Machine for the production of cutting boards. End boards instead of cheap analogues. Nozzle-narrower for the neck of a wine bottle

13.10.2021

Andrei Muntean has always loved to work with wood, and worked in banks. When his banking career came to an end, he turned his hobby into a business - he promotes his MTM wood cutting boards on YouTube and sells them all over the world.

Andrei Muntyan (Photo: personal archive)

“Sometimes I wake up at night and realize that an idea for a new board model has come to my mind,” says Andrei Muntyan. — In the morning I sit down at the computer, draw the construction and design, do all the calculations, then I go to the workshop and do it. It gives me special pleasure.”

Muntyan, 56, an economist by training, is a well-known banker in Izhevsk. Since the 1990s, he created banks and managed credit institutions: he was a member of the board of Bystrobank, Mobilbank, etc. However, it was not possible to create a large federal banking holding, and in the early 2010s it became clear that the days of local credit institutions were numbered: assets were causing losses . Muntean began to sell shares to larger financial institutions and withdraw from the boards of controlled banks. He was the last to leave the post of president of Mobilbank in January 2012 (assets amounted to 1.25 billion rubles as of July 2012, according to SPARK), shortly after that, bankruptcy proceedings began at the bank.

“At some point, I firmly understood that enough was enough, it was necessary to change the field of activity,” recalls the ex-banker. - I already earned money for a living and wanted to do what I really like. Plus, I wanted to spend more time with my family, with children.

Andrej Muntean was engaged in carpentry together with his father as a child, then he built himself a country house and next to it a carpentry workshop of 140 square meters. m. “My dream was to work with wood. I tried to make end cutting boards from different types and I liked it,” says Muntean.

Correct board

An end cutting board is a board whose fibers, unlike a conventional cutting board, are perpendicular to the cutting surface. To make such a board, a wooden block is sawn into small pieces, and then glued with the side faces to each other. The board is stronger than usual. In addition, beautiful patterns can be laid out from the bars. They make end boards from valuable types of wood - oak, ash, maple, walnut and others. They are much more expensive than regular ones. For example, MTM wood products in an online store are sold at prices ranging from 4,000 to 28,000 rubles, while in supermarkets, the cost of ordinary wooden cutting boards starts from several hundred rubles.

YouTube, 3D and boards

At first, Andrey Muntyan made boards for friends and acquaintances and studied the market - he looked on the Internet to see if such a product was offered in Russia and abroad, if there was a demand for it. It turned out that end boards are very popular in the US, Canada and other English-speaking countries. Assuming that this trend would soon come to Russia, in 2010 Muntyan, with the help of his son Vasily, created the site mtmwood.com, purchased wood (oak, beech, ash, walnut, etc.) and special equipment (planer, cutting, thicknessing and grinding machines). Independently learned to work in SketchUp, CorelDRAW and Adobe Photoshop. The total investment in launching your business amounted to about 5.1 million rubles: 3 million rubles. cost the construction of the workshop, another 2.1 million rubles. was spent on equipment and the first batch of wood.

It quickly became clear that the former banker bought himself an expensive toy - sales of end cutting boards through the site at first amounted to three or four pieces per month. “I was faced with the fact that there was simply no demand for this product in Russia. In the West, the product was distributed, but in our country, people still did not understand what end boards were, ”admits Andrei Muntyan. There was no question of profit, so the entrepreneur continued to spend savings, and in his free time from fulfilling orders, he experimented with promoting his products.

It soon became clear that conventional advertising did not bring results. “The promotion of such a product works very poorly,” explains Muntyan. — We had experience of online and offline advertising, it aroused some interest, but did not lead to sales growth. I decided to take the radical step of showing how I make cutting boards on YouTube so that people understand how it works and can repeat if they want.”

In the summer of 2012, the entrepreneur created the mtmwood YouTube channel. I did my own video shooting and editing. At first, the number of views was minimal. Then Muntean came up with an original and visually more attractive solution. In 2013, he developed several options for end cutting boards with 3D effect- the bars are laid out in such a way that there is an illusion of three-dimensional space on the front surface. It was these board models that aroused the greatest interest of the foreign audience, and the number of subscribers began to grow rapidly.

“On YouTube, you can only break through if you show something new - something that you developed yourself and that others do not show. On my channel, this new thing is 3D boards. At first, the Americans paid attention to them, and then the Russians began to look at them,” says Muntyan. He commented on his work in Russian, and then wrote English subtitles for the video. This kind of content was to your liking — now the channel has 288 thousand subscribers, 73% of whom live outside of Russia, the best videos collect more than 3 million views.

There are many channels on YouTube dedicated to needlework, but its female forms predominate - knitting, embroidery, sewing, etc., as well as channels dedicated to solving everyday problems or decorating rooms, clothes. The Izhevsk banker became one of the first cabinetmakers in the Russian-language segment of YouTube, he gained several followers. “Andrei Muntyan is the founder of the “butt movement” in our country. I consider him my sensei, who inspired me and taught me a lot remotely thanks to the YouTube channel,” says Mikhail Zernin, founder of Zernin Handcrafted, a Yekaterinburg-based cutting board company.

