Reply To: Getting ripped off?
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Well, Whitney, do you in fact need blinker fluid? First off, you are in an unenviable position, with no car, so this complicates your situation–and then you are a woman (egads). there are multiple issues, so let’s get too it. There seems to be disconnect between what “you want”, e.g. your expectation and the final “dimensioned out” quote. Depending on the grade maple you wanted(more waste in lower grades) you should expect 30 to 50% waste–others may say this is too much, but it depends on how perfectionist you are. So,if you think your Green and Green table will use 37 bd ft., at 10$/ft., and you EXPECT a wood cost of $370, it might be that someone else, looking at your plans, might get to a higher figure, and then there are shipping costs, which might easily double the cost from your original estimate.
For example, I recently purchased a 10 bd. ft. pack of red oak delivered to my Maryland address for $80. Obviously this comes out to way more than anyone is quoting red oak per bd. ft. That said, it was top quality stuff delivered to my door, and it was up to me to lay it out as frugally/persnickity as I wished.
If you want to buy from a local mill, it might pay to rent a vehicle, either to visit the mill, or depending on how much wood you need and the type vehicle you rent to visit and take away what you need. Paul has many good ideas, and one of his best is to build a prototype using inexpensive wood (from local suppliers, e.g., HD, Lowes, Galliher & Huguely) and this will help with details like layout, before you go off to the hinterlands in search of that killer piece of curly maple. In any case, at some point you will need to extablish a relationship with a wood source, and this is best done face to face. Hope this helps.
Jim Mount