In reading another post about a guy in Texas who paid $7.00 a BF for Cherry made me almost choke but then I realized they have to ship it from around where I live to Texas. This got me wondering what do you pay for domestic woods in your area?
I think I may live in one of the best cherry growing areas, Binghamton NY. It’s in the susquehanna valley about 5 miles from the PA border.
For Cherry I pay $2bf from my local mill. It’s rough, 8/4, 12+” wide, almost no sap pockets, no sapwood, and sometimes he has a few curly boards (Still $2bf). I also only pay $.80 a bf for maple (soft, hard, curly), $.50 a BF for oak (red or white), and $.20BF for hemlock, pine, and poplar.
I pay $1.25 for walnut but I live to far north for any decent stuff. So I end up paying $3.00 BF for anything wider than 4″.
But the one time I saw Mesquite for sale was $16.00 a BF! I bet it’s cheaper in Texas!
Replies
Hi TTalma,
Boy! maple in your area is very cheap compare to what I have pay...
I'm from eastern Canada ( Quebec actually ) and the last time I checked Maple was around $5.50US BF and Cherry was around $3.10US BF. That's for 8/4 12", 8' long. Guess out of which my bench is made of?
Still it is expensive. You'd think that maple would be cheaper up here with all the maple sirup we produce and all maple forests we have and the maple leaf being our emblem, yada yada,...
The only really cheap wood we get is pine ( the knotty kind )... might as well build furniture outta jello ;). The problem is there're not many places where you can get quality wood around here so most people end up at HD or the like for curved boards and short supplies... might as well woodwork with pretzels! ;)
Seriously I do get, once in a while, some great wood for nest to nothing. I have a friend who works at this furniture company and when they receive, for example, a shipment of Brazilian mahogany, I get to bring home the packing crate made out of... Brazilian mahogany! Last year I got some rosewood the same way.
Now if can just convinced them to by cocobolo in bulk...
ST
Here in Jersey I pay about $6-7/bf for S2S select 4/4 cherry. FAS cherry is much cheaper, and getting it right from the mill (where it will be lower than FAS grade, most likely) is about the same as you pay. I've found that you throw out a lot of waste when using FAS grade, so I tend to buy the more expensive select grade if I decide to do something in cherry.
This is an interesting thread. In the Chicago area, most of the common hardwoods are between $3.50 and $6.00 bf, if you are buying in low quantities like most hobbyists. Pros pay a lot less and skim the cream off the selection. Remotely located small mills have better prices and sometimes better boards. Figured wood is much more. I have to think twice about doing larger projects now because it is an investment. Its is also rather hard to mark up wood on commission jobs because it makes the project too expensive if you want decent pay for your time.
Geeee.. I can't even buy old used pine boards for that in Chicago!
TTalma,
I live down in Harrisburg, have to be in Scranton/W-B routinely, and have even come up to Binghamton on occasion. Where do you get your maple, as I am interested in some. Your cherry price is similar to ours.
Thanks,
Alan - planesaw
Are we talking about kiln drid stock, if so im going on a lumber run.
if it is green, do you air dry it outside out of the elements?and how much waste do you figure?
im in RI and i get my lumber kiln dried from a southern MASS dealer, but I pay anywhere from 2.50 bf for red oak to $$ for exotics!
Here in Ohio and going to a mill where they saw and kiln dry I can get the following woods at select & better grade, 8" wide or less and in 8' to 12' lengths. If purchased in 100 bd.ft quantities.
Poplar $1.75 bd.ft.
Walnut $ 5.40bd.ft.
Cherry $4.80bd.ft.
Red oak $2.75bd.ft.
Soft Maple $2.80bd.ft.
Hard Maple $4.50bd.ft.
Prices change daily so they are reluctant at some mills to print a price sheet but most have a web site where you can check the current price.
Strange, your prices look just about like those I see here in California EXCEPT for Cherry, which is just under $7 last time I looked (about 6 weeks ago).
Bob
I think there is more to judging price. What grades are we talking about, certified grader, KD, air dried, local sawmill or hardwood distributor? For most domestic KD FAS 4/4 hardwoods, random width and length I pay about $3 a board foot, 1"x12"x12". Exotic species like figured bubinga, ebony, camphor burl, etc. can be $25/BF and more.
