Replies

1. 
   cblouin | Sep 06, 2010 10:23pm | #1

   Cubic meter is unusual to me. But what I'm familiar with is the board foot: which is the equivalent to 1' X 1" X ', or 6"X1"X2', or 3"X1"X4', and so on.  The board foot is standard even in Canada where we've been using the metric system for a long time now. Following this logic, 1m^3 would be 100cmX100cmX100cm, which is a very LARGE quantity of wood! We're talking about 66 meters of 2"X12" boards per cubic meter.

   Also, keep in mind that the dimension are probably for rough-sawn lumber, which means that you should expect to mill off a significant fraction of it in your final boards.

   Hope that this helps.

2. 
   ring | Sep 07, 2010 02:39am | #2

   metric

   Most of the world uses cubic meters, and it's not hard to understand.  It's a simple volume measurement which is length x width x thickness, all expressed in meters.  So just for example, if you've got an 8/4 board that's 10' long by 12" wide, that translates to:

   0.052m (the nominal thickness of 8/4) x  3.05m (the length) x 0.3m (the width) = 0.0476 cubic meters.

   If you're paying say $1500 per cu.m then your board costs $71

   Of course, the lumber trade doesn't deal with individual boards.  Most pallets or slings are in the range of 1 to 3 cu.m in volume, so it's a much more convenient system for commerce to use.  But if you want a simple rule of thumb, there's about 430 board feet in a cubic meter.

1. 
   AM02 | Sep 07, 2010 09:38am | #3

   Thanks a lot Ring.

3. 
   BruceS | Sep 07, 2010 11:46am | #4

   Now to confuse

   Now to compound the issue!   Some exotics are sold by the Pound, Lb.

1. 
   swenson | Sep 07, 2010 03:40pm | #5

   Most pallets or slings...

    Most pallets or slings are in the range of 1 to 3 cu.m in volume.

     A while back FWW dot comm  did a feature on a workshop in Japan that was 1 to 3 cu.m in volume.  So you get to choose, "do you want the pallet of wood in there, or do you want tools, or a bench?"

4. 
   cowtown | Sep 24, 2010 10:50pm | #6

   I dunno if this is just a hoop you have to jump through..

   Sounds like you called a wholesaler. and while he might have given you a price, that ain't to say he will actually sell to you.

   I've moved several times over the years, and when it comes to extablising relationships with wholesalers, one thing I've learned is never expect them to "sign you up" right off the bat. you got hoops to jump through to prove yer bona fides.

   Some want a copy of your business licence, some want to inspect your shop, others want gauranteed sales volumes.,etc.

   So if they are talking cubic meters, or cunits, yer likely talking softwoods, and if you were in the business, you would know immediately what was involved. Every wholesaler I know has calculators on every desk, and they are well used.

   These are all hoops you have to learn to deal with. I've been refused by one wholesaler, but when I told the head honcho I'd been buying from them for 30 years in three other provinces (Canada), the path was cleared. Another wholesaler, same buying record, no way. .

   Yet another purges my account without fail every three years. I guess when I renew, the sales folks can claim "new client growth" or something like that. Funny thing is that the staff there has all worked at other wholesalers, so they know me. No problems renewing account, just a PITA, another hoop!

   Now don't forget, these guys are constantly under pressure from the big box stores who would like nothing better than having every cabinet shop paying retail prices in their store, so they have to be able to look the Home Despot folks straight in the eye and say that they only wholesale to other businesses.

   Ergo, the hoops, ---you gotta learn to give em the right answers....like "I cut the boards up and sell em on ebay; here's my business licence, "I can appreciate you have relationships with larger businesses, but don't you ever do convenience sales?" or "I know I don't have a storefront, but you cannot look me straight in the face and tell me that you don't refuse to sell to folks in surrounding small towns who work out of shops at their homes...."

   The one wholesaler that absolutely refused to sell to me was impressed when I said to him. "I come in, order what I want, and pay for it. Deal is closed, you got yer money. OTOH, your structure rquires me to buy large amounts on credit, and if my company goes belly up, yer out 30-60k$. And how do you know that I might not grow that big someday."  The branch manager liked the perspectuve, but he said he was bound by policy. No jo, but I tried. Don't forget the major wholesalers are governed by corporate policies.

   Like I said, there are hoops to jump through, and you gotta learn how to deal with em.

   Eric