The growth of popularity on the Internet was reflected in sales. In 2014, the annual revenue of MTM wood reached 4 million rubles. (profit - about 15%) - most of the customers were from the USA, but orders were also received from Europe, Brazil, Australia and South Africa. Goods are sent to customers using Russian Post and international delivery services.

MTM wood in numbers

337 boards was made in January 2017

200% is the average markup on the product

3-4 days goes to the manufacture of one board

10 thousand rubles— average check at the end of 2017

28 thousand rubles is the most expensive board with a 3D effect

Source: company data

Own board

Often, when ordering, customers asked about the possibility of changing the design or making a board with an individual pattern from the type of wood they had chosen. It became clear that we need to use another growing trend - customization. Andrey's son Vasily Muntyan is developing the Custom Shirt project, an online studio that sews shirts according to individual measurements and customer requirements; last year, his company's revenue reached 50 million rubles. with a profitability of about 8%. Why not try the same trick with cutting boards?

“There were often requests to make a cutting board with an inscription like “Mom, happy birthday” or with the logo of a football team,” says Andrei Muntyan. “We felt that this could be a new, more marginal line of business.” But to make individual drawings and inscriptions, a special engraving and milling machine was needed - the purchase of a CNC-STEP machine cost Muntyan 500 thousand rubles.

Andrei Muntyan (Photo: personal archive)

The entrepreneur did not regret the acquisition: in 2015, the flow of MTM wood orders became stable. The entrepreneur registered MTM WOOD LLC (before that he worked through the legal entity of the son of Business Start LLC). Videos of making end cutting boards with custom designs, such as the Manchester United logo for a football fan, have attracted new subscribers to the YouTube channel.

In 2017, Internet popularity brought unexpected results. Representatives of Systec approached Andrei Muntyan and offered to supply the entrepreneur with a powerful engraving and milling machine if the company logo is sometimes visible in the frame, and a link to its website appears in the description of the YouTube channel. The entrepreneur agreed - he received modern equipment for free, which allows you to apply complex drawings.

To diversify the offer, Muntean added chessboards and wooden decor items to the MTM wood assortment - plates, dishes, caskets, vases, knife holders, etc. But if chessboards began to be in demand, decorative items were practically not ordered. “Now, looking back, I admit some of my mistakes,” says the entrepreneur. “It was not worth spending time developing new products that are not in demand, you should have focused on what you can do better than others - on the boards.”

In 2017, the annual turnover of MTM wood doubled and reached 10.8 million rubles, profit - 1.3 million rubles. The company's revenue for January 2018 amounted to about 1.2 million rubles, profit - about 15%. Most of the revenue comes from the sale of custom-designed cutting boards, but standard cutting boards lead the way in terms of orders: they are three to four times cheaper than custom cut boards.

The main expenses of MTM wood are the purchase of sawn timber from the companies Woodstock, Durapan HV, etc. More than 50% of the proceeds go to them. Now two people work in MTM wood: Muntyan himself and his assistant. The entrepreneur does not want to hire more people and put the production of running models on stream in principle. The volume of orders sometimes exceeds the production capacity, then the entrepreneur simply raises prices: “When I see that everything is sold out and we cannot cope with orders, I raise prices, and when I see that demand is falling, I lower it.” Most customers come to mtmwood from YouTube, but foreigners now bring in only about a third of the revenue. The problem is that sales abroad are strongly constrained due to transportation costs, taxes, customs duties. The boards are heavy, and order inexpensive models up to 10 thousand rubles. there is no point, complains Muntean. Therefore, as a rule, foreigners order either cutting boards with personalized inscriptions or logos, or with complex 3D drawings, the price tag for which in the online store exceeds 20 thousand rubles.

“I understand perfectly well that 99% of people on the planet will use plastic boards, wash them in dishwasher and they will be happy. Quality end boards are a small market, but they can grow because I have 7.6 billion potential buyers in front of me. If 1% of them are interested, and 0.01% buys, this is already a lot of money,” says Andrei Muntyan.

View from the outside

“The market is small but growing”

Mikhail Zernin, founder of the Yekaterinburg-based cutting board company Zernin Handcrafted

“From my point of view, the market for end cutting boards is still gaining momentum. There is demand, but only from customers who already know what it is. There are few manufacturers, especially if you take the segment of boards customized for the client (with drawings, inscriptions, etc.). It is difficult to make this product mass-produced due to the impossibility of automating many production processes, so retail chains are unlikely to be interested in it. Andrei Muntyan was one of the first in the country to start producing and promoting this product. And now he has no competitors - both in terms of craftsmanship, and in terms of doing business, and in terms of income. MTM wood is a strong brand, the quality of which I strive for myself.”

"Cutting boards are the #1 home product in the US"

Yana Osmanova, founder of the brand of dishes and home decor FUGA

“The kitchen utensils market in Russia is actively developing. By comparison, in the US, cutting boards are the number one selling home goods. In Russia, in the mass market, functionality, durability, and reliability are more important than uniqueness. But I think that gradually, as the market becomes saturated, the situation will change, the popularity of products with individual design will grow, which will allow manufacturers to expand their range and strengthen their positions. Now the demand for cutting boards in our company is quite high: it accounts for approximately 40-50% of sales of the entire range.”