I think a lot depends on where you live and what species are local. White pine is a local species here and can run from $.75 to $3 depending on the source. The lower priced boards come from small back yard sawmills. The stock is not furniture grade or KD but you can get some nice pieces if you cut out the good parts and wait for it to dry. Air dried lumber is not my choice for cabinetry and furniture, the wood hasn't had the life baked out of it and movement is much greater than with KD.
Even at sky high prices, lumber is relatively inexpensive compared to labor and other costs. It makes no sense for me to try to find the cheapest material if I have to go back and fix it because it has warped, cracked or shrunk. Doing things a second time really cuts into the profit margin. Quality work starts with quality materials.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Here in Bakersfield, Ca. where I shop:
Cherry-6.56
Walnut-4.50
Maple (hard and some figured if I'm luckey)-4.50
Red Oak-3.23
Honduran Mahogany-4.50
Birch-3.50
All F.A.S. They also carry #1 common at lesser prices.
Where do buy here in Bakersfield? I haven't found a reliable supplier so I've been orderning on the Internet and paying shipping. It's not too bad if you order large amounts.
Kevin
I live in Bakersfield as well - I am interested to know like the prior post where our fellow Bakersfield woodbuyer gets his wood. I know of no local hardwood suppliers unless you count the big home center stores that want $6 per board foot for red oak. The closest suppliers are in the L.A area so after you factor travelling to L.A., gas and bringing the wood back home (4 hour round trip) you are spending 9 dollars p3er board foot on cherry - $7 per board foot for hard maple, etc. That is why I looked at internet purchases but have not done that yet. Yeah, there are differences depending on thickness, grade, etc., but the original post just mentioned price and this example just goes to show that if you live near where the trees grow, it's cheaper. If you live in near desert climates like me, wood is very expensive.
Where in Bakersfield do you get your wood? I live in the Palmdale area and wouldn't mind at all driving my ancient pickup truck to get wood at those prices. Otherwise I have to order from Northern California by phone and have it shipped, sight unseen.
Missoula, Montana:
6/4 hard maple $6.90 bf
6/4 poplar $3.75
6/4 red oak $4.95
6/4 white oak $6.00
6/4 cherry $7.95
6/4 cvg fir $6.45
Steve
I have only made one purchase of wood so far (well technically two but it was from the same guy in a short time frame). He is a small part time mill that gets his logs for cheap (often free) from his regular job working for a tree service. The wood I bought was all 4/4 unsurfaced air dried. Although a large amount of it was a bit oversized and he was very generous with the calculation of board feet.
I got the following from him:
Cherry (remnants) $1
Cherry (nice figure - not quite curly) $1.50
Black Walnut $1
English Walnut $1
Red Oak .85
Pine .65
Maple (soft) .50
I got the maple so cheap buy agreeing to take all three pallets of it the stuff had been drying for 3+ years and he had several maple logs to cut. Really it was less than .50 but we based it on 800bf at .50 when it was probably closer to 1000 bf. So far my favorite is the English walnut - it gorgeous and the boards are really nice dimensions.
"In reading another post about a guy in Texas who paid $7.00 a BF for Cherry made me almost choke "
hell, reading your post almost gave me a heart attack..
Hell, for those prices I'll drive a truck to his place and load up! How about, I send him all the Redwood he wants, if he'll ship me all the cherry and walnut I want?
I live outside of Rochester. Could you give me a phone number that I could call and talk to some one. Prices average about $2.00 here for cherry. oak, maple and the rest but for a nice ride I love to come down. Thanks.
Upstate, I'm from Syracuse and pay significantly more for my wood. Do you mind telling me where you get your lumber from and whether its green or dried, and, if dried, kiln or air?Thanks,Matt
where around binghamton ny i fish near hancock ny so a trip during the summer wouldn't cause a problem
Thomas B. Palumbo
CUSTOM WOODWORKING
In Vermont I've been paying about $3.50/BF for Maple, and $5.50 to $6.50 for Cherry.
I usually deal with Wall, here's a link to their current prices for hardwood lumber.
http://www.walllumber.com/premier.asp
just picked up 500 bd ft of sugar maple dried 2 yrs 1:80 bd ft
500 ft yellow birch 1:80 bd ft
black cherry dry 2 yrs 3:25 bd ft
red oak 2:50 bd ft
got the above from a small mill in west Quebec just above Ottawa (canadian dollar cash prices) fob the mill
North Texas De Kalb, TX
rough planed
Cherry 4/4 4.92 5.05
maple (hard) 3.97 4.10
Pecan 4/4 FAS 2.00 2.15
Walnut 8/4 4.00 4.25
It costs me 16.5 cents a bf to have a portable bandsaw mill come in and saw my stuff. That's cheap but by the time I figure time I spend cutting and trimming the trees, getting my dozer with the winch, dragging the things out of the woods, stacking the logs, then the bandsaw does it's work, then stickering and stacking it in my solar kiln, etc, etc...
