Free Wood, What to choose??

[Greg Scull]

So I'm helping out a non profit that has some wood from trees that were all 100+ or so years old. He has wood from a sequoia redwood, a poplar, and black walnut. The work I am doing is going to probably amount to 500$ or so and he is going to pay me in wood.

Well not exactly free.... But probably the only way i'm going to get any wood to play with after spending the tax return on tools. Currently only having a Table saw, Router and CMS I'm lacking for tools to use some of this wood but can probably use some friends.

I am wondering what you would choose. He seems to be trying to push the redwood as I think he has a lot more of it than other wood. Today he showed me a piece ~3ft wide 3 in thick and 7 feet tall which he said was about 7$ a BF of the redwood.

The walnut was about either 4/4 or 6/4 and is 2 ft wide and about 7 ft tall for about 300$ a slab.

I haven't got pricing for the poplar but would expect it to be in the middle somewhere. He said the tree it came from was about 7' wide at the base and had green an purple coloring in it from some disease.

I will try and get some pictures this weekend to post.

I have no idea what to make out of it and was just planning on stacking it in the garage till I get to making something.

[Chris Padilla]

Greg,

This is largely a personal choice. What do you like? What kind of stuff do you want to build? Redwood is great for outdoor furniture...poplar is a great cheap wood to practice on but also paints very well. Walnut is the creme de la creme IMO and I'd stock up on it but it all depends on your needs.

I'm assuming the wood has already been cut and drying for some amount of time? Is it all in good shape...relatively flat? BTW, walnut naturally has those green and purple hues--it isn't necessarily from a disease. It is those colors mixed with the reds and chocolates that make walnut so beautiful.

[Victor Robinson]

I'd go with the walnut. Redwood only if it's really clear.

[Greg Scull]

Greg,
I'm assuming the wood has already been cut and drying for some amount of time? Is it all in good shape...relatively flat? BTW, walnut naturally has those green and purple hues--it isn't necessarily from a disease. It is those colors mixed with the reds and chocolates that make walnut so beautiful.

He said that it is all cut and dry. I am going to go and check it out probably next week to see the actual wood as today I just saw samples.

He also has Maple that they just cut but wont be dry for some time.

I am planning on getting it and keeping it safe until i'm ready, skills wise, to build some furniture with it. Got to finish the cabinets for the house for now.

My reaction was to get the walnut only as it seems like the rare, good find. Though I am a little tempted to get some redwood to build some backyard furniture as a starting place.

[Cary Falk]

I would go with the Walnut but he sure is proud of it. If it is 4/4 then it is 14bdft and $21/bdft. If it is 6/4 it is 21bdft and is $14/bdft. Am I missing something here?

[Greg Scull]

I'm going to have to wait to see it in person next week, not just his sample he showed me. That said he is very proud of all of it. Its from a non profit that salvaged the trees from historic local locations from trees that are 100+ years old. Its my understanding that this older wood is better than what I can buy in stores today? To what extent should that affect the cost per bf?

I have been concerned about the pricing so it was only until today that I saw the samples and got the pricing figures, prompting me to post so I could tap the wealth of community knowledge.

[Andrew Gibson]

If the wood comes from a not for profit, shouldn't the cost cover the price to have it sawn and that's it :P
Even for trees 100+ years old the prices seem higher than I would be willing to do work for. IMO you are doing them a favor working for lumber and they should be willing to give you a decent amount of material for your labor.

I read somewhere that walnut needs to be about 80 years old to be worth cutting for limber... can't remember where I read that so it may be way off. I have never worked with redwood but have worked with walnut maple and poplar... I would take as much maple and walnut as I could beg, borrow, and steal my way out with, as long as it is good stuff.

Wide slabs will demand a premium in price, but it will be hard to find machinery to handle such large material. unless you are doing table tops, I find that 18" material seems to get the job done very well, and 24" would be as wide as I would ask for... I say that but I'm sure I would never turn down wider material, it only could open up more design possibilities.

Sometimes People forget that in the end it's just wood, no matter how much sentimental value they decide to put on it. If it were me I would do my best to walk away with 100bf.

[Roger Bullock]

Greg, it sounds like they think they have a gold mine there. This happens sometimes when a non-woodworker or a novice does a quick search on the internet without really knowing what they have. Here is my 2 cents worth.

Dried to a woodworker is different to a non-woodworker. Bring a moisture meter.

All wide boards are not created equal, they will cup and warp if not cut properly, dried properly, etc. What looks straight today may not be straight tomorrow.

Wide, dried, and historical wood does have a premium price. But if you plan to cut it down to 4/4 lumber, you would be better off selling it at the higher cost and purchasing 4/4 at a lower cost (you would end up with more BF).

Remember the phrase Apple to Apples. Even though no money is switching hands, you are in effect swapping hours for BF. So for their comparison of value they are at the top of the chart, so you should also value your time at the top of the cost cart.

