Tearing up Used Furniture vs. Paying Lumber Yard Prices

[Steve H Graham]

Today I paid $20 for a crummy pine board at Home Depot. On the other hand, I checked Craigslist and found all sorts of solid wood furniture for under $50 per piece.

Am I the only one who draws the obvious conclusion about where to get seasoned hardwood? I have a sledge and a crowbar...

[Jeffrey Martel]

Your first mistake is buying wood from Home Depot. They charge 2-3x the cost of what you would pay at a hardwood lumber dealer, for lower quality wood.

[Jim Dwight]

I wouldn't look at old furniture as a good source of wood. The older of my two younger brothers used to refinish furniture and it was a reasonable way to get things at low cost. But for wood, the pieces would be short and thin by the time you got the old finish off. Value of short, thin, boards isn't great.

As has been stated, you need to find a better source. I've bought several times from a sawmill and been happy with the resulting material and price. It takes a bit more effort, however. There is a guy local that I've bought from too. He requires almost no additional effort and is cheaper than Home Depot. But for softwood, I also buy at Home Depot and Lowes (Lowes was cheaper last time I needed some wood). I haven't purchased that at a sawmill but I bet I could - and get better material at lower cost. I think I paid about $1.25/bd ft for the softwood 1x12s I last bought from Lowe's. I had to pick through the pile to get decent ones but I don't think that's a bad price. Clear would have been more and Home Depot was closer to $2/bd ft. $2 is pretty expensive for #2 common softwood.

[Steve H Graham]

There's another local place that has more variety and better service than Home Depot, but the prices on pine and poplar are only a little better. I tried the other place first. Their pine looked like a truck had been parked on it, and the other cheap alternative, poplar, all appeared to be cut from the outside of the log. I didn't want to buy something that looked like it had the potential to warp.

I have no idea where people in South Florida are supposed to get decent wood at reasonable prices. I doubt there is a sawmill within 200 miles.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

What are you building? IF you choose, you can recycle pallet wood. A surprising amount of wood (useable or not) is in a pallet. There is a whole new world of people that do that. Google pallet upcycling. Lots of info out there. Best of all, pallets can be found for free. There is a LOT of work involved in harvesting a few feet of "good" lumber, but it is there. If you can find the right market, people actually pay more for an upcycled item, like a end table or coffee table because it was made of pallet wood and it's the "green" thing to do.

BUT, recycling or upcycling used wood has problems, namely nails and other metals in the wood. A good metal detector is a necessity as well as a blade in your saw that is cheap or can cut metal. Pallet nails are SUPER hard, I don't think anyone makes a blade that can cut nails and wood... Other than a recip saw. That's how I take apart pallets.

Just a thought.....

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Pallet nails are SUPER hard, I don't think anyone makes a blade that can cut nails and wood... Other than a recip saw. That's how I take apart pallets.

Just a thought.....

Don't know how hard pallet nails are but have used this type of blade for demo work for years.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=7+1%2F4+nail+cutting+blade

Greg

[Victor Robinson]

In my experience tearing apart old furniture is only good for scrap wood. It comes in handy sometimes if I didn't have to expend a lot of energy or money in obtaining the wood. Recently a friend gave me an old solid hardwood desk he no longer wanted. Got quite a bit of small but excellent white oak out of it, which allowed me to make a lot of domino tenons, hardwood runners, and other jigs for the shop.

I wouldn't try to make it my primary means of wood acquisition. Even if the cost seems low, it is labor-intensive and difficult to get larger boards out of.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Don't know how hard pallet nails are but have used this type of blade for demo work for years.

Wow, thanks for the info! Didn't know they existed. Will have to get one. But I'll still use the recip saw to seperate the stringer from the slats.....
Pallet nails are way harder than "normal" nails. Plus, they are spiraled, making them real hard to pull out (on purpose). I've been making micro turning tools with them. They seem to work prety good for micro turning....

