Cheaper source of wood than big box stores?

[Matt Badmajon]

As you know, wood (especially hardwoods) at Home Depot or Lowes is very expensive. It's so expensive that its often cheaper to buy factory made items than build your own. Of course the factory made stuff is junk so you get what you pay fore.

I also do welding/metalwork and I never buy my metal from HD/Lowes, I buy it from a metal supply company. It's 1/3rd the price and they have a better selection. Does the same thing exist for furniture quality wood? I know there's building supply companies out there where you can buy a ton of 2x4s but that's not the kind of wood I'm looking for. I'm looking for preferably pre-planed oak, maple, cherry, even poplar would be okay too.

Thanks for the help.

-Matt

[Peter Quinn]

Yes, there are hardwood lumber yards that supply cabinet and furniture makers. I have at least 3-4 good ones within 50 miles, several within 10 miles of my shop. And my local builders supply carries a selection of hardwood plywood and S4S hardwoods that are cheaper than big box but more than the hardwood supplier. I suppose it depends on your location, some may have fewer choices and more distance. Big box markup is roughly 4X the cost from a wood supplier, but much of what is available in my local yard is either rough or hit/mis planed so you have to be prepared to mill it. Some will mill it for you, even flatten, but you pay for that, still cheaper than big box, and its generally done right. I did a job some years ago for a builder who's client had a big box commercial credit card, so all building materials came from there....Needed 1 1/2" X5" sill nosing. They don't stock 6/4 or 8/4 at the big box, so I had to laminate to thickness, it was paint grade, the mill finish on the big box S4S is so bumpy its useless as a glue joint. Tried to convince them to produce some cash, go to local yard, save big $$$, rejected. They wound up paying about double in labor to have me laminate that junk and 4X in lumber versus buying rough poplar. Go figure.

Also check saw mills, many will sell direct, some have KD lumber, if you are prepared to air dry savings can be substantial.

[Lee Schierer]

Add your location to your profile and I'm sure other folks near you can point out some good sources. You can also use Woodfinder to locate sources.

[Rich Engelhardt]

A location of where you are would help a lot.
Here in NE Ohio, woods like cherry, red oak and poplar are pretty common and can be found at numerous local lumber yards - either in rough form of S4S (surfaced four sides).

Craig's List, under "materials" also has a good number of listings for both kiln dried and air dried wood.
They are priced by the board foot and some will also joint and plane the wood for a small fee - usually charged per lineal foot.

BTW - if terms like S4S, 4/4, 6/4, 8/4, board foot, paint grade and/or anything else seem unclear - just ask for clarification.

[glenn bradley]

A lumber yard will have a superior product but, the 1/3 the price model probably doesn't hold true. You will however get more usable material from properly prepared and stored material. I tried to save money once by buying dimensional lumber at the BORG to make a work bench base. By the time I got the amount of usable material I needed, there was so much waste that I could have bought decent stock at the lumber yard and come out ahead.

[steven c newman]

IF there are any Amish mills around your area, check them out. In my little neck of the woods.....there are at least TEN such within ten miles of my house. Plus a LARGE Amish area in the next county to the north.

[Prashun Patel]

Your cost doesnt go way down until you start buying rough. Consider biting the bullet on a planer and a jointer or jointing plane. Doing the final milling yrself has many advantages including cost. It will be straighter on average, and your choices of species and thicknesses will go way up.

if u are willing to buy more than 100 bf at a shot, mail order also becomes a viable option.

ask for specials, shorts,, or cancelled orders.

[Curt Harms]

My experience with air dried lumber from a saw mill has been good. I don't plan on bringing it home and using it right away though. If it's winter and the wood has been in a heated building that helps. A means of determining moisture is mandatory and buying rough lumber is one reason I bought a 12" jointer planer. The last time I bought red/white oak I paid $1.60/bd.ft. and that's probably high for rough sawn but this was stacked and dried properly. They had ash for $1.25 but were out of that when I was there last.

[Myk Rian]

Rough-sawn is all I buy,so I also have an 8" jointer. I get it from local sawyers. Often, excavation companies have it, or know where to go.
About $2.50 bd/ft. for 5/4.

[johnny means]

Curt, where are you buying lumber at? My local giant lumber supplier in PA couldn't touch those prices. Those prices are definitely not high. Last time I got a deal like that was at a sheriffs sale, and I had to buy a couple of thousand bf.

[Peter Kelly]

$1.60 bd/ft for white or red oak is excellent. Even Hicksville Planing is more expensive.

Please let us know!

[Jim Andrew]

There is a lot more info on mills on forestryforum.com. Personally, I bought myself a used bandmill as I have trees on my farm, so don't have to buy wood. Just plywood. Of course all I use is native woods. But after you get a mill, you need a way to handle logs, so you need a tractor with fel and forks, or a skidsteer with forks, and you need a complete shop setup, maybe a shop building, and someplace to store the lumber. It goes on and on.

[Scott Rychnovsky]

There are no forest in Southern California, so I do not expect to find local mills. There is a very nice hardwood supplier, but it seems expensive: I priced out 8/4 cherry at $ 5.85 bf, and the quarter sawn stuff was twice that. For small projects it is fine, but if I want to use a lot of boards I should look for other options. Does it make sense to buy a lot of rough cherry on the east coat and ship it out here? Advice would be appreciated.

[Lee Schierer]

I priced out 8/4 cherry at $ 5.85 bf, and the quarter sawn stuff was twice that.

If you can get 8/4 cherry for that price you should buy it. You won't find it cheaper by buying it east and shipping it.

[Dan Rude]

I have picked up some good wood at a shop that makes molding and he had a nice selection for a good price. My biggest score was a estate auction where I paid $280 for a Pickup load. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/archive/...t-139586.html? I am still working on it and have a lot left. I also am picking up a lot of scrap oak from furniture being trashed by federal and state agencies during remodeling projects. I also have gotten some nice size scraps of plywood from shipping crates and cabinets. My wife says what did you bring home this time. Dan