About Us

John E Prechel - Menomonie Specialty Lumber John E Prechel - Menomonie Specialty Lumber John E Prechel - Menomonie Specialty Lumber

Menomonie Specialty Lumber was founded in 2014 by John E. Prechel of Menomonie, Wisconsin. John had previously worked as an auto technician and the past 10 years as a welder and steel fabricator. His specialty was precision fabrication, fitment & welding of high quality tool steel components.

John, his wife Ginny and their 3 children purchased a country home and 9.5 acre hobby farm just west of Menomonie Wisconsin in 2013. The installation of a wood fired boiler necessitated the gathering of logs for firewood. It was in this process of procuring logs that John began to notice some quality logs that were being disposed of from urban tree aborists in the Western Wisconsin area. He started collection of the logs, mostly Black Walnut and brought in a local sawyer with a Wood-Mizer portable sawmill to produce lumber and slabs.

Having the wood fired boiler as a heat source, John engineered, built and monitored a lumber kiln for carefully curing the fine Black Walnut slabs and lumber he recovered. His attention to detail, with an eye of an artist has allowed him to turn his steel fabrication skills into a love of fine woodworking.

Visit our Lumber inventory page and select some fine hardwoods for your next woodworking project and check out our projects. Contact us about building a piece of fine custom furniture for you.