I doubt if I'm any money ahead. But what the heck, it keeps me out of trouble.
33239.8 in reply to 33239.1
At a local mill in Kentucky w/lots of old hardwood forests typical prices are the following:
Yellow Poplar $.35 bd.ft;
Black Walnut $ .50 bd.ft. to 1.00 for 100 to 150 year old trees;
Black Cherry $50 to 1.00 bd.ft. includes curly cherry;
Red oak $ .40 bd.ft;
White Oak $ .40 bd. ft;
Soft Maple $ .35 bd.ft.
Hard Maple $ 1.00 bd.ft.
Hickory $ .32 bd. ft.
Kiln drying is $.50 bd. ft. Grading is what logs they have, certain of it is no defect, all clear, for example today I picked up about 1500 bd. ft. from kiln, black walnut and black cherry, most boards were 6 inch to 12 inches wide and 8 to 12 ft length. The cherry was almost all clear w/ some 14" wide boards, it was from a very old tree, butt cut was around 30" dia. Normally this would have been a veneer log at about $5.00 bd. ft., however, logger only had this cherry log w/ a load of yellow poplar and did not want to bother to take it an exporter, therefor sold it to local mill for just over barn lumber price. Black Walnut veneer logs at exporter go for $7.00 bd. ft. The best cherry and walnut logs are going to Italy and Japan, they are buying every thing we have available.
Bottom line is that I am very lucky to live where I can buy great old hardwoods for barn lumber prices. When the mill gets walnut and cherry logs over 150 years old I have a standing order that I will buy the butt cut log. I have the logs cut 10/4 in slabes, air dry them, and keeping them in order.
Les
Geeeee... ys' sure know how to piss off a old yank!
Do you know if they ship? At those prices I would still be saving a lot of money over local suppliers here on the West Coast.
Edited 12/21/2005 7:20 pm ET by Spalted53
This mill is normally local pick-up only, how many bf do you need and what length? I can ask them.
An issue is grading, for me I see the lumber.
Hope this helps.
Les
TTalma , are you alive and well???
Hilmar
Maui, HI oak @ 3.25
Af Mahog @4.50
Teak @ 13.00
Cherry @ 7.80
Koa @ 19.00
Maple @ 6.25.............. so what are you complaining about? The customer pays
aloha, mike
For Cherry I pay $2bf from my local mill. It's rough, 8/4, 12+" wide, almost no sap pockets, no sapwood, ...
I officially hate you. ;)
I love cherry, but here on the west coast, it's expensive, and lousy quality (e.g., lots of sapwood). $7-$8 (retail) for 8/4 unsteamed cherry these days. No wonder I use maple or oak alot more; even walnut seems more reasonable.
I guess the one thing we have to give up living on the west coast is decent priced hardwoods. When I see these posts and the prices paid it blows me away. Prices in Nv are much higher. We don't have any hardwood trees and so everything has to be shipped in.
Boy I have gotten ALOT of email about people who want me to tkae them to my supplier.
There's really no secret to how I found him. I opened my phone book looked for the mills near me and stared calling.
Most of the places min quantites were 18,000BF I guess that's 1 tractor trailor load. And at those quantities Cherry was $1.25 a BF.
So I kept calling and found someone who would let me come and buy a truckload at a time.
I also buy from local mill owners from time to time. You can contact woodmizer and get a list for your area.
You can do alot better than driving 500 miles to where I live. A few phone calls will probaly find you someone!
Hello,
In england the prices of wood are fairly high, for example a board of oak 12" wide x 4/4" deep and 12' long is from $40- $60 and for a board of mahogany the same size the price ranges from $30-$50.Both of these boards are rough and are not completely free of defects.Americans have it easy!!!
Sawdust.
'It's not a mistake It's a design feature'
Americans have it easy!!!.. YA! BUT ya Brits gave up on us and went away!.. LONG ago..Just funnin... Rasied by a Brit 'nurse' She IS my MOM! LOVE HER ALOT!
