Lately I have been buying oak lumber from Lowes and Home Depot. Unfortunately it is rarely straight, so after putting it through my jointer planner the result is always less thatn 3/4″. My last cabinet door ended up being 5/8″ rather than the 3/4″ called for as the lumber was so out of line. Also is there another hardwood rather than oak that can be used for indoor cabinets, tables that is less expensive. I plan to try buying my next project materials from a hardwood dealer that has lumber at 1″ and over. Do you think I would be getting a better deal by buying a rougher cut and finishing it myself. I have not checked out the latter prices, but expect they would be higher as they specialize in most all the popular hardwoods. Thanks for your thoughts and comments.
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I live in Northeastern Ohio and have many "sawmills" in the area that I can buy 4/4 lumber (about 1in and 1/8) in the rough. After milling it down there is always enough material to have 3/4 material. Also, it is much cheaper than the "lumber-yards".
If you guys would fill out your profiles so a man could see what area you lived in, we could be more helpful. That said, like the other person said, find a sawmill in your area and start buying your material in the rough. You'll get much more for your money and in the end you'll have the finished lumber you need. Here is a very useful tool for finding sawmills.
http://www.woodfinder.com
The ticket to better woodworking.
Jeff,
That is a Very Cool link; thanks much!
Regards,
Mack"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Glad to be of service. Good luck. You'll be shocked when you realize just how much the big box stores markup hardwood lumber. Good luck.
If you guys would fill out your profiles so a man could see what area you lived in, we could be more helpful.
Jeff
If I had a dime for every time I have seen this request from knotters, I could buy one of those LN planes. It does help to have a general idea of where the person is located. Knowing that a person is in New Zealand for example helps me cut it short before I go into something about a wood they might not have as commonly as I have in North Carolina.
Oh well
dan
Edited 1/26/2008 10:54 pm ET by danmart
Non compliance noted , deficiency corrected. Solid point, maybe it should be a mandatory requirement.Don
Edited 1/26/2008 8:33 pm ET by Don01
I buy sort of in bulk and do my own planing. But, and this is a biggie ...... Planing a lot of rough cut wood takes lots of time, produces lots of waste and beats the livin crap out of your machines unless you've got industrial type stuff.
The Lowes and Home Depots in my area sell oak that is S4 (surfaced four sides) and is VERY expensive!! Look for a lumber dealer (on line or in the yellow pages) that sells S2 lumber. If you have a jointer you can easily run straight edges yourself and save a lot! Most bigger lumber yards offer this. When there, ask them for a discount if you buy 100 bd ft or more. They will usually at least knock off tax or 10% as appropriate in your state. As to quality, get the best you can by hand picking your boards. Be sure to restack your rejects nicely as this will make you "good customer" to the lumber yard and may earn you favored status. Once you find a good source, stay with it but don't rule out others. In the words of same famous wood worker (I can't recall who); "when you find good wood, buy all you can afford--then buy a little bit more".
regards,
Mack
"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Where is your location? I have turned a few of our fellow knotheads on to the sawyer where we get our lumber from. Here are the prices we pay, all side are rough and all lumber is in board ft.
Red Oak $1.10
White Oak $1.10
Walnut $2.00
Locus ( Black and Honey) $1.00
Cherry $1.50
Hickory .80
is that kiln dried prices?
About half of what I get is Kiln Dried, the exception is Walnut and the Black Locus. We have been milling the Locus down for some of the local contractors to use for decks, that stuff sure is tough on the blades when it is dry.
those are some great prices. I live in the SF Bay Area and recently had to pay $4.50 /bf for cherry. It was 6/4 The 8/4 was $4.80 bf!!!!
I lived out there for 2 months (work). Sure is a beautiful area but it comes at a cost, I sure lumber is not the exception. It sure was nice getting up in the morning and looking at the surroundings in SF than looking at the Illinois corn and bean fields every day.