“The company has very non-budget solutions”

Ivan Kukkoev, co-founder of the A-Fabrik kitchen utensils company

“Wooden end cutting boards are definitely in demand right now, but this is a very niche custom product that is created for an interested paying consumer. MTM wood feels very good in this niche. But I think when opening a business in this area, one must take into account the risks associated with the complex structure of raw material supplies. MTM wood is constantly looking for new types of wood in limited quantities. For this reason, the company may be perceived by suppliers as a small consumer, which affects the price. At the same time, this is offset by the final cost of the product: the company has very low-budget solutions. We do not and will not compete with MTM wood. If we made end cutting boards, they would cost a lot less. But it would be one serial model, there would be no talk of any individualization.

* Calculations use average data for Russia

Starting investments:

from 200 000 ₽

Required area:

Today, carpentry workshops are becoming a rarity, so before starting your own business in this direction, you should seriously think about what products you can offer the market.

A carpentry workshop is a business that can become not only your hobby or means of earning money, but also a vocation. The very thing that brings both material and spiritual satisfaction, at the same time pleasing the soul and pocket. But for such a happy combination, you will have to try very, very hard. In this article, we will not talk about creating a large carpentry shop, but we will limit ourselves to topical tips for opening a small workshop at home “for one” with the prospect of turning self-employment into something more.

Pros and cons of carpentry as a business

Advantages	Flaws
carpentry business refers to the so-called business “on the ground”: workshops open on their own plots, in garages, sheds and so on. You work at home, and at home, as they say, the walls help; such material as wood will always be in demand even in the era of the superpopularity of plastic. This is a natural and eco-friendly material that people have associated with home comfort for centuries and remains so even now. Moreover, many things are still impossible to make from anything other than wood; the carpentry business has low costs relative to many other types of business; joinery involves a wide range of products that you can produce. And this means that you can always switch to the production of other types of wooden products and choose a new niche, if they suddenly become unpopular, and market conditions change; carpentry business is a certain freedom in the matter of pricing. Wooden products can cost both a penny and hundreds of thousands of rubles. It all depends on your level of skill and ability to sell your products expensively.	a carpentry shop cannot exist without a master. This is the type of business where you will need to invest yourself and all your strength - the complete opposite of the modern so-called methods of “passive income”; as in any business “for one”, everything is limited by your physical strength and time. Often, many people, coming from work for hire, are disappointed and understand that “business for yourself” is not when you work when you want, but when you work always; It is no secret that carpentry workshops today are a dying business. This is due to large factories that produce products cheaper and present them in large construction and furniture stores and hypermarkets; carpentry workshops for one master usually do not have any permanent and at the same time large orders, so it takes a lot of time to form client base, execution of small orders; in carpentry, the risks of industrial injuries are high. Severed fingers and severe cuts are common; the financial return on the effort expended in most cases does not justify itself. Most single workshops, for various reasons (unclaimed assortment, incorrect pricing policy, inability to sell and find a client) cannot build a business in such a way that it brings them a constant and high income.

The first thing to start with in the carpentry business is the presence of hands and the desire to create something with these hands. People who are going to open a carpentry workshop, and even more so, make money on it, should focus on improving skills. But before seriously embarking on the issues of arranging the premises and equipping it with equipment, you need to understand at least in general terms the current situation on the market. Approaching carpentry as a business differs from approaching it as a hobby in three ways. This is a rational and deeply thought-out approach to the choice of specialization, the quality of work and methods of promotion.

The first thing to start with is the question of what exactly you will produce. Wood is a material with an endless number of uses. To get started, look at what small carpentry shops specialize in today, that is, your future competitors, and how they are doing.

Regarding the choice of assortment, carpentry workshops usually have two options: broad specialization or narrow specialization. In the first case, the emphasis is on quantity (more customers, more assortment, more choice), in the second - on quality (narrow assortment, high quality performance, narrow audience). In other words, if you learn how to create many different wood products, you will be able to offer them to more people, and by focusing on one or two products, it will be easier for you to improve your skills and create exclusive products.

What goods can carpentry workshops produce:

doors/windows. The most obvious solution for a carpentry shop is to create doors and window units that everyone needs and earn extra money by installing them. The problem is that doors and windows have been actively “stamped” for a long time major manufacturers and the market is very saturated today. In most cases, it is useless to compete with carpentry factories. The price for these products will still be cheaper, and it has become difficult to surprise the customer with anything.

stairs. Stairs give more space for creative thought. Unlike doors and windows, a carpentry workshop that specializes in stairs has the opportunity to offer original sizes, unusual shapes, unusual species, and a unique execution in general. However, there are already many companies on the market that create stairs and have achieved high level skill in their field, and it will be very difficult to catch up with them from scratch.

