How much does your timber cost you?

[Albert Lee]

I used to get this great deal of $400 USD per 1m3 (35 ft3) for a standard 4 x 1 Radiata Pine(kiln dried, D4S and cut to length) from my local merchant who buys from a mill.

Now the mill has closed down, I have to find a new supplier, and here are some timber cost at my local merchant.

USA white oak FAS KD RS, $2000USD per 35ft3 for 7 x 1
USA cherry, Super Prime KD RS, 1" random width, $3000 USD per 35ft3
USA black walnut super prime KD RS 1" random width, $3900 USD per 35ft3

Interested to know how much you pay for your timber?

[Bill Space]

Just to confirm, 35ft3 is 35 cubic feet, right?

35 cubic feet would be 420 board feet.

Prices in the USA are generally per board foot.

So you are paying $2000/420 or US$ $4.76 for USA white oak. $7.14 per BF for cherry, and $9.28 for walnut.

I have not not bought any lumber for a while. I will let someone who has check my math and give you an idea on prices here...

Bill

[Jim Andrew]

This is the reason I bought a bandmill about 12 years ago. I have a farm, lots of trees, and with a bandmill. I buy no wood except some plywood. You can not imagine the work in cutting your own lumber, from cutting the trees down, dealing with the brush, then taking to the mill and sawing and drying your own lumber.

[Rick Fisher]

He's buying it by the Cubic Meter, 424 or 429 BF.. Cant remember . Saw mills buy and sell by the cubic meter.

[Brian Tymchak]

My local lumbermill (Almendingers) has these prices (bf) for rough KD on their website:

WO: 4/4 $3.00, 8/4 = $5.50, 4/4 QS = $6.00
Cherry: 4/4 = $3.50, 8/4 = $4.50
Walnut: 4/4 = $5.50, 8/4 = $6.50

I would assume there is a substantial upcharge for shipping in your case, although not as much as I would have guessed.

[Mark Bolton]

You got that right. When you factor out the hours its some of the most expensive lumber you'll ever have in your shop. We have a mill and 115 acres with a lot of timber. We saw quite a bit for the shop but only high quality material because there is just no way we can saw our own lumber for anywhere near what we can buy it for.

[Mike Baker 2]

Albert, that's a lot of wood. I generally buy very small lots, due to budget and storage limitations.
The lumber place where I have bought the wood to build my guitars with for the last 7-8 years closed down last year. The closest place to find quality lumber now is 60-70 miles away from me; one way.
There is no way I can drive that distance right now, so I'm at an impasse RE what to do. And in the meantime, I will have to focus on Red Oak , Pine or Poplar from Lowes, locally. No more White Ash, Cherry, Mahogany. :(
The Home Depot in Winchester carries(or used to, haven't been there in a bit) Maple, so that is another option I will most certainly use.
But both places the price is higher than what I am used to from the lumber yard.
Will need to do some more research.

[Ted Reischl]

I used to get this great deal of $400 USD per 1m3 (35 ft3) for a standard 4 x 1 Radiata Pine(kiln dried, D4S and cut to length) from my local merchant who buys from a mill.

Now the mill has closed down, I have to find a new supplier, and here are some timber cost at my local merchant.

USA white oak FAS KD RS, $2000USD per 35ft3 for 7 x 1
USA cherry, Super Prime KD RS, 1" random width, $3000 USD per 35ft3
USA black walnut super prime KD RS 1" random width, $3900 USD per 35ft3

Interested to know how much you pay for your timber?

You are comparing apples to oranges. Radiata pine is a sofwood, fast growing. The stuff you are whinging about is hardwood imported from the US. Actually, your black walnut price is below what I would pay for it in my area.

[Randall J Cox]

I just bought a bunch of white oak, a little over 120 board feet and paid about 4.75 USD per board ft for 4/4. Central Calif.

[glenn bradley]

So you are paying $2000/420 or US$ $4.76 for USA white oak. $7.14 per BF for cherry, and $9.28 for walnut.

Not exactly but, these are certainly in the ball park for the left coast.

[Ted Reischl]

Not exactly but, these are certainly in the ball park for the left coast.

The walnut price is quite a bit lower than what I would have to pay in my area. There are two places here, both of them charge about 12/bf for walnut.

[John K Jordan]

The walnut price is quite a bit lower than what I would have to pay in my area. There are two places here, both of them charge about 12/bf for walnut.

Yikes, I have a Woodmizer and I cut a few turning blanks but most of the walnut I get goes into firewood.

I'm about to start on a huge pile of white oak (from three big trees), a medium-sized pile of eastern red cedar, with osage, ash, and pine waiting in the wings. I wonder if woodworkers in an area could somehow start a cooperative sawmill. Organizing to maintain and run it fairly might be a big challenge, though.

JKJ

[Evan Stewart]

I live in the Washington D.C. area and the prices vary significantly from place to place. For example there is a purveyor in northern Virginia about 10 miles from D.C. that is outrageous, $8+ BF cherry, $7 BF oak $7 poplar all rough cut. If i go to rural Maryland about 40 miles from D.C. I'm paying less than half that price from a guy that runs his own mill. The small family owned lumber mill up the street from me in rural Maryland charges $3-4 a BF for hardwoods but they dont cary a large stock and i have to pick through the pile to find decent boards. If finances allow i generally try to make a trip to the cheaper mill every couple of months and pick up what i will need for several projects.

[Brian W Evans]

The prices Bill calculated up above are essentially what I pay in New England, except for the walnut, which is cheaper for you for some reason. I guess buying in quantity is saving you some money. I live 10 minutes from a wholesale hardwood supplier who would sell me lumber for 1/6 what I pay for it - provided I bought a tractor trailer full. Kills me every time I drive past their mill...

[J.R. Rutter]

I pay that for prime walnut in the NW USA.