The TRUTH about buying from a SAWMILL 

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this *totally* should become a series. fantastic premise and Matt sounds like he's got a wealth of knowledge.

As a beginner, the idea of going into anything other than a home center for lumber is super intimidating. This video was super helpful and also let me know that there's a reputable outlet in the upstate. Thanks for making it!

Matt is a natural. The camera likes him, and he should consider a RU-vid channel for marketing... in my opinion. I have worked at a lumber mill, exotic wood retailers and as a woodworker for many years, so I knew pretty much everything in this video, yet I still found it entertaining and enjoyable to watch. That's a really good sign!

As an owner and operator of my urban salvage lumber company, this video is a damn good break down of what to look out for. Props for keeping it right to the point in a timely fashion as I talk with a lot of customers and now will just send them this link to save me time. Maybe I’ll have a TV in the show room with this video on repeat lol

I would definitely like more about different wood species and when you might use them. This was a great segment and Matt was the perfect guest. He reminds me of the guy that runs a local sawmill here. Awesome image and staff.

The wind blew over a large oak tree in my yard, being an amateur woodworker the idea of having a large load of oak literally fall into my lap was pretty cool. I was happy to learn Matt's shop was just a few miles from me. In short order, he had had the lumber milled for me. Very easy to work with.

Dude, your content is on point. As a noob woodworker with hardwoods this video brings together all the questions I have about hardwoods. I don't care if it takes several months for your new content, it is exceptional.

That was one of the most informative videos I’ve ever watched. Very helpful and great presentation. I would definitely encourage you two to continue this collaboration!

Love this! Hope for part 2... I would love a video on choosing different wood species for projects.

You 2 got a synergy that goes so well together.. Please do make some more vid with him or maybe try talking him into a YT channel on the lumber side of things

This is one of the most informative woodworks videos I have watched. Thank you for putting this out!

Your videos are so great. They’re focused, funny, and offer great tips without coming off as “the only expert on the internet” like so many other people do!

I love the educational aspect of all of your vids! I would love a video breaking down the types of lumber and where to use. Thanks!

Thank you so much for putting together this video. I want to go to a sawmill for lumber soon but have no idea what I'm getting into or what questions to ask. I feel much more informed now and a little more confident. No one wants to get taken for a sucker.

I usually go to a hardwood distributer but this video inspired me to go to a mill. Contacted a local one with listed prices 10-20% lower than where I usually go and I'm heading there tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration!

Good stuff! Thanks so much for taking time to explain the ups and downs of buying from a small firm! I would love to see a series on different wood breeds and their uses!

Thank you so much for making this. I was so nervous going anywhere but a big box store for lumber because I’m not an experienced woodworker. I hope all mill owners are as friendly as Matt.

First, thank you John. If it weren't for you, I would not have learned about Matt or M2 Lumber in Laurens, SC. I live in Tennessee, near Nashville, and paid a visit to M2 today. Matt treated me like family. He was busy, but gave me all the time I needed. He helped me select some great pieces and introduced me to some species for my projects that I had not yet considered. In the end, Matt made sure that I got what I needed and he saved me money in the process. I bought more wood than I expected. I am extremely pleased that I met him and can't wait to get back to Tenn with my lumber. Thanks again for this great video. You are doing the woodworking community a great service. Keep up the good work and consider making a series about what each species is best suited for. Blessings!!

Perfect timing! I'm going to a sawmill Friday to pick up some cherry for a table project. Thanks for this info

100% would love to see a species breakdown. This was a great video. A lot of great information to help me connect the dots as a beginning woodworker. Love your content, thanks as always!

Matt lets me drive his tractor. Just saying...

When I need a hood laugh, Lincoln Street doesn’t disappoint 🤣. Keep up the good work man!

