From Log to Living Room: Will Walker of Wm. 沃克有限公司.

Will Walker is a furniture maker and sawyer; however, 听到他的故事后, entrepreneur is also a very fitting title. 威尔的创新精神和企业家精神促使他发现并追求跨越多个行业的商业机会. 他甚至在YouTube上建立了大量的追随者，他一边展示自己的手艺，一边教育来自世界各地的观众, 专业知识和激情. 

Will grew up helping his dad, 总承包商, 建造房屋, where he gained valuable skills that would come in handy down the road. In high school, he also developed a passion for photography. 他就读于弗吉尼亚联邦大学艺术学院，在那里他培养了自己的摄影手艺. He spent his free time in the wood shop. After apprenticing with a photographer in Richmond, Will came back to his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia to begin his photography business in 2006, where he photographed weddings, 肖像, 为报纸写的故事, 企业活动等. 

晚些时候, 威尔遇到了他的妻子，并决定在阿尔伯马尔县美丽的乡村的家庭农场上建造一所房子. 由于威尔仍然喜欢木工，所以当他建造自己的家时，他知道他想要增加一个工作室. When their first child was due to be born, he took a break from event photography weddings around the due date. With a little more free time on his hands, 威尔决定站在镜头的另一边，开始记录他开店的过程，并把视频上传到YouTube上. He thought this might drum up some local business, 但他很快就了解到，世界各地的人们对他要说的话很感兴趣，并渴望追随他的旅程. 所以，Wm的冒险. 沃克有限公司. 2015年开始.

Since 2015, Will's following has grown to nearly 80,000 subscribers on YouTube, and more than 11,000 followers on Instagram. Find him at @wmwalkerco on both (also linked in previous center). +, 看看他最近在YouTube上的一个视频，在这篇博客文章的底部，他分享了他的故事，他用木桩家具技术用樱桃和枫木创造了一个三条腿的植物站.

As Will dove headfirst into furniture making, he started sourcing hardwoods and quickly discovered that they were often difficult to acquire. He began working with community members who were sawing their own wood and before long, he had the opportunity to purchase his very own sawmill in 2020. This enabled Will to source logs that had fallen during storms, 被害虫毁坏的树木(包括被弗吉尼亚州和其他州的翡翠灰蛀虫毁坏的白蜡树)和被人们移走的树木，否则它们就会被烧毁. At this point, Will began to see that there was a great deal of potential in this industry. 

“我开始铣削，并意识到除了我正在制作的家具之外，还有很多人对我正在铣削的木材感兴趣,威尔想。. He began selling his own hardwood lumber from these salvaged, mostly fallen or unwanted trees and was met with great demand. 

As demand rose, so did the need for a larger sawmill. Will began looking into larger capacity sawmills but needed a place to station the mill, 于是他转向他的朋友, 泰勒皮平. 泰勒是一位农民，为了帮助威尔的事业，他主动提出在自己的土地上建造更大的磨坊. As Will researched his options for a larger sawmill after the height of the pandemic, 他了解到等待时间非常长(长达一到两年)，传统银行的融资选择也很少. 会的朋友, 泰勒, 他从22岁起就是农场信贷的客户，并建议威尔联系合作社. Will gave the Charlottesville branch a call, 他解释说，他想买一个二手锯木厂(如下图所示)，而农场信贷公司实现了这一目标.

“Farm Credit made the process easy and painless. They understood the implements and equipment that we need,威尔说. 他在2023年夏天从农场信贷获得的融资速度是否将成为他运营的关键，并能够启动和运营新锯木厂. Following the purchase of his new sawmill, Will had ability to mill logs that are up to 21 feet long and make 48 inch cuts, 然而，他只能用他原来的锯木机锯14英尺长的原木，切出21英寸的切口. 新工厂也是可移动的, 这样威尔和泰勒就可以把它带到农场或其他农村地区去捡木材了.

“我非常热衷于可持续采伐硬木，并将木材的整个生命周期从原木到客厅,威尔说. He loves bringing his clients along on the journey, showing them where the tree came from, 是什么物种, why it came down and then sharing the process of cutting, 用电吹风, kiln-drying and finally processing to create their dream table or cabinet. The business is split between custom commissioned furniture under the Wm. 沃克有限公司. label and the sawmilling process, which includes lumber sales to other furniture makers and woodworkers, which falls under Ursa Timber, a partnership between Will and 泰勒. The custom pieces of furniture have a longer timeline to complete, 因此，木材销售最初是为了在定制家具的较长建造过程中获得补充收入(在完美的情况下，这可能需要14-16周), from tree in the ground to table in a home). 然而, 威尔收获的硬木和磨坊变得如此受欢迎，这些项目现在占据了他60%的时间, while the custom commissions take up roughly 40%. 

当他无法满足自己的需求时，他将与当地的朋友和同事一起为他的定制委托项目采购其他可持续采伐的木材. 他的朋友还有一个窑，在那里木材被干燥到合适的水分含量，然后储存在一个旧谷仓里，这个谷仓已经被改造成木材储存设施. Hardwoods increase in value throughout the drying process, so the longer the boards are able to dry, 它就越有价值, 在理论上. 

Through networking in the 木工 community, Will has found different buyers who are interested in different products, 新鲜切的, green lumber to a completed piece of furniture. Will有回头客，他们会一次又一次地回来，因为他们重视木材的质量. Future plans for Will and 泰勒 include adding their own kiln, 当客户来挑选家具木材或为自己的项目购买木材时，存储附属建筑和零售谷仓可以作为陈列室.

威尔分享道:“现在我正在为夏洛茨维尔的一对夫妇制作一张实心胡桃木餐桌. They were able to come out and pick the lumber, and as we cut the boards for the tabletop, 我们把它们按顺序排列. 所以当你打开它, it is what’s called a ‘book match,’ which means the wood mirrors itself across the tabletop.”

When asked what his favorite aspect of his business is, Will answered with a word he learned in art school, 格式塔是指所有附加部分的总和大于单个部分本身. 这是一种想法，把一棵原本会腐烂在地下或被焚烧取热的树赋予它第二次生命，让它变得美丽, functional piece of furniture.”

当威尔完成一件作品的时候, he burns his brand into the underside of it, 然后他会签字, date it and add the wood species, 也,泰勒说。. “威尔正在做的事情让我产生共鸣的一件事是，他正在制作这些高质量的作品，这些作品有望在他去世后继续存在，并为子孙后代留下遗产。.”

威尔和泰勒给那些想要进入木工或锯木厂行业的年轻人的建议是，找一个懂得很多并愿意分享这些知识的人. “Listen to people who have done it for a long time, and try to love what you do. If you’re not having fun, it’s not worth doing,威尔说. 

在威尔性格形成的早期，他的父亲是他的良师益友，当时威尔帮忙盖房子. 当威尔还是一名年轻的摄影师时，他也曾在一位橱柜匠手下工作过，这位工匠教会了他所有关于橱柜制作的知识，并成为了他宝贵的导师, 也. Will even enjoys learning from the “old masters,” furniture makers from centuries ago, by reading books and studying their craft. Many pieces from centuries ago are still around today, so those makers knew what they were doing, and some of those methods can still be put into practice today. 如果你问问题, listen to the answers and are willing to get your hands dirty, 老一辈人喜欢分享他们的智慧——从他们的经历中我们可以学到很多东西. 

了解更多关于Wm的信息. 沃克有限公司.: http://www.wmwalkerco.com/

This feature story was published in the December 2023 领袖杂志. Access the full magazine (digital version) 在这里.