[Troy Turner]

Not sure how far south into FL you are, but check out woodfinder.com . Let's you put in your zip to get you started. Also, see if your guy has Alder down there. I switch from pine to that. Love the look and easy to work with. Smells better too I think :)

[Brian Henderson]

There's another local place that has more variety and better service than Home Depot, but the prices on pine and poplar are only a little better. I tried the other place first. Their pine looked like a truck had been parked on it, and the other cheap alternative, poplar, all appeared to be cut from the outside of the log. I didn't want to buy something that looked like it had the potential to warp.

I have no idea where people in South Florida are supposed to get decent wood at reasonable prices. I doubt there is a sawmill within 200 miles.

I don't know, Google found a bunch of them (http://www.yellowpages.com/south-florida-fl/sawmills) in seconds.

[Larry Edgerton]

Your first mistake is buying wood from Home Depot. They charge 2-3x the cost of what you would pay at a hardwood lumber dealer, for lower quality wood.


What he said.....

[dan petroski]

the only time I use recycled furniture wood is to repair other furniture. wife is an antique sewing machine restorer so we use some old wood there.
we burn 50,000 lbs of hard wood every year at $120.00 a cord or roughly 500 bd ft and save several logs to run through my sawmill. it is too bad shipping is so expensive we could redistribute some of our local wood.
you might look into joining a woodworking club in your area. they will know the sources for inexpensive wood . our woodturning club has a wood swap every year. see Northern Maine wood turners. com..... Dan

[Cody Colston]

I buy a lot of stuff at Home Depot, including some construction lumber, but I don't consider them a lumber yard even though they like to tout their "indoor lumber yard." All that means is that I have to pull my own lumber, load it on a cart, push it to the check-out and then load it into my truck/trailer...usually all by myself. I find their select Pine to be exceptional, both in quality and price. Their no. 2 stock is just that...no. 2 grade and no better or worse than any other no. 2 grade lumber.

I also second the suggestion to use woodfinder.com to locate lumber dealers in your area. Be aware, however, that quality hardwood lumber is not cheap. If you have the tools to joint and plane your lumber, then buying rough-sawn would be the best option...if you can find a source for rough-sawn. Good luck with your endeavors.

[Jason Mikits]

. Their pine looked like a truck had been parked on it, and the other cheap alternative, poplar, all appeared to be cut from the outside of the log. I didn't want to buy something that looked like it had the potential to warp.


The outside of the log or the jacket is typically the best part of the log. No juvenile wood, which shrinks more, and more clear. If it's dry it shouldn't warp anymore unless there is a drying defect. Just saying....

[Rod Sheridan]

There's another local place that has more variety and better service than Home Depot, but the prices on pine and poplar are only a little better. I tried the other place first. Their pine looked like a truck had been parked on it, and the other cheap alternative, poplar, all appeared to be cut from the outside of the log. I didn't want to buy something that looked like it had the potential to warp.

I have no idea where people in South Florida are supposed to get decent wood at reasonable prices. I doubt there is a sawmill within 200 miles.

Steve, most of us buy it rough and joint/plane it to dimension...........regards, Rod.

[Art Mann]

To answer your original question - no, you are not the only one who salvages old furniture for building material. At this moment, I have a computer desk made out of solid pine that my son gave me after finishing college. It is rickety from abuse but has some nice glued up side panels and top. I plan to disassemble it and cut it into pieces to make inspirational CNC carved signs out of. I wouldn't plan on using the material to construct furniture because it won't yield big enough pieces and I don't want to put too much time into building furniture out of pine.

[Larry Fox]

Your first mistake is buying wood from Home Depot. They charge 2-3x the cost of what you would pay at a hardwood lumber dealer, for lower quality wood.

+1 on this.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Depends on the piece you buy in order to salvage the material.

A chair would definitely not be worth the hassle. A big dining table with a solid top probably would. An armoire with solid, non-raised panel sides might be worth it. an end table, probably not.