Where i the Bay Area are you find cherry for that price? Mount Storm in windsor is in the 7.00 range.
Thanks for any info. Rick
I buy most of my hardwood at MacBeath in SF (used to go to the Berkely store but now only to the one in SF). There are several others in the area at the same prices though - Plywood lumber and sales (PALS) comes to mind.
Jeff
Thanks Jeff. I'm still trying to get down to Mac beth. Just one of these days ...
Rick
Jay,
Where in Ill. do you live. I live in southern Wi., might be worth the drive for those prices.
Rob
I will never buy another board from a lumber yard. I made friends with a fellow who mills lumber on the side, as a hobby, as he puts it. He's got a pretty good network, so if someone knows about a local tree that's down or coming down, he gets a call. I've built some things for him (see the dining room table on my website) and plan to continue. I don't charge him for what I build and in return, I get free lumber. This way, I can get my hands on any local lumber... not just what is commercially available (did I mention that the table is dogwood). He comes across a lot of highly figured wood - spalted, burls, crotch, etc. The only downside: whenever he calls me asking if I want so and so, I have to say yes... it's a weakness. Now I've got more wood than I know what to do with.
http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
Chris @ flairwoodworks
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Edited 1/25/2008 10:37 pm by flairwoodworks
When I buy hardwood, I go to a local sawmill (northwest Ohio) that sells kiln-dried lumber. Even though I have a 15" Powermatic planer, I have them run the wood down to 7/8" (why beat up my machine?) and also run one edge through their straight-line saw (joints the entire board length). Both these operations add 14 cents per board foot.
This way, I start with straight wood, and I can plane or sand to whatever final thickness I'm after.
"When I buy hardwood, I go to a local sawmill (northwest Ohio) that sells kiln-dried lumber. Even though I have a 15" Powermatic planer, I have them run the wood down to 7/8" (why beat up my machine?) and also run one edge through their straight-line saw (joints the entire board length). Both these operations add 14 cents per board foot.
This way, I start with straight wood, and I can plane or sand to whatever final thickness I'm after."
I'm with you! I use to have a guy I bought lumber from in VA that made boats! He sold lumber as a side. I would pay him a bout 5 cents (if memory is about right), and he would finish 2 sides and straight line rip. I figured for that little a price, my time was worth more than that!
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
I'm curious. When I buy KD wood from my sawyer, it's planed as well, no extra cost to me. That said, I take it home to my shop, and it will be at least a couple of weeks sitting in my shop and stabilizing to the environment in my shop. Usually after it stabilizes, there is some warp, twist, bow, cupping, whatever. It moves. Doesn't stay flat and straight. I don't expect it too, I know it's going to do this, so I square up all stock immediately before use anyway. You guys must use the material as soon as you get it home, otherwise, how do you not have this problem?
"I'm curious. When I buy KD wood from my sawyer, it's planed as well, no extra cost to me. That said, I take it home to my shop, and it will be at least a couple of weeks sitting in my shop and stabilizing to the environment in my shop. Usually after it stabilizes, there is some warp, twist, bow, cupping, whatever. It moves. Doesn't stay flat and straight. I don't expect it too, I know it's going to do this, so I square up all stock immediately before use anyway. You guys must use the material as soon as you get it home, otherwise, how do you not have this problem?"
