How to get material

[Daniel O'Neill]

So I have a dilemma or two. I’m just getting back into woodworking (30) from when I was younger (13-16) and don’t have tons of tools. I’ve been working on the tool thing from Craigslist. One thing I am surprised at is the cost of lumber. Perhaps I just don’t remember it because my dad would purchase some once in a while or give me some scraps to build stuff with. It wasn’t ever super nice stuff but I had fun. Now as an adult paying bills of my own I cringe every time I see the cost of a nice hardwood. So my question is how do you guys buy lumber to build your projects? Is there a trick that I’m unaware of?

On a related note. I settled on pallet wood for a shoe bench. Initially I was thinking of tongue and groove to get the planks to stay together and act more like a solid surface I spoke to a woodworker friend and he thinks they’re a bit thin for that. He suggested rabbiting about 1/3 or so of the board top & bottom and stacking them together. Another idea I was thinking was that I could get the planks to ¼” thickness and lay them crosswise to make a ¾” plywood of sorts.
Thanks for your tips
Daniel

[Dan Hulbert]

Pallet wood can force you to get creative. I did a lot with it when times were tight. You can use the thin boards as panels and the thicker stock for stiles and rails. I made my wife a jewelery cabinet using that method and she still uses it 25 years later.
When you have a few bucks, get a planner. A lunchbox will do most things a hobbiest (like me) needs, but the coolest thing is that it allows you to find, scrounge, buy, and use rough cut lumber. Planned lumber from the big box stores is outrageously expensive, but if you can find a local mill to buy rough, you'll pay for the planner in no time. Local mills wil also be able to steer you to the local woods that are usually less expensive and may be more than adequate for your projects.

Have fun!!

[Mark Bolton]

Im not sure what material your looking at but local domestic hardwoods are generally pretty reasonably priced in my opinion. Of course if your wanting material that isnt native or widespread in your area prices can get up there. If your buying common grades of local hardwoods though it seems the prices are generally not too outrageous.

[David Eisenhauer]

I am not sure what a shoe bench is, but wonder why you cannot just glue the edges of the pallet planks together to make a solid surface. Probably I don't understand what you are after. You are not the first guy to recycle pallet wood (lots of time it is less quality appearance oak, but still structurally sound). As far as getting-wood tricks, I guess you have to keep your eyes out for piles that people are going to throw out/haul away/burn and be ready to jump on them as soon as possible. Some guys also have a contact at a larger mill or cabinet shop that allows them to (legally) dumpster-dive through the shop's leftovers that are going to a landfill. Usually not much long stuff available, but can result in some nice (exotic) smaller stuff to make boxes, crafts, etc. I had a neighbor that was always perusing the back doors of the local Home Depot/Lowe's for broken or otherwise boogered up lumber and pestering the HD/Lowe's crew to sell it off at a very reduced price. He was surprisingly successful with that tactic. Keep an eye on Craigslist. Source other woodworkers in your area to see if two or three of you can throw in on a larger purchase that ends up OK after you slit it up. Find some retired folks that need something torn down for free and you keep the lumber. You have to work at it.

[Daniel O'Neill]

Thanks guys. I do plan on getting a planer here shortly. I'm in a mixed up process of building a shop & an entryway bench (shoe bench (http://www.target.com/p/threshold-windham-entryway-bench/-/A-14402892?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=google_pla_df&LNM=14402892&CPNG=Furniture&kpid=14402892&LID=30pgs&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=14402892&kpid=14402892&gclid=CjwKEAiAj-KiBRC48YzhnLSg0D0SJAClOhK34y-tAq6VyidiW2jUkspXqUXkE52A0iRy_2Y1dG6CrBoCbBjw_wcB) ) at the same time. I have been going to HD to buy their cull lumber but some of that stuff is pretty bad. I bought some 1/2" ply that was so warped it easily stood up on the end. I was just making some garage shelves so for $5 I'm not worried about some warping. I'll have to look into the rough sawn stuff at a mill. And the dismantling idea that's pretty great too.
Thanks for the tip Dan about using the Pallet wood. I might have to redesign the bench to make that the way to go.

[Phil Barrett]

There is wood to be had at low cost but you have to get creative about it. I see it on CL every few weeks. I've sometimes seen wood from estate sales. Usually it's not priced very high - often times it's viewed as something that they will have to haul away. Freecycle sometimes has wood. I got a lot of wood really cheap at an auction though I had to buy several whole lots (100-200 bf) but except for the Jatoba, it was $0.25 to $.50 per bf. Cabinet shops may give away scraps.

Be very careful with pallet wood and anything else that isn't straight from the lumber yard. Look carefully for hidden nails and screws. A metal detector would not be a bad investment (though kind of goes against the low cost nature of the effort). It kind of ruins your day to blow out a $40-75 blade.

[John Shaffner]

I'm fortunate enough to have found several sources locally that I can get rough stock for $1-$2 bf right from the mill. I also have a farmer nearby that sells lumber (and doesn't advertise) on the cheap. Craigslist, auctions, estate sales, etc. are you friends. As for pallets, get a HF metal detector ($20) and also be careful of grit and stones in the slats. A quick hit with a belt sander helps there. I use a lot of pallet wood for scrolling and what isn't good enough goes in the shop wood stove. Right now, I have about 300 bf in stock and probably 4 or 5 cord of pallet firewood too.

