$10.00 A board foot for Cherry!!!

[Bob Weisner]

I just looked at a sawmill website in PA for the price of 16/4 Cherry. They want $10.00 a BOARD FOOT!!!! That price is unbelievable! I only pay $50.00 for a 16/4 Cherry board that was 17 inches wide and 8 feet long. It was air-dried at least 4 years. Is $10.00 a board foot for Cherry the going price for Cherry?

Thanks,

Bob

[Andy London]

Cherry is going through the roof here, my wholesale price I pay for select if $9.60 + 15% tax...min 300 BF order. Last year I paid $7.80, the year before that $5.40.

I am using a wood here called Cherry birch more and more, other than the weight and hardness you can hardly tell them apart.

[Brad Schmid]

Bob,

As far as the Houston area goes, that's probably not too far out of line (if you could even find it). My local mill only has Cherry up to 10/4 which is $7.25 /bf up to 8" wide. 10/4 over 8" wide is 7.95 /bf. If I wanted 16/4 here, it would likely be a special order and no doubt would be as much, or more than you're talking about.

On the other hand, my original home is Western PA, and that sounds a bit high for there...
Brad

[lou sansone]

hi bob

I am glad to hear that you can purchase cherry at such a reasonable price . If my math works out correctly that boils down to 1.10 per bd foot. I have been able to find some pretty good deals on lumber ( I have recently posted my wood storage facility on SMC entitled "shop tour #2" where you can see what I have in mind) but I have to say with all possible respect ( and not to start some big fight where no one can win ) that lumber in those dimensions (16/4 by 17" wide ) at that price does seem just a little bit unbelievable. Have I bought saw logs for my mill at those prices? Yes I have, but they were basically pallet grade logs @ 80 cents / bd foot and not of sufficient size to obtain planks 16/4 17" wide without the pith. Did the piece of wood that you purchased have the pith still in it or was it clear of that central section? Was the 17" clear of all sap wood?

I agree that 10 per bd foot is sort of steep, but if you are looking for a true 17" wide, red face on all sides and no pith of any type, no pitch pockets or other defects (FAS), 16/4 thick, then market prices are going to be higher than 1.10 / bd foot IMHO.
lou

[Frank Bertrand]

Wow Bob, I couldn't even find a 4" thick, 17" wide piece of cherry let alone pay that little for it!! You're a lucky man. Care to fill us in where we could find something like that?

[Ernie Hobbs]

in Huntsville, AL, it is $2.00 a BF at the local sawmill but at the retail hardwood place it is $6.00 a BF. I can get just a good a quality at the sawmill, as long as I pick through the boards.

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

Here is how I got the 16/4 Cherry.

The sawmill that I have been buying my lumber from is just a small , one-man sawmill. I don't think he saws much more than 2 or 3 dozen logs all Summer.

I was at the sawmill last year looking for some thicker lumber to maybe use as turning stock. I was looking for some thick Maple or Elm, but he did not have any in stock. I then noticed the thick slabs of Cherry stacked against the back wall of the barn. I should have noticed it when I walked in , because it was straight ahead of me when I walked into the barn, but he does not have many lights in the barn , so it was hard to see. (1 light in the whole barn, way up in the hayloft.)

I asked him what was the price on the Walnut, (it was dark inside and the wood had been sitting in the same spot for 4 years). He said, "Bob, that's not Walnut, thats Cherry". I asked what the price was and he said " Oh, I don't know. Let me think about it It was about then that I thought it was a mistake to ask. You know the old saying " If you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it". He then pulls out a pencil and starts writing on a piece of paper. He said "does $50.00 sound OK to you??!!"
I thought about the price for about 1/10,000th of a second and said YES!! Turns out that the Cherry Had ALOT!! of dust and dirt on it from sitting in the old barn all those years.

I used an electric hand planer to plane roughness off the face of the boards. I did not want to ruin expensive blades on my Jet planer. The Cherry turned out to be a pretty good board with some curl on about 2 feet of it. There was only one spot that was no good. It was a knot hole about the size of a silver dollar. I cut that off and was able to salvage the rest of the board.

The sawmill owner sold 2 of the thick Cherry pieces to someone else. There are still 2 peices left. I will be getting them this Summer.

Bob

[Roger Barga]

Good for you Bob - just goes to show that it never hurts to ask the price of something ;-) You know that you're now on the hook to share pictures of the finished project that you make with that cherry.

cheers,
roger

[Joseph N. Myers]

Around here, 16/4 FAS walnut goes for around $11.00/bf. Not sure but cherry is usually more expensive than walnut (if you can find it). At $1.10.bf, you got an excellent buy. One way to sell it is cut it up into squares for turning (get the dimensions from the buyer), sell it for a reasonable discount and you should have numerous buyers. I'm planning on selling some of my 16/4 Walnut like that.

BTW, around here, Clear usually sells for about 70% more than FAS. And prices really jump once you get over 2". For instance, at one of the more favorite places around here, prices for FAS 4/4, 8/4, 12/4 and 16/4 walnut is $4.25, $5.30, $10.30 and $11.30.

Regards, Joe

[Michael Pfau]

Hi Bob, I pay around 7 to 8 dollars Per BF here in western Montana, and it comes from PA. Very nice wood but only up to 8/4. and 8 to 10 foot lengths.

[Fred Voorhees]

Bob, that is probably, and unfortunately, a fair price these days. My rough sawn wood supplier has been telling me for a year or so that cherry would be going through the roof and I guess that the time is now.

[Jim Becker]

My rough sawn wood supplier has been telling me for a year or so that cherry would be going through the roof and I guess that the time is now.

Yea, he told me the same thing last year. Of course, that was when he had about a dozen logs sitting around the barn to mill!! I'm a little scared to go over and find out what the price is as the last time it was under three bucks. I stopped at a new place today after lunch that just recently opened up north of Doylestown and they quoted $7 but were "willing to move" if that "was out of line". Chuckle chuckle...