DV Wood Products - A sawmill and kiln operation in British Columbia.
DV Wood Products - Stunning Slabs on the West Coast of British Columbia
Today we’re taking a mental trip to the beautiful west coast as we talk with David Vander Ende from DV Wood Products. While British Columbia is known for its gorgeous mountains and warm temperate weather, it is also home to Canada’s largest tree and some of its most stunning forests. With the focus on natural beauty, it’s fitting that David, a woodpreneur who specializes in large slabs, would call this beautiful province home.
The beginnings of DV Wood Products took root quite young with a love of trees and nature, but about ten years ago, David really started dabbling in the urban wood industry. It all started with a chainsaw and the idea to build a mill to open up some logs on his property. From there, David spent eight years building his skills and learning about this trade primarily as a hobbyist.
The Beginnings of DV Wood Products
In the fall of 2018, the decision to dive into the business was secured, and the first significant investment for DV Wood was a Norwood bandsaw. For the first year, this was the go-to saw for milling, but as his business grew, David started finding himself pulled to working with bigger and bigger logs. He realized as much as he loved his Norwood, it was time to move to the Hudson Oscar 52, a machine he fondly refers to as a “Slabbing Monster”.
Next up came the question of a kiln. David spent a lot of time researching and initially thought he might build his own, but the more he learned about the options and the process, the more the idea evolved. The most popular type of kiln in the area was a dehumidification kiln. Still, when looking at the market and the needs of the industry, it was clear to David he needed something with a faster drying time if he wanted to help the backlog facing hobbyists and other woodworkers. On top of trying to battle the backlog imposed by slower kilns for others, he also had his own inventory that needed to be dried.
Investing In a Vacuum Kiln
The iDRY provided another level of service to the market in the area. While many people with their chainsaws and bandsaws were able to handle milling, there just weren’t enough options for all of those people to dry their wood. So many people wanted to build things out of live-edge timber but had no drying options available. Once David stumbled across the iDRY, learned about the turn around time, and discovered what the machine is capable of, he pulled the trigger on it right away.
A huge positive of the iDRY kiln has been that it’s easy to use, and while there is a learning curve for different species and dry times, the kiln has been a game-changer for DV Wood and other wood enthusiasts in the area. Currently, David has enough wood of his own to keep the kiln full for two years, but he always tries to accommodate the hobbyists or DIY guys because he knows the shortage of kiln space is still a pressing issue, and it’s very likely they won’t have anywhere else they can go.
Another reason David loves his kiln is the control it gives him over the entire process of his work. When building something from tree to table, David can ensure quality throughout every step since his kiln introduction. This is perfect because DV Wood doesn’t just make average pieces of furniture, both in terms of the product and the craftsman’s perspective. The greatest takeaway from speaking with David was the passion and genuine commitment to his industry and the products he works with and creates.
“You look at it, and you know there is a history there. Just to get that slab, it’s 90 years of growing. You can see the pattern of growth in a tree. You can see when things changed in the environment around it.”
Battling The Misconceptions Of Custom Furniture
Many people don’t realize with custom live edge furniture, there is really no limit on what can be done besides your own creativity. Every piece of furniture is unique. It’s a very involved process to take wood in its rawest form and then transform it into this one of a kind, functional art piece tailored to suit the customer’s personality and home. With this kind of work, you’re also creating something that will last a lifetime, so it needs to be crafted with incredible attention to detail and ultimately be timeless.
It seems like a hefty price tag when a table is $5,000-10,000 dollars, but when you consider the value for your money, it makes a lot of sense.
First, you need to consider the cost of equipment, labor, and raw product, plus the skill that needs to be honed to produce beautiful craftsmanship. Another essential thing to note is that David pays for his inventory. Arborists in the area often sell their logs to the highest bidder, so stock alone is an investment.
Then the table itself, a custom made, one of a kind, built to last, piece of live edge furniture, curated to the customer’s home and personality, versus a $700 table from a big box store that everyone else has and that needs to be replaced every few years. In that light, the actual value of the product is heavily favored toward custom live-edge woodwork.
On another side of things, sustainability and the environmental impact of big box store furniture versus Urban Wood is massive. Many small businesses that work with Urban Wood have a significantly lower carbon footprint and sequester carbon by the nature of repurposing felled trees.
The Art of Urban Wood Craftsmanship
The way David sees it (and I must say we agree), there is a slab for everyone out there. Whether it’s knotty or sleek, maple, or walnut, there is a piece that can suit every home, even the most modern one.
There is a great sense of pride that comes with being able to see the awe on a customer’s face once their tree or their slab has been taken from a creative concept to a substantial piece of furniture. That is what David loves about his business most.
“I love the vision, or idea of taking a tree, wood in its most raw form, pulling the history from that tree and turning it into something in your home that has another level of character and satisfaction.”
The level of initial commitment needed with the urban wood community is not often found with other industries. You can’t just casually start doing this kind of work because it requires a lot of investment upfront, both of time and money.
For David, his biggest challenge was convincing himself to just go for it. He invested in his mill, kiln, and supporting equipment for moving logs and just had to be confident that logs would come. In the last two years, he’s been able to network in his community and has built a great relationship with another West Coast Woodpreneur, Van City Live Edge.
Right now, David is mostly cutting and drying because of a lack of retail space, he knows that investing in that overhead would very quickly turn his business from part-time to full-time, and for 2021 he has his heart set on more custom finished projects.
It’s partially a business decision as the kiln has provided a nice side business, but David is very conscious of keeping his drying services priced to the market. He knows if his rates were much higher to offset his running costs and initial investment, many people couldn’t afford the cost and would leave their wood undried, which would counteract his hope to bring another level of service to his community. This, coupled with the fact that opening and working with the trees is really where the passion and creative outlet comes from for David, means that the commissioned finished product market makes more sense overall.
“It’s amazing, you’re not just buying lumber from a hardware store, you’re picking out a particular slab to serve a specific purpose for a customer and then making that vision come to life.”
What is Next For DV Wood Products?
David would like to see other changes in his business come in 2021. He intends to invest in more equipment to add value to his product for other craftspeople, hobbyists, and woodpreneurs. DV Wood hopes to get a joiner and CNC machine as the next big investments, and maybe another iDRY Kiln.
The hope is that by being able to flatten slabs, they can be more accessible for those who can’t necessarily justify investing in that kind of finishing equipment themselves, but still want to do wood projects. This would let a lot of DIY enthusiasts and others have a wood product that was almost entirely ready to work with.
David realizes that there is a huge market for slabs and the addition of his kiln means he doesn’t have to have capital tied up for as long in the drying process, but there is a lack of other services besides drying in the area too.
The problem is that while there are many people looking for slabs, they don’t really know exactly what they are getting into or the process and equipment that it takes to make the slabs workable. David hopes being able to provide some of these extra services will increase the value his business adds to his community and help the products be more accessible.
A Labor of Love
Though Urban Wood and woodworkers are getting more recognition as savvy consumers start thinking more about reinvesting in their local economy and getting value for their money through high-quality, durable products like those David creates, the industry is still new to a lot of people.
David loves being able to share his passion for trees, milling, and custom carpentry, and we love the opportunity to get to look in-depth at these businesses to showcase the incredible amount of talent, investment, and love that drives woodprenuers. Whether it’s small items like a cutting board or charcuterie trays, all the way to big beautiful custom tables, every tree has a story, and David excels at helping them showcase it.