“My wife, Paula, and I are very serious hobbyists. In fact, our woodworking is a hobby that’s gotten out of control! We built a home with a 1,600 square foot work area and we spend our winters doing woodworking. We build all kinds of things. We’ve made a pool table, poker tables, all the cabinetry in our home, trim, furniture, wine cabinets, even 5 bunk beds for our 9 grandchildren at our family lake house.

Our first planer was an old Belsaw we resurrected out of the mud on a farm. We rebuilt it and used it for years. These days, we have top-rated tools like our Woodmaster Molder/Planer and Woodmaster Drum Sander.

Everything we make is for ourselves and gifts for family and friends. We don’t sell anything. We’re retired and we like it that way. We like to travel and spend time with the grandkids. We keep busy in retirement and we do woodworking for the love of doing it.

Nothing as frustrating as equipment that doesn’t work well

Nothing’s as frustrating as equipment that doesn’t work well. Lumber isn’t cheap and you don’t want to be making a cut wrong and doing it over three times. So we buy quality equipment.

I looked at all kinds of planers including the cantilever kind where the head’s attached at only one side. I ended up getting a Woodmaster planer because it’s a no-frills, solid piece of equipment. I’ve pushed it, I guess, and punished it, and it comes back for more. It’s a good value for the money. I would love to get one of Woodmaster’s spiral cutterheads sometime.

Rough cut lumber’s very reasonably priced

I got the planer because I wanted to start projects using rough cut lumber. I can get rough cut boards at sawmills at a reasonable price rather than very expensive finished lumber at big box stores. There are lots of small sawmills around here in Indiana and I’ve even cut trees from our back property and had them sawn into boards, air dried them, and put them through our Woodmasters.

If you’re buying rough cut lumber, you must have a planer. The rough boards are usually about 1” thick. I run them through our Woodmaster Planer about 1/100^th of an inch oversize then sand them to the exact dimension with our Woodmaster Drum Sander.

I chose the mid-sized Woodmaster Planer because it was all I could afford at the time. I knew the 12” model was too small, and the 25” was more than I wanted to spend. This planer works for me – I rarely work with boards wider than 15” or 16.”

Infinitely variable feed rate is absolutely necessary

The advantage of this planer is its durability. And the variable speed is absolutely necessary. My old Belsaw planer had just 1 speed. With the Woodmaster, the feed rate is infinitely variable. I can run workpieces through fast, slow, or anywhere in between. And the precise height adjustment lets me achieve tolerances to 0.005. That’s 5 thousandths of an inch.

My Woodmasters have never let me down and I don’t have any stones to throw. Every machine has its limits and I try to abide by them though, really, I do push it a little hard sometimes. I talk up Woodmaster every chance I get.”

— Steve and Paula Elett, Woodmaster Owners, Angola IN

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“I’ve owned a Woodmaster Molder/Planer for ten or fifteen years. I got interested in woodworking when I was younger and it got in my blood. I’m retired now but I can’t give up woodworking. I recently built myself a 30 x 46 shop. Half of it is set up for woodworking.

I have a Woodmaster Molder/Planer and a Woodmaster Drum Sander. I got the planer first. Recently, I added their drum sander because I liked the planer so much.

Ed’s a D-I-Y guy

I’ve got a ‘can do’ attitude. Years ago, I built my own house. I didn’t hire anything done. I poured the concrete, did the framing, installed the trusses, wired it, plumbed it, and finished it. Now I’m working on remodeling our current home.

12,000 feet of cherry through my Woodmaster

My son is a cabinetmaker. Right now, he’s working on a multimillion-dollar home. I helped him with the trim work. We used the Woodmaster Molder/Planer to run 12,000 feet of cherry. We ripped all of it with the Woodmaster’s gang ripsaw feature. Then we bought all the molding knives we’d need – a whole box of cutters. We ran all the molding and used the sanding head. It took us all fall to run all the 6” base, crown molding, and more.

At the time I got the planer, I was looking for a dependable machine and Woodmaster got good reviews. I wanted something reliable. And I wanted it on wheels because I had a small shop at the time.

4 key woodworking machines in 9 square feet

I didn’t want separate machines taking up floor space. I liked that the Woodmaster can be set up four ways as needed: as a planer, molder, sander, and saw. It’s great that can do all 4 functions and changing over from one to another is no problem. I don’t think there are any other 4-in-1 machines out there. I’ve run it all these years and it still runs perfectly.