Please, always with respect: I do not know your market, but up north, the material you call waste, is sold as firewood (sometimes called slab wood), and I am sure you have heard of a machine called a 'finger joint(er),' which takes short lengths of lumber and finger joints (combined with glue of course, in the finger joint) the material into longer lengths, such as 16' lengths, and this is, in turn, turned into paint grade trim/moldings. The machine which turns square stock - whether finger jointed or regular solid lengths, goes by a myriad of names, such as 8 to 12-head routers, sticker machines, and trimmers, but this also is a major component of the lumber industry. Trims of all sizes, and shapes are extremely important to the building/construction industry, which also includes trims made of softwoods and hardwoods. This video is wonderful and filled with accurate, honest data: anyone who is new or seasoned to the lumber industry, should consider watching this video. Thank you, gentlemen.

I’d love an extensive multi-part guide to all the wood. Especially going through easiest to find, or lowest cost, to most difficult to find, expensive. Something that speaks to project size/mass and how well it does with stain/finish. How it cuts. How bad is I to snort the dust. Curious how well it works as a table top, shelving, or wide flat boards. And how it turns... on a lathe.

One thing I wish I knew earlier on was that most local hardwood dealers or sawmills have full shops with the larger machines that they will rent out for you. Also, that you can save money by requesting they just do S2S as well.

That was fun. Well done. Fast, with some nice edits included, dense on information, and the Abbott & Costello routine went great. Quite good.

I got more quality information from this video than 4 other I watched first, thanks for putting together something so clear and concise!

Dude this video is legit!I love the format... the humor.... the pace.... just an overall awesome RU-vid video! Please rinse and repeat! Go M2M!

Really good video, informative and educational. i would love to see more of this type of content. Maybe a series of one particular subject, say chisel's. differences between western and eastern, good buying choices, sharpening and maintaining and basic usage. im saying this because im about to get my first set of them lol either way great video and keep up the good work !!

I love the idea of urban tree lumber. Here in Atlanta we have several options of local sawmills, and I try to go there first as a matter of principle. Great episode. Thanks

This is the video that got my subscription. Been in this business almost 50 yrs and always made certain apprentices were on their best behavior around the sawmill folks- just like pissing off a waiter can get you crappy food, offending a sawmill operator will keep you in BORING material forever. But if you show up with fresh cookies and polite apprentices you will leave that place with GOLD. Smart man not letting you run the tractor. lol

Speaking as a beginner/aspiring woodworker (who has been devouring your videos!) I would *love* a video or series comparing pros/cons of various wood species

I went to my first hardwood dealer the other day. They were really nice and took the time to explain board feet etc.

Probably the most informative woodworking RU-vid video I’ve ever seen. Imagine that, someone educating us woodworkers on… wood! Love your channel. If only Kenobi was as entertaining as LSW!

A breakdown on what wood to use for what would be really helpful, I like how you keep videos fun while packing a ton of knowledge.

This is one of your best videos!!! Very informative and Matt was a trip!

I think this is the best information I have heard regarding sawmills and lumber. Great job and hilarious video.

Good video. You make a great argument for finding a good small sawmill and paying them whatever they want. I've only made a few pieces of furniture in my life and these will long outlive me or my grandchildren -- so getting the best possible wood is well worth whatever it takes or costs. (The best matched wood I've ever seen was in a desk made by a ships carpenter 'on the beach'. The desk is in the royal palace in Hilo, Hawaii. If you've ever used a block plane and you get close to Hawaii you owe it to yourself to find this piece. Clearly a labor of love.) I live in Los Angeles, right now about 36% humidity - so desert but not quite. My breadboard ends do move. They tend to work in one direction so about every 2-3 years I'll tap the ends back towards the center. The movement of course is changes in moisture which surprised me in this part of the desert. A number of years ago I bought a large cedar beam to build a strip kayak. I let the yard rip it for me. I'd done all the algebra to figure out saw blade thickness , best possible results, but letting the lumberyard do it... I wasn't going to be a jerk so I didn't even mention my calcs. Then I picked up my wood. This tiny little round clump. I was in shock. What happened? Then I started counting. The yard guy was every bit as efficient as my best calcs. What I finally realized was a big flat slab looks a lot bigger than the resulting bundle. This is why cereal comes in big rectangular slab boxes instead of cubes. White cedar which is probably only northwest and Canada. I bought a pile of this from my local lumberyard. It looked like pretzels it was so warped. However, I built a deck and an outdoor table with it. Very tame, laid right down. It's been flat ever since -- almost 30 years. It's really hard to find because it looks like a stack of 2x lumber that is seriously wrong. After I bought out my local lumberyard's supply they never stocked it again.

