“Live Edge” lumber prices

[Brian W Evans]

The price they pay for ugly lumber influences the price I have to pay for better lumber in a negative way.

Exactly. Several sellers on CL near me who run sawmills have stopped selling lumber and are now selling slabs. I used to be able to find good deals pretty regularly but I've seen nothing in almost a year.

Not begrudging anyone their profits, or questioning anyone's taste, but it does affect me.

[Jim Becker]

Interesting thing I recently saw , " vacuum kiln dried " roubo bench kits sold by Matt Cremona . The process got 6 - 7 inch blanks down to 7% moisture level in a week , which would have taken years normally . He is just getting going with it but he is moving them all so far . His main focus had been slabs / live edge , which continues . But something new to me I hadn't seen , thought it was neat .

The method that Matt is leveraging isn't just beneficial for the thicker stuff. You may have noticed he sometimes takes some very thin slices off those huge logs to be used as door skins, etc., and those dry perfectly flat in the vacuum kiln his friend owns because of the way that pressure is applied. It's a very kewel (and fast) process...

[Lloyd McKinlay]

As with most things, it's more nuanced than "the customer is a dope" and "hey, if they can charge it and get away w/ it, more power to them". I don't idolize people that can sell something to a new user at an over priced rate. That's lame.

All of us buyers buy stuff we know nothing about. We expect the seller to be fair and to explain the product / service and pricing. I don't know where this infatuation came from to idolize people that knowingly take advantage from others came from, but I'm well over it. It seems that many of our American population think that way. Odd to me, because my immediate reaction is disgust. I find it very strange that people make money off the backs of the ignorant and congratulate themselves.

Fully agree.

[John TenEyck]

I would like it if more people would do a little research on wood drying, what a board foot is, and so forth before they came to buy lumber from me. I figure if they're online they must have access to that information, and sometimes I get tired of trying to explain this stuff. Especially since I am far from being an expert myself.

That means you are dealing with consumers and not woodworkers. They have no clue about board feet, moisture content, etc., until you educate them. I don't have that problem with the people who buy lumber from me, but I did with the folks buying slabs until I made it simple for them. I only sell kiln dried wood and I point out why that's important in my ad, and I sell by the piece, not by the board foot. People understand and appreciate knowing what the price is before deciding whether or not to come and look at a slab.

John