Infinitely variable feed rate — 0 to 16 feet per minute

I do like the infinitely variable feed rate. Both my Woodmaster machines have this feature. I can dial the feed rate anywhere from zero to 16 feet per minute. It’s great to have the option to choose your speed – sometimes very slow on hard or knotty woods and faster on soft woods. It works with an awesome DC motor so it’s trouble free. It’s DC drive with a direct current motor. I haven’t had one problem.

Main advantage

The advantage is I can dial down the feed rate on the go so it won’t chip out the wood. Knots is where it’s the variable feed rate is needed most. I can dial it down at any point then dial it back  up again. This is one of Woodmaster’s main advantages.

I feel good about what I’ve done over the years

I was a Shop teacher in schools for 36 years. That’s where kids can learn to use their hands and their brains. I had a lot of students go into successful careers in building and construction. My son’s a cabinetmaker and these days I’m doing some woodworking with my grandson. I feel good about what I’ve done over the years!”

— Edward Hess, Woodmaster Molder/Planer Owner, MN

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“I was a company employee for 20 years. Then I wanted to get into business for myself and ran a franchise business. I tried it for 5 years but found I was working 8 to 12 hour days and not really making anything. So I got some woodworking tools and started my woodworking business.

Now I’m 82 years old and I’ve been making and selling tables and chairs for about 20 years. I started making cutting boards and lazy susans and sold them through a retailer. When I told them I needed to get 10% more money for my work, they said they couldn’t do it. I told them I couldn’t do it, either and decided to sell my work myself.

I took a course in making chairs and rockers. I made one and liked it so I made more. I’ve been making chairs and tables, chairs and tables, ever since. I learned a lot from that course and from watching online videos of how others make furniture.

It all started with one chair

A local lawyer saw one of my chairs and wanted to try it out. He tried it and wanted to buy it. He asked how much. I told him the price and he bought it. Then he ordered three more.

Later, he was remodeling an 1848 church into a home and told me he needed a table and chairs for his dining hall. He ordered a table 14’ long by 42” wide, along with eight matching chairs. Then he wanted a 10’ round table with chairs, and four or five bar chairs.

Then he built a house on the Texas coast and ordered an 8-foot table with six matching chairs. Then, lo and behold, he ordered six rockers from me!

I’ve got all the work I can handle

These days I’ve got all the work I can take care of. I’m selling my tables and chairs all by word of mouth and at shows and marketplaces. One of them is the big Mesquite Arts Festival in Fredericksburg, Texas each October. And right now I’m building things for a big festival coming up in Kerrville, Texas.

I enjoy what I’m doing

I enjoy what I’m doing and I always have. I used to cut my own trees, mesquite and pine. But these days I found a guy who cuts mesquite logs – straight ones, up to 12 feet long. That’s hard to find. I buy them from him by the ton.

I saw the logs on my TimberKing sawmill and dry the boards in my dry kiln. Then everything goes through my Woodmaster Planer/Molder. When I need things sanded down, they go through my Woodmaster Drum Sander.

Bigger projects, bigger Woodmasters

About my Woodmaster Drum Sander, I had a 38” Woodmaster Drum Sander. Then I started making 40” wide tables and needed a wider sander. So I got Woodmaster’s 50” drum sander. The boards sure come out nice.

And about my planer, I started with a 12” Woodmaster Planer, then the next bigger model. Now I’ve got the 25”. 12” wasn’t big enough so I sold it and bought the next bigger one. Now I’ve got the 25”. And I just got a CNC machine I use for some of the inlay work I do.

For the planer, I have the Woodmaster’s spiral cutterhead. I love it and I use it a lot. It beats the hell out of using planer knives – it makes a very smooth surface. It has dozens of little carbide cutter heads, each with four faces. When one set of faces get dull, you just rotate the cutter heads. I’ve rotated one face so far. It was easy to do – my son did it for me! I’ve got the 3-Side Molding System for my planer but I haven’t used it yet.

Everybody said, “Woodmaster”

I got going with Woodmaster 20 years ago. I didn’t have a planer so I asked around and everybody said, “get a Woodmaster.” So I did. These days, there’s a lot of talk on online forums; people saying “I need a planer.” Well, if you want a planer that’ll last for years, get a Woodmaster. If you want a drum sander, get a Woodmaster!

I tried a Grizzly planer one time and it didn’t last long. I didn’t like it and I went back to Woodmaster. I love all the machines I got from Woodmaster!”

— Curtis Wiemers, Woodmaster Planer and Drum Sander owner, Hondo TX

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For many years, Jeff and Wendy Brandt built a successful wood business. The Covid-19 shutdown almost killed it. So they switched product lines and put their Woodmaster Molder/Planer to work. Now business is booming.