Furniture. With furniture, the situation is about the same as with the first two categories. Now on the market there is a huge amount of furniture for every taste and budget. Thanks to such hypermarkets as Castorama, Leroy Merlin, Ikea, furniture is becoming more and more affordable and mass-produced. However, even the variety that is on the market leaves many opportunities for creating an exclusive range that is not found in stores. A small workshop can rely on the original range, offering tables, chairs, chests of drawers, cabinets, armchairs and more from expensive types of wood and with an unusual design.

Small goods. This is a wide category of goods, which is united by one quality - the size. Here we mean souvenirs, and all kinds of gift kitchen sets with cutting boards, spatulas and rolling pins, and frames with baguettes, and board games, wooden toys ( unusual ideas wooden toys you can see) and so on. If, say, in jewelry, size does not matter, then in carpentry everything is different. Even for an author's wooden product made from expensive wood, you will not get a lot of income, since the price of 1500-2000 rubles will seem excessively high to the buyer. An ordinary consumer will always have an alternative in the form of a plastic product at a price 5-10 times cheaper. Connoisseurs of original art will always have to be mined with great difficulty. Therefore, before you decide to manufacture wooden toys, pipes, salt shakers, ashtrays, cutting or gingerbread boards and other things, think about whether you can regularly produce and sell at least 50 of these small products in order to receive at least 50 thousand for them. .rubles Or is it better to make one chest of drawers in the same time and sell it for the same money?

How best to position your products today

The second question, which is also better to think about in advance, is the question of the unique selling proposition and the question of quality. To make your products different from what the mass market offers, first of all pay attention to the material. First, what kind of tree will it be? What colors and consumables will you use? What will be the design of your products?

*according to Yandex Wordstat as of 09/12/2018

What kind of space is needed for a carpentry shop

Let's return to more traditional questions related directly to the opening of the workshop. To accommodate a small carpentry workshop, a room of 50-60 square meters is best suited. meters. The rent of such premises will cost about 20 thousand rubles per month.

Average rent for renting industrial premises in Russia, RUB*

Premises 50-60 sq. m	Premises 70-80 sq. m.

*according to the analysis of Avito ads on 09/12/2018

Of course, not everyone can afford to rent, especially at the start. Therefore, most often carpentry workshops are opened at home, using sheds, garages or basements for these purposes.

Ready-made ideas for your business

When choosing an area, first of all, you need to consider the length of the room. If you are engaged in the manufacture of door and window frames, then the length of the room should not be less than four meters. Inside the workshop should be warm and dry, because wood is afraid of moisture. When furnishing the room, do not forget that you need even floors, as the machines must be stable.

For uninterrupted operation, it is desirable to supply the workshop room with three-phase electricity. In the event that the workshop room is built of wood, the wiring must be laid in wires or corrugated pipes, and sockets and equipment must be grounded.

If the workshop is located close to housing, take care of the soundproofing of the walls and doors. It is desirable that the windows face the direction where there are no residential buildings. It is also necessary to comply with fire safety requirements. The inner lining of carpentry is usually treated with flame retardants, which prevent fire. It is advisable to have a powder fire extinguisher in the building, or at least a bucket of sand in case of ignition of electrical appliances.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Many workshops do not pay much attention to ventilation. However, without an influx of fresh air into the workshop, you are doomed to the constant inhalation of wood dust. And this threatens with certain health problems, which you can easily find out from the Internet.

What equipment is needed for a carpentry shop

The issue of equipment is one of the most difficult in planning a carpentry workshop. It should be borne in mind that there is no universal and generally accepted list for a carpentry workshop. The choice of equipment depends on a large number of variables: on what exactly is produced in the workshop, on the area of \u200b\u200bthe room, production volumes, the experience of the master, and so on.

Therefore, you only have the desire to create wooden products, say your own furniture, and you only have experience in making simple products that do not require any special tools (tables, simple shelves, stools, etc.). In this case, you should start not with the purchase of serious units and machines, the purpose of which you do not yet have a clear idea, but with the purchase of the most basic set. Conventionally, it can be divided into four groups.

Minimum basic set tools that will allow you to create simple furniture

Hand tool	Tooling and expendable materials	Measuring instruments	power tool
Hand saw for wood and metal		Roulette 3-5 meters	screwdriver
Jointers and hand planers	Clamps	Ruler metal 50-100 cm	Hammer drill
Mallet with a rubber or wooden striker	Forstner drill bits for blind holes with a flat bottom	Metal square, side 30 cm.	Electric jigsaw
Claw hammer	Drills for metal with a diameter of 2 to 10 mm in increments of 0.5 to 1 mm	Level 50-60 cm	Belt sander
Wood chisels (set)	Drills for wood with a diameter of 2 to 12 mm
Straight and Phillips screwdrivers (set)	Carbide tipped drills
Furniture stapler	Screwdriver bits (set)
Pliers	Marker or pencil
Shoe knife

Adjustable wrench

If you don’t spend money on buying a workbench, but assemble it manually, then 30-40 thousand rubles will be enough to buy such a set. With a wider range of screwdrivers and electric jigsaws, of course, you can’t do it anymore, the list will expand significantly, and it will take at least 200 thousand rubles to equip the workshop, with the purchase of a good milling machine - more than 300 thousand rubles.

