i was wandering the aisles of the local Michael’s craft store yesterday while the LOML was shopping for yarn and happened upon the woodcarving supplies. among them were several 3.5″x4″x10″ S4S blocks of clear basswood (almost exactly one board foot) for the somewhat unbelievable price of $29.99 ea! if one goes online to the supplier- www.walnuthollow.com – you’ll see they will be glad to sell you the same block for $31.54, plus S&H, of course. (a dozen times the board foot price i found online- not a bad margin) they also had small bags of what anyone here would consider offcut scraps for $5-$6.
i know, i know- there’s retail markup, (the packaging was absolutely minimal- shrinkwrapped with a simple sticker label -i have a little experience in this area, maybe $0.10-.20, tops), etc- i’m quite familiar with the entire process and really couldn’t care less that some folks are getting skinned buying grossly overpriced wood, i’m just pointing out that there are some wonderul market niches just waiting to be filled by people with a little entrepreneurial spirit and initiative.
m
Replies
WOW.Very Interesting thanks.
Jimmy
This reminds me of the last time I checked the hardwood prices at Home Depot because I had messed up a critical piece of cherry in a desk. I thought “it’s got to be cheaper at HD for a 4-foot piece of 3” wide 4/4 cherry than a 30 mile trip to my hardwood dealer”. I can’t now recall the actual price, but it was something like $20 a board foot. I made the 30 mile trip, and picked up some other stuff while there.
So you bought 1 bdft of cherry for a bit over 1 hour of shop time.My shop time runs about $50/hr. You might reconsider the price of wood at Home Depot.
Not only expensive, but the quality of the hardwood at HD is terrible, it's all warped S4S at less than 3/4" net thickness with lots of tearout, knots and other defects. I can't imagine what anyone uses the stuff for other than hidden parts of cheap cabinets.
Rich
I beg to disagree, Rich. I have two HD's near me and both carry decent quality hardwoods. Both carry oak and poplar and one of them carries birch. The stock is well milled and the only times I've been disappointed with the quality is when it's time to restock and I have to sort through the "culls". I've even seen them re-cut boards to get rid of bad spots.
My biggest complaint with them is the @%&*@ price stickers that use an adhesive at least as strong as epoxy. I've tried scraping, sanding, and wiping down with paint thinner or acetone, but the adhesive still often shows through my stain/finish. I can usually hide the problem spot but it's a PITA.
I agree with dave. For a small shop where all the lumber is hand picked, we buy a lot of lumber. Living in the Dallas metroplex there are bokoos of lumber yards. I've been to most of them. Home depots prices on Oak and Poplar (never seen maple at a big box) are competive with any of the lumber yards. The stock is at least as straight at HD as any lumber yard. Really, have any of you found truly straight S4S lumber anywhere? That is a rare bird. Even if I buy S4S (not very often) I still run it through the jointer and planer. I buy enough bulk to get a builders rate at my primary supplier and their price is not all that lower. If all I need is 20 or 30 feet of 1x2 oak I go to HD. The only real problem is those damn stickers.
Mikeplease excuse my spelling.
One of the local HD's has 3/4" maple ply for around $41/sheet. It isn't stain grade but it's excellent for my paint grade projects.
When I need the "good stuff", I just keep driving and go to a local lumberyard/hardware store. They carry a very wide range of exotic hardwoods - at a price. - lol
HD has cherry? Where? The local HD has oak and poplar. Used to have maple, but cleared it out about 4 years ago. I figured they all carried the same stock.
My local HD has cherry, walnut, maple, and oak. Nothing bigger than 6" wide, 4/4 and up to 8' long, already dimensioned. I think it's all the same price, too: walnut the same as maple, all about $20/bf.
Edited 1/19/2005 9:14 am ET by Frozen
hmm...I'm enclosing a closet and half bath on the second floor of 1840's log cabin - rustic design with predominately basswood elements - I'll have to do a calculating...
let's see, a 2.5" X 12" X 7' - that's pushing $500...wonder if DW would be impressed if I told her there's $5K in the lumber? hell, that pays for a big part of the Woodmizer....
most likely not...
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