4/4 Cherry Cost per BF?

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Found someone selling 130BF of 4/4 cherry for around 88 cents per board foot, averaging 6" wide. It's not kiln dried. Worth the price? Not sure of the cut or method..

In the event that I pick it up, can it be stickered in the basement to acclimate? Basement has an oversized dehumidifier in it, currently set to normal..

Thoughts?

[Jason Beam]

Even dripping wet, I'd jump on that if it's cut well and treated nicely. If full of sapwood or it's already twisted and warped, though, I might pass. For good boards, that's a fine price. A dang fine price.

[Frank Drew]

Scott, it depends on the quality of the wood; if it's legitimate FAS grade or close (google: hardwood lumber grading) and isn't already twisted or warped, then that's probably a good deal, considering that you'll have to spend some time and effort to end up with flat, dry lumber. But just because it's cherry doesn't mean it's good quality cherry.

However, if it's anything close to freshly sawn, I wouldn't attempt to dry it indoors, even with a dehumidifier; green wood holds, then has to give up, a considerable amount of moisture, and you risk mold issued in your house if you bring all that wet wood inside.

Somewhere out of doors, ideally out of the sun and direct weather but with good airflow, is where you want to stack and sticker your stash if you do in fact buy it.

If it's already been air-drying outdoors somewhere for a few months and the moisture content has come down a good bit, then it might be at a stage where it's ok to finish drying indoors. Check it first with a moisture meter.

[Anthony Whitesell]

How long would it have to sit in the basement, given the low/lower humidity (due to the dehumidifier) and lack of sun/summer heat?

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Out of direct sunlight... Under a tarp and out of the weather but open for airflow... Check..

Question though on board foot measurements.. It looks to be a BF is 1' long by 1' wide... So if the boards are 6" wide, there should be around 200' of board to make 100 board foot? Always confused me.. About time to learn, I'd say.

As for how long "I WOULD" let it sit in the basement.. I don't doubt it would be at least 2 months before I did anything with it.. Alot of other stuff on my plate ATM.

Oh.. I forgot.. There's also 2 4x4 Cherry posts of unknown length that go with this lot I found.

[Frank Drew]

How long would it have to sit in the basement, given the low/lower humidity (due to the dehumidifier) and lack of sun/summer heat?

Impossible to say without knowing the starting m.c. and the moisture removing capacity of the room it would be stored in.

[Paul Johnstone]

Found someone selling 130BF of 4/4 cherry for around 88 cents per board foot, averaging 6" wide. It's not kiln dried. Worth the price? Not sure of the cut or method..

In the event that I pick it up, can it be stickered in the basement to acclimate? Basement has an oversized dehumidifier in it, currently set to normal..

Thoughts?

Again, it all depends. If I was not on a self imposed ban from buying more wood, I'd see if it had been airdried at all, and if so, how long.
Even if it is wet, if you have room outside to air dry it, that's a great price, even if it is not FAS Grade.
The other poster makes a good point.. make sure it's not all twisted.
At that price, even buying it for drawer wood makes some sense, if you have room to store it.

[eugene thomas]

Maybe buy and take to kiln/ I bought wood at auction last winter and only coast me 25 cents bf to get it dry.

[Scott T Smith]

If the cherry is totally green (just milled), it will have a maximum of 1.5 lbs of water per board ft. So, 130 bd ft of green cherry will contain about 28 gallons of water.

I don’t see where that would cause damage to your home if you stacked and stickered it in the basement with a dehumidifier running. Most likely, since it's been air dried for a while, it probably has a much lower moisture content. It would be beneficial if you could use a moisture meter to check it.

Cherry dries relatively quickly. In a dehumidification kiln, the targeted daily maximum moisture content reduction rate is 7%.

Presuming that your basement is at 70F and 50% RH, with a 300 FPM airflow through your stacks the wood will eventually equalize to around 9%MC, probably in several weeks depending on airflow through the stacks and the capacity of your dehumidifier. You might need to raise the temperature into the 90's in order to help the wood release the moisture - it's somewhat hit or miss.

[Frank Drew]

Casehardening is a risk with improperly drying green wood (the outside of the board drying out before the water inside can migrate out.)

[Rick Moyer]

Question though on board foot measurements.. It looks to be a BF is 1' long by 1' wide... So if the boards are 6" wide, there should be around 200' of board to make 100 board foot? Always confused me.. About time to learn, I'd say.



A board foot is 144 cu. in.
Your 1' long by 1' wide is a board foot if the board is 1" thick, as you indicated it was (4/4).
Other board dimensions would be different board feet for a given length, unless the cross-section was 12 sq. ft., e.g., like a 2x6.

confused?
A 1x4 x 10' long would be:
1"x4"x120"= 480 cu.in
480 cu.in./144 cu.in. = 3.333 bf

hope this helps