“During the Covid-19 shutdown, we saved our business when we had nothing in the bank. There was a time we couldn’t even buy food. We were facing repossession, foreclosure, and we pulled it out.

Back when the pandemic struck…

Suddenly, the Covid-19 pandemic struck and all our orders got canceled overnight. By mid-March, 2020, the country closed down. We have not received a stimulus check or any payroll protection and we haven’t heard anything.

We figured we’ve got to do something. We have a sawmill and a Woodmaster Molder/Planer so we shifted to making wood products. I set up a Facebook page and did a big push. I connected through social media with someone looking for log siding. I ordered log siding knives and he paid for them. In a couple weeks we’d run 35,000 linear feet of baseboard, chair rail, molding, and custom work.

Up to 800% profit margin

We order logs and saw them into boards. It’s very dry here in Utah so we air-dry lumber though we have a plan to build a solar kiln. Then we run the boards through the Woodmaster to make molding, chair rail, baseboard, and more. We turn our edgings and scrap from the sawmill into wood molding and the profit margin is 600% to 800%. We make a small mint.

In mid-March, I posted on social media and did a big push on all our molding, log siding, trim and more. Within a week we were going through so much wood we had to buy logs from a logging company. We bought two semi loads and turned it all into log siding, tongue and groove, flooring, molding, baseboard and more. Business really took off.

I post on Facebook and get calls right away

We promote our business without paying for advertising. It’s all by word of mouth and social media. It’s just fantastic.

 I put up a post on social media and my phone starts lighting up almost immediately. I get calls all day and messages all night long. It just spiraled to the point I finally had to stop taking calls as they came in or I wouldn’t have any peace at home.

Then, when things slow down, I put up a new post and the phone lights up again. It was work to get our Facebook page up but it really works. Now we’re so busy it looks like we’re going to hire someone to handle social media for us.

Necessity taught them do-it-yourself skills

Jeff and I are real do-it-yourselfers. We do everything ourselves because we never really had the money to have things done for us. If we wanted something, we had to build It ourselves.

Woodmaster special deal and financing paid off in 6 months

We’ve had our Woodmaster since 2015. We always wanted one but never had the money. Woodmaster made us a special deal and worked out a payment plan for us; so much a month. We put it to work and paid it off in six months.

Of all the planers we looked at, Woodmaster looked like the simplest to use. But what sold us the special deal and the financing. We work with Joe at Woodmaster and as soon as I call he knows it’s me. I call and talk when I order knives and parts. It’s easy that way and I know I’m getting the right things.

We like everything about our Woodmaster. The more we do with it, the more we love it. It’s so cool to see finished product coming out of that machine.

Out of the red now – big orders coming in

Here it is mid-May, 2020, and business is starting to get really good. We’re out of the red for the first time in a year.

We’re getting big orders now from contractors in a 300-mile radius. They tell us what they’re looking for and we’ll make it. If we don’t have the knives for the trim pattern they want, we can sometimes combine knives to make it, or have Woodmaster make us a custom knife. We’re thinking of moving our business away from firewood and more into lumber, molding, specialty trim, and even curved molding.

Woodmaster makes a great planer. Keep doing what you’re doing. And if anybody’s thinking about doing what we did, get the tools and get your name out there and I don’t see how you can go wrong. There are so many wood products you can make. Now hardware stores are looking at carrying our moldings, picture frame stock, siding – you just can go wrong.

Daddy always said…

As long as I can remember, my daddy told me it’s OK to have meltdowns. Go ahead, have your meltdown, but pick yourself up and figure out how to get out of the situation. Jeff and I have done that more than once.

If you are willing to put the effort forward, get out and work, and promote your business, you can do what we did and build something from nothing. We saved our business when we had nothing in the bank. There was a time we couldn’t even buy food. We were facing repossession, foreclosure, and we pulled it out.”

— Wendy and Jeff Brandt, Woodmaster Molder/Planer Owners, Brandt Services, Monticello UT

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“I started out as a carpenter, building houses in the late 1970’s and 80’s. 23 years ago, I was building a new house and I quoted out the trim. At the same time, I saw Woodmaster Planers advertised and realized I could buy a Woodmaster Planer for the same price as the trim. That’s when I bought my Woodmaster. I made the trim myself and kept the planer.

Over time, I’ve evolved from a carpenter building houses to a fine woodworker making all kinds of cabinetry, furniture, windows, doors, and trim.