I have experienced this problem as well, but it depends on the lumber and the MC at time of purchase. Most of the stuff I get nowadays is rough and I usually get 5/4 so I know when I work it down after it settles I have some to give up. Secondly, I try to work with as much QS as possible. You pay a premium for it, but it rarely moves much. Third when I first buy from a dealer, I don't get 100's of BF the first time. I get a small quantity and watch it. If it does ok, I'll get more. If it twists and goes nuts, I look elsewhere. Finally, even when I work lumber in my shop to final dimensions, I don't work it right away. I will sticker the parts (finish cut) for a while just to make sure it's ok. I try to be balanced when working a board as well. I will flatten a board on the jointer, plane it down a bit to get both sides parallel, and then rotate the board as I work it down to try to take off equal amounts off both sides. I was always taught that if you flatten one side and then take off the rest from one side it creates inbalance and will tend to promote cupping or twist. Anyway thats my 2cw. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
OK, that's the same thing I do. You and I are on the same page. The other poster said they were paying an additional few cents a board foot to get the stock planed, and then used them as bought when they got to the shop. That's the way I read it anyway...My confusion I guess...Jeff
One thing I forgot to mention. I sometimes use what I call cheap QS. I'll look at a wide flat sawn board and notice (most boards) that there is an area on the left and right side of the board where the rings are close to verticle on the end grain. If I'm looking for stile material or rail either, I will go after those sections to get stable wood. The curren project I'm working on in cherry I did that. I had some flat sawn boards that I ripped the left and right sides and those pieces are just as stable as they can be. I use the center pieces as test pieces for joints since they are the right thickness i.e. routing a profile or something. You get a lot of waste material in the middle, but sometimes its still cheaper than buying QS out right.Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Jeff--
I have the sawmill take it down to 7/8", but I don't use it at 7/8". If I want 3/4" stock, I still have 1/8" to play with. This works great when gluing-up wide panels: you simply joint the unmachined edges and glue the boards; when dry, plane or sand to desired thickness.
This saves a heckuva lot of time, labor and planer chips!
Quartered stock is just great. It looks better when you put figured wood in the field and it behaves much better than plain stock. I found out the hard way as most of the others have over the years. You pay a little more but its worth every cent.
When you look at the old pieces, you can see the clear quarter sawn stile and rails. After many years they are straight and true. Its not complicated... take advantage of the simple reality.
dan
I agree that QS is the best. It does not generally twist, no cup, and srinkage is minimal. Those are some lovely doors! Love that figure!
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Edited 1/26/2008 11:59 pm by bones
This way, I start with straight wood, and I can plane or sand to whatever final thickness I'm after."
Your time is valuable. Savings like that are worth considering in the equation.
woodctr.
start big!
Don't go into a sawmill and ask for a few pieces,, you'll never get a deal that way and no matter how much you buy you'll be fighting that first impression..
Buy a whole lift at a time.. It may vary from a few hundred bd.ft. to over a thousand..
Buy wood green.. that's why you want to buy a lift at a time.. it will take roughly a year to air dry.. (unless you force it yourself.. lots of ways to do that, ask and I'll share) You also save a lot of money buying wood green and rough..
Buy what's called mill run but make sure you actually get mill run and not some pre sorted semi graded stack..
Mill run is great.. you'll get about 45% FAS grade wood flawless knot free and well boring as hell!
you'll also get some pieces that are a crime.. too beautifull to make into anything. you'll wants to shine them up and display them the way they are.. filled with flame or burl or fiddleback another words wood with charcter and etc..
About 1/2 will have some knots which you can either work around or cut off or use where the grade isn't important.. and some pieces will be next to worthless, suitable only for making into firewood... <grin> typically a couple of percent..
Where to buy from! Not all sawmills sell wood for the same price.. Buy from those who don't sell a few boards at a time..Rather they make their profit on volume.. They sell mostly wholesale and normally those who sell to pallet mills and railroad tie manufactures Sell at the cheapest prices.. The going prices for pallet mills is about 20 cents per bd.ft. Pallet mills vary from what they use but often it's surplus wood or mixed lot wood. The cost of a green railroad tie is about $20.00.. that's for a solid 9"x7" X9 foot long timber made out of any hardwood.. right now my sawmill is making them out of hard maple.. but it varies depending on what they are sawing..
Just to give you an idea of the prices I pay for hardwood it's averaged 50 cents per bd.ft. , but that's been for the past 6 years.. wood now is a lot higher for some species and lower for others..
Edited 1/29/2008 1:13 pm ET by frenchy
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