Question about wood prices

[Dan Mitchell]

I bought some wood from a local dealer, and since I'm relatively new at this, I'd like to get some feedback on the prices I paid:

10.25 BF of 8/4 Maple @$6.95/BF = $71.24
7.75 BF of 4/4 poplar @ $2.99/BF = $23.17

Both pieces are S2S

This particular dealer is very conveniently located & has a fairly decent selection, but I haven't really bought enough wood from any source at this point to have a good feel for prices. Any comments?

TIA

Dan

[David Keller NC]

On the East coast, that'd be fairly expensive. In Seattle, not so much. The maple might've been locally grown, but I'm pretty sure the poplar was transported from the SouthEast, and freight's expensive.

You will quickly find, however, that it pays to get a planer and a jointer, or a couple of handplanes to do the surfacing yourself. Not only can rough lumber be purchased less expensively, but S2S often continues to move after it's surfaced to the point where it has to be re-surfaced to be usable in the shop, so you're paying for something that doesn't help you.

[Jason Hallowell]

Wood prices vary so much in different parts of the country that it's hard for anyone outside of your area to give an accurate answer. This is especially true for domestic woods. That would be a great price for maple here in Az, but might not be in Seattle. I never pay more than $5/BF for mesquite as it is plentiful here, but $10/BF would be a good price elsewhere.

[Todd Burch]

$3 / bf for s2s poplar seems a little high. Would be high for my area (I buy wood in Houston)

Todd

[glenn bradley]

That's about right for SoCal.

[Peter Quinn]

Both prices are a bit high for the North East, but both species are indeginious and fairly plentiful, so its hard t say. I'm paying about $2.20 for 4/4 poplar, and around $5.30 for 8/4 hard maple. So in any event your not out of the ball park with those numbers, just a bit high by my local standards in CT.

[Dan Mitchell]

Thanks for the replies. The guy's practically right around the corner from me, while other sources (that I know of) are about a 50 mile drive, in total.

If anyone happens to be in the Seattle area (especially north/Everett) and knows of other sources, please pass them on.

Dan

[Todd Burch]

I just called my lumber supplier to get real prices.

They don't stock s2s poplar any more, but they can mill it. For milling < 200 bf, it's $1.39/bf out the door.

s2s 8/4 hard maple is $3.99 and soft maple is 3.29 (and they don't stock it either in s2s, so that's the < 200 /bf price per foot) They carry rough, and it's 10 cents / bf cheaper - both flavors.

Todd

[Rod Sheridan]

Dan, in the Toronto area I pay $6 for 8/4 maple and $2.82 for poplar, rough not S2S. (All figures Canadian).

In the Seattle area both species are probably imported..Rod.

[Tony Bilello]

Buying wood is not the kind of thing you want to be price motivated. Whatever the average going price in your area is, it is. You either buy it or you dont based on quality. Most good hardwood suppliers in a given area are within a few cents of eachother.
It would be beneficial to travel up to 50 miles or son in your area and get aquainted with the hardwood suppliers and their quality. Most hardwood suppliers will deliver for free or a small fee if you meet a minimal order usually $300 to $500. It doesnt take much to spend $300 on hardwood.

[Jim Kountz]

Its a good day to be a woodworker on the East coast!!
Maple $2.10
Poplar $.45-1.50 depending on color, grade, width etc.
Cherry $2.50-4.00 about the same for walnut too I would say.

This is all from my local supplier and its NOT junk either. Im talking good FAS, Clr & Btr and #1.

[Dave Cav]

Thanks for the replies. The guy's practically right around the corner from me, while other sources (that I know of) are about a 50 mile drive, in total.

If anyone happens to be in the Seattle area (especially north/Everett) and knows of other sources, please pass them on.

Dan

Dan,
Are you using Martin Lumber in Everett, or some other vendor? I have used Martin quite a bit and they have a pretty wide selection, but often their quantities are limited and I feel their prices are a little high (OK, on some stuff, a lot high). They are convenient and good people to deal with, though, and their plywood is a lot better than Borg plywood, and reasonably priced, too. (Another good supplier for plywood is Midway Plywood on Highway 99/Evergreen Way south, between Everett and Lynnwood.

I get most of my hardwood in Seattle now, usually at Crosscut Hardwood on 1st Avenue South. I usually deal with Craig. Crosscut is in an old warehouse building that's probably over 100 years old, and they have a huge selection of rough and sanded hardwood. They provide carts and let you sort through the wood. Well worth the drive for me.

