The next project…
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- This topic has 56 replies, 25 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 1 month ago by Ken.
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22 February 2013 at 7:36 pm #8344
Florian,
It’s weird, considering the fact that Oak and Beech are native to the UK, that the price is so high. Even softwoods are more expensive than you pay for hardwoods – about £3.50 or £4 per meter of 6″ wide, 1″ thick redwood!
I priced up the cut list for the coffee table today just to see how much it’ll be when I get round to starting it once my workshop is finished. I wanted to get it all at once as it’s often cheaper if you buy more in one go and get longer lengths. Excluding the legs, unless my calculations are wrong, you could get all the pieces from 9.25m of 6″ wide, 1″ thick timber (this is how we roll in the UK – mixing metric and imperial!). Getting a bit more than needed, you’d need 4 2.4m lengths, giving 9.6m in total. The cheapest price I could find for oak is just under £75 and I have never bought kiln dried oak boards from that supplier so I don’t know what the quality would be like (listed as first quality though). I’ve already got oak for the legs (some reclaimed 4″ square posts) but they’d be extra!
Reclaimed timber and old furniture can be a great source of cheaper timber over here but it’s unpredictable and becoming more competitive. There are other avenues but you have to look hard for them. I know a guy who does house clearances and gets a fair bit of timber in all sorts of dimensions and species. He stores it in his barn so I pop over there when I’m on the lookout for something. However, it’s still unpredictable, and he might not have anything near the dimensions I’m after. He sometimes has some great stuff although it might not be what I need. Handy person to know but it’s hard to find people like that.
George.
23 February 2013 at 12:09 am #8363Hey Florian
As Johan stated, lumber is sold in the US in Board Feet.
One cubic yard would be equivalent to 324 board feet.
Using your conversion one cubic meter would be 424.44 board feet.
1″ Red Oak runs about $4.00 a board foot. White Oak is slightly higher in price. Quartersawn for either is roughly double those prices.
So, that would mean a Cubic Yard of Red Oak would run about $1697.76.
I don’t know the current rate for Euros to Dollars, but I believe it is about 1.4, that would make the equivalent about 1200 Euros per yard.
If all those conversions are correct, the pricing structure seems to be similar.
Now I have a headache.
Chew some aspen bark, Stephen 😉
This is one of the trade constellations that are hard to understand. The white oak comes to Germany on a huge ship gulping many thousand cubic yards of gas. It has to pass customs and in the end it is sold for the same price as in the US.
On the other hand, if you buy a Volkswagen in the US, drive a bit, let it ship to Germany, let it modify to correspond the regulations over here, it is still 30 percent cheaper than going to the Volkswagen store around the corner and buying it there.
If you send me a volkswagen I would send you some boards of american white oak 🙂
I consider myself lucky if the boards are rough. In the US, surfaced stock is never flat, and cannot even yield 3/4″ once it is properly flattened. Rough 1″ stock can actually yield 7/8″, and is often cheaper as well.
Where I live, prices and customer service vary considerably. In my opinion, the best way to find a good lumberyard, that has good pricing and caters to hobby folk, is to ask other seasoned hobby woodworkers. They usually know where to shop, and which ones to avoid. They are not always forthcoming with their best sources, however. 😉
@Florian – I always keep a small crosscut panel saw in my car in case I suddenly find myself needing to break down longer stock that will simply not fit in my vehicle.
25 February 2013 at 5:31 pm #8451In time, can we have a quick word on the types of wood and the qualities they have so we might choose a suitable alternative if we are not able to get oak at the right price? It would be good to know what woods are best for certain items and which are not suitable for others.
many thanks,
Mick
26 February 2013 at 4:21 pm #8493I have just found a local timber yard who will provide hard wood. they will prepare a cutting list and assure me that it will be square. the price they quote per foot, ( NOT including VAT) for 6 inch by 1 inch is:
oak £2.50
ash £1.87
Beech £2.08
Cedar £1.87
Does anyone know if this is good or not?
Mick
26 February 2013 at 5:26 pm #8496Ken, it is in the same ball park I guess though my quote seems a little cheaper. Never sure what the quality of the wood is though as I have not got the experience to know good from bad. I guess we will just have to accept that this the general price for hard woods here and get on with it.
Will give me a big incentive to take my time and be sure not to make a mistake – might be a good thing as I can get a bit “keen” to get things done sometimes.
Mick
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