God rest her... Sure she has a special place in Heaven.. Puttin' up with me!
I love this guy. IIRC,there was a post of his a few years ago by him telling/bragging (you pick your own adjective) to everyone what a great area he lived in to find cheap wood. As someone who lives in the NY area, I remember asking him, since this is such a great area to buy wood and there must be plenty of it, if he would mind sharing some sources. I got no reply. Notice he hasn't appeared to have replied to the several requests for sources in this thread. Hey TTalma: Show everyone that us New Yorkers aren't all bad and that we can share. John
Sorry I wasn't able to answer some posts sooner as I have been out of town.
I also shared my source a few posts ago; It was the Yellow pages.
Anyway I was gone from Friday to Monday and when I checked my email I had over 100 replies asking for my source. Some people from as far away as Iowa. So no I did not answer each of them since many people are not local. And I honestly didn't read most of them.
It really doesn't make sense to me that people would drive that far. After adding up your time and gas it would be a lot more.
Heck I wouldn't drive 2 hours let alone halfway across the country. Granted I live in an are with lots of woods around. But I'm not the only one.
If someone is looking for a source I would suggest checking with wood miser. I found a local sawyer who sells ash for hay racks for $.20 a BF 2 miles from where I work.
If you don't mind rough sawn stuff there is plenty in your back yard.
And I wasn't bragging about the price I pay for lumber anymore than the Guy in Taxes was bragging he only pays $7.00 a BF for Mesquite! Which I would really love to have lots for that price BTW.
And if you check my member since date you'll notice I don't pop in every few years with this question.
I started this post just cause I was curious what people pay for the wood growing in thier back yard costs them. Cherry, maple, and oak grow in mine and that's why it's cheap here.
So where is the answer to the question?
It is not the Yellow book ! So tell us.
Hilmar
Actually my supplier is in the Yellow book including 40 other lumber wholsalers and sawmills. It's the Binghamton, Owego, Endicott, Endwell, Johnson City, Vestal, Union, and surrounding areas Yellowbook.
Here is a quick tutorial for finding cheap lumber in your area.
Open Yellow pages and call the companies listed under logging, Lumber Wholesale, Lumber retail. And ask thier prices for the quantity you want.
The more you buy the cheaper it will be. (I usully buy 200 BF+ at a time)
If they are not willing to sell to you ask if they know of someone who will. And then call them.
When you find a price you like go to them and buy it. Small mills where the owner works in the yard and cuts the trees etc. are usually more willing to sell in small quantities.
The best thing is you get first choice from a small mill. Your not the 10th person to pick over the lumber. But usually the first.
You just can't expect s4s lumber unless your willing to pay more.
It's that easy, spend 1/2 hour on the phone and your all set.
You can buy mesquite for $7.00 a BF in the San Antonio Area. Most of the folks working with this native wood harvest, dry, and use it themselves. There are very few sawmills who do the same for the general public. None of the major outlets around here (Austin Harwoods, Roddis Lumber ) handle it. The Texas Mesquite Association (http://www.texasmesquiteassn.org) Members hold a show twice a year and show beautiful furniture made from this wood and usually there are a couple of vendor sawmills at the show selling the wood for the price I have quoted. You might also be interested in going to the web site http://www.mesquiterockers.com . This man has made a living out of harvesting, drying and building mesquite rockers. I took his four day seminar and have built two of the chairs but out of walnut rather than mesquite because of the difficulty in getting good mesquite wood. Its very difficult to get mesquite in the lengths you need that does not have major knots or checking. I pay $5.30 for African Mahogony, and about $6.00 for Cherry and Walnut here in San Antonio. I would love to have the prices you quoted.
Local Texas outfit here sells Mesquite for $4.50 bdf FAS/KD.
Are you referring to the mill out in Huntsville? Did you ever buy any of his stuff? If so, was it any good? Worth a couple hours driving?
TTalma
hey i will be coming up your way in the spring, could you give me a name of place where you deal. I'am interested in some maple.
Thanks DustyBuster
I live in Pittsburgh and just bought some cherry for 5.28 a bdft. Rough cut,4/4, KD, select. My guy said cherry is the most expensive domestic at this time. I don't know the prices for Walnut off the top of my head, but they are quite a bit cheaper than cherry.
http://lakeshorehardwoods.com/
I really like this supplier.
Good prices, no minimum, always clear red cherry, shorts available at reduced prices.
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