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Thread: Buying lumber from a cut list.

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    On the river in Ohio
    Posts
    435

    Cool Try Plan B

    Plan B is having a large stock of your favorite lumber. When you need a certain piece just go to the stack and get a piece that is just about the right size.

  2. #32
    I spend a lot of time sorting thru pieces to make sure I got the same grain type and coloring.

    And I did think of the "screw it, I'll just buy a ton of it and deal when home." At least a can have a beer or 6 while sorting. =) However, while I'm not woodworking to make money I was aware of the "having too much inventory on hand is bad business." But then again, spending 2 hours of labor picking thru wood must be bad business as well.

    After I finally got what I needed someone told me they could have taken the forklift and pulled a stack off the warehouse shelf for me to look thru. I'm sure that would have been easier.

    Also, it didn't even occur to me to glue up pieces. I literally just bought a jointer too.

    Either way, I have my wood and will let the sawdust fly. My garage smells like cedar and thats a happy smell.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Northern Illinois
    Posts
    943
    As I have moved through time in woodworking, I find that matching boards to each other where that matters is most important. It certainly is important to know how wide and long these boards must be in the end, but making the project look good is still the highest priority. So, for me, I buy whatever I need to match wood that must be glued together and to make the project look good to me. Sometimes, because wood suppliers don't always have exactly what I want, that means I end up buying quite a bit more board feet than the work requires. I tend to buy wood from a place that, while more expensive, there is less waste and I buy less wood. In addition, the wood is generally of much better quality. I have been lucky to consistently have a supplier like that available locally.

  4. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    choose either economy or aesthetics. I have been disappointed every time I try to hit both targets completely.

    Or choose cheaper wood so you can buy extra.



    You can also sometimes get deals on shorts.
    A couple of local lumber places here run special sale when they get a huge lot of lumber now and then. I check them out once in a few months when my stock runs low to see if any sale deals are on. Even if I have to drive an hour to get them, they are worth the time whether as a Plan B or Plan A. 50% to 65% off the regular prices for comparable ash, cherry, walnut and even mahogany. Most are planed both sides, and they let you roam around and choose the straightest pieces you can find. It can be a four hour exercise, but after a fully loaded truck, I could be easily saving half a grand or more. That is like making more than $100 an hour, the rate not even a full-time furniture maker gets.

    Simon

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    San Benito, TX
    Posts
    65
    Just build everything out of maple. Not figured or spalted or anything crazy. Generic maple is easy to match.

  6. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Day View Post
    Taking just a the cultist is asking for a headache. Try to simplify it and put your pieces into categories by thickness and width. Show up to the lumberyard knowing you need, for example, (4) 6” wide 8’ long 4/4 boards, 2 8” wide 4/4 10’ boards, and (2) 5” wide 8/4 8’ boards. Of course you’ll find some boards that are a bit narrower, wider or longer, but make those decisions at the yard. Round up at home when you make your list.
    That’s generally how I do it at least.
    This is how I do it and it works pretty well.

  7. #37
    Sometimes the cut list determines what wood gets used for a project. Some woods like birch around here tend to be only available in narrower widths, so I don't use it where I need wider boards, I try to go with red oak for those as it is usually available wide. White pine is available wide and long and knot free. Hard maple can often be found wide, but often not flat.

    Things change too. Some woods like walnut are ridiculously expensive despite poor quality, and some woods like cherry are now quite inexpensive despite high quality. A dozen years ago it was the reverse, go figure.

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