Historically-accurate reproductions of doors built in the early 1800’s

I’m a superintendent for a big construction company so I do my woodworking nights and weekends. I mostly make historic reproduction doors and trim. A while ago, the construction company I work for had a job at a college. It required recreating a solid oak door 3’ x 8’ x 3” thick with a wood frame, raised panels, and side lights. I said I’d build it. The college, Allegheny College,  in Meadville, Pennsylvania, is over 200 years old. So the door I reproduced was at least that old.

That was the first real historic reproduction job I’d done and it kind of kicked off my woodworking business. I went on to make more and more historic reproduction doors and trim for that college. Now I’ve made doors and trim for six buildings at that school.

And I’m still doing work for Allegheny College. I’m making all the reproduction trim for one of their buildings. To do that job, I just ordered $4,000 worth of stock molding knives from Woodmaster. On one of their floors, the casing for the doors is 3-1/2” thick and 9” wide.

It takes three different profile knives to reproduce this molding. On other floors, the molding’s all different. There’s some built-up molding that takes two molding patterns. Reproducing some of the trim takes 5 different knives. And then there are different size plinth blocks and rosettes, and more.

Another project was for Cambridge Springs Museum and History Center in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. I made them a 48-pane window as part of their historic renovation project.

Making trim for a $14,000,000 historic renovation project

My woodworking business is growing, some of it through the construction company I work for. They won a bid on a $14,000,000 historic renovation project and I got the job to do all the trim. I just ordered 10,000 board feet of poplar lumber for that one!

Historic reproduction job? Harvey’s the guy they call

I’m in a niche market – historic reproductions, doors and trim. When someone needs this kind of work, I’m the guy they call. Most of my business is by word of mouth and some of it is through my webpage.

My historic renovation business is growing and there’s a lot of work coming my way. It just seems to come. If you put out good work, your name gets out there. A good job probably gets you three more jobs. Of course, if you mess up, you don’t get more!

“Work at it with your whole being”

The Bible says, I think it’s in Colossians, ‘Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men.’ That’s what I do, and I try to do the best work I can.

I got a Woodmaster Planer in the first place because I start with rough cut wood. It’s very expensive to go to the lumberyard and buy S4S oak (surfaced on four sides) at $6 a board foot. Rough sawn oak is $2.30 a board foot, or one-third the cost of S4S. So I turn rough cut into S4S with my Woodmaster. That’s where some of the profit is.

Original belt — 23 years and still going strong

I’ve used my Woodmaster all these years. The only thing I’ve replaced in 23 years is the belt for the feed roller bed. The original belt for the planer head is still on it, still working great after 23 years!

“I use all 4 Woodmaster functions – planer, molder, sander, saw”

I chose Woodmaster because it does everything – planing, molding, sanding, and gang-sawing. It’s hard to beat a gang ripsaw for production. I use all Woodmaster’s four functions, though I now have a stand-alone sander, too. When I started out, I had few tools and I liked that Woodmaster did it all.

Buying the mid-sized Woodmaster model was an economic decision. In hindsight, I wish I’d bought the 25” 725 model. But I bought what I could afford at the time.

‘Full bead’ 3/4 round molding in one pass

Right now, I’m looking at Woodmaster’s 4-side molding machine. I’m not ready to buy, but I like the idea of making ‘full bead’ molding in one pass. On the job I’m doing now, there’s a lot of ‘full bead,’ or 3/4 round molding. With a 4-side machine, you can put a workpiece through one pass and be done. That saves time. And saving time means you make more money.

Woodmaster makes a great molder/planer and their service is very good. When I order molding knives, I always have them within a week. On my $4,000 molding knife order, they said it would take two weeks. I told them I could get started right away if I had one of the knives. They sent it right out and I had it in three days.”

— Harvey Peterson, Woodmaster Molder/Planer Owner, Meadville PA

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“My wife, Amy, and I left 6-figure careers to start our own hardwood products business with Woodmaster equipment. We both worked in the insurance industry – I was a Class A General Contractor doing insurance restoration and Amy was a director of marketing. We got tired of making money for other people and wanted to start making money for ourselves.

The Biglers put 3 Woodmasters to work. This one’s set up with the 3-Side Molding attachment. It shapes 3 sides in 1 pass – tongue, groove, and back relief.

Being in this industry for over 30 years, we know all kinds of contractors and subcontractors. And we know what they need for flooring, molding, casing, and all kinds of hardwood products.

Amy and Robert work side-by-side. Here’s Amy with a big load of hardwood flooring they shipped out recently. Note the Woodmaster in the background.

