Recognizing the Importance of Quality with M2 Lumber

The ability to recognize and create quality products separates artisans from amateurs. This separation applies to furniture makers and every person involved in the woodworking industry, from sawyers to makers and everything in between. Today, we will look at an individual who has built a business on the back of his excellent eye for quality and his willingness to provide services and products that meet that high expectation. 

Matt Morgan, the owner of M2 Lumber, specializes in salvaging local trees that come down primarily from regional developments or storms and then transforms them into high-quality lumber. Matt’s main products are live-edge slabs, producing dimensional lumber for construction and occasional custom furniture products. 

Having spent over two decades woodworking, Matt knows the struggle of trying to source reasonably priced hardwood that meets his quality requirements, so he decided to become the change he wanted to see!

Becoming the Source for Lumber

To someone unfamiliar with the wood industry, it may seem impossible for a local sawmill to find a way around the high prices of the commercial hardwood lumber industry. However, as Matt has discovered, the best way is to leverage the growing awareness of urban lumber and become a local authority in that service.

Matt’s awareness of the possibilities of urban lumber came about when taking down a tree on his property with the help of his neighbor. After felling the tree, Matt thought they would get stuck burning it, but his neighbor proposed taking it over to his sawmill, cutting it up, and either using or selling the lumber.

Fast forward seven years, and now M2 Lumber is known as the place where locals can go to bring their fallen trees to make some money, as Matt will happily pay for quality lumber to be delivered right to him. 

“It was tough. At first, I would scour the internet, and I would put it out there because many people didn’t realize and still don’t realize that their logs or trees are worth something. So I would put it out there to the public and say, ‘Hey, I will come to get your logs or your trees. And if it’s good quality, even pay you for it.’”

• Matt Morgan

These days, Matt thankfully does not have to go out to get logs very often anymore since he has established himself so firmly within his community. He is especially thankful for that fact since loading and unloading logs is not an easy thing to do, and he appreciates everyone who has the time and equipment to bring him his raw materials nowadays.

Adding Value through Drying Lumber

Another critical change that Matt made to M2 lumber early in the company’s life cycle was the addition of a kiln. When the business was still new, he was selling green lumber that had been air-dried only. Matt was always very forthright with that information to his customers, and he would advise them that the lumber would need to dry further before being used.

Understandably, many customers needed lumber that was dry immediately for one project or another, so Matt began to look into drying options. Initially, he built a solar kiln, which was sufficient for the business while they were growing, but soon even that option wasn’t fast enough and didn’t have an adequate capacity. 

“We reached the threshold where even the solar kiln didn’t have a high enough capacity, so we bought the iDRY.”

• Matt Morgan

Drying Lumber 24/7

Matt has had an iDRY kiln for just under a year at this point, and he believes that he will need to buy a second one sooner rather than later. It is not because of anything wrong with the first one he purchased, but rather because the iDRY Standard has added so much value to his business in the relatively short time that he has owned it. 

“The iDRY is always full. I got sick last year for about two weeks, and the day after we unloaded it, I just started feeling bad. That was the only time that the kilns had stopped running because we couldn’t get a loaded back up. But it has not missed more than 24 hours in the one-year period that we’ve had it.”

• Matt Morgan

Since acquiring the iDRY Standard, Matt has been able to dry his own lumber primarily. He has not put much focus or advertisement into drying for the public. Since milling, drying, and selling his own lumber provides the most bang for his buck, there is not much incentive to dry other people’s lumber unless a quick turnaround is needed.

The iDRY kiln has been a huge turning point in production capabilities for Matt and so many other wood businesses. There are few other industries where a single piece of machinery can add so much quality to a product and so much value through time and efficiency as a single iDRY can. Now just imagine what two could do?

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Website: https://www.m2lumber.com/

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