Dirk Jansen's workshop is a woodworker's paradise. He specializes in making solid wood doors, window frames, stairs, and outdoor wood decking. He has recently expanded into designing and building traditional timber structures for his clients.
"I make all my products myself," says Dirk. "Most products you see in the stores today are mass-produced outside Holland. In my workshop the client has full influence over the product. We can build anything the clients want if it's technically possible."
"To be successful in this business," says Dirk, "you must work hard and honestly, making only those promises you can keep, and giving your client a good price, quality workmanship, and fast delivery." Dirk holds his entire company to this high standard by hiring the most skilled artisans.
"The people that work for me act as one, and everyone knows how to play their part and how their skills fit into the whole. This is what makes my company strong."
Dirk's father was a forester, so Dirk was practically raised in the woods. He got his education in forestry and worked in forestry maintenance until he was 28 years old. Then he got a job in a carpentry shop and, after a few years, started his own company ‘Jansen Timmerwerken’ to produce high-quality, custom solid wood doors and windows. Recently he has diversified his products and services because the crisis taught him that spreading the risks makes his company to be able to better withstand the fluctuations of the industry.
The new products are the traditional timber frame buildings. Using traditional building techniques, they hold the frames together with wooden pins and special Dovetail ('Swallowtail' in Dutch) joints that are easy to make and incredibly strong. Not a single nail or screw is used in the construction of the frame.
Dirk started building a tiny house next to his workshop on the weekends. The foundation is already finished. It will be a traditionally built timber frame house, and he expects the project to take him 4-5 years because he will do all the work himself.
"Designing and building your own house is very personal," Dirk says. "It is unique; it doesn't come from anyone else." He uses Douglas fir for the large beams that make up the building frames, which is ideal for long beam spans.
He has invested in a new line of sawmilling equipment from Wood-Mizer to process the timber beams from raw logs. The line includes an LT70 sawmill, an HR115 resaw, and an EG300 board edger. The LT70 sawmill uses a narrow bandsaw blade, so as little wood is wasted as sawdust as possible, allowing Dirk to recover more boards from every log.
After Dirk finalizes a timber frame design with a client, he looks over his logs and hand-picks them for individual parts of the structure. He only uses the straightest logs.
When the log is selected, he loads it onto the LT70 sawmill. The sawmill is designed to control the sawing process completely. Dirk can precisely manipulate the log using hydraulic functions to cut it correctly. The sawmill's Setworks system helps to measure each cut quickly and precisely.
The log is first converted into a four-sided beam. Once Dirk has cut the planks and beams, sideboards from the log are processed through the resaw and edger. In many wood processing companies, only 50% of the logs is sometimes used for the intended product. But since Dirk uses Wood-Mizer's low-waste sawmilling technology and has the edger and resaw, he can convert almost all of the offcuts into smaller planks for flower boxes, picnic tables, and other smaller projects. The HR115 also allows him to make angled siding (cladding) for his buildings.
A smaller Wood-Mizer sawmill, the LT15, is used to produce outdoor planks for decking. The LT15 has several bed extensions, which allow cutting planks up to 10 meters long. Once a log or beam is loaded onto the LT15, Dirk can cut the sizes of boards he needs and then use the MP100, a specialized log moulder/planer attachment, to create ridges and grooves in the boards.
"With the LT70 sawmill, I cut a log into a beam 150mm wide by 400mm tall," says Dirk, "And then I transfer the beam to the LT15 sawmill. With the log moulder attachment, I cut out a ridged, anti-slip profile at the top of the beam. Then I use the LT15 sawmill to cut that moulded board from the rest of the beam, resulting in a finished decking board 28mm tall." Dirk repeats this process until the entire beam has been converted into a stack of 15 finished decking boards, which his customers use for outdoor porch areas and terraces.
"With the other machines in my workshop," Dirk says, "The new sawmills give me everything I need to produce any products." Another specialized machine is the CNC stair production machine, which allows making precise and complicated staircases.
"Focus on learning everything about wood is the essential in the woodworking business", Dirk says. "You should be able to look at a log and know what you can get from it and how to cut it to get the required product. There are ways to cut a log for maximum yield, but other ways to cut it for maximum quality – knowing the difference can make a huge impact in the success of your business."
Watch the LT70 sawmill video below:
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