For example, we have a business associate who deals in hardwood flooring. He’s told us he’ll buy all the hardwood flooring we can make. And he’s a man of his word. We told him, ‘Get ready, we’re going to bury you with hardwood flooring!’

3 Woodmasters, 3 work stations. Though the Woodmaster can be set up to perform 4 different functions – planing, molding, sanding, ripping – they prefer to leave each one set up in a single-function, “dedicated” mode.

The phone’s blowing up

We planned our move for two years and got our equipment all set up. Then we gave our notices. Business is great and the phone is blowing up! The future is looking rosy. We took a leap of faith to start this business but we believe in Woodmaster’s products and in each other. We’re both very self-driven and have a lot of grit. We work at home and there are times we work until midnight. There’s something very good about being your own boss.

We really don’t do any advertising. This is taking off by word of mouth. For example, we supplied hardwood to a contractor we knew and he loved it. He told another project manager an he’s started calling  us now.

After 30 years in home restoration, the Biglers knew that duplicating original molding would be a valuable service to offer. They send a section of original molding to Woodmaster and Woodmaster makes molding knives to duplicate the original perfectly.

3 Woodmasters…may add another

We have three Woodmaster Molder/Planers: a 25” 725 and two midsize-models. We keep the 725 set up as a dedicated planer. One is set up as a dedicated molding machine. And another has the 3-Side Molding System attachment on it. If business grows, and we think it will, we may add another Woodmaster. We also have a TimberKing 1220 sawmill!

We love the Woodmaster’s 3-Side Molding System. To make our flooring, for example, we’ll put a hardwood blank through the machine and it cuts three sides in one pass: the tongue, the groove, and the back relief cut.

With the Woodmaster we have set up as a molder, we have Woodmaster’s high-production C2 molding head and we make crown molding, baseboard, chair rail, and more. We have Woodmaster’s helical Spiral Cutterhead, too. It creates a really smooth finish and it runs quietly. It doesn’t chatter and it works very efficiently.

Planed 1,000 board feet of hardwood in 4 hours

We have a couple of nephews on standby for weekends and evenings when we get really busy. And our daughter, Courtney, comes in and helps, too. We had a big order recently so Courtney and Amy planed over 1,000 board feet of random width hardwood in about four hours.

Robert adjusts his TimberKing sawmill to saw boards he’ll turn into molding, casing, flooring or other hardwood products. Both he and Amy run this mill.

I’m one who believes bigger equipment is better. For us, the 12” Woodmaster isn’t wide enough. We got midsize Woodmasters because they’re bigger, wider, and heavier. I like the 725 because it’s got the massive, farm-rated, 7.5HP motor. Amy and Courtney planed 14” wide boards with it and it all went through like butter.

Woodmaster guys are great

The sales guys at Woodmaster have been great. I have to tell you Jake has been incredible. I can’t say enough good about him. We’ve developed a personal relationship so when I call and talk with him, he gives me tips and tells me how to fix things.

Bomb-proof

Woodmaster’s equipment is bomb-proof. It just lasts and lasts. It’s all strongly built. And because Woodmaster and TimberKing are sister companies, they have the same customer service policy – they both take care of their customers. If someone asked me, I’d recommend their machines because they’re so well built, the customer service is excellent, and they’re made in the USA.

People have to have grit and guts to make a move like this. But if you have faith and drive, you can do anything!”

— Robert & Amy Bigler, Heartland Millworks, Woodmaster & TimberKing Owners, Independence MO

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Nothing wrong with this house THAT A SKID-STEER WON’T FIX!

Darrell Bice doesn’t fool around. He started his home remodeling job with a skid-steer. He demolished much of the building, leaving the truss roof structure intact. Then built his new home beneath it!

Darrell worked for decades in heavy, industrial/commercial construction. When it came time to rebuild his home, he chose Woodmaster for the finish carpentry work. “It does 4 functions – planer, gang rip saw, drum sander, and molder. And every function is excellent.”

“For many years, my wife and I traveled all over the USA working for a huge construction company. We were both Construction Superintendents in the heavy duty side of construction – power plants, nuclear plants, and more. In 2011, we bought our 45-acre retirement hobby farm so we’d have a place to call home. I retired two years ago and, bless her heart, my wife’s still working.

The farm came with a farmhouse and my wife wanted it remodeled. What I did was more demolish and rebuild, rather than remodel. The structure had been pieced together over the years and had a pavilion-style truss roof over the whole thing. I basically demolished the old house, left the roof, and built our new home under it.