Just getting started here buying wood from something other than a box store. It is a tad intimidating. Figuring board ft and worrying about how much money is spent on waste. That being said it sure is nice having more options than Red Oak and Pine! :). I need to find a place like Matt's here in Iowa. Thanks for another great video.

A wood species video covering the pros and cons of each species would be awesome!

Great video. Really helpful information and the two of you worked together really well. Looking forward to more of this collaborative content.

I'm liking the new direction of the channel! Great video, very informative!

I always enjoy (and learn) from each of your productions. I especially liked this one, very informative, and here in lower Michigan (Detroit area) I will now look for local sources. I typically have just made purchases from Woodcraft, because, we’ll just because. Your partner in the video was also terrific. Thank you to the both of you!

I'm now planning a trip to Laurens. Great video as always. You two need to collaborate on more in the future.

This was excellent. Great job fellas. I'm just getting started and just made my first purchase from a hardwood dealer, the first time not getting stuff at a big box, and was super intimidated but had a great experience. Videos like this are really helpful to noobs like me

Another video packed to the rafters with great information, even for someone who is in another continent from you! Many thanks!

By far the best video I have seen covering the in's and out's of a sawmill. Absolutely loved it. Now all I want to do is travel across the US to visit M2 Lumber.

Absolutely thrilled by this. I moved near Laurens and have been looking for a lumber supplier, so I'll check it out!

Loved this! Very informative! Thanks for posting.

Absolutely love the focus on kiln drying. The operation that my father and I run takes a HUGE focus on kiln drying before we do anything else with the customer's wood. It's probably the single hardest part of what we do (we don't do the sawmill end as we have 3 sawyers we source from). Glad to see that your buddy takes that aspect of it seriously. That just... 🤌

You guys are just absolutely the best! Clear, articulate, thorough, zero ego bs, VERY informative....BUT...zero stars for not being in northern Wisconsin!!!!😜

Excellent high level overview good job kept me engaged all the way through and lots of good points! Been nice tohave a tips sheet or a checkbox sheet that goes through all the point. I have to go back to the video and make one! I would love to deal with my local mill but nervous if I'm being over charge as you stated!! You guys did a great job and I like the fact that he's saving trees like that it's a shame that any wood gets burnt or tossed away into a landfill shameful use of resources!

my experience is that by the time you purchase the rough wood at the sawmill, have it planed so it is flat, jointed so it has at least one true edge, and thicknessed for use, (assuming you don't have several thousand dollars worth of jointers, thickness planers and large drum sanders), you pay every bit as much as you would at the home center. You will have a better selection, though. I buy small scraps from the mill. I have tools that can deal with the smaller dimensions. And sometimes scraps are incredible inexpensive.

Thank you for this video. I am local woodworker that has been following you for a while now and I am in Greer SC. Thanks to that Video I know know of a new place that I can get wood from.

This was incredibly useful information, and I can't express my appreciation enough. Matt was absolutely awesome, and ended the video perfectly. I'd love to see a video series about the different species, their attributes, and how to choose what to use well. And this was the video that made me subscribe, as well. Superb!

I bought a pallet of assorted wood from a local saw mill. Two brothers producing finished wood for a cabinet manufacturer. They took stuff off saying (that's not nice) and threw stuff on. Not having a specific project in mind this worked out well for me. Showing up as a complete doofus they treated me great. I had loads to make random projects with for way, way less. I got samples of species I'd never worked with and may have never worked with (hickory, locust both hard on tools but wow, seriously). Support your local small operators for hobby stuff. When you need volume of a specific lumber they will be there for you.

Another awesome video man! Well done!

Super glad this video hit my recommendations. I’ve often looked for a breakdown like this and could never find it. Thanks for the great work.

