Is this a good deal on wood?

[Jeff Cremers]

I was talking to a neighbor and he said he could sell me rough cut red oak for 2.00 bd ft. and rough cut quarter sawn red oak for 3.00 bd. ft. but it is green or fesh cut , this is my only draw back.
I know it would take a year for it to be usable at an inch thickness and so on.

Is that a good price?

How much would it cost me to pay someone to kiln dry it? ( I know it depends on my area and so, I'm just trying to get a ball park on the kiln dry price.)

Thanks
jeff

[Karl Brogger]

No. I've been paying less than $2 a bd/ft for s2s + straightlined.

[Prashun Patel]

Round me that's a good deal especially if you can get him to give you that price for 5/4 or 6/4 qs.

[Matt Ellis]

something else to keep in mind. there is no real advantage to quartersawing red oak, other than maybe a tiny bit more of dimensional stability. its ray fleck is not nearly as prominent as QSWO.

-matt

[Chris Padilla]

Jeff,

Where's home? That'll make a BIG difference on price. You may wish to fill that out in your profile.

[scott spencer]

I pay that for kiln dried rough sawn oak in WNY.

[Jeff Cremers]

Home is in Central Texas

and thanks for the heads up about the ray flakes in Red Oak vs. White Oak
Jeff

[Matthew Hills]

something else to keep in mind. there is no real advantage to quartersawing red oak, other than maybe a tiny bit more of dimensional stability. its ray fleck is not nearly as prominent as QSWO.

red oak does have pretty prominent grain patterns, so quarter-sawn may still be desirable for some uses, even if it is fleckless.

Matt

[glenn bradley]

On the left coast the price per boardfoot changes with the thickness and width of the boards so it is hard to say. I would call your local (or not so local) lumber yard and double check based on size. Green, it does not seem like that great a deal.

[Jeff Mohr]

Around here (SC) I know guys who sell green red oak for 1/3-1/2 of that price. I've gotten kiln dried for the prices you were quoted.

[Kevin Stobb]

Here in Wisconsin...I get 4/4 red oak kiln dried for 2.00 a b/f....2.45 4/4 white oak.....add about .75 to either for quartersawn.

[John Keeton]

I wouldn't pay any extra for QS red oak - just not worth it for me. On QSWO, I just made a deal with a guy to cut 400' at $.75/ft, with most at 1 1/8", and some at 3.5". Red oak is $.60/ft just about anywhere around here, but that will be #2 and better.

Although, as I mentioned in another thread, the economy is having a strange effect. Some of my previous sources - smaller sawmills - just aren't cutting anything that isn't presold.

So, even though prices are good, availability is not so good. I have turned to searching for guys with portable sawmills that have access to timber.

[Dell Littlefield]

Check out M&G sawmill. They are in Huntsville and I have heard lots of good things about them. Since I am in Florida, I haven't had a chance to visit them. Their kiln dried select oak seems to be a better deal to me.

http://www.mgsawmill.com/product.htm

[Rob Russell]

something else to keep in mind. there is no real advantage to quartersawing red oak, other than maybe a tiny bit more of dimensional stability. its ray fleck is not nearly as prominent as QSWO.

-matt

Oh, I beg to differ. QSRO has plenty of ray fleck. I've got 1000 BF of RO stacked outside under cover. Some of it is QSRO and that has plenty of fleck in it.

[Barry Richardson]

Doesn't sound like a good deal. If it was Kiln dried; yes. But FWIT, I like QSRO very much, (and/or riff sawn) for it's quieter and classier grain pattern, it's worth the premium for me.

[David Keller NC]

Jeff - I'm thinking this isn't exactly a good deal, but it might not be a really bad one, either. It depends on what the local red oak species are - my thought is that in at least some parts of Texas, the predominant species is Live Oak, and that's sometimes sold as red oak. Live oak doesn't work very well with hand tools - the grain is very interlocked, at least on some that I tried.

If, and only if, your supplier has some huge (minimum 4 feet in diameter) trees that grew straight and tall in a forest (as opposed to secondary growth in an open pasture), then you might be able to get some 15" wide quarter-sawn red oak boards. That'd easily be worth $3 a b.f. here in NC, where red oaks are the dominant forest species (i.e., it's common).

[Jerry Olexa]

Not a great price IMHO. Esp since its green. You can do better on Oak.

[Peter Gregory]

Lots of factors that are unknown. If it has been stickered at his place for a year or two, it is worth more. If it is all from the same tree, it is worth more. If the QSRO has lots of figure/fleck, it is worth more. If it is just a random assortment of oak, newly cut, green, and nothing special, it is worth $1 to $1.50/bf IMHO. This assumes you have a place to sticker it for a year or two, in a protected place. If you don't have a place to lay it up for a year or two, don't mess with it.

If you want it, cut a deal to take down the whole thing. I doubt he wanted to get his original price. Make him an offer and be prepared to walk away.

Good luck.

[Kevin Godshall]

(will post my gloat here)

In August I got to cut firewood in the lot next door. Idea was to cut anything dead, fallen or standing. I came out with 8 cord of firewood, mostly red oak. I also came out with about 14 straight 8' lengths that I took to the neighbor 1/4 mile down the road.

Long story short, he calls me this week, tells me my wood is ready. I take tractor and wagon down, and load up 450 bd ft of mostly 5/4 material. For good measure, he has cut about 15 planks (8/4), just in case I have need of em.

How much for the sawing? Well, he says, maybe someday you can build a cabinet or bookcase for the missus.

My shop now smells like drying "free" red oak, thank you very much.