woodworking business | Woodmaster Tools : Testimonials

Curtis Wiemers - Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month — Curtis Wiemers is an accomplished woodworker from Hondo Texas — he’s our Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month! Read his story below…

“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!

Here’s an outstanding example of Curtis’ inlay work in a large and handsome dining table

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.

Curtis’ projects need a fine finish so he puts them through his big 50″ Woodmaster Drum Sander.

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.

Here’s more inlay work by Curtis. He saws logs on his TimberKing sawmill, surfaces the boards on his Woodmaster Planer and Drum Sander, and adds inlay using his new shop tool, a CNC machine.

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.

20 years in the furniture business and Curtis is busy as ever. Check out the row of clamps on the wall and the racks of wood inventory over his left shoulder.

“I enjoy what I’m doing and I always have!” — Curtis Wiemers

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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“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