An approximate list of equipment for a small carpentry shop

Here are a few principles regarding the acquisition and use of equipment, which are advised by the owners of carpentry shops:

The price of equipment should correspond to the level of development of your business. Many inexperienced craftsmen are tempted to spend money on overpriced equipment that doesn't match their level of development and needs, and doesn't provide any significant speed/quality benefits. It must be remembered that expensive equipment of elite brands is always less liquid than cheap and “folk” ones. It is also more expensive to maintain and harder to sell. Therefore, for starters, it is better to get by with the most proven devices. For example, if your products do not have a large length, the so-called molding, it makes little sense to necessarily purchase a milling machine for 100 thousand rubles or more. To begin with, it is better to get by with a manual router, which can do almost the same thing, but will cost several times cheaper.

Strive for equipment versatility. You should not unnecessarily fork out for those types of equipment that can be replaced or that will stand idle for no reason. For example, spending money on a plunge-cut saw with a guide bar when there are cheaper and more versatile circular tables. Even if you need to open the sheet, it is easier and faster to use the services of companies that own panel saws, which can open the sheet at a low price and with higher quality.

Acquire new equipment gradually or with large orders. The smartest thing to think about is purchasing new equipment as you grow in skill and after large orders. The rest of the time, you should try to gradually set aside a small share of the profit for depreciation costs, and from them to purchase new machines.

Observe the principles of priority when arranging equipment. If drilling and turning machines are placed near the workbench, then the grinders are placed at some distance from the workplace. In addition, a good craftsman should always have everything at hand, so the workbench usually has cabinets, racks and hanging shelves.

Don't forget about safety. No matter how safe and familiar the work process may seem, have a first aid kit nearby with a first aid kit. Also use safety goggles and thick clothing. Work with buttoned sleeves, if the hair is long, hide it in a headdress.

Don't make a fuss. When arranging the premises, keep in mind the purchase of new machines in the future. Ideally, free space should be twice the space for machines. Lack of space can disrupt the process. The work plane must be approached from several sides. Also, do not turn the room into a warehouse: the tree should go into circulation, and not wallow in the corners.

Do I need to hire workers in the carpentry shop

On the initial stage while the volumes are small, it is easier and faster for the master to act alone. However, this does not mean that no hired force will ever come in handy for you. Joiners usually require assistants for rough work or apprentices. They may carry planks, planer, remove shavings and debris, or perform other simple duties. The labor force is usually teenagers who are looking for a part-time job in the summer or youth.

It is worth noting that carpenters with experience are usually in no hurry to grow a full-fledged replacement for themselves. And their fears are understandable: there is a great risk of growing a competitor out of a student who can win over customers. Therefore, often the case is limited to auxiliary workers with contractual wages.

Please note that average salary joiner in Russia at the time of this writing is about 38 thousand rubles, in Moscow and St. Petersburg - about 54.5 thousand rubles. Therefore, if you are sure that the net income will not differ much from these figures, think again about the advisability of opening your own workshop. Today the word "business" is very popular, but with such low turnover, working for hire will have much more advantages compared to independent sailing. In this case, it is wiser to continue to engage in the production of wooden products in the format of a part-time job and a hobby, gradually gaining experience and a client base.

The average level of salaries for the professions “carpenter/carpenter”, “assistant carpenter/carpenter”, rub.

*according to announcements on the Avito website on 09/12/2018

If you have the idea to open a carpentry workshop, but at the same time you are not going to work in it yourself, then the chances of finding a free carpenter who will work for you are close to zero. All masters with experience, as a rule, are attached and have a good income, and craftsmen “worse and cheaper” often abuse alcohol or have experience of staying in places not so remote and, let’s say, lost to society. In this case, it will be easier and more rational for you to place your orders with existing workshops and pay for their work, and then sell the finished product.

In the apartment of each in the kitchen there is a tool necessary for cutting various products - a cutting board. Initially, it was stone, then iron, bronze, and only then it became wooden.

Although plastic counterparts have recently appeared, a wooden board is still popular as well. I recently managed to get into a workshop where cutting boards are made, but what I saw did not go well with my ideas about such a simple utilitarian kitchen item on which vegetables, meat and other food are cut.

As the theater begins with a hanger, so the workshop where wooden products are made begins with a warehouse where wood lies. To our master, whose work will be discussed today, it comes ready-made, dried at a certain temperature for several years. Fresh wood cannot be used for the production of boards, as the finished product will deform over time from shrinkage.

Here, the warehouse supports a certain temperature regime and air humidity, which prevent the wood from drying out too much and becoming too wet. On this table, which hangs on the wall of the workshop, you can see the optimal percentage of humidity at different temperatures.

There is also a hygrometer showing the degree of humidity in the room. True, the master said that he had incorrect readings).

For the manufacture of some boards with a particularly complex pattern, a CNC machine (computer numerical control) is used. The machine is small, it is enough to connect a laptop with a predefined program to it.

The drawing of the board, on which the cutter is currently working, is inspired by the famous work of Maurits Escher "Reptiles".

If desired, the cutter will work wonders

This is how the board looks like after the machine has worked. If you look closely, you will see that this future board is glued together from pieces. Why this is done, we will find out later.