HTH, John

[cody michael]

I get all mine by having trees taken to a sawmill, I have had family friends give me walnut trees, a wind damaged oak and others. Sawmill chargers 56 cents a bd ft to cut and dry it.

[Joe A Faulkner]

You don't list your location. You might consider doing that. Chances are someone here can point you to a few local or semi-local mills. I don't mind driving a few hours if I'm going to purchase a couple hundred feet of lumber and save $2-$4 a board foot over retail. I'm fortunate to have some local mills that are willing to sell in small lots to cash and carry customers.

[Daniel O'Neill]

You don't list your location. You might consider doing that.

Good point I'm 50 Miles west of Chicago in Sugar Grove IL. Right on or just past the edge of the suburbs.

[Tyler Owen]

Check Craigslist for lumber. Near me (Central VA) there are a number of local sources that will advertise there. Often times there are also individuals looking to sell lumber from their own collection to thin the herd a bit

[dirk martin]

Daniel, I've got too much red oak in my way right now, so if you're looking for any of that in 4/4 (in the rough), let me know. I really need to make room, and I'm selling it at $1.95/BF, and free shipping to you, since you're rather close to me. I can plane/sand also, for you.

[Brian Holcombe]

Chose out of favor woods. I use figured white ash on some projects that do not call for exotics and it's not terribly expensive. I bought two giant slabs 10/4 for a dining table for $300, the same slabs in walnut would have been thousands and it is gorgeous with intense figure.

The straight grained variety of white ash is very easy to work with and since it is not in high demand the quality of whats available is very high for a moderate cost. I think I pay $4-$6/BF for 8/4 and that is considered a premium.

For walnut I've paid $15-$18/BF for AAA 12/4, so I generally reserve that for very important projects.

[Joe A Faulkner]

+1 on Craigslist - Search for Lumber. I noted some offerings from a mill in Leland, IL you might want to check out. While searching, I noticed a sale in Milan MI, slated for Saturday, where lumber is going for $1.50 bf.

[Phil Barrett]

I saw this posting on craigs list seattle (http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/tls/4749906755.html). A perfect example of what we are talking about. Don't know how proud the guy is of his stuff but worth checking out if you lived reasonably close.

[Garth Almgren]

Dang, if only I didn't have to work today and go to class tomorrow... That looks like an interesting sale.

[glenn bradley]

One way to acquire material at a good cost is to have somewhere to put it. I've re-org'd a few times to increase material storage so now when I do find something worth snapping up, I do it without hesitation. No one wants to lay out $400 for lumber, store it improperly and have $100 worth of usable material when it comes time to use it. Prices (and deals) vary with your location. I am green with envy when I see all the material folks get right off of their property in some parts of the world. I live in a desert basin and nothing much in the way a hardwood grows here all by itself ;-) I'm in SoCal and your area will vary but, I recently paid $8.15/bf for 5/4 walnut (the highest I've ever paid) and $4.48/bf for 6/4 cherry (about average). Around here there is a premium for wider than 9" and a sliding scale for thickness increases.

[Earl McLain]

Daniel--i ran across a retired wood nut in South Bend, IN a few weeks ago through Craigslist. Stuffed the back of my car with walnut "shorts", 3' to 4' long and 9" to 12" wide. I'd estimate 65 to 70 bf, would all grade at least #1 common--fair amount probably S & B (select and better). Spent $100. Here's his ad http://southbend.craigslist.org/tls/4720090102.html Pictures don't do the red cedar justice. I was there the day he was bringing the osage logs in--that's beautiful!! Downside--it's mostly cut in the last year and air drying so it will be a year or two before i can use it. About a third was cut 20 years ago. He's got a stock of dry so there's some stuff available to use now. I'd guess that for $400 to $500 you could load a pickup truck pretty full. Pictures of some of my $100 spree are below.
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[Rich Engelhardt]

So my question is how do you guys buy lumber to build your projects? Is there a trick that I’m unaware of?No trick really.
My local lumber yard sells S4S by the linear foot for decent quality poplar, red oak, cherry and walnut.
If I'm building something small, I just run there and pick up a few board feet of what I want. It runs about four times the cost of rough lumber I have to mill, but, it has the advantage of nearly zero waste & I can pick and choose what I want as "what you see is what you get" type of thing.

For rough lumber I mill myself, I go down to Hartville Hardware and pick up what I need and take it home and joint, plane and rip what I need.

Craig's List, as mentioned above, also has some good deals.

Unlike the others above, I avoid estate sales for the most part.
Just too much hassle what with all the emotional crud.
People ignorant of wood prices for rough wood put outrageous prices on it by going to the borg and getting prices of the S4S junk there, then add on something for a haggle margin. When you try to point out to them that they want 6 times more for a board than it's worth, they think you're trying to take advantage of them in their time of need.