This is the best, most informative, most valuable, wood procurement video I've ever seen - thank you!

You two are the Abbott and Costello of the rough-cut lumber world. I highly urge you to collaborate much more often. That was a great presentation. Liked and subbed without hesitation.

I teach High School Woodworking and have a great relationship with a local Kiln facility. They sell to us by the pallet (we use around 4000 bdft a school year), but they also sell by the board to the public. It may be helpful if someone is having a difficult time finding kiln dried wood, it maybe helpful to preach out to your local High School Woodshop. I would not sell my my shop but I would aim someone to my vendor.

Great information. And yes, lumber here in the desert is expensive.

This is an awesome video with tons of great knowledge we wouldn't otherwise get. Thanks for the high quality content!

Very informational video! This will definitely be helpful for me, as going to the hardwood dealer (aka. a "real" lumber store) can be somewhat intimidating. I would like to learn more about types of wood for certain types of projects. I've never thought about using white oak for outdoor projects - good to know.

It is called a sticker because orignally: It was just sticks, and you lift the board and stick em right on in there. There was a carpentry service that would make equal sized sticks just for stacking wood to help prevent warping as it dried.

Love this video. So much great info. I would love another video on different wood species and their uses

Thank you for your honest approach it is so refreshing , I really enjoy your videos. One comment there is a wood working school near me I have taken classes at, some of the best wood workers in the country are guest instructors there. The hand tool only guys there tell me they will not work with kiln dried wood. I'm not sure why I believe it may be more prone to break out when working near an edge with tools like chisels and hand planes and may split easier. Here in the Pacific Northwest there are a lot of one man saw Mills and I don't know of any that have kilns. For many years the lumber yard I buy dimensional lumber from sold green fir as well as kiln dried (KD). I found the green fir would not split when toe nailing. From the reading I have done they say that over time (laid up in the lumber yard) green wood and KD would will reach the same moisture content (makes sense) of course depending on weather this might be 6 month.

Another great video. Who were those two actors you hired to play the wood guys? Is the actor on the left related to Clint Eastwood? Seriously, a ton of useful information, concisely delivered in a light-hearted Dan Ackroyd sort of way. I'll end it here because I don't want you too spend an inordinate amount of time re-reading your review--just make more videos. Also, it would be very helpful if you threw in a comment that we could share with our wives about how practical it really is for us to buy lots of expensive tools and stuff because it in the end it all benefits children and small animals, and of course helps bring about world peace.

super informative. I learned a lot.

Loved this video! Super impressed with the M2 lumber operation. As an aspiring small saw mill operator I learned a lot. Thanks to both of you. Definitely buying the save the trees t shift.

Awesome man. Great comprehensive reference video for everyone. Saved. Thank you!

Thanks for the video! Apart from asking the help, is there an easy way to trust but verify whether I'm looking at air-dried vs kiln-dried wood on my own? I understand the difference can matter when it comes to appearance in some species (e.g., walnut).

This is a ridiculously fantastic video.

Great knowledge for those looking to use wood for fine woodworking projects. For farm outbuildings, we pretty much ignore most of this as, first, there is no mill nearby with vacuum kilns and, second, farm outbuildings here in the FL panhandle are normally board & batten so the shrinkage is allowed for. Since building wood here is pretty much all southern yellow pine, it actually shrinks much less than I would expect. We have been doing outbuildings here for over 20 years and never had a bug issue yet.

Once there were two lawyers arguing about where to put the stickers in the pile. They just kept yelling back and forth "stick her there!" The apprentice was watching and next time they stacked lumber he said where do you want the sticker. And hence forth it was called a sticker.

This is a fantastic video with excellent info. If you have the opportunity to collaborate with M2 Lumber again, I would love to see more! Thanks!

I've been buying from hardwood dealers for about a decade & local mills for years. This is one of the most comprehensive videos I have seen on the subject. Wish I'd had it years ago. Only thing it's missing is stating that another benefit of local mills is you might find some of the most beautiful wood. Oftentimes I have found locals look for particularly interesting logs that yield really figured, beautiful boards.

