Joey Cantrell bought a used multi-rip before he had a building to put it in or the three phase power to run it. He drove to Tennessee, hauled it home in a 12 foot dump trailer, and figured out the rest after.

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Joey Cantrell of Longshot Premium Hardwoods in Oklahoma. Joey spent his career in steel manufacturing until a divorce ended that job and he had to start over at 40. He started a tree service on a whim, told his crew he wanted a sawmill, and bought a kiln right after. Within a few years the small hydraulic mill gave way to a bigger diesel one, because the eastern red cedar around him is everywhere and only pays at volume.

You'll hear why cedar became the surprise backbone of a business with hardwoods in its name: it sells green, so it turns over fast instead of sitting in stickered stacks. Joey still mills walnut, pecan and post oak, buying from loggers who call him when they have the right log. He talks about leaning on word of mouth until he was sure he could deliver, hiring a 21 year old to set up his CRM, and sending full kiln loads to a table builder nearby to sell on consignment. His bigger idea is a shared inventory network, so every sawmill owner in it knows what the others have in stock.

Rising costs are what keep him up at night, so the question is always how to produce more with what he already owns. A test run of 20 cedar logs took two hours on the sawmill, and he expects the multi-rip to handle the same cants in about eight minutes. Now the work is feeding it. The conversation closes on why he charges $250 an hour for custom milling and asks for photos first, and on the time he loses handling and rehandling heavy lumber.

Chapters 00:00 Buying a Used Multi-Rip Before He Had Power for It 03:21 Starting Over at 40 With a Tree Service and a Sawmill 04:40 Eastern Red Cedar and Selling Lumber Green 08:13 Walnut, Pecan and Post Oak From Local Logs 12:04 Marketing, a CRM and a Network of Sawmills 22:30 Rising Costs and Feeding the Multi-Rip 32:32 Why He Charges $250 an Hour for Custom Milling

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/ Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Joey and Longshot Premium Hardwoods at: https://longshothardwoods.com/ https://www.instagram.com/longshot_hardwoods_texoma/

Our most listened episode on Spotify in 2025 is back. Nick Mooers rode the pandemic boom in home renovation into real growth at Maverick Sawmill, built a reputation on oversized walnut, and split the business evenly between raw and finished products.

In this throwback episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, hosts Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger sit down with Nick Mooers of Maverick Sawmill, a sawmill that specializes in oversized walnut pieces. Nick walks through how demand surged as homeowners poured money into renovations, the projects that came with it, including a massive walnut table, and why he started building a new shop to run the operation more efficiently.

You'll hear how Nick thinks about leadership, team dynamics and building relationships, and how he keeps the 50/50 balance between raw material and finished pieces. He talks through the machinery he invested in to make the sawmill more efficient, the challenges of moving into the new shop, and the trends he was watching, from epoxy projects to home and garden shows.

The conversation closes on how a sawmill markets high-end builds, and why relationships carry so much weight when you sell into the luxury market.

Chapters 00:00 Inside Maverick Sawmill 01:00 How the Pandemic Grew the Business 02:40 A Massive Walnut Table and a New Shop 05:19 What Makes the Operation Work 09:51 Leadership, Team and Industry Trends 13:12 Balancing Raw and Finished Products and Investing in Machinery 19:01 Moving, Future Plans and Marketing High-End Builds

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/ Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Nick and Maverick Sawmill at: https://www.instagram.com/mavericksawmill/

One figured redwood log, six feet across and solid to the core, could pay for an entire sawmill. That math is why Steven Crowningshield bought a band mill that cuts six foot eight wide, after years of slabbing with a chainsaw mill that turned half an inch of every cut into sawdust.

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Steven Crowningshield of California Redwood Company, who has spent more than 30 years milling almost nothing but salvaged redwood on the California coast. His father ran the first Alaskan sawmill on that coast in 1972, and Steven learned the trade in the woods beside him. In the 1990s they pulled sinker logs off the river bottom with scuba gear, barges and winches, until a legal challenge to their permits shut it down. Today he salvages buckskins, the old growth cores loggers left behind on private land.

You'll hear why he moved his operation onto a shared compound where several sawmill operators, a planer molder and a wide belt sander sit on one property, and why he set his own mill to cut forty foot timbers. He also explains the niche he has worked for almost twenty years: sinker redwood tonewood, stained purple, yellow and pink by river minerals and, he says, better voiced for it. Now he wants his best pieces going to small guitar builders instead of mass production.

Steven is open about the hard years too, from paying an accountant thousands of dollars after 2008 to learn he had lost money, to a decade of furniture and a gallery that covered the rent but not his time. Marketing is the challenge now. He has old growth inventory most buyers don't know exists, and ad spend that brought him almost nothing. The conversation closes on what he calls red gold, and on his favorite part of running a sawmill: watching a client see the finished piece.

Chapters 00:00 Growing Up Around His Father's Alaskan Sawmill 01:21 Pulling Sinker Redwood Logs Off the River Bottom 04:24 Salvaging Old Growth Redwood Left Behind on Private Land 05:26 Why He Bought a Sawmill That Cuts Six Foot Eight Wide 11:52 Sinker Redwood Tonewood for Guitar Builders 22:41 Losing Money After 2008 and Ten Years of Furniture 25:35 Marketing Old Growth Redwood to the Right Buyers

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/ Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Steven and California Redwood Company at: https://californiaredwoodcompany.com/ https://www.instagram.com/californiaredwoodco/