Replies

1. 
   frenchy | Mar 16, 2007 06:07am | #1

   brian,

     May I suggest an alternate plan?

          Buy wood so cheap that you can have a lot of it sitting around and do any project you want whenever you have the time..

    There is a trick but it doesn't hurt. 

    You buy direct from the sawmill and eliminate the middleman.

          Wood that you pay 7, 8, or 9 dollars a bd.ft. for can be bought for as little as a tenth of that if you buy direct from the sawmill.

         Not every sawmill will sell to you. some will sell but at retail prices (which achieves nothing) but moderate sized sawmills who normally sell to the pallet industry and railroad ties need to turnwood quickly and are always looking for customers.

         How much is in your budget for the wood you plan on buying?  Let's say $400.00 I've purchased over  thousand bd.ft of fiddleback maple for slightly over $100.00

    I purchased 2000 bd.ft of 5/4 ash for $300.

     200 bd.ft. of hackberry for %80.00 (and he threw in 300 bd. ft. of Boxelder with the most wicked red "lighting bolt" streak in it)..

     

    Don't need all that much of one kind of wood?  heck,  trade with others.. I traded 500 bd.ft. of basswood for 200 bd.ft of a wierd birdseye red oak and traded that for some burl cherry..

    The cool thing is because the wood is so cheapI don't need to get the best deal, just the ,ost interesting.. that gives me access to some pretty wild trades..

    

1. 
   midnightmoonlight | Mar 16, 2007 06:53am | #2

   where are you getting your wood?

1. 
   bmyyou | Mar 16, 2007 08:10am | #3

   Yes, I would also like to know where frenchy is buying wood?  Also, do sawmills kiln dry their lumber before they sell?  We have hardwood dealers here in the Houston area, and I can buy rough lumber from them, but as mentioned at a hefty price.

   I don't really know of any sawmills in this area so please send some info if you guys know of any.

   Thanks

    

1. 
   frenchy | Mar 16, 2007 06:02pm | #12

   bmyyou

    Yes you can get wood kiln dried,, that's several more steps down the road in the process and prices reflect each step of the way..

    The process is the Sawyers cut the trees, the sawmill hauls the wood in, turns it into lumber, then it's sent out for grading and seperated according to grades, sold to  a broker who brings it to a kiln, from the kiln it's regraded, it's then sold again to a broker who buys all one grade, one size etc..At his point large furniture and cabinet shops to do volume by the train load buy wood.  The next broker  has it brought in to be surfaced and straight edged. From there it's resold to another broker who puts together buyers like Home Depot and local lumberyards and takes his cut..

    It may then again be resold to brokers who sell smaller lot sizes to cabinet shops and furniture makers.  all the transportation handling and profit add to the cost of each board.

      In addition the really supurb wood like crotch and flame, burls, curley, birdseye, and fiddleback are seperated out early in the process.. If you want those woods at a rteasonable price you buy direct from the sawmill. the sawmill sells what is called mill run.. it's wood as it comes off the tree.  Sawn for best face but not seperated..

     To find sawmills that sell at modest prices you have to do a little detective work.. find out who suypplies the local pallet makers, go there with a friendly smile and maybe a box of rolls. Treat them fair and make it worth their while to do business with you.. In turn they will treat you fair and even inform you about potential deals..  

2. 
   frenchy | Mar 16, 2007 05:49pm | #11

   midnightmoonlight,

    I buy from a local sawmill that normally sells to railroad tie companies and pallet mills.  Johnson Lumber in Cannon Falls Minnesota.  The great prices I mentioned are wood that someone ordered but failed to pick up, it sits around for a while and the surface turns color but the first pass thru a planner cleans everything up.

    Normal walk in off the street prices are 80 cents a bd.ft. for white oak and many other woods, 40 cents for soft woods like white pine and such That might also be the price you pay for some odd lots as well such as heckberry, tamarack, etc.

