I have recently looked at various websites for prices on cherry lumber and it appears prices have gone up substantially since I last purchased last year – I assume most of the inflation is due to the increase in commercial freight costs and the increased fuel-related costs of processing and delivery of the lumber. I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford to do as much given the costs – I want to make furniture and there are few species that compare to cherry and in keeping with what I already have – so I cannot really substitute cheaper woods.
To give you an example, I bought 100 board feet from Midwest Hardwoods last November and I looked at their prices today, which have increased by 33% from my last purchase- at this rate when I am ready for more lumber this fall I don’t know if I will be able to afford to build what I wanted or I question whether it is worth the cost I’ll have to pay to get more lumber – I am envious of the midwest and east coast woodworkers who only have to drive a couple hours or less to select their own boards from a relatively cheaper supply – for us on the west coast it is prohibitive – I try to use mail order as I am quoted 7 dollars and up per board foot to buy from LA area lumber outlets.
Replies
last bunch i bought ( 1000 bd ft ) cost me 3.25 a bd ft and was all from just 2 30" trees and was from 4 to 12" wide , air dried 2 years
At that time i also got 500 bdft of hard maple & 500 ft of birch
i milled it all to make sure of the quality then stacked and stickered it all
after which i sat back and waited for a designing insperation to hit me
Im still waiting !oh well maybee ill buy some more soon in case i get really inspired !
Tom,
I went to a craft show this past weekend. One
of the furniture maker's there was lamenting the same
thing about cherry. I too suggested in conversation that
fuel costs were to blame. He said that it was high demand,
not fuel. He then went on to tell me to check out oak, maple,
etc. Prices have not changed and in some cases went down.
I've not verified this - but thought I'd pass it along. By the way,
this was on the east coast (Massachusetts) FWIW.
Bill-
Tom ,
There are many grades of Cherry , locally here in Oregon $7 per bf is at the top of the price chart for the very best grade at a wholesale level , so the $7 you were quoted depending on the grade may be a decent price.
dusty
It's nine bucks a bf here in the Bay Area. I'm disgusted. And I cnanot find 5/4. Help?
b,
Try Macbeth lumber, you may have to start with 6/4 .
dusty
Thanks. Where are they?
It's MacBeath (http://macbeath.com/), and their main store is in Berkeley, but they now have stores in San Francisco and San Jose. (And also in Perris CA, which I had to look up on a map--it's a little sub-suburb south of Riverside.)
-Steve
Thanks Dusty and Steve.
Wood by mail. It's a new concept. I notice, though, that cherry is about $12 a bf. Ouch!
The price increases for Cherry have just a little to do with increased shipping costs. A great deal of the best North American cherry is now shipped to Asia, because it sells for more there at wholesale than lumber dealers can get for it in the States at retail.
The same thing happened with birds-eye maple a few years back. It's almost impossible to find birdseye of the quality that typically graced lumber yards 15 years ago. I was told that was because the Japanese fell in love with the wood and it's considered very desirable.
Walnut is poised for similar market forces. I've been told by a local wholesale lumber dealer that walnut is becoming more difficult to get in the higher grades as most of the better and bigger trees are purchased on the spot and in the log by veneer buyers. Most of this veneer and plywood made from it is shipped to Asia.
For mail order wood, you might try palumber.com. I paid ~4.30 for FAS 4/4 and ~5.25 for FAS 6/4 shipped.
Bob - thanks for the link - I like these prices - were you happy with the quality of lumber you received? Is this rough lumber or S2S? -Tom
I buy through the NJ cooperative bid system for schools and got it around the $2/BF mark this year! This of course, is wholesale, but I've heard of some of the suppliers in PA offering very competitive prices. Doesn't do much good for you west coasters, but it can also be had in Amish and Mennonite country for cheap. In recent years, i've watched oak and ash drop below the cost of pine, walnut was cheap and is on it's way up, but some good deals are out there for the maples and cherry if you look. Shipping...that's another story.
Try higgins hardwoods they have multiple locations in ca
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