Milled lumber VS unmilled lumber

[Brian Runau]

I am wondering what you think of buying milled lumber say 4/4 stock VS unmilled 5/4 stock. Seems there is a lot of waste when you buy unmilled lumber that is concave and twisted, and might be less expensive to buy milled lumber and the joint or plane to what you need?

Thanks.

Brian

[John Harden]

Brian, unmilled 4/4 hardwoods will be just about 1" thick, sometimes a bit more. So, if you need 3/4" thick for your project, you wouldn't need to buy 5/4 stock.

I prefer buying it this way when I can. An exception is if i need a highly figured piece of wood. It can be hard to see the grain in rough lumber, so in these instances, I'll go with milled.

I bought some 8/4 mahogany awhile back that is a solid 2 1/4" thick. Very nice and it gives me plenty of wood to mill it down to final thickness.

This is the benefit of buying in the rough, though if you need wide boards, you'll want a wide jointer to accommodate them.

In the rough is usually a bit less money too as it saves a step at the mill.

Regards,

John

[Rob Holcomb]

Personally, I prefer to mill my own lumber. My wife thought I was nuts until I took her to the BORG and said, "look at the price of that piece of red oak". She asked me how that price compared to the red oak I have on a shelf in my shop. I said " well, you know that board that's 10 inches wide and 12 feet long? I paid less for that board than this 1X4x8 board you see here". She was sold at that instant. Do you have a lot of waste when milling your own boards? Yes, but you are still much farther ahead than buying it retail but if the price the mill charges to mill it isn't too much more, then you can still save some money and a lot of work too! I just like the idea of going from rough wood to beautiful pieces of furniture without any outside assistance.

[Greg Portland]

I don't buy any twisted or cupped wood. Find a supplier that stacks, dries & stores their wood properly and you should get pretty straight rough boards. Having said that, most local suppliers around here sell S2S so you can see the grain pattern more easily. Local sawyers (which tend to be cheaper than an actual storefront) is where you'll get rough boards.

[Dick Sylvan]

Milled 4/4 will end up three quarters of an inch thick, so if you want to buy lumber that actually is one inch thick, either you or the mill will have to start out with 5/4. So, you pay for the 5/4 in either case, plus the cost of milling the lumber. If you mill it yourself, you save the milling cost and end up with the exact thickness you need/want rather than the more limited supply of milled lumber.

[Myk Rian]

I prefer buying it this way when I can. An exception is if i need a highly figured piece of wood. It can be hard to see the grain in rough lumber, so in these instances, I'll go with milled.
That's why you take a small plane with you. Shave a small piece to see it.

[Russell Johnson]

I did the same with my wife at Woodcraft. Showed her some milled Purpleheart then some unmilled the board was much larger for the same price as the milled.

[Neil Brooks]

I've been leaning toward the rough-sawn stuff, myself, but ... partly ... because I spent a lot of $$ on a planer and a jointer :)

[Chip Lindley]

You will have a time investment, as well as tool investment in milling your own rough lumber flat and straight. But for me that is one of woodworking's greatest pleasures.

The fact that I have bought pickup truck loads of rough lumber for paltry sums at country auctions doesn't hurt either! 500 bd.ft. of rough cherry for $400 ain't too baad!

[John Coloccia]

I buy nearly everthing rough. If I buy milled lumber, once I bring it into my shop it will cup a bit in a month anyhow, requiring jointing and planing. It's just easier and cheaper to buy it rough for me. I let it aclimate for a bit. Then I'll mill it and resaw it and let it relax again. Finally, I mill it for the last time just before I use it. It's a process but it's been pretty reliable for me. Anytime wood dries, or you relieve stresses by cutting, something always seems to move a bit, so for me getting wood usuable and stable is a process of continual flattening, each time taking a bit less off. The first milling from rough is the easiest one, so why farm it out if you have the equipment to do it yourself, right? There's also something special about taking rough wood and turning into something beautiful and precise.

[Fred Voorhees]

I wouldn't purchase anything but rough lumber. Part of the entire enjoyable experience is taking rough lumber, heck man, it's just past being an actual tree, and turning that into some beautiful furniture. It's a heady experience. There is just something about watching your lumber come alive when you are milling it down.

[John Harden]

That's why you take a small plane with you. Shave a small piece to see it.

That works great if I want to see a 1.5" wide by 2" long section of the board. If I want to see any more, my arm will get tired from using the plane and I'd get in trouble with the hardwood supplier for filling the aisle with shavings. :D

[chris dub]

For me it also depends on the time and price difference. Once I made a jewlery chest for my wife as a surprise gift. Since I had to build it with borrowed time I ordered the wood in the right thickness. Cost more, but there was no way I would have had the time to mill it and build it. If I come across wood that is milled and not too much more than unmilled, I'll opt for having it milled. If you aren't doing alot of projects and and have time on your side it comes down to what parts of the project you enjoy. I'd be hard pressed to say that my planer and jointer have paid for themselves. But I have certainly enjoyed using them.