[Paul Greathouse]

Greg, I'm working with Black Walnut for the first time right now. I'm building new kitchen cabinets for my home. The Walnut is a pleasure to work with, it cuts and sands easily and is very beautiful.

The wood I have is 4/4, kiln dried and it was a mix of 1x6 & 1x8 with a few 1x4. If I recall correctly I paid about $2.00/bdft. I bought it from an individual that needed to move it. The next cheapest Walnut I could find was from a hardwood supplier in Texas and it was $4.80/bdft.

If you haven't given the the guy your bid yet, you have the upper hand in the deal because all you have to do is price you work accordingly, to get the Bd/Ft that you want.

I agree with others that the 100 year old stuff will bring a higher price but $21/bdft seems really steep.

With Walnut, if your careful about how you match your boards for glue-up you won't see the seams, so you don't really need the wide stuff for wide projects. As Roger said, there could be some cupping and warping which would be magnified with wider boards. I had some slight cupping on the material I bought but is was nothing that a couple trips through the jointer couldn't take care of.

Personally, the only reason I would get the Redwood is if I had some outdoor projects to build.

[scott spencer]

It should boil down to your preference....mine would be walnut, maple, redwood, and poplar in that order, but poplar would be a distant 4th that I'd view as a consolation prize!

[Paul Johnstone]

So I'm helping out a non profit that has some wood from trees that were all 100+ or so years old. He has wood from a sequoia redwood, a poplar, and black walnut. The work I am doing is going to probably amount to 500$ or so and he is going to pay me in wood.
.

I live in the East, and that "valuation" of the wood seems very high.

I have gotten pretty good quality air dried walnut (4/4 and 8/4) for $1/bd ft.

For me, there's not any added value in the fact that it's 100 years old, salvaged, etc.

If they dried it themselves, it may be warped, cracked, etc.

Look at what your local lumber supplier would charge. Check CL for ads from small sawmills. Get a decent idea of what the market rate is in your area, and show it to him.

Unless you are doing this $500 work for motives other than wood (fun, sense of satisfactcion), I think you are getting ripped off.

[Greg Scull]

I heard back earlier about his actual pricing structure and think there may be some more room for negotiation.

From the client:
All the species we have are priced at between $6.00bf - $8.00bf in dimensions that are 4/4 to 6/4 x up to 14" wide x 6' long. The larger slabs 8/4 and larger x 15" and wider x 6.25' and longer
are priced by the board and based on the quality of figuring and character
---
Luckily I haven't started yet, though he does have my quote for work in terms of $$, but we haven't agreed on the terms of the wood pricing.

On a side note This forum is amazing and I am really grateful for all of your help.

Hopefully we can come to some terms and I fill my garage with some more wood :).

[Ernie Nyvall]

I just wanted to double up on what Roger wrote about bringing a moisture meter. They are cheap enough, and could help with your bargain power. Walnut, I believe can take more years than other hardwoods to air dry. At least that's what my shop teacher said. He wouldn't buy walnut that hadn't been air dried less than 10 years. Don't know why I remember that. I did just a quick search and couldn't verify that exactly, but it is up in the years, and again like Roger wrote about a non woodworkers idea of dry wood may not be the same. So say it still has a 20-25% moisture content, you could be looking at a lot of warping and cracking when taken from the pile. You would need to get it home quickly and stack it properly for the rest of the drying.

Even at that, if you can get a fair price for it, air dried walnut is worth the wait. It's a difference of gray wood(in a lot of cases) vs what Chris described.

Good luck with the bargaining.

[Jim Andrew]

Greg, the market for lumber is pretty slow right now. Find yourself a sawmiller and get some from a guy struggling to make a living. You'll save a lot of either labor or money. Or just price your work sky high like the guy is pricing his lumber.

[Jaze Derr]

wow, i'd be kinda lost, too.

'twere me, I'd personally take most of it in redwood and poplar. Stuff that i could use right away to build skill making outdoor and utility projects.

[Brian Tymchak]

That said he is very proud of all of it. Its from a non profit that salvaged the trees from historic local locations from trees that are 100+ years old. Its my understanding that this older wood is better than what I can buy in stores today? To what extent should that affect the cost per bf?


If the locations from which the wood were harvested are truly considered to have historical value, that can double (or more) the price of the lumber, being a rare commodity. However, I wouldn't put much stock in someone's claim of historical value unless there is documented proof of the lumber's past. If it can't be documented, then the value of the wood is what the market will bear. That said, as P.T. Barnum once said, there's a sucker born every minute... So, the owner might get his price someday from someone who doesn't do their homework.

[Jim Rimmer]

Given everythng else that has been said (moisture, cracks, warps, etc) if the wood is top notch I would opt for the 6/4 walnut. Mainly because I love walnut and the 6/4 would lend itself to resawing and bookmatching.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I'd go with the Walnut too, although I think his prices are pretty steep. It will be easiest to trade off if you decide you don't use it. Redwood, Maple and Poplar are really easy to get ahold of for the most part, unless there is an exceptional piece there.