We spoke with Woodmaster Owner, Glen Tompkins of Peru, Maine a few weeks ago and were charmed by this down-to-earth woodworker who’s working hard and enjoying every minute.
Glen’s up early every day to manufacture his successful line of old-time clothes drying racks he builds with his two Woodmasters from local materials — when he’s not cruising the coast of Maine in his Mustang convertible, that is.
“I’ve been at woodworking full time about 15 or 16 years now and even before that I did it part time. I always wanted to be a woodworker, but I ended up being a machinist, auto mechanic, and truck driver. I owned a couple of gas stations, a couple of dump trucks.
I manufacture the old fashioned folding clothes drying racks for Renys Department Stores — a chain of department stores here in Maine.
I make three different styles of drying racks, two sizes in each style. Besides Renys, I sell to a few to independent hardware stores in the area, and I retail a few out of my own location. I do a few craft fairs around Christmas time and in the spring. I got involved in this by picking up a couple old drying racks way back. I redesigned them and built my own. People saw them I got calls. I build enough to keep me busy and off the streets.
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I have a couple part time fellows who come in and help me out when I need it. It keeps things going. I don’t hire any full time help. When I need these guys, I call and they come in and give me a hand. When they need help, I help them.
He’s 81 and works every day
Of course, I’m an old goat. I just turned 81. I love life, I love what I’m doing. Up until two years ago, I rode motorcycles and now I got myself a Mustang convertible I cruise around in once in awhile. I believe hard work keeps us going.
My work schedule varies. If I get up early in the morning, I go in early. Some mornings I’m in the shop 4 o’clock in the morning because I can’t sleep. But I’m usually in the shop 7 to 4. It’s a regular business; people can call on me there. I just purchased a building and I have a retail area, a showroom, where people can see what I’ve got.
Top quality
I got hooked up with Woodmaster three or four years ago. I was cutting all the drying rack pieces on a table saw and drilling them on a drill press. I bought a Woodmaster Molder/Planer and set it up as a gang rip saw. It’s done a great job for me. Two years ago I bought a 38” Woodmaster Drum Sander. It does a great job, too.
I make the clothes racks out of pine; I buy all top-grade pine lumber from a sawmill from Bethel, Maine. The dowels are birch from another Maine company. I also make picnic tables and Adirondack chairs. I make my picnic tables out of top grade spruce from a local mill. My Adirondack chairs, I make out of pine and cedar. I make some that I put skis on. I build the frames and put old skis on the backs.
He visited other Woodmaster owners before buying
Woodmaster sent me a brochure and names of people near here who owned them and I went to look at them. Woodmaster’s a nice, rugged built machine. I’ve had a very good rapport with Woodmaster in Kansas City. I call Joe and he’s right on top of everything. I bought mine with a Pro Pack — a head for planing, one for sanding, one for molding. I use it for gang sawing. I can feed an 8” wide board — 7-1/4 actual width — and out come 6, 1” pieces. It’s a great machine, a great machine.
First a Woodmaster Molder/Planer, then the Drum Sander
My Drum Sander is the 3875 Woodmaster. I’d had smaller ones including a Taiwanese one. It was open ended and didn’t do a good job on panels. It would sand a panel 16” wide. If you want 32” wide, you’ve got to reverse it and run it through the other side. With the Woodmaster 38” sander, if you’ve got a panel 36” wide, you stuff it in and it comes out all good. You just run it through ‘til you get the finish you want. It does a great job. Every once in awhile, someone will come in with a panel they made and I’ll custom sand it for them. I do quite a bit of that custom work.
“I’d tell anybody…”
I’d tell anybody point blank what I use my Woodmaster tools for and how I like them. I’d recommend them any time to anybody. The service – I called Joe one day last week because I needed some Velcro and some sandpaper for my sander. It’ll probably arrive tomorrow or it may arrive today. Their service is good.
I have nothing bad to say about Woodmaster. Any time I need something they’re right there. I always ask for Joe and he’s right on top of it. If I need tech advice, they’re right on top of it. I’m not afraid to say Woodmaster’s a wonderful company to do business with. Some day I hope to get out there to see the factory and to talk to the people.
I’m getting old; I’ve got aches and pains but I just live with them. I have a medicine I take every night. It’s called Dewar’s White Label Scotch. About 3 fingers in a water glass and fill the rest up with ice cubes and you’re great. You don’t have to put that in your story.”
— Glen Tompkins, Woodmaster Owner, Peru, Maine
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Note from Will Johnson, President, Woodmaster Tools Co.
REQUEST FOR QUOTE
Hi, Woodmaster Owners,
We received an interesting email from a manufacturer in Tennessee who’s looking for Woodmaster Owners who’d like to quote on manufacturing wooden parts for him. We’re passing this along as a service to those of you who may be interested. I’m sure you understand we’re simply passing this along with hopes one of you can turn this into a business opportunity — but please proceed at your own risk.
Thanks and good luck! — Will Johnson
From: “John Cole”
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2012 2:34 PM
To: editor@woodmastertools.com
Subject: finding a woodmaster user to quote some parts for me I have received the Woodmaster newletter/blog entries for quite a while. There are several interesting companies and people profiled there. I would like to find a way to connect with some woodworking shops who might be interested in quoting a wooden part for me. I would need 30,000 to 50,000 of them spread out over the year. THe part is used on a wooden corncutter. You can see a photo here:
http://vermontkitchensupply.com/lee-corn-cutter-wooden/
I would be looking for someone who could do that volume during the year or maybe even spread it out over a few shops. Thought you may be able to help me out.
I’ll put together a good drawing of the part, it is fairly simple, and forward it to you. Please do see what might be possible. I’d love to be able to connect with a half dozen quality woodshops who could do the work and provide a good quality part. We currently make these in China. I would like to have a “Made in the USA” version to stand alongside the import version. Then gradually try to transition it all back to the US instead of import like it has been for the last few years under a previous owner.
Thanks again!
John Cole
270-627-6370
1155 Ryan Rd
Martin, TN 38237
Thank you for posting this. Please give me a call if interested in quoting this part. I can provide a drawing. I’m interesting in folks who can do good quality work, large and small operations. Even if you could provide us with a couple of hundred per month we would be interested. I can send you a print and then you can provide me with a quote on a per piece basis based on quantities of 100, 500 or 1000 parts. They would be made from Poplar but have been constructed of Magnolia, Basswood and Aspen in the past. This product has been around since the 1930s and several million have been sold. Thanks!
John Cole
Martin, TN
John, we are interested in providing a quote on your wood part for the corn cutter. We have a new woodmaster shaper and a small mom/pop shop in southern Alabama. We are interested in doing a part of the total, not the total number of parts at this time. Please email the specs and your drawing including an accurate drawing of the end profile of the wood part. We will provide clean work for you. Thank you for presenting the opportunity to woodmaster owners!
Diane Bonds
Diane
Dear craftmen,
It shows some great woodwork here! What is the largest table you can make out of one single slab? I am looking for a 24′ x 6′ for our agency in NYC. perhaps can be patch together out of the same tree. Please let me know if you can work on this, please email me at: davide@niceltd.com
Thank you!
Davide