Hello Woodpreneurs! On the show today our guest is Matt from M2 Lumber. M2 Lumber is a sawmill and lumber yard that specializes in salvaging local trees that come down from storms or new development. They mill those into slabs and dimensional lumber but mostly live edge slabs, then dry those in one of their two kilns.
M2 Lumber has a solar kiln that they built two years ago based on Virginia Tech's design and also a new iDRY Standard vacuum kiln that came in February. M2 sells directly to the public, to other woodworkers, construction companies, contractors, interior designers, and even retail sales through that avenue. They also do a little bit of furniture building but that's more of a guilty pleasure Matt says as he loves to build furniture.
The Origin Story of M2 Lumber
Matt says it was not on purpose for sure. It was more of an accident. He grew up surrounded by woodworking as his dad is a very talented woodworker. Matt clarifies that his father isn’t a woodworker by trade, but just as a hobby, he has built almost everything.
Everything that is extremely challenging you can imagine in the woodworking world, he's built. Beautiful furniture, secretary desk, dining tables, corner cabinets, Matt recalls he built a grandfather clock, and even a violin once!
In Matt’s college years, he naturally gravitated back to woodworking as a hobby. This continued after college. Looking to make some extra money on the side while also doing something he enjoyed, he started to do woodworking as a side business.
Matt was building tables and small furniture as well as cutting boards trying to make a little extra money. Then, in 2015, he moved out to the country, as they discuss.
“We have about five acres of land where we live now. My neighbor and I were talking one day, and we had a tree come down and I was like, “Well I don't know what we're gonna do with this. I guess I'll burn it or whatever.” And he said, “Well, why don't you take it over to the sawmill?” and my ears perked up when I was like “Sawmill what?” I didn't know there was a sawmill around here and sure enough, there's a sawmill run by name a guy named Terry Ellison, about two miles down the road.
He milled it up for me and charged me like $60 or something ridiculously cheap. I was really hooked at that point because that was the first experience taking a tree getting it milled into lumber and then being able to do something with it.”
To see more from M2 Lumber check out the links below!
The Woodpreneur Podcast
We cover the business and marketing side of the sawmill, tree service, furniture making, Urban Wood, and woodworking industry. If you're a woodworker, sawmill owner, or any other entrepreneur and/or business owner in the wood industry, you need to check out this podcast.
Each week, we interview business owners, large-scale companies, entrepreneurs, makers, and designers while also offering marketing and business advice that will help you grow your business and increase your profits. Tune in every Thursday!
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