As hobbyists, efficiency has less to do with whether it's a good decision since it's mostly about whether or not you enjoy what you spend your time doing. So if you don't mind doing the work of dismantling, stripping, and sanding, then go for it! You're also doing a good deed by keeping old furniture out the landfill and driving less demand to cut down trees.

I know I would hate the salvage process, and it would likely kill the enjoyment of the hobby in general for me. But good on ya if you it's worth it to you!

[rudy de haas]

I imagine (perhaps wrongly) that you are really interested in getting better quality wood at less than big box store retail price... if so:

1 - I found some people in Calgary (Alberta, rather far from you :) ) who buy a lot of hardwood, use most of it themselves, and sell the stuff they
don't want for about what they paid for it in multi-skid truckloads. The jatoba I got from them was first class, one third retail. There must be someone in
south Florida in the same position.. ?

2 - if what you want is thin wood, and you have a good planer with throw-away knives, hardwood flooring (especially remainders available via craigslist and other sites) is usually much cheaper than raw wood. I'm paying Windsor plywood here $16.50 a board foot for Santos mahogany, it's widely available here as flooring
for under $4 a square foot. It's half the thickness once you clean it up, and has short lengths, but it is cheap, nail free, and of consistent quality.

[Mike Schuch]

I have made quite a few shop and garage cabinets and shelves out of kiln dried 2 by stock from home depot planed down to about an inch think. I would never buy any other wood from HD through. The only thing more outrageous than their wood prices is their price on sticks of metal stock. They want 10x what the steel supplier wants for comparable stock.

[Brian Henderson]

I have made quite a few shop and garage cabinets and shelves out of kiln dried 2 by stock from home depot planed down to about an inch think. I would never buy any other wood from HD through. The only thing more outrageous than their wood prices is their price on sticks of metal stock. They want 10x what the steel supplier wants for comparable stock.

Unfortunately, you pay for convenience. You have to decide what's more important, your money or your time.

[Frank Pratt]

I imagine (perhaps wrongly) that you are really interested in getting better quality wood at less than big box store retail price... if so:

1 - I found some people in Calgary (Alberta, rather far from you :) ) who buy a lot of hardwood, use most of it themselves, and sell the stuff they
don't want for about what they paid for it in multi-skid truckloads. The jatoba I got from them was first class, one third retail. There must be someone in
south Florida in the same position.. ?

2 - if what you want is thin wood, and you have a good planer with throw-away knives, hardwood flooring (especially remainders available via craigslist and other sites) is usually much cheaper than raw wood. I'm paying Windsor plywood here $16.50 a board foot for Santos mahogany, it's widely available here as flooring
for under $4 a square foot. It's half the thickness once you clean it up, and has short lengths, but it is cheap, nail free, and of consistent quality.

Rudy, care to share the name of our Calgary supplier?

[johnny means]

Depends on what furniture. I bought a church full of old pews once. The seats alone yielded me about about 50 1.50x144x15 100+ year old white oak boards. Old veneered tables can yield some really useful veneered panels, if you can work them into a design. Stuff made from small parts, like dressers, aren't worth the effort in my opinion.

[Bruce Page]

Don't put too much faith in the Woodfinder database. While NM lumber prices are not friendly to woodworkers we do have a 1/2 dozen long time suppliers in town. Woodfinder doesn't list any of them. The nearest they list is Alpine in Santa Fe, the rest are out of state.

[Brian Henderson]

Don't put too much faith in the Woodfinder database. While NM lumber prices are not friendly to woodworkers we do have a 1/2 dozen long time suppliers in town. Woodfinder doesn't list any of them. The nearest they list is Alpine in Santa Fe, the rest are out of state.

I pointed that out a while back on another thread, absolutely none of the local dealers are on Woodfinder and one of the local Rocklers, which moved about 4 years ago, is still listed under the old address. They're not particularly swift.

[Steve H Graham]

Now that I think about it, my great aunt made a beautiful dining room table and chairs from the stairs of a high school where she worked.