Demolition done, the old farmhouse was ready for a complete overhaul.

I wanted to make the trim, casing, and tongue and groove flooring

When it came time to rebuild, I knew I wanted to make most of the trim, molding, and tongue and groove flooring in our new home so I researched woodworking machines. I’d done hobby woodworking all my life. I never did it to earn a living but I always enjoyed it. You pick up things as you go. I saw all the things a Woodmaster Planer could do and I bought the 25”model with a Pro Pack, 3-Side Molding System, C2 Molding Head, and Spiral Cutterhead.

Darrell chose the 25″ Woodmaster. Here, he has it set up with the 3-Side Molding attachment allowing him to shape 3 sides of his flooring in a single pass. The planer cuts the back relief and the 2 Milwaukee routers shape the tongue and groove sides. 3 sides, 1 pass.

I made most of our casing, molding, flooring, and wood paneling from trees I cut on our land. Sycamore, beech, poplar, red oak, and white oak. I started harvesting trees over three years ago. We cut and hauled about twenty loads of logs to a local sawmill. Then we hauled the rough cut lumber back, stickered and stacked it in our pole barn to air dry. Then I built a solar powered kiln to bring the wood from 12.5% moisture content down to 7.3%.

Some of the beams are solid pine. Others are steel cased in pine. I decided to use real wood paneling instead of sheetrock – wood looks better. The mantle is an old cross-tie I pulled out of our pasture where it was used as a fence corner post.

It’s a 4-in-1 planer, gang rip saw, drum sander, and molder

The Woodmaster and its attachments were the central part of the finishing phase of building our home. This machine has been essential. It does everything I want and more.

Darrell snapped a picture of the business end of his Woodmaster set up as a gang rip saw. The variable feed rate is adjustable from 0 to 16 feet per minute. In goes a single board, out comes four perfect blanks for casing or trim.

I planed our rough cut lumber to the right thickness with the Woodmaster set up as a planer. Then I set it up as a Gang Rip Saw and ripped it to the right width. Then I set it up as a drum sander and sanded all the casing. And I made our molding by setting up the machine as a Molder.

For most of our flooring, I planed hardwood, ripped it, sanded it, and shaped the tongue and groove with the 3-Side Molding System. In one pass with that attachment system, I cut the tongue, the groove, and the back relief.

4 functions in 1 machine – excellent in every function

Just to be clear, I did have some hesitancy before I bought the Woodmaster. I’d had a Shopsmith V and found it did a few things well but there were a lot of things it did not do well. I wondered if the 4-in-1 Woodmaster would be like that – do just one or two functions well and the others not so well. But I can tell you it does an excellent job in every function – molding, planing, ripping, sanding. The design and engineering behind every function is excellent. They didn’t skimp on anything. I give it a 9.5 or a 10. It’s an excellent machine. Very well built.

Here’s the Woodmaster’s gang rip saw feature in action. 1 board in, perfect blanks out.

Woodmaster paid for itself three times over

Sure, there are $100,000 industrial planers out there. The Woodmaster is not in that heavy industrial class. But it costs a fraction of industrial machines – pennies on the dollar. And I want to add – on this one project, the Woodmaster paid for itself at least three times over.

I talked with their sales guys several times while setting the machine up. They didn’t rush, they took their time helping me out. I felt very comfortable working with them. I haven’t had many dealings with the Woodmaster Tools company since I’ve purchased but, when I have, they’ve given me excellent customer service. That’s a biggie. If I have an issue, they jump right on it and help me out.

“Stop thinking and just do it”

If you’re thinking about getting a Woodmaster, stop thinking and just do it! The tricky part of a project like this is having a wife that doesn’t raise hell about buying the tools and equipment you need to do the work. I texted her a picture of the new excavator sitting in the driveway and it almost put the poor girl over the edge. But it’s all good now…I think.”

— Darrell Bice, Woodmaster 725 Owner, Jacksonville, AL

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“My name is Gary Greenlee and I’ve been involved in woodworking pretty much all of my career. I’ve always worked in the trades, construction and plumbing. I’ve owned a Woodmaster Planer for around five years and recently got Woodmaster’s Spiral Cutterhead. It really does a good job.

Gary discovered his old, reclaimed barn wood was actually old-growth hickory and oak

Always worked in the trades

I started in plumbing and over the years I did a lot of commercial remodeling. I had a contract to work on federal buildings like Post Offices and so on. I did installation work for Montgomery Ward and Sears.

I personally built seven homes in four states – two of these were spec homes. My wife was instrumental in this. She worked extremely hard to achieve our goals and gave more than 100% to complete our tasks. She designed homes I built and also furniture I build.

