buying local air-dried lumber

[Curtis Niedermier]

Several folks around my parts have posted lumber for sale on local online classifieds. Typically, they had the trees cut and sawed on their property and then stacked the boards in a barn. Now, 20 or so years later, they've realized they won't use it and want to sell it.

My question to you all is, how do I dodge crappy lumber, and is it worth it to buy from folks like this?

I assume I'll need to check the boards for bugs, wormholes, etc. And obviously if lumber is all twisted and poorly stacked it's probably best to avoid. But are there any other things to watch for?

Isn't air-dried lumber supposed to be a treat for hand tool woodworkers?

My only experience buying local lumber has been from a guy who converted a trailer into a kiln, and honestly the lumber never seemed to be fully dry (I don't have a moisture meter), plus it didn't work like other kiln-dried lumber. I can't really explain it other than it was a booger to work all the time. It was a mix of red oak and white oak.

Anyway, there are some good "deals" out there, but I don't want to waste my money. Can anyone advise?

[Jim Belair]

I'd take lumber that had air dried for 20 years over kiln dried any day. How do you avoid crappy lumber? Just pick the pieces as you would any stock. Or take the bad with the good for a better price and use the twisted etc. stock for smaller items.

[Jim Koepke]

Maybe take a few planes with you to see if the wood chips out a lot.

I have bought lumber from a local sawyer. It needs to be looked over just as carefully as when buying from the borg or a lumber yard.

Take the wood outside into the light if need be to inspect for cracks and other defects.

Take a small mallet of block of wood for tapping the pieces to find soft spots or internal rot.

We will want pictures of what you find and what comes home with you.

jtk

[Daniel Rode]

I bought about 200 BF Walnut that had air dried in a barn for 20+ years. It was mostly left overs. About 1/2 was under 5" wide, much of it with major twists and bows, plenty of knots. On the plus side, it was $1.25 / BF and had virtually no sapwood. I'd say about 1/3 of it was fairly straight and clear. That was worth the entire price. The rest is nice to use for smaller things and accents. I probably still have 50 BF, but not much of the really nice stuff.

Over the years, I've checked out other barn finds but never bought any. Never found anything I thought I would use for furniture. Today, I buy from an Amish kiln. Good selection, good prices and the wood is consistent. You have to go see a lot of wood before find something worth buying and I just don't have that kind of time.

[Curtis Niedermier]

One local seller just emailed me some info. Said some of the wood "has little worm holes" in it. Is that something I don't want to bring into my garage? it makes me nervous.

[Chris Hachet]

One local seller just emailed me some info. Said some of the wood "has little worm holes" in it. Is that something I don't want to bring into my garage? it makes me nervous.

You can treat it with Bora care, but it would make me nervous.

[Kees Heiden]

If the wormholes are only in the sapwood, you can cut those parts of.

[Mike Cherry]

Curtis, I don't know about air dried lumber, but kiln dried with worm holes is generally pretty safe. I think I'd err on the side of caution with that lumber. Do you have a place outside your home that you can put a tarp over it and store it? That might give you a little more time to keep an eye on the lumber so you can look for little signs of bugs like mounds of sawdust.

[Tom McMahon]

Many times a land owner will have a wood lot logged, the loggers will come in and take all the good logs off and leave the cull logs and tops lay in the woods. The land owner will then have somebody come in with a portable mill and saw the tops and culls into boards. Much of this lumber can be reaction wood and can be hard to work with. When I look at this kind of lumber I want to see a flitch so I can see where the pith was in the log and the pattern of the growth rings. If there are a lot of bowed boards with a lot on knots it probably came out of tops and I would leave it. Worm holes are most likely powder post beetles, I don't worry about them because I have a kiln.

[Allan Speers]

One local seller just emailed me some info. Said some of the wood "has little worm holes" in it. Is that something I don't want to bring into my garage? it makes me nervous.

What Chris said. Bora Care. The holes are likely from Powder Post Beetles. The holes mean the larvae have hatched & flown off, but unfortunately, mature females tend to come back to where they were born to lay more eggs. Internal damage after 20 years could be massive. It could also be mild. There's no way to know without milling the lumber.

If the price is REALLY good, then I would definitely still consider it. Air dried lumber is wonderful, and if it's been outdoors for most of its life, it will also be more stable than "indoor" wood. A very twisted piece of 8/4 can yield a totally stable piece of 4/4. (As long as it was from a bole, not some branch reaction wood.) Note though it's only certain species that significantly benefit from air drying. (This is probably a big topic for debate.) Walnut & Cherry would likely top the list. Oak & Maple, not so much.

If you make Bora Care yourself (see my sticky in the sawyer section) and are fairly careful with application, it should coast you around 5 cents per BF. It does not affect machining or finishing in any way.

- but this situation COULD add significantly to the price you are paying, as you don't know how much might end up as waste.

[Chris Hachet]

It also could get you some really spectacular lumber. Friend of a woodworking friend should be cutting sole old growth walnut next month...nothing wrong with taking a few risks.

[Gary Cunningham]

Today I bought 140 bf (more or less)of air dried cherry from a local guy.
The quote was $1.50/ft. Total price was $180.00. He gave me pretty good deal.

I made an edge grain counter top out of the last batch from him, and for a newbie woodhack it turned out rather well.