If the base of the board is made of walnut, then the inserts are cut from other types of wood that differ in texture and color - oak and rosewood.

As the master told me, the machine cut out the figures on the board in such a way that when inserting other reptile figures, no gaps are found. The figurines are very close to each other.

In this photo you can see examples of gluing. The multi-colored section is glued from different types of wood. One of the most difficult boards to manufacture will be glued from such material. You can see it at the end of the post.

The master takes a simple board, processes it, aligns the edges. Then the board is cut into pieces, which are turned with the end part and glued together. Moreover, gluing is not done in an arbitrary order, but in a special way so that the growth rings are directed in opposite directions, this will prevent the boards from deforming when the humidity changes.

Why is this being done? Due to the vertical arrangement of the wood fibers, the knives do not dull longer, since the knife blade does not cut the fibers, as in ordinary boards, but penetrates between them - it slides. The fibers return to their original state after the culinary hassle on it. Accordingly, the board does not deteriorate, and chefs do not have to sharpen their knives several times per shift, as is the case with conventional boards.

As a material, in addition to walnut, hornbeam, ash, maple, oak and beech, valuable types of wood are also used, such as American cherry, moving, mahogany. As you can see from the markings on the wood, it is from the USA, there is from South America and Africa.

other types of wood.

After the wood is cut into pieces and turned upside down, it is glued and clamped in clamps - a special press. As you can see, there are shields of different thicknesses. The thicker one will become a board, and the thinner boards will be used to cut patterns and shapes on the surface of future boards, similar to the figures from Reptile. After gluing, the shield will be ready in an hour, however, it is recommended to subject it to stress after 24 hours.

For gluing, a special adhesive is used that does not contain formaldehyde, is approved for contact with food and has great water resistance.

It looks like a room where all the tools needed for carpentry are located.

Perfect cleanliness and order! As you may have noticed, the workshop has all the machines and tools for making any wooden product. A real carpenter's paradise

Special clamps for large boards.

We will not touch that board with reptiles yet, work on it will be carried out for more than one hour, therefore we will process another. After it is glued, it is driven through this grinding machine - thicknesser. In fact, this is a modern planer.

Then the sidewalls of the board are cut with a circular saw.

The sides are ground on another machine with a vertical belt movement. Here the corners are rounded.

The board is then run through the drum sander again.

This time the surfaces are polished more delicately. However, that's not all.

Pumps are attached to each machine, collecting sawdust from wood processing. After processing by machine tools, the product is polished with a manual grinder. First use a coarser sandpaper, 120 grit, then 240 grit, in order to finally polish the board

Finishing touches to round off the edges and we can say that the carpentry work on the board is over.

After all the above operations, the board takes a bath of mineral oil, which has no taste, no color, no smell. The oil is made from petroleum, but it is completely safe, and it is even used in the cosmetic field.

The same board with reptiles that is shown at the beginning of the post will turn into the same one. After some time, when the board is saturated with oil, it will be allowed to dry, then treated again, with a hot mixture of mineral oil and wax in a ratio of 4/1.

Other boards are sent to the same oil bath.

And now let's go to the "Showroom" of elite cutting boards). In this room, boards are packed and waiting to meet their future owner.

Hygrometers monitor the level of humidity.

This board just broke my mold of simple utilitarian kitchen utensils! I can’t even imagine how you can dare to shred products on a work of art

Many hours were spent to make a board with a 3D effect. By the way, these boards are the most expensive, and it is clear why.

And this board can be safely hung instead of a picture!

The master also makes special boards for beating meat. There are even grooves for blood flow.

I will also add that the end boards, due to the material and production features, turn out to be thick and heavy, but they do not roll on the table / work surface of the cook. No need to put a rag or a damp cloth / towel, hold at risk. The boards are additionally equipped with rubber (sometimes silicone or plastic) legs, which are insurance against absorbing water that has accidentally fallen under the board.

After the board has passed all the stages production process, it is packed in a film.

A little hot air and you're done.

This map shows where the ordered boards went - mainly Russia, Europe, the USA, there are even Japan and Australia.

A truly innovative production for Mordovia was created by an individual entrepreneur from the Temnikovo village of Zhegalova Arseniy Kolesnikov. He makes an ultra-modern kitchen gadget - end cutting boards. This product is labor-intensive and is a real work of carpentry art, and therefore costs accordingly. For a copy you need to pay more than one thousand rubles. The scale and result of the work of a 42-year-old businessman from the outback was appreciated by OLGA STAROSTINA.