Reclaimed, old-growth hickory and oak

Today, I’m semi-retired and I’ve gotten heavily into woodworking in the last 6 years or so. The furniture I build is mainly made out of barn wood trusses that I reclaimed out of a Georgia barn that was being torn down. Turned out the wood was old-growth hickory and oak. And I use hardwoods from South America and Africa, too.

I loaded my 18’ trailer with as many truss boards as possible. They were all odd sizes, 2” or 2-1/2” by 6″ or 7” by random lengths and had the original circular saw marks. I picked out the nails and took boards to a sawmill. I plane the wood to even thickness but I keep the saw marks as decoration on the furniture I build.

Solid wood furniture

I turn this reclaimed lumber into solid wood furniture that’ll be around a long time. I’ve given some away and a lot is for our own use.

There’s a lovely story behind this cabinet. When Gary’s grandparent’s house was being taken down, he salvaged and used one of the lock sets. A plaque inside dedicates the cabinet to his grandparents’ memory.

Gary preserves the handsome and original circular saw marks on many of his projects.

The saw marks from an old-style circular saw mill are well-preserved in this old-growth cabinet door.

Is it a chair? Is it a stepping stool? It’s both. Flip the chair back and you’ve got a handy way to reach top shelves. Very clever, Gary

This 12” Woodmaster is great and the Spiral Cutterhead is, too. It’s all no trouble, works good. I bought this one used from an old guy. The machine’s an old-timer from the 1980’s but it works fine. I take care of it and it works great. If somebody got one of these, it’d do everything they need.”

— Gary Greenlee, Woodmaster Owner, Alpharetta GA

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QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

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Meet Tom Harger (kneeling) who grew up on a farm and learned the value and importance of fixing it, building it, doing it yourself. His most recent Woodmaster project? Building his own retirement home.

“I inherited my dad’s trait of doing it myself and conserving money when possible. It’s frustrating to pay someone to build what you can build yourself.” — Tom Harger

I grew up on a farm. My dad was a dairy farmer and raised some beef cattle. His philosophy was to fix something himself before he called anybody in to fix it. He’d take neighbors’ machinery when they got rid of it, fix it, and use it. That’s what I grew with. I’ve always been handy and I guess I’ve inherited his trait – to do it myself and conserve money when possible. It’s frustrating to pay someone to build or do what you can do yourself. For example, I built a dry kiln for lumber out of an old school bus. It has solar heat in the day and a dehumidifier at night. It works pretty well.

“Home Sweet Home” – Home is especially sweet when it’s your dream retirement home you built yourself with your Woodmaster

I built our dream home in retirement

I built our home using my Woodmaster Planer to plane all the beams, posts, decking, and paneling. I made total of 11,000 board feet of tongue and groove boards for the decking. I made over 5,000 board feet of interior wall paneling from red and white oak, pecan, cherry, hackberry, honey locust, walnut, and eastern red cedar. I could not have done it without my Woodmaster Planer.

Tom (kneeling) and a friend surfaced 150 hardwood beams plus siding, paneling, and more.

My wife and I have lived in several places and have owned several homes. You can make an existing home your own but we always dreamed of building a home the way we wanted to. I’ve built barns before and I knew I could do it.

A bargain considering the cost of lumber

Today we own 120 acres in a rural area. We decided this is where we’d move and build our retirement home. I bought a CAD program to draw plans. I cut brush, put in a half-mile waterline, built a bridge over a river, felled trees, sawed them into boards, and got a Woodmaster Planer. I considered it a bargain considering what lumber would have cost us.

I wanted wood paneling throughout the home’s interior. I knew I’d have to have a planer because I wanted the paneling to have a smooth finish. So a planer was part of the plan all along. I looked at Woodmaster and a few others and what sold me on Woodmaster was a couple of the add-ons. I saw that I could make tongue and groove decking in one pass with the 3-Side Molding System.

Tom’s master bedroom made of walnut, oak, and pecan woods.

And the Spiral Cutterhead would create a smooth surface. My boards had a lot of knots and that would have meant a lot of sharpening planer blades. With the Spiral Cutterhead, if I hit a knot, all I had to do was turn one of the hundreds of 4-sided cutters 90-degrees to a new face. I also got the Pro Pack with its drum sander and gang ripsaw.

“Wonder if I can plane 20’ beams?”

