill8223]

Love seeing your journey . Would like to visit Sweden some day .

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Thanks for tuning in my friend. You’re welcome anytime.

[@michaelwillson6847]

Dude amazing video again loving it and as we've talked about gotta have best quality wood and trust me the knowledge you have is great and don't put yourself down you are or if not should be master craftsman big love

[@backstromwoodwork566]

You’re awesome man, thanks.

[@akospozsgai1355]

Good work! I love your vifeos!

[@frankiernan183]

Top notch pal keep up the good work you're chainsaw mill is class and I'll have to get 1 some day 👍. I live in Ireland and am doing the same thing as urself and as you said it takes time and alot of money but hey as long as we're enjoying ourselves the future is promising.

[@michaelwillson6847]

@frankieran dude if anyone knows about this it's this man here he and his videos have been a life saver to me am in process of setting up a mill it just takes time and patience and wood contacts oh and a good sized saw. Trust me though once you get your first slab through its an amazing feeling.

[@frankiernan183]

@@michaelwillson6847 ya he's doing great work in fairness to him. I've been slabbing tree's for a few years now myself with an Alaskan chainsaw mill. I've been air drying them but I've just built a large solar kiln so I can finally get to using them for table's and furniture.

[@michaelwillson6847]

@@frankiernan183 go you ave not got to that stage yet slabbbing but sir drying diffrent species oak larch chestnut ash and some spruce and some birch Got option for kiln drying but trying build stock and customer basis. Looking building kiln once get some orders coming through although mine is being sold to joiners and furniture builders ave not got the skills to build

[@frankiernan183]

@@michaelwillson6847 I've found building stock not to be the issue but clientele can be difficult that been said time and patience is key some customers appreciate that and others don't. Nice talking to you pal and best of luck with your adventure 👍😀

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Thanks a lot. Yeah man glad to hear your input, it’s a slow climb but just like you said, gotta have fun while doing it. Best wishes to you.

[@damianjones6546]

Thanks for the videos, I am just starting out. I've got a few chainsaws and some trees on my families land. I am hoping to be able to make some kind of living from doing this. Your videos are inspiring for me at the moment as I don't think my wife thinks I can do it. I'm not sure either but there's only one way to find out.

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Thanks Damian, happy to hear you are excited to give it a try. That’s right, only one way to find out :) let me know how it goes. All the best to you.

[@bentzer86]

Snyggt jobbat! Önskar verkligen att jag hade möjlighet att testa jobba med att bygga möbler. Det ser riktigt roligt ut!

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Härligt att höra! Ja det är verkligen roligt :)

[@FiveAcreHomestead]

Tack Joel för en bra film, jag förstår verkligen att det handlar om att se det hela i ett större perspektiv och hitta det där "man" verkligen vill göra här i livet. Tack för inspiration. Btw, jag minns din första bordssåg, en uppochnervänd cirkelsåg fastskruvad i en bräda.... ;)

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Hahah ja just det, den gamla godingen, den hade jag glömt bort 😄 superkul att höra goda ord från dig, och att du finner inspiration. Vi måste ses någon dag och catch up.

[@chimmy4244]

Good luck on your journey! Always look forward to seeing your next project and learning something from you along the way. Have a nice day

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Thanks mate! Appreciate your support.

[@badbehavior1883]

I may have missed the reason for chainsaw application, but, why not use band blades? Your Videos are actually inspiring and exemplifies the work ethic. Marketing will be your next adventure.

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Hey thanks for your comment. Yeah I was debating with myself whether to build a bandsaw or chainsawmill. I decided to go with chainsaw mainly due to cost. A bandsawmill is better, but to have a bandsawmill that cut really big logs and do it well you need some fairly large bandwheels and a big motor, the bearings and shafts need to be pretty big as well to handle the power from the motor. If we then add blade guides, a sharpener plus a whole lot of blades, the cost of all that ended up being significantly higher vs what I had to pay to have a capable chainsawmill. The slow cutting speed and huge kerf that a chain makes is a real downer, but if all you are cutting is thick slabs then I can live with that. Chainsawmilling is fairly robust as well and there is not much that can go wrong as long as you keep the chains sharp they always produce a nice and flat cut, though it takes twice the time or more compared to a bandsaw. Hope that answers your question.

[@oakiemac]

At about 5:30 you were spreading a black substance on the edges of a slab. Is that a type of glue?

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Hi Steve! Thats the tinted hardwaxoil you see being put on. Since these were glued together with dominoes, and the design was to leave a gap between the two halves of just a few millimeters, i had to put the oil on at this stage because after joining these together it would be difficult to access the inside edge when finishing. The finish is rubio monocoat chocolate

[@MrJoopdeSloper]

Hey great video's youre making!om using an spiral router bit in my router sled, but the finish is rough and it takes al lot of sanding. Youre finish looks al lot better, wich routerbit works the best for you. Greetz from a passionat woodworker also.

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Hey man! I use a surfacing bit with a 2” diameter. You can get them bigger than that as well, but those are mainly for cnc machines. Mine has inserts that do the cutting, they have 4 sides so once the edge gets dull, i can remove them and rotate a quarter turn to get s fresh edge. I’d highly recommend one of those that uses inserts.

[@wolferogers3047]

Excellent content, excellent video work! Thank you for sharing your experience, and thank you even more for your generosity in making these videos so that others can benefit from your experience!!! (And agreed, epoxy dust is NOT the best condiment for our beverages. personally, I like honey ;-D)

[@backstromwoodwork566]

Haha touché, honey is fantastic. It’s my pleasure, and thank you for taking the time to write such a nice comment. Be well my friend.

[@filipandric8069]

Im from Croatia also 😂