Thank you, Matt for this video. It makes it understandable and a lot less intimidating.

Dude I've watched this video over and over, I'm not in the US but loved the production so much that I watch it again and again

Articulate and intelligent, plus a thin spread of humor, to create a fine wooden learning experience. Gracias señors.

Great video. Very informative and detailed. Also, you guys are hilarious together. Your personalities and on screen presence compliment each other quite well. 👍

That is one of the clearest explanations I've ever heard on the subject. Yes Yes ... please a similar species video

thanks for answering so many questions I didn't know I was going to have. guys are great job explaining everything. I'm heading to my local mill for the first time next

Love this video! Great content, great details, great pacing! So many good things to know here.

Very good video! Having lived in South Carolina, one thing I would recommend is when it comes to trades/contractors out there, be reasonable, yet cautious, with the ' locals'; they play lots of games... especially the closer you get to the coast. More often than not, we were better off swallowing the shipping, and getting materials elsewhere, such as Penn., or farther north, or simply just going to the box-store, depending on the work.

Class act!!! I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it again: What you provide in your channel is Content with a purpose, that is intentional, informative, instructional, well executed, concise, fun, and entertaining. You and Matt both feed off each-other in style and I just love it!!!! 👍🏽 Kudos!!! PS: I like both shirts, but.. Matt’s tapered style shirt shape wins this round. 🤩

I’ve learned the lesson about asking a local mill to “prove it” about moisture content the hard way. So true to watch out for a “guy with a saw” on marketplace as well. The guy I go to in upstate New York is super. I always plan an extra hour to the trip as he is always showing me something new he is doing or wants me to see. I didn’t drive the tractor but I did get to drive the forklift to dig through the pile

This is fabulous. You should be super proud of your content. I learned so much and feel like I could try shopping in a sawmill now.

I built and rebuilt wood boats and found local sawmills could supply much better lumber than any of the lumber retailers. At a retailer, if I need a 2x4, I buy a 2x12. If I'm lucky I get 2 2x4s, but usually 1 and some firewood. Custom sawmills can give you exactly what you need. The best ones will dry and plane. Even better, I let them know far in advance of any new builds or replanking and the wood is ready to use when I need it. It costs more but saves many hours. I'm on the Oregon coast so mostly use fir.

This video is just plain outstanding!! I learned a whole bunch that I never knew before. There are three or four sawmills near my house and so I'm looking forward to going to check them out to see what I can see and perhaps find a better source for lumber than Blowe's or Home Despot. Their lumber SUCKS. Most of the 2x4s I get at either store would make Robin Hood jealous, were he making a new bow for his arrows. Looking forward to more great videos from you, boss!! Thanks for all you do!

Hey John, I just discovered your RU-vid channel and I wanted to give you a huge thumbs up. Your videos are great and I certainly look forward to more of them. Best of all is your combination of good work and information coupled with your humor. It's awesome and definitely makes the viewing experience more entertaining. Here's to quality videos that are educational yet funny and quit-witted. Cheers!

I have a sawmill, kiln and woodshop and after this video I want to buy from Matt! Great Video!

You had me at "That thing of a Hammy?" at the 2 min mark. Great Video. I have a hobby band mill.

Great video and explanation all across. Y'all have a good weekend.

Thank You for this very informative video. I have seen thousands. On lumber but have never truly understood somethings until now . Subscribed

Dude your videos are the best. Tons of “useful” information and funny as hell. Thanks so much.

Phenomenal video, as usual. Would have saved me weeks of confusion watching other videos and trying to find someone willing to share this basic info at my local hardwood dealer. Let's just say they are 100% committed to the old grumpy expert model and don't have time to explain 6/4 S2S. Would love a video with some insight ton the pros and cons of several of the more popular hardwoods available across the country (maple, oak, poplar, etc.) for different types of projects (building a work bench, furniture, home repair, etc). Also info on plywood types, cores, etc., would be great.

Loved this video dude! It’s interesting to hear any differences between the states and over here in the UK 🤙🏻

This was an amazingly informative and well produced video.