Replies

1. 
   acornw | Sep 06, 2006 11:09pm | #1

   I apprenticed in a shutter shop. The equipment is very specialized and much is from the golden Age of Tinker where a shop mechanic made machines as needed. We had an index drilling machine that used Rambler brake light switches to activate solenoids.

   We had a Smithway gang ripsaw, a Smithway XL molder, a through feed round end tenoner, a single slat round end tenoner, index drilling machine, chisel mortiser, two small shapers, staplers - index and slat types, two slot mortisers, a tenoner and several router stations.  Oh yeah, a two head wide belt sander also.  New price total in excess of $130,000 plus tooling.

   The shop I worked in was started in the Colonial boom of the late '50's to make custom sized fixed, operable and raised panel shutters. I could make moveable shutters, four per window at the rate of 4-5 windows a day. The market is not there, in my opinion, today to support such a shop unless you are in bona fide Historic area - Charleston SC, New Orleans, etc.

    Dave S

1. 
   ramiro | Sep 13, 2006 05:41am | #5

   I am really pleased at at your effort of information.Can you do me a favor and email me at [email protected] with the list in detail of machineary and tools.I would like to start shopping for them.Used of corse 

1. 
   acornw | Sep 13, 2006 04:08pm | #6

   I really don't have the time to list out all the stuff. Since more than half was shop built, it would take a short book to explain it all.  Some was so old, it had no nameplates or ID that meant anything.

   Start at Ex-Factory and search there for used equipment. Griggio and Festo make the louver groovers. Talk to professional machinery dealers (not Woodcraft!) that sell real woodworking equipment and let them know what you are looking for in the used market. It is not unusual to see a whole shop come onto the market, you just have to be there at the right time.

   Dave S

2. 
   BossCrunk | Sep 06, 2006 11:16pm | #2

   The only way to start 'small' would be to offer a very, very high-end product that would be susceptible to router and small shaper construction, otherwise you're in to six figures +++ as Acorn mentioned.  You'll need to be a very, very good jig maker.

   You won't be able to compete with the folks who have the big machinery.  You could never keep up and you'll lose your a$$ trying to beat them on price.

   Small shops running commodity millwork is a recipe for disaster.  You'll have to specialize and offer something the big boys are not willing to build.

    

   
   

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   Edited 9/6/2006 9:15 pm ET by BossCrunk

3. 
   RickL | Sep 06, 2006 11:28pm | #3

   Starting small and growing with time is a good way to do it but having been in many shops that went from small to big it's much better to know exactly what big is and work backwards so to speak. I've seen too many shops that wasted so much effort reinventing the wheel. It would be best to tour a real shop to get a better understanding of what's involved. This isn't the best site, and FWW isn't the best magazine for your endeavor. http://www.woodweb.com is geared toward the pro shop and they have a solid wood machining forum. There's some great info in the Audel's millwork books of the 50's on such topics and it shows some of the old machines. I would say a lot would be replaced by CNC nowadays.

   Sounds like you don't really have any production experience. It would be best to actually work in a shop to gain valuable production experience. It's really hard to tell how much woodworking experience you really have under your belt from your post.

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   Edited 9/7/2006 6:52 am ET by RickL

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   Edited 9/7/2006 6:54 am ET by RickL

   
   

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   Edited 9/7/2006 6:56 am ET by RickL

4. 
   mudman | Sep 07, 2006 07:24am | #4

   Ill second what the others said. The "small" shutter shops I have seen were highly specialized and used very expensive machines. Most of these shops seem to be inhereted not started. They were only small in SQ FT and in number of employees the machinery cost would be well into the 6 digits, and that business relies a lot on advertising, marketing and time in the market. Where as a cabinet shop is easy to start and requires a lot less yellow pages type marketing.

   Pardon my spelling,

   Mike

   Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.

5. 
   cscwem | Sep 13, 2006 04:22pm | #7

   i agree with boss...you cannot compete with the big guys on lower end shutters.

   if i found myself in a position where i had to make a go of the type ov venture you are proposing I would market myself to Architects that specialize in historic renovations in historic districs around the country.   you do not need to be located close to the market you serve as your product can be readily shipped.

   I would find out everythign you can about manufacturing historically accurate shutters from different periods and tout yourself as the foremost expert on the subject. 

   by catering to the architectural community you can guarantee that you are the manufacturer that they specify using.  also the type of clientel that hires architects for historically accurate renovations does not usually care about how much their shutters are going to cost when they are dropping a million or more on the whole project.  to set your price, try to figure out what the highest price you can ever imagine any one paying for shutters is and then triple it.   that type of client equates cost with quality, if it costs more it must be better....