A banal kitchen item, it would seem, does not deserve special attention. But if you look at it as a means of making money, then the situation changes. There are no cutting boards today! Wood, glass, plastic, thermoplastic, rubber, composite and even steel…
Recently, end caps have gained particular popularity. These are used professional chefs. They look like several wooden cubes glued upside down, forming a single canvas. Their peculiarity and advantage lies in the vertical arrangement of wood fibers, which is why the knife, as it were, penetrates between them during operation. As a result, the blade becomes less dull, and the cuts on the board remain invisible. Such a kitchen gadget costs from 2 to 5 thousand rubles, and sometimes more. It all depends on the quality of the wood, the characteristics of the pattern and the carpenter's ambitions. For Arseny Kolesnikov, the last factor is not yet a priority, and therefore the prices for products are quite affordable. The design engineer has been earning a little more than a year as a carpenter, but has already got regular customers and a lot of positive feedback. His products are distributed in different cities - Moscow, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Maykop... “There are always enough orders,” the master admits. - I, in fact, occupied a free niche and work quietly. In general, there are not so many manufacturers of end boards in Russia who are engaged in business at a professional level. You can count them on your fingers…”
Arseniy Kolesnikov walked long enough to open his own business, and the path lay through the Sanaksar Monastery. “I was born in Omsk. After graduating from the university, he worked in his native city at the Research Institute of Instrument Engineering, - says the entrepreneur. - In the late 1990s, when the industry in the country was falling apart, and spirituality was reviving, I came to faith. He became interested in the church, reading books about the elders. In 1997 he went on a pilgrimage to Diveevo. The path passed through the Sanaksar monastery. I was strongly impressed by the conversation with the brethren, Fathers Jerome and Pitirim, Archimandrite Barnabas, so I decided to remain a novice in this monastery. Nothing good was waiting for me at work at home. Production turned sour, wages were issued with great delays. And in the monastery an unfamiliar interesting life. I'm generally an enthusiastic person. I found a job in a publishing house, I was engaged in layout of brochures, books, calendars and albums. During the five years of his stay in the monastery, he met many people who came for a month or two to work and restore peace of mind. He himself thought about monasticism, but the death of Fr. Jerome changed everything. Having lost his confessor, he could not remain within the walls of the monastery, like many of his children. He left Mordovia in 2002. He labored at the Nikolo-Shartomskaya monastery in the Ivanovo diocese, in the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery near Moscow, but never found his place.

Taking off his cassock, Arseniy Kolesnikov worked for several years in computer companies in Moscow and the Moscow region, but he did not like office life. “Having gone out into the world, I, in fact, found myself in another state, where business and commerce reigned, about which little was known in Soviet times,” says the master. - After some thought, I succumbed to the spirit of the new time. Together with a familiar manager, I decided to establish the production of bread bins. One monk from the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery taught me how to work with wood. I made a small batch of goods, which we could not sell. Partnership and business failed. Entrepreneurial vein groped later, serving several dacha cooperatives as an electrician.
Having saved up the sum for the construction of his own housing and workshop, Kolesnikov began to look for a plot. In the suburbs, the land turned out to be too expensive, so in 2010 fate again brought the design engineer to Mordovia. “I liked the village of Zhegalovo,” recalls Arseniy. - The place is quiet and beautiful. I bought an empty house with a plot. I replaced the foundation at the rickety hut, installed gas and installed a heating system. He made an extension in which he equipped the workshop. The idea for the manufacture of end boards was thrown by a familiar monk who saw a similar production in Moscow. The first copies of oak, cherry and pear began to be made to order during construction. Buyers were found right away ... ”A year ago, a novice entrepreneur received a subsidy in the amount of 98 thousand rubles to open a business. Having added my own savings, I purchased a new planer-thickness machine. It allows you to quickly produce boards of large sizes. However, the process has not become less time-consuming and costly. “It is not easy to find high-quality wood today,” the carpenter complains. - Boards, as a rule, are crooked, with cracks and knots. Sometimes up to two-thirds of the lumber is discarded. It is especially difficult with cherries and pears.” The master processes the selected pieces of wood, levels, cuts into pieces. Then unfolds the end part and glues. And not in an arbitrary order, but in a special way, so that the annual rings are directed in opposite directions. Only in this case, the board does not deform when the humidity changes. For gluing parts, Arseniy Kolesnikov uses expensive American waterproof glue approved for contact with food. You can buy it only in specialized stores in Moscow.
“I can make several boards at the same time,” says the entrepreneur. - Sometimes it's even more convenient. Orders are constantly coming in, so there is enough money. In the near future, I plan to expand production.

How it's done

The joiner drives the blanks glued under the press through the grinding machine. Then it is polished with a manual machine. After all operations, the board takes a hot "bath" of mineral oil, which has no taste, no color, no smell, is used in medicine and cosmetology. Then it is treated with an impregnation containing wax, which protects the wood from moisture. It takes about a week for everything.

Mikhail Zernin traded a comfortable office for a carpentry workshop - and does not regret it

Fatigue from unloved work and professional burnout are among the most common reasons for leaving employment in own business 30-40 year old office workers. And recently, more and more often, such entrepreneurs choose those areas of activity in which they can do something with their own hands. One of these is the Ural master entrepreneur Mikhail Zernin, who left a successful career as a business coach for his own carpentry workshop.

34 years old, master entrepreneur from Yekaterinburg, founder of the brand (manufacturing of cutting boards). Education: Ural State Forest Engineering University (specialty "mechanical engineer"). Prior to founding his own carpentry workshop, he worked as a corporate business coach.

