Wood is quite expensive
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Hi everyone
Went to a timber merchant today, realised the prices of wood are quite high. Was going to build a workbench like Paul did on Youtube but I’ve been priced out of making that. Trying to think of alternatives at the moment.
If you live in the UK what sort of prices do you pay for your timber?
I’m in Birmingham by the way so feel free to recommend some cheap suppliers 🙂
7 January 2015 at 1:31 pm #123189I bought my workbench timber from B&Q 2 wks ago.
29 47x100mmx2.4m -plus £20 delivery was £180.
I am in the process…Only issue with pallets is removing the wood without splitting it – best to take it slow and steady, and expect lots of wastage. It often cleans up very nicely though once you plane it.
My father in law reduced the cost by getting 2x4s from wickes which weren’t planed square edge – took him a lot of time to plane down to remove the rounded corners…
8 January 2015 at 9:36 am #123232Never heard of Great Barr or your supplier Vips – are you in the UK?
A professional woodworker I spoke to didn’t rate B&Q’s stock at all but I’m reliant on s.where v. near at the moment. I’m doing some hardcore planing I now realise there are a lot of knots!Yes, I’m in the UK. This is their website, http://www.greatbarrsawmills.co.uk. You may have to call for more up to date prices.
8 January 2015 at 7:59 pm #123245I made my bench before I joined woodworking masterclasses so it is not as Paul’s design
I bought my timber planed all round from a local timber merchant. Very little finish hand planing required. All of the timber cost me £110 and the vice a further £164 . The timber used was Redwood (Pine)
It has proved to be a very sturdy bench.
You should compare the quality and price of the timber B&Q have with a local timber merchant. I googled Timber merchants Birmingham and got a list of 5 I have attached the link to one below, I know nothing about them but they did seem to have a good selection.
I found I was not able to get redwood at our local B&Q that the timber merchant was significantly cheaper and if required the timber merchant would machine timber to non stocked sizes for a small extra charge.http://www.daviestimber-shop.co.uk/index.php/softwoods/untreated-easy-edge.html
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.I went to Great Barr sawmills the other day. Its not so much that the wood was expensive it was that I had unrealistic expectations of its price. The workbench I designed which was very similar to Pauls design would have cost about £70 in wood which is quite a lot for when I’m just starting out.
I’ve got a new design which should cost under £30 from there so I’ll see how that turns out. I just hope I can fit it all in my car because I asked them and they said they charge £20 to deliver to where I live around 7 miles away from them.
By the way can I just ask, I had a small look at a few of the things they had there, but how easy is the wood they sell to work with? I have a few scraps of wood left in the attic from God knows where but theres a small part of a 2×4 which is quite easy to work and theres a piece of a 4×1 which looks like pine but its rock solid for some reason.
9 January 2015 at 1:02 am #123259Raze,
I’d suggest posting your work bench plans for some feedback. One thing I regret most is building an inferior quality bench first. I ended up having to build another one, and essentially spent twice as much as I needed to and ended up with only one bench worth working on. Average the cost over the life of the bench (which is more than your life time in the case of the English style bench Paul teaches) and the cost difference is miniscule. Saving up a little longer might be worth it?
OK I will post the plans later on today hopefully, but in my case the bench is only supposed to be temporary, I need it to last for about a year until university starts again because I have this year off. After that realistically its use will be minimal at best.
Its more or less just some 2×4 legs supporting a rectangular 2×4 frame with some 4×1 pieces screwed onto it to make the worktop. You’ll see what I mean when I post the plans.
Your cheapest route to a sturdy workbench will be to fix a work surface to a wall. Although this is somewhat limited in its use, it will serve you during your year off. What I’d advise against is building a light workbench to use with hand tools. You’ll find it virtually unusable as it moves around whilst you attempt even the lightest of hand tool woodworking.
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