Why is rough kiln dried pine so hard to find?

[David Sloan]

I am having trouble finding rough kiln dried good quality pine. I am in central Kentucky. I can easily get any rough domestic hardwood you can name in just about any thickness. I want to use pine however for a furniture project. Home Depot of course has 3/4" select pine boards at a staggering price. I need some 4/4 and 6/4 boards. As an experiment I picked out a pseudo quartersawn SYP 2x8 construction board at HD, ripped it into narrower pieces dimensioned it and glued it up. So far so good but some thinner pieces I dimensioned to practice dovetails warped pretty badly. According to HD website the SYP is kiln dried. Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks!

[Jim Becker]

Talke to a real lumber supplier rather than the 'borg. Places like HD specialize in "construction lumber" for the most part and yes, the S4S stuff they sell in pine, oak and poplar is uber expensive compared to a regular supplier. Whomever supplies your hardwood should also be able to provide higher grade KD pine, even if they don't stock it. KD pine/fir/SYP isn't dried to the same levels as is preferred for furniture building since the expectations for construction are different.

[David Sloan]

That's my real problem Jim. I'm aware of the limitations of construction lumber, I was just curious I guess. The places I buy rough cherry, walnut, ash, sycamore,oak, etc don't seem to have it. Years ago, I remember being able to get it from one supplier. I rarely use pine but for this large project I am wanting to use it. I'll make some more calls I guess, look more on the internet. I just find it strange so there must be a reason.Something to do with supply and demand I suppose.

[Jim Becker]

You might also talk with a locally owned "full service" independent lumber yard...the one that quality contractors use. The one I use for my "construction" needs also can get the better stuff, too. I get my D-Fir from them, for example. They order it and it takes a day; two at most for it to be there.

[Richard Coers]

You are looking in the wrong region of the country, find a small sawmill operation in the Northeast. Woodmizer can help you with that. Pine is about all you can find up there. You might also search for aspen, it's a good substitute for pine with a similar look.

[Mark Bolton]

Richard is on the money with this one. In KY your going to be dead. The only thing your going to find MAY be southern yellow pine or other pitchy/larchy pines and even those will be tough. Your only options locally will be to find a log home builder in your area (large that mills in-house not an assembler) or to look to the northeast or northern central US. But your not going to buy from either of those options for a few boards or even a few hundred feet unless you have luck with the log home builder option.

We are in central WV and you couldnt put your hands on KD eastern white Pine if you tried. Had a customer who built a log home and he was having material shipped in LTL from somewhere like Wisconsin. Landed on the dock on a skid and he picked it up on a trailer. Looked like nice stuff. A lot of 2"+ thick, 16-18" wide, dead rough, alongh with 1" stuff. Didnt feel try to the touch to me (damp/waxy) but was supposedly KD.

If your really looking for KD rough eastern white Pine (the material you see on the racks at the home center). You'll have to ship it in.

[Carl Beckett]

You are looking in the wrong region of the country, find a small sawmill operation in the Northeast. Woodmizer can help you with that. Pine is about all you can find up there. You might also search for aspen, it's a good substitute for pine with a similar look.

Correct. There is a zillion bf here in NE.

[Jim Becker]

Correct. There is a zillion bf here in NE.

More like a 'ba-zillion'...

[andrew whicker]

In Utah, pine at the 'actual lumber dealer' that is kiln dried is absurd. It's so expensive that you could make something out of hardwood and save money.

[David Sloan]

Thanks everyone. I am living in the wrong part of the country I guess. I don’t need much of the 6/4 pine so have thought of laminating the super expensive select pine at HD and then plane that. Not done that before; it’s not ideal.

[Carl Beckett]

Thanks everyone. I am living in the wrong part of the country I guess. I don’t need much of the 6/4 pine so have thought of laminating the super expensive select pine at HD and then plane that. Not done that before; it’s not ideal.

Funny, we always want what we dont have.... I yearn for the cheap and plentiful American hardwoods you find in PA, KY, WVa...

[Jared Sankovich]

Id guess 50 to 100 log trucks loaded with syp loblolly logs go past my house daily.. ive never seen any rough syp for sale in any of the local yards. The one local yard that had some white pine was based out of NH (and priced higher than hard maple)

[Marc Jeske]

"Kiln Dried" "construction lumber" that generally includes any variety of pine normally "2x" AND "1X" IS Kiln dried... but only to 19%.

Whether at Big Box or any Lumber yard, unless an odball specialty item.

Even most... at least AFAIK #1 Clear 1x SYP is just dried to 19%.

Just bought some 1x6 today... for a quick cheap "Plain Pine Box" customer wants that in this case will be in the dirt within a week... otherwise I always use lower MC Pine.

Furniture suitable SYP w a lower MC is pretty tough to find either s4s or rough.

Would your project allow you to accomodate use of higher MC stock?

Marc

[Marc Jeske]

Today, here in E TX, I bought s4s 1x6x8 #2 at $2.99/ board.

#1 which was super clear was $5.69 for same size.

Nearby competitor yard was $3.69 and $7.01 for same size.

I did not bother to check the MC in THIS case.. again, cause I knew it was going to be buried within a week.

No finish in this case.. Customer asked for bare sanded wood.

Marc

[Richard Young]

You might check with Steve Wall Lumber in North Carolina. They have white pine in various thicknesses listed as 'furniture grade' on their website. I'm not positve but, i believe their lumber comes rough-sawn unless you specify it skip-planed.