Until mid-2016, Mikhail and his wife worked in the field of HR - they were engaged in corporate training. They lived in Moscow for about four years - their wife was offered a good position, and Mikhail got a good job in the capital. However, they immediately decided that they were living in Moscow temporarily in order to earn money for an apartment.

“When I returned to Yekaterinburg in 2014, I found a job similar to the one in Moscow. But somehow it quickly came to the realization that I was no longer interested. Moreover, I got into a company that worked according to the old principles. As a result, I quit,” Mikhail recalls.

For a while, Mikhail simply did not know what to do, one might say - he was in search of himself. But it was necessary to earn something, and therefore, in the freelance format, I conducted trainings once or twice a month. And the rest of the time was free.

“My brother makes wooden stairs in his workshop in Sukhoi Log. And I saw a bunch of wood enhancers on the Internet - various business card holders, phone holders - and decided to try to make them, ”says Mikhail.

Mikhail's workshop is located in the basement of the Yekaterinburg Art Fund - there is a carpentry co-working space where people can come to work with their hands.

February 2016 was a turning point for Mikhail. One of his friends sent him a link to a video on how to make end cutting boards. And he asked me to make one for him.

How end boards are made

The main difference between an end cutting board and a standard cutting board is durability. The wood fibers are located perpendicular to the cut surface, and the blade of the knife, as it were, pushes the fibers apart. When using a regular board, the knife simply cuts the fibers and because of this quickly becomes dull.

“When I made some boards, I posted the photos on Facebook. As a business coach, I'm used to receiving feedback. As a result, I received a lot of “Wow!” comments, and some asked me to make the same board for them. It inspired me, I decided to continue,” Mikhail explains.

Mikhail made the first board for sale in March 2016. Its cost was determined quite simply - the cost of materials plus logistics costs plus an extra charge of 20-30% (although in carpentry it often amounts to hundreds of percent). As a result, 6900 rubles came out for a large board of American walnut and ash.

The cost of end boards from Zernin is from 1990 rubles to 6990 rubles

For comparison: one of the leaders in the market of end boards is the manufacturer from Izhevsk MTM Wood - they have the cost of some models reaches 22 thousand rubles.

Such a high price is associated not only with a large amount of manual labor and the duration of the manufacturing process, but also with the cost of materials - rare wood species cost up to 400 thousand rubles per cubic meter.

The hobby could not yet feed the family, and Mikhail continued to train. “I spent the last trainings without much pleasure. Although before I was lit by the work. At some point, I realized that it was time to finish - and in the summer of 2016 I conducted the last training, ”recalls Mikhail.

Sold the car, bought the machines

By that time, the business was gradually gaining momentum - the master made five to seven boards a month. But with an average check of 4-5 thousand rubles, the income was not very large. And Mikhail decided to take a radical step - he sold his Renault for 500 thousand rubles.

Part of the money was immediately invested in the purchase of machine tools: a drum grinder (about 50 thousand), a band saw (also for 50 thousand), a CNC milling machine (150 thousand). Plus, he uses the equipment that is in the carpentry coworking.

Mikhail also has a special "trick". “My two-year-old daughter fastens one leg to each board. He also necessarily participates in the packaging of the parcel, which is why some recipients sometimes rack their brains, not understanding why some piece of cardboard is stuck here, ”says Mikhail.

In order to sell boards, Mikhail created a shop on the hand-made marketplace "Fair of Masters", but sales did not go there. Therefore, Mikhail attracts most of the Russian clients through your Facebook.

Where sales are going better on the American site Etsy. The first board was sold there only seven months later, but now customers come from there regularly.

Approximately 70% of sales come from Russian buyers, the remaining 30% - from foreign, mainly from the United States. Prices are somewhat different: for example, for Russians, a board costs 6,500 rubles, and for foreigners - $ 150. The difference is explained by the commissions of the Internet site where the goods are displayed, as well as the cost of delivery.

In such a production, word of mouth is important for promotion - people like Mikhail's boards, they write about it on social networks, tell their friends, and, as a result, new customers appear. By the way, Mikhail came up with the name of his brand thanks to Facebook.

“Initially, it was Handcraftedgift, which means “handmade gifts”. But at one of the exhibitions, the presenter simply could not pronounce it. Then I decided to announce a contest on my page,” says Mikhail. And so the brand was born. Zernin Handcrafted. That is, with his last name, Mikhail guarantees quality.

Mikhail does not regret radical changes in his life. “Every day I have the feeling that it was not for nothing that I changed the scope of my activity so drastically. Especially when I look at the world map, where I mark the cities where my boards were bought from. So far, there are 58 such points, - says Mikhail. “Now the boards feed me and my family quite well.”

If we talk about income, then a decent profit appeared only in November 2016. And in December, for the first time, they managed to sell more than 20 boards - Mikhail says that this is just the level to normally provide for his family. But even in this case, the income will be less than, for example, it was in Moscow. Michael takes it easy.

Now the master makes 15 models of boards. And in the near future he plans to expand the assortment line - for example, he plans to try to make a table using the end technology, to launch the production of chess boards (several pieces have already been made).

Mikhail expects that income will grow and that he will be able to engage in carpentry for many years to come.