I had cut and stacked my beams 6” x 10” x up to 20’ long. I had a tractor with loading forks, the Woodmaster, and long roller ramps. I thought I’d try putting the beams through the Woodmaster and it worked well. They were mostly red oak with some white oak and ash. In all, I made 10 trusses with 10 beams each. I made posts, too, or about 150 beams and posts in all. I welded up Y-shaped, 1/4” thick steel plates to join everything together.

We still have a few things we’re finishing up on this house. But I don’t want to just sit around in the future. I’ve got more trees and I’ve thought I might turn some into lumber to earn some extra money. When I look at the lumber prices at Lowe’s, I know I could make some money.

Tom, our Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month, shows off his home’s stairway. Interestingly, he welded up the balusters from the teeth of an antique, horse-drawn hay rake. “We always called them ‘dump rakes,’ he told us.

Horse-drawn dump rake

Heavy use, almost abuse

I think the Woodmaster is an excellent machine. It’s stood up to my heavy use, almost abuse. It’s rugged, it’s worked well and held up well. It’s impressive that you can take an old oak log and transform it into something beautiful. Yes, I recommend the Woodmaster Planer.”

— Thomas Harger, Woodmaster Planer Owner, Havana AR

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Meet Rob Gatchell, woodworker and artisan, with his Woodmaster Planer. He’s made fretwork and “gingerbread” trim for Victorian-era homes for over 50 years.

Rob lives and works on Martha’s Vineyard where there’s a classic collection of outstanding Victorian homes. Rob’s the only show in town — you just can’t get ‘gingerbread’ any more…except from Rob!

“In 1980, I started a woodworking business – Splinters and Sawdust — making toys and gifts, and selling them at all kinds of craft fairs and shows. I was buying 25 different species of fancy hardwood lumber. I couldn’t afford finished lumber so I bought it in the rough. I already had my 12″ Woodmaster Planer and planed the rough lumber myself.

50 years making fretwork

Rob tells us, “I used a stereoptic photo to recreate all the roof trim on the main house, three dormers and one lower porch roof. I made the gingerbread from 3/4 marine-grade mahogany plywood.”

It turned out to be hard to make any money at this. Costs were high and there was a lot of competition. So I closed up my toy and gift business and went into full time business doing something I’d been doing for over 50 years – duplicating and recreating original ornamental trim, or fretwork, often called ‘gingerbread,’ for the old Victorian homes here in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard.

This town was called Cottage City up until 1907 when it was renamed Oak Bluffs. My parents bought a summer home here in the 1950’s and I spent every summer here growing up. Now I live here full time. When I was 14, I made fancy gingerbread trim for that home’s roofline by hand with a coping saw. My dad painted it and put it up. These days, I use a scroll saw.

Busy artisan, busy shop. And right in the center is Rob’s Woodmaster he’s owned since the late 70’s or early 80’s. “I’ll never get rid of it!”

I turn balusters, make railings, all kinds of fancy trim, and create what I call ‘flats’ – the decorative fretwork you see on historic Victorian homes here on Martha’s Vineyard, in San Francisco, and other places. That’s my specialty.

Patterns researched using antique postcards

People bring in gingerbread for me to duplicate so they can replace it on their home. And I often refer to old photographs, postcards, and even old, original stereoscopic (stereo) postcards of old Oak Bluffs homes to develop patterns or duplicate old ones.

My 12” Woodmaster Planer is a real workhorse for me. I use it to get the wood I’m using to the exact same thickness of the original I’m duplicating. I take it slow and the surface comes out beautiful.

30+ years on original belts

I saw it advertised in one of the woodworking magazines and bought it from the factory in the 1980’s, maybe even in the late 1970’s. I got a Woodmaster because I thought it was the best planer out there, and I still think it is. That’s why I keep it. The only maintenance I’ve done is putting on new rubber feed rollers. It even still has the original belts on it.

It has a very low serial number. It’s over 30 years old and it works great. It’s rugged and heavy duty. There’s nothing cheap about it. 30 years and it’s still accurate. It’s 12” wide and fits everything I do. I’ll never get rid of it!

Gingerbread Man

I’m the only one on Martha’s Vineyard who does this kind of work. They even call me ‘The Gingerbread Man of Martha’s Vineyard! My shop’s open for anybody who wants to come and take a look.”

— Robert Gatchell, Woodmaster Owner, Splinters and Sawdust, Martha’s Vineyard MA

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QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

3 WAYS we can help you!

• Call us TOLL FREE 1-800-821-6651

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Would YOU like to be our next Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month?

Email editor@woodmastertools.com photos of you, your projects, and your Woodmaster, write a note about yourself.