[Dan Mitchell]

Dave - It was Midway, I'm not familiar with Martin Lumber, have to check them out, thanks for the tip!

I have been to Crosscut a time or 2, yes a HUGE selection. It's just that they're a bit of a drive. There's another place in that general area whose name escapes me, smaller, and much less friendly, at least the one time I was in there. Do you happen to know who I mean?

BTW, have you ever used this equipment dealer in Auburn http://equipmentsalesandsurplus.com/index.cfm ?

Thanks for the reply.

Dan

[Greg Magone]

I go to Edensaw Woods in Kent, WA (near IKEA) for my wood. They have a large selection of lumber, plus a lot of specialty woods, like countertop hardwoods for bars, burls, and slabs from entire logs so you can get matching grain.

They're also located in a warehouse and close to Harbor Freight.

I live in Auburn but haven't tried the equipment surplus dealer. I looked up the address and found that I live about a mile from them and drive right past them on my commute, so I'll check them out sometime.

[Rick Fisher]

I think you should look at the stock and decide if its worth it..

I am in the business and can tell you that you can get hardwood for almost any price you want.

I purchased a bunch of 8/4 Red oak for about $6.00 a month ago.. absolutely beautiful stock.. Its in my shop.. (and dust collector)

We sell 4/4 oak for $2.99 retail as well... I dont buy it..

[chris beserra]

Nwwood in Puyallup is also a good place to go. Decent prices and selection. I'll have to check out Crosscut. I hear good things about them but never seem to make it that far north.

I've never heard of Edensaw. Time to start googling :)

Equipment sales and surplus is a great little store. I buy all sorts of surplus parts there (clamps, vices, air filters, jig parts, you name it...) They also get in powermatic/jet/wilton surplus and "damaged" material. There are some amazing deals to be had.

[Dave Cav]

Thanks for the replies. The guy's practically right around the corner from me, while other sources (that I know of) are about a 50 mile drive, in total.

If anyone happens to be in the Seattle area (especially north/Everett) and knows of other sources, please pass them on.

Dan


Dave - It was Midway, I'm not familiar with Martin Lumber, have to check them out, thanks for the tip!

I have been to Crosscut a time or 2, yes a HUGE selection. It's just that they're a bit of a drive. There's another place in that general area whose name escapes me, smaller, and much less friendly, at least the one time I was in there. Do you happen to know who I mean?

BTW, have you ever used this equipment dealer in Auburn http://equipmentsalesandsurplus.com/index.cfm ?

Thanks for the reply.

Dan

Midway is a great source for plywood, but their prices on hardwood are only so-so. They only keep a little in stock mostly for the convenience of the contractors that shop there. However, I buy all my plywood for my school shop there. Martin Lumber is in downtown Everett, on Broadway, one block north of Hewitt on the west side. The hardware store is in the front (on Broadway) and the lumber is in the back across the alley.

I know the place in Seattle you mentioned but I can't think of the name either. Crosscut has pretty much I'm ever going to need except for teak and exotics. For anyone in the Seattle/Everett area, the best place to go for teak and other exotics is East Teak in Sultan; they are a big importer and sell both solid and sheet stock. They are mostly wholesale but if you ask nice they will probably sell direct to you assuming you want a decent amount of lumber and not just one board.

[Montgomery Scott]

I've done business with Edensaw, Crosscut, Compton's, Martin and a couple other places now out of business. There's also a guy that runs a mill in Bellingham that specializes in slabs.

Compton's, right across the street from Crosscut has decent prices on sheet goods and some dometics. Crosscut has better prices on exotics and slightly higher on some domestics. Both are good places to deal with. Martin is too expensive and Edensaw is too far away.

I've purchased my Jet 1642 and Jet AFS-1000 from ESS. They gave me a better than web advertised price on both and threw in the bed extension free. Good place to deal with in my book.

[Brian Tax]

If you are looking for a specific item, I use Crosscut. I found retail to be so expensive, so I buy as much as I can on Craigs list. You find some amazing deals out there. You just have to be willing to buy wood as it comes up and possibly store it for a while until you find something to do with it. But as wood workers is it ever a problem to have a large stash of wood around, other than the fact that you need a place to store it.

