I’ve got about 500 bf of ancient cypress lumber that doesn’t fit in my plans. It’s fairy tale stuff, 14-18″ wide and 14-18′ long, planed 3/4″ and about knotless.Dense, straight grain, stored inside 50 years etc.etc. Long story.None of my work justifies it’s use so after 20 years of looking at it I’m pondering selling. First though does anybody know what fair market value might be or if such exists for an odd commodity? Thanks in advance for your good advice and be advised I didn’t ride in on the turnip truck.
Retired until my next job.
Replies
oldhand,
Call Acadian Cypress in Ponchatoula, LA. (1-800-489-6079) for a start. They may be able to pin down a rough value for you. I have a little over 100 bf of 24" wide boards, rough sawn on a circular mill (1+ inches thick). Seems that they said they thought it was worth in the neighborhood of $10-$15/bf.
As with anything else, something is really worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The lumber already having been planed to 3/4" thick may hurt the value slightly - most people want as thick as possible - especially when dealing with wide boards.
Good luck,
Lee
That sounds like a great place to start. Thanks.Retired until my next job.
At times I think I fell of a turnip truck:) all kidding aside I think if you posted it on Craigs list or on e-bay you would sell it quite easily. If you were close to me I would be love to buy it. Anyway I hope that helps.
Good luck
Troy
At this point I'm still trying to figure out what it's worth, where is next. Thanks.Retired until my next job.
I think it also depends where you're at. Down south Cypress is more readily available. Up North it's a little more scarce and some might be willing to pay more for it.
It's my hope that if any cypress remains that will make boards like this they aren't being cut. Second growth cypress bears no resemblence to this stuff. Point being that I think this is a very unique batch of lumber that deserves a special place, other wise I'd use it myself. I'm looking for that niche market I think. Any clues appreciated.Retired until my next job.
This reply is from another OF.
Frankly, oldhand, sounds like you have some gorgeous boards there that you should have used many years ago.
I love cypress. It is one of my favorite indigenous woods, especially air dried for a few years with all the natural juices still in and that makes it so impervious to insect attack and so on.
Reason for the caveat is that
1) you say that you have had it stored inside for 50 years, in some location (?), with little other detail, and
2) I once had a professional client for whom I was going to build a large cherry wall unit for her personal residence.
She had half a small warehouse stacked with 4/4 cherry here in south Florida that, according to her, was at least 25 years old and milled by her father up north someplace -- probably about 200bf that I planned to mill and rip and use to edge the otherwise plywood project.
She was a favorite client; a very nice person, and we were both excited since it had some special close and personal significance.
Long story short is that that wood was so dry and deteriorated, probably from being in that oven/warehouse for who knows how many years that several boards snapped as I was transferring them to my truck.
Planing them was a joke and like milling charcoal -- they would just explode and deteriorate. I finally managed to carefully rip enough strips to include in the project so the family could actually reach out and touch something that grandpa harvested.
So the bottom line concern is the year-in-year-out moisture content that you wood has endured?
Cheers!
Has been stored in a unconditioned shed and the last time I used any around 10 years back it milled such as only straight grain timber can. Moisture content should be the same as air dried only, probably around 12% here but my moisture meter shows 0% possibly due to whatever oils exist in the stuff. Anyway I wouldn't be fearful of using it for any worthy project.Retired until my next job.
Has been stored in a unconditioned shed and the last time I used any around 10 years back it milled such as only straight grain timber can. Moisture content should be the same as air dried only, probably around 12% here but my moisture meter shows 0% possibly due to whatever oils exist in the stuff. Anyway I wouldn't be fearful of using it for any worthy project.Good news! Good for you!
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