Lumber Yard Etiquette

[Bobby O'Neal]

So, being quite new to this I have only made a couple trips to a "real" lumber yard and the other day while there I had a small revelation. I'd mapped out what I thought I'd need for a project, down to wanting to find specific width boards for certain parts. Some of these wider boards would be ripped, i.e. buying a board that was at least 9" wide usable to make parts that would wind up being 1x3's. Then it occured to me that the wider the board, the harder to come by and some one else may need that board to make a 1x8 or so. So, the question begs... Do I buy what I need because I was there first or do I stop and re-plan and dig a little more for smaller boards that will work? On the spot, I did some of both. Thoughts?


Bobby

[Eiji Fuller]

unless the final pieces have to match grain I would actually prefer to make them from boards just big enough instead of ripping them from wider stock. ripping from wider stock can be frustrating due to the wood movement that often occurs.

but I think in lumber yard etiquette is first come first serve. If someone is looking thru the pile ahead of me I just cross my fingers, hope he has bad eyesight, and wait for my goround. Then I pick out the best boards for my project that are available in the pile. If I cant get enough for the project I dont buy any and go somewhere else I can pick out everything I need from one stack.

[Brian Cover]

Based upon your example of wanting 3 finished boards that are 1x3"

If you buy 3 boards that are 5/4 by 4" of a given length, it will cost you more than a single board of 5/4 by 10" of that length. Not much more, but it will cost you more. Also, odds are the 3 rough boards will end up being longer than needed and wider than 4" for even more waste; so my experience has been.

As far as movement later, there may be more, but that depends on the species, grain, moisture, and the age of the lumber.

First come, first served.
The early bird gets the worm.
You snooze, you lose.

(Get my drift?)

[Peter Quinn]

Real wide stuff comes at a premium in species in which it is hard to come by. So if you were buying 15"+ mahogany or cherry for face frames 2" wide, you'd be wasting money. And its a wood workers sworn duty to be as frugal as possible with his money and time. I swear its in the rule book.:D Even poplar costs a bit more in real wide widths.

If the stuff you find fits your needs and its there I'd buy it. In fact I do buy it. I don't like to split wide boards into 4 or 5 pieces as they tend to go bananas or cost me more money or both. Now and then I find a beautiful wide board that I can't split on moral grounds, and I buy those for myself if possible, but not to split, and certainly not to share! First come first served is pretty much the only rule in the yards I've been to. They won't judge you as long as you don't barter on the price or make a mess of the stacks

[Aaron Wingert]

Having worked at a lumber yard for many years as a salesman and commodities buyer, I assure you that the only etiquette woodworkers should have at a lumber yard is don't screw up the piles. If you're concerned about leaving good stock for the next guy, do a clean job of moving the material around as you sort through it, and put it back as good or better than it was when you started. Nothing worse than finding that perfectly figured or perfectly sized board only to find it has a nasty bend or twist in it because it wasn't left neatly in the stack by the last guy.

I fully subscribe to "the early bird gets the worm" when buying my lumber! :D

[Tony Bilello]

Lumber yard etiquette is like anything else - first come, first serve.
I buy what I like.
As for costing more. usually I only pay a premium price per board foot on 12" and wider.
I find that I get my most efficient usage from the longest and widest boards with the least amount of overall throwaway scrap. Unless I need boards over 12", I usually order the longest and widest under 12". I dont calculate that closely and end up using any extra wood on another project. The most common woods that I buy are red oak, padouk and purple heart. So eventually everything gets used. If you measure and calculate real close, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you dont. One minor mis-cut and it's back to the lumber yard. No savings in that.

[Joe Angrisani]

Tony... Your picture/avatar has me a bit jealous. :D

[glenn bradley]

Wider boards are more expensive where I am so I buy them based on the parts they will become. I have bought boards wider than I needed because I liked the figure somewhere in the board and would make my part out of that. Also, buying bits and pieces will often result in boards of the same species with drastically different coloring and figure so if grain patterns factor in, that would effect your decision as well. Sometimes I want varied coloration in a piece. I buy from a lumber yard supplied from renewable resources so I am not shy about not leaving that "real nice board" for someone else; they'll be others.

[Van Huskey]

This is interesting, I have never thought about the guy after me when it comes to lumber selection. I always just get what I need/want and can afford. Even thinking about it now I doubt the guy before me did anything else but the same. Maybe I am a bad prson but if I walked into the lumber yard and they had 500bf of FAS Walnut marked "$1 a bf pick what you want" I would go give the cashier $500 and drive away with it, never thinking about the next guy just being happy with my "luck".

