Someone around 30 minutes away from me has some wood for sale. He said he has hickory, white oak, red oak and maple. They are 7” by 9” by 8’ long. He wants $30 each. I thought that was a good price. What do you all think?
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Second opinion on wood price.
- Thread starter Rusty Nesmith
- Start date
Can’t tell thickness from the pic. Check with a local lumber dealer on pricing. Assuming it’s dried, a year ago I paid $2.75, $2.70, and $2.10 per board foot for hard maple, hickory, and red oak here in TN (all 4/4).
Barn beams?
I would take as many as I could get for $30 each. If they're dry you're going to be doing a lot of sharpening.
I would take as many as I could get for $30 each. If they're dry you're going to be doing a lot of sharpening.
The guy milled them himself. He said the trees have been down for at least a year and they were milled a couple of months ago if I remember right. Ron they are 7” by 9” by 8’ long.
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
Sounds like a.good.price.to.me.also.
Sounds like they will still have a good amount of moisture in them. Cut them into shorter chunks, seal 'em and stack 'em. If they were an hour from me, that would be my year's supply of yarn bowl blanks.
Rusty,
I misread it as 7-9” instead of 7x9. My bad. That’s ~40bf per piece! That’s a fabulous price!
I misread it as 7-9” instead of 7x9. My bad. That’s ~40bf per piece! That’s a fabulous price!
Thanks everybody. I am looking to buy at least four. He is supposed to call me tomorrow.
Don't buy without a full inspection. Barn timbers went in wet and it's very common for them to be filled with powder post beetle holes and tunnels. Wouldn't be surprised if they weren't all boxed heart cut at the mill. That puts the pith in the center of the beams. That limited the twisting when they dried in place.
Sounds like they're not old barn beams but rather recently milled. If the trees were down for a year or more before milling there certainly is the possibility of bugs so still probably worth checking for bug holes. Looks like nice clean wood so if there are bugs it should be easy to see the holes.
Sounds like an extremely good deal to me. Thats like 42 bf per board so thats less then $1 a board foot. Here the cheapest i can get is ambrosia maple for $4.50 a bf.
7" x 9" may never dry completely keep in mind that all that moisture must work it's way from the core to the outside. The rule of thumb for air drying wood is 1 year per inch meaning a 4 quarter board will take one year and an 8 quarter 2 years etc. The red oak is difficult to dry in 2" stock since it has a tendency to honeycomb (that is where the annual rings will separate internally as the wood shrinks). The least you could expect if left in that size is some major splits plus the 1st and 3rd look like red oak and probably contain the pith. They sound like they were cut as railroad ties that is when they cut the high grade off of the outside then sell the inside for ties.
$30.00 apiece sounds reasonable but don't expect to leave it laying around until it dries just treat it like any green wood.
$30.00 apiece sounds reasonable but don't expect to leave it laying around until it dries just treat it like any green wood.
My plan was to rough turn green bowls and platters and dry them for a finish turning like I do with the logs I get now.
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Grain pattern is important to me when selecting blank material.
Unless these are cut with symmetric grain your bowls won’t warp symmetrically which makes returning harder. . Also makes getting nice looking grain patterns less predictable.
when I cut blanks from logs I cut the face side of the bowl parallel to the bark and trim equal amounts from the sides. This produces a rough bowl that dries in a symmetric oval with a hyperbolic grain pattern centered on the bottom.
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Personally would only get the maple and hickory. Maple being easier to turn and hickory attractive enough to be worth the effort. My experience with oak is its a lot of trouble to turn and the bowls dont always have the prettiest grain.
For that price, I would pick them up, even if I didn't have a specific need for them. They are still very wet and the end grain, especially, needs to be sealed. Until you get to working them, they need to be kept under cover, out of wind and sun. For me, I would rip them down to 8/4 to 10/4 pieces, or some thing similar, in part to reduce drying stress. Lots of possibilities.
robo hippy
robo hippy
FYI - I just ordered some more lumber (dried) and almost fell over. Prices have gone *way* up in the last year. I’m paying $5.30/bf for 5/4 hard maple!! He told me white oak was over $6/bf !???!!
I’d grab those slabs and either process as green bowls if grain alignment it good, or rip them down and seal like robo suggested.
I’d grab those slabs and either process as green bowls if grain alignment it good, or rip them down and seal like robo suggested.
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At less than $1/bd ft you can make some great end grain cutting boards - cheap.
I'd kill for prices like that. Best I can find around here is 12.00/bf for hard maple, unless I want shorts, then maybe 8 or 9.
Buy it all at that price. I was looking at some nice Koa, asking price was $65 BF.
A tree cut down a year ago and left in the weather is going to be as wet as any green wood. If milled a few months ago and stored in doors, anything that thick is going to be loaded with moisture. It will take a few years to air dry that wood.
John Jordan
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Good for rough turning, or just turning green as I do. As someone pointed out, if they have the pith boxed in-the so-called "dog log" then they really aren't worth much. Anyone that thinks oak is not worth turning should go to Instagram and check out the work of Scott Alexander @alexanderdesign, or Pascal Oudet, who turns only oak and depends on its properties for the success of his pieces. I like turning oak, and green white oak is one of the best turning woods there is.
John
John