[Dan Mitchell]

Thanks everyone for the great info, & especially the "local perspective". I didn't mean to sound like a had a problem with Midway, they're very helpful & quite convenient for me; I was really just curious about the $$$ aspect. I agree that it's not like comparing the price of one bottle of laundry detergent with the same item in a store down the street, since no 2 boards are identical. At this point though, I'm still learning about "what to look for" in that regard.

Dan

[Mike Henderson]

Buying wood is not the kind of thing you want to be price motivated. Whatever the average going price in your area is, it is. You either buy it or you dont based on quality.
Man, is that the truth. I'm so sick of going to the lumber yard and finding nothing but unusable wood, or wood that I'd have to cut so much off that the price per bf would be sky high. I don't know what's happening to hardwood but it isn't getting better.

Walnut is a particular sore point of mine. Stuff that's marked FAS has so much sapwood in it that the usable part is just a small part of what you have to buy - and that's stuff that hasn't been picked over.

Mike

[Mike Parzych]

The only real way to evaluate prices is to compare them ONLY within your local area, since they're so relative in regards to your location in the country. $2 wood 400 miles away ain't really $2 wood.

I come up with black walnut at prices other people would kill for, but I'd have to get a second mortgage to get claro walnut.

[Craig Che]

I have used Targo Woods (targowoods.com, not the best website but gives you idea of what they have) up in Bellingham a few times along with Craigslist. Timing of this thread is perfect though cause I am going to need 200bf of Hondo and gives me a few other places to call and check the $9.40/bf price I got.

Did some calling around to those stores and Targo was similar or better priced than all of them. Nice to see a smaller store can be competitive to the big city ones.

[Peter Gregory]

I used to live in the Midwest and my goal was to buy wood for under $2/bf. Best sources were the want ads, buying from retired coal miners, cutting city (really country) trees.

Now, I buy really expensive wood. Compared to my time, it is cheap. I like Goby Walnut in Portland http://www.gobywalnut.com/. Prices are so expensive, it takes my breath away, but the wood is great. I'm now a figured wood seeker and QSWO collector.

The Seattle prices listed seem very close to Oregon. Of course, we have Crosscut too, so that make sense.

[John Michaels]

Here's two good places. I've been to the Kent location for Edensaw, but the Port Townsend location is supposed to be even better (more stuff).

http://www.edensaw.com

http://www.crosscuthardwoods.com

[Jacob Mac]

Dan,

You might want to look into joining a ww guild. that might be a good way to get some discounts, and find some people that can clue you in to some cheap lumber sources.

When I go up there in your neck of the woods, it seems like I am always helping my FIL clear alder from his property (at least I'm pretty sure it is alder). I would think you could find some woods indigenous to the area from local sawyers or classified ads for fairly cheap.

[Cory Norgart]

Hey Dan. That is probably a pretty fair price, it depends where you live I guess. I live in northern MN, I have seen Ash and Birch , kiln dried, go for $7.50-$10.50/bf and we have quite an abundance of both woods around here, so its not like they are a rarity or nothing. Later

[David Keller NC]

"Walnut is a particular sore point of mine. Stuff that's marked FAS has so much sapwood in it that the usable part is just a small part of what you have to buy - and that's stuff that hasn't been picked over."

This is a point that often goes unmentioned in "what's a decent price for wood" type of threads in WW forums. There is always several folks that chime in with something like - "$8 a b.f. for cherry!?! That's highway robbery - I pay $4 a b.f. for it!"

That may well be true, but there's typically a reason. FAS is sometimes held up as "the standard" when it comes to high-quality wood that a woodworker would be proud to have for his projects, but it ain't so. FAS is a an industry grading standard that is more than adequate for architectural woodwork, flooring, and commercial furniture factories.

Yet, for most experienced woodworkers, FAS is an insufficient standard. For example, FAS generally means mill-run lumber, which is a mixture from a lot of different trees, and may be flat-sawn, rift-sawn, quarter-sawn or a mixture of all of them (sometimes in one board). FAS says nothing about wood stability, either - cupped and warped boards that most of us would immediately reject would certainly meet FAS standards. Finally, the minimum width for FAS grading is 6". That's dang narrow for fine woodworking (unless you're only making small things like frames or boxes).

The point here is that while it's possible to get "ripped off" for wood, that doesn't happen all that often unless you do your hardwood shopping at Home Depot or Lowes - there's usually good reason why flitch-matched, 12-18" wide, air-dried walnut with few or no knots is $10 a b.f. and up.