[Van Huskey]

The waste is always there, either in your shop or the lumber yard where it was milled. Usually the reason to avoid anything called waste is to save money, in this case waste is like money, whoever has to deal with it has more money.


Whether you enjoy the process, want an excuse to buy a jointer and planer or just like saving money in the end rough is the way to go.

[Louie Ballis]

I wouldn't purchase anything but rough lumber. Part of the entire enjoyable experience is taking rough lumber, heck man, it's just past being an actual tree, and turning that into some beautiful furniture. It's a heady experience. There is just something about watching your lumber come alive when you are milling it down.


I feel the same way. Milling your own lumbar out of some rough sawn stuff is at least half of the fun of this hobby.

Not to mention the coolness factor of it

[Dave Gallaher]

It's not for everyone but I find a tree and cut mine to send to the mill. It's like planting a garden. I cut it, stack it and wait.

[Victor Robinson]

I'd like to buy rough, but there are hardly any suppliers of rough around here. Everything is S2S.

So while my jointer and planer aren't paying for themselves (as quickly as I'd like) in terms of the ability to buy rough over milled, they are quite handy because even milled stuff needs some milling...sometimes before it enters my shop, sometimes after.

[Terry Hatfield]

+1 more for Fred's post. I do love to mill my own lumber. It is worth it every time.

t

[Dave Lehnert]

I like working with rough lumber. Once you work with lumber that is true and square you will never use anything else.

If you buy your lumber from a kiln, having it milled is cheap. It's been about 12 years now but to have a 100 bf milled to 3/4" was only like $15.

[William Hutchinson]

I am wondering what you think of buying milled lumber say 4/4 stock VS unmilled 5/4 stock. Seems there is a lot of waste when you buy unmilled lumber that is concave and twisted, and might be less expensive to buy milled lumber and the joint or plane to what you need?

Thanks.

Brian

Rough kiln-dried spalted maple, $1.00bf from a local sawyer. Easy choice for me.:D

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shop%20Tools/Sawmillspaltedmaple.jpg

A few passes with the planer sled make milling very easy.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shop%20Tools/Milledspaltedmaple.jpg

[Joe Jensen]

I only buy rough sawn hardwood. It's the only way to end up with truely flat and straight parts. once you work with truely flat and straight parts you can't go back.

[James Carmichael]

I buy whatever suits the project, whether rough or S2S. Even the latter usually has to be milled a bit to get it flat & parallel.

[Dan Gill]

I use both. Usually, the yard where I buy hardwood has it milled to just over 3/4 and straight line ripped. I pay a little more for that. Sometimes I can get rough-sawn from them. I think it depends on whether they are behind on their milling. They are more likely to leave 8/4 wood in the rough.

[dan sherman]

If I have the chance, I always buy skip planned, because it's nearly as cheap as rough, and lets me see the grain.

[Terry Hatfield]

If I have the chance, I always buy skip planned, because it's nearly as cheap as rough, and lets me see the grain.

That's actually what my supplier has. Best of both worlds if you can get it.

t

[Brent Ring]

+Most here - I enjoy the milling process. it is fun to take wood all the way from tree to furniture!

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

Because I'm space, time, and money limited, I generally buy my lumber already milled and pay whatever price. Although, in the process of building my new workbench, I did buy several 2x12's that I "milled" myself, ie, cut to rough length, plane the faces and edges, and trim to correct length. :)

[Foras Noir]

Be sure to buy and learn to use a moisture content testing device of some type. I find rough stock can be all over the map of moisture. Milled stuff has been more predictable.

If you buy stock in the 12-17% EMC and plan to use it for conditions more like 8% EMC, you will need to figure out how you will manage the drying and reshaping that will certainly be required.

All this EMC stuff takes up 20% of my time and I have a dehydration kiln to work with. Maybe buy the meter and stay clear of the "air dry" piles.

[Curt Harms]

You're starting with a 3/4" board and need a piece 3/4" thick. Cut the piece you need out of a larger piece and it warps or twists a little after being cut--case hardening, reaction wood or whatever the cause. You can plane or face joint this problem out, but now you don't have the 3/4" you need. Oops. Starting with thicker you can remove a little if need be to determine appearance, cut your pieces somewhat oversize and let them get any movement "out of their system" then face joint, edge joint, plane and rip to size. It's not a horrible idea to cut to size, dress but leave stock a little oversized, sticker it for a day or two, then take it to final size. After using rough sawn a little, I've gotten to where I have a pretty fair idea what the grain will look like dressed while it's still rough. It just comes from doing.

[Larry Edgerton]

My normal procedure is to have it planed, just a bit. If I order 4/4 for example I will have it planed to 15/16, 5/4 to 1 3/16, and so on. This lets me see the wood as I am selecting stock for parts, and gets rid of any dirt that was in the rough so I am not cleaning it up with my own blades. There is still enough left to joint and plane the stock to a flat finished dimension.

I usually order more than I need, often full lifts so I get the price break, but I only prepare the stock I am going to use so that any wood movement in what is left over happens in the rack and can be corrected when the wood is needed.