What are YOU paying for 8/4 select walnut?
lotsofquestions
| Posted in Wood and Materials on
I was wondering what everyone was paying for 8/4 select walnut in” their neck of the woods.” I live in Missoula Montana and it is running about $7.50-8.00 a board foot. The same size cherry is going for around $5.50. I was wondering how this compares to other markets across the country. I’m not going to drive to CT for wood but it would be interesting to know. Thanks!
Replies
Around here, the prices of cherry vs walnut are reversed relative to what you are seeing and probable at least 10% higher for that size. Fortunately, I pay $0.28/bf for both, but then I guess I am not including the cost incurred when I bought the land underneath the tree.
Walnut Pricing??
Well for where you are 8/4 "select" walnut is not far out of the price range for eastern walnut. You might be able to find some of the Claro stuff from out on the west coast? Even if you could find some nice stuff on the east coast, the shipping is so darned expensive it just shoots the price up on you. Its funny that the cherry is cheaper than the walnut. Seems these days the wood dealers have the nice cherry above the walnut.
Be patient and keep looking for good wood. If you get in a rush to start a project and you don't have nice wood to work with it just seems to stall right off the bat.
If select walnut means boards that are fairly clear and they have some width to them, it might be worth the few extra dollars to get them and resaw the stock to match and give you what you need.
dan in NC
The top price in Northern Indiana is $5 for 8/4 FAS walnut. Although, it can often be found for $4.
Walnut prices
I live in Great Falls, in town here 8/4 is close to $10 and Helena Hardwoods is 10.25, cherry is 9.45. I have an old price list for the west coast with walnut at $5. There is a lot of walnut in Oregon and California, you may find a better price right at the sawmill. However, your price seems pretty good for both walnut and cherry, where at in Missoula?
I am fortunate to have family in Minnesota with land that has walnut, soft maple, and ash on it, we have sawn several thousand board feet over the years. I just load the truck up when I am back there. I just came from back there, I stopped by a local saw mill and bought some cherry for $3 but it wasn't 'select', I didn't plan to buy any walnut but he had some highly figured boards that just came out of the saw that I bought for $4, being a wood junkie, I couldn't pass it up.
And just for comparison
Just to fill out your info, in Israel we're paying $5.50 a bd.ft. (about $2250 per cu.m.) for a full sling of 8/4 Prime walnut.
$5.50/BF?
That's pretty inexpensive, David. Hmmm, I wonder what shipping from Israel would be? ;-)
send it back?
You mean send it back to the US? I've heard of stranger things...
But don't forget that when buying less than a full sling the price goes up about 30%. It's the difference between buying retail and wholesale. I'm sure that 99% of the posters on Knots don't buy wood in commercial quantities, and the price differences are substantial.
shipping
I was joking, of course. But, in the '60s, the U.S. Army would buy Osram light bulbs from Germany, have them shipped to the U.S. and then ship them back to military facilities in Germany.
wide boards
YOu know, I have some 10' long by 16 inch 5/4 boards, very clear, good color. I don't want to sell them, but was interested to know what they are worth. I couldn't find anything like that for sale. Seems most commercial walnut is 6 inches or less, sometimes 8 inches, and the price runs up for anything wider.
Does anyone else know anytihing about the value of wide premium quality walnut?
J
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