[Will Overton]

Since you don't know what the next guy is going to want, thinking about it serves no purpose. You might think it nice to leave that wide board, then the next guy comes along and is disappointed that he has to pay a higher price for the wide board, when he's only going to rip it down to 6 narrow boards.

I do find it refreshing that the OP is concerned about doing the right thing for his fellow woodworkers.

GOOD ON YOU BOBBY!

[Tony Bilello]

Tony... Your picture/avatar has me a bit jealous. :D

Anytime you are in the Houston-Galveston, Texas area, Give me a shout and we can go out and get wet.

[Bobby O'Neal]

As much as I'd like the next guy to have the wide board if he needs it (and if i don't), I'd also like my supplier to be the guy who has that wide board when someone needs it, myself included.

[Brian Ross]

I buy from a large sawmill and all their lumber is graded and kiln dried. They have their own kiln's and to give you an idea of their size they dry 125,000 bf at a time. If you want to sort through the piles that they have you pay a surcharge of 20%. I personally would charge an extra 50%. I probably buy 300 bf at a time and it is rare that I will end up with a board that I can not use. I seldom see any one picking through the pile.Not allowing sorting places everybody on a level playing field. Just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

Brian

[Jeff Willard]

If you're paying for it, it's yours to do with as you please. My only gripe with this is, given the dearth of wide boards, unless the grain or color match is needed for the project, it seems a shame to rip wide boards down like that.

And I agree-it's nice to see someone also thinking about the person that may follow them into the business.

[Rob Damon]

Until recently, never gave it much thought. I did try and leave the pile in better shape than I found it for the next guy, even when shopping at the Borgs.

About two weeks ago, a local artisan was advertising some exotics on CL. He mostly makes items that are 3"x12" max., but he was buying in bulk. He was telling me he used to hang onto the long/wide boards, because he felt it was a shame to cut them up when smaller/narrower boards would work just fine. He ran out of room to store the big ones, so now he bulk orders and CL's the larger ones.

Of course I have no real project in mind for these yet, but I had no problem taking these off his hands and not leaving them for the next guy, considering the price. Here for example (fourth/fifth stack from the left) is some of the Padauk that is up to 16.5" wide and some are up to 15' long. Total of about 300bf of Padauk.

First two piles are Goncola Alves, third is Zebrawood, fourth/fifth are Padauk, and sixth is Canary, Leopard and Honduras Rosewood. (My birthday present to myself, LOML approved though.)


Rob

[Rick Markham]

I'm a firm believer in First come First serve. I get what I need, in whatever is most cost effective, or fits the project.

I have the good fortune of living close to a family run Lumber and Millwork business. They don't mind me digging through the stacks, with the understanding that I am going to put everything back neat and tidy for them, and the next person.

To me it's a matter of being respectful, both for them, the next customer, and for the wood. I guess I usually feel like the lumber should be respected too. I feel fortunate to find so many wonderful unique figured hardwood board there.

I too am like Van though... If there is 500bf of mahogany sitting there with the price tag of $1 a bf... it's all going home with me!!!

[William Duffer]

I don't have a lot of great lumberyards around here but the one I go to has great service and decently priced. They let me go through the stack if necessary and they will even pick out the crap and set it aside so no one else has to pick through it. I generally pick out the sizes that best suits my needs and don't think about the next guy. I don't think the last guy worried about me, he picked what he needed. I generally will pick the pieces closet to the width I need though.

[Rick Fisher]

I am in the " lumberyard business" .. I can tell you that most lumber yard owners want you to buy as much as possible and leave no damage or mess.

If you can pull that off, your a valued customer .. :)

We have a load of QS Clear, KD red cedar in right now.. one builder wanted all the 2x6 for a window job.. another found out and bought it all for a deck .. first come, first serve..

[Don Dorn]

Possibly my theory is flawed but I tend to want wider boards and then rip them because I think they have less knots and are usually straighter grained. This based on the fact that the wider boards come from the middle of the tree. It has served me pretty well when buying pine or fir - and some hardwoods such as oak, walnut and cherry.

[Lee Schierer]

Where I purchase my lumber it is all S4S and comes in standard dimensional widths. I purchase the best width for the least waste, which also includes my time making rip cuts. Where I purchase my lumber boards 8" and under are less per bdft than boards 10" and over.