    Special woods like cherry, black walnut, etc. are market priced.. right now the market on cherry is $1.85 and black walnut was $1.45 but he just signed a contract with buyers for China who give him a dollar over the market for all black walnut. Evan I will have a hard time buying black walnut in the near future..  (good thing I have nearly 10,000 bd.ft. on hand) 

2. 
   oldusty | Mar 16, 2007 08:42am | #4

   Hi Brian ,

               I'll try and offer you up a bit more of a direct approach than Frenchy has .

            Theres more than one way but here are a few , you could actually make a cut list add up the square inches of all the pieces and convert to square feet or board feet and then add a waste factor and a tad more for good measure .

         You can also say take the desk top for example if solid stock and is 30 " X 48" it converts to 10 square feet if 4/4 material , you won't get 2 pieces from an 8' board so for estimating purposes figure on 10' boards or about 25% waste factor depending on the type and quality of wood used .

          A 25% waste factor for many species will as a guide  line be a helpful figure in general . the length of the boards you buy may also determine how much you need regardless of the actual net amount used to build the piece .

       You may make a cutlist and determine you need to net say 100bf but if you figured on 8' and all they had was 10' you may or may not be able to use the boards efficiently , so in reality you could need to purchase 125' total .

          Now you could also buy 30 or 40 times as much wood as you actually need direct from your local neighborhood hardwood mill , not kiln dried or graded or surfaced and just wait a few years or so and have a lot more wood much cheaper , as long as you don't need it right way  , Not !

     hope this helps         dusty

3. 
   hammer1 | Mar 16, 2007 08:45am | #5

   The furniture industry calculates that you get 600 board feet of product from 1000 board feet of random length and width, rough blanks. This includes surface and shaping waste. For cabinetmakers, add about 25% to your actual square foot measurements for the project. If you specify lengths and widths or run into some real nice stock, you may be able to get by with less. It's a good idea to have some extra for practicing set ups, finishing and maybe a back up piece or two, just in case.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

4. 
   GRW | Mar 16, 2007 02:05pm | #6

   You've heard waste #s from 25% (personal experiance) to 40% (industry calculations). My guess is that they are both correct because of skill level and quality of material.

   My calculations kinda of go like this. I calulate by the board foot, add 25%. Then add a board or 2 in case I screw something up. If I'm working on a paint grade project I don't need to worry about grain match, wood defects or color. If I working on a higher quality finished piece that needs the best materials, I'll add another 10% or so. This gives me a chance to choose from the best of the materials after I surface the wood. (I often find some defects only after I plane the wood.) The poorer quality wood which wasn't chosen for the projects is saved and used for cutting boards, or future paint grade projects... If my project will be stained, color match isn't always an issue.

5. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 16, 2007 03:57pm | #7

   Adding up the total length and width of your components is the place to start - but, I have found (sadly) that I rarely add enough 'cushion'. My problem is with grain matching for wide glue-ups.

   When I select my good boards (for a desk top or sides) and lay them side-by-side prior to glue up, in most cases I just don't find the match I want. This is when I wish I had some extra boards to choose from.

   I buy my lumber rough and thus don't know what grain will show up after jointing and planing. Save any unused extra wood - you'l find a use for it in smaller projects. In short, add at least 50%, or 2-3 extra boards.

   Frosty

1. 
   bmyyou | Mar 16, 2007 05:14pm | #8

   Excellent advice from everyone here on the forum - Now can someone tell me the best place to buy rough sawn cherry in the Houston area?  Sawmills North of Houston only carry oak, elder, pecan, and sometimes mesquite, and the dealers want a mortgage for a furniture project!

   Sincere thanks for the great advice,

   Brian

1. 
   HoustonHeights | Mar 16, 2007 05:21pm | #9

   For rough sawn Cherry in the Houston area, I'd try Houston Hardwoods or Clark's Hardwoods.

2. 
   user-83153 | Mar 16, 2007 05:31pm | #10

   Go to woodfinder.com and search your area.

      Rob