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Wood Prices

3K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  mski 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi,
I went to my local wood dealer th price some hard maple, pauk and purple heart,
It seems evertime I go in there the price changes, last time the 8\4 maple was $8.75 BF, this time it was $6.75,
Does anyone know if wood prices fluctuate with the market.
I was afraid to ask them,
 
#5 ·
Myan Hardwood in Oxnard.
Yea I thought that was a good price, I got a 8/4 X7" X7' piece for our cutting board projects, I started looking at it and abut half the board is birdseye, so maybe I'll get another piece for the cutting boards and maybe some for later, Maple is my favorite wood, sick of looking at Red Oak everthing out on the West Coast is Red Oak
The Paduk was $7.43 BF 4/4
Thanks
 
#6 ·
In short, price is usually governed by supply, demand and what they paid to obtain the stock in the first place. For example, because of shipping costs etc., exotic stock is always more expensive. The same is true for domestic species in one part of the US that are not grown there locally. The market forces for hardwood lumber are not unlike other non-mass produced products.
 
#8 ·
I have begun to look hardwoods for a cutting board project. It's not that much large a project that costs for the wood will affect the total cost of the project all that much, but if I were to plan ahead toward larger projects, taking advantage of seasonal drop in prices for certain hardwood may cause me to consider certain hardwoods or timing a of a project.

Peter mentioned that the price of hardwoods vary with supply and demand, seasons etc.

Is there a better time of the year to purchase certain types of hardwoods domestic or exotics from a pricing perspective or is it hit or miss?

Dalec
 
#9 ·
Hey GaryK,
Glad you mentioned Lane Stanton Vance, I checked and there is a store 1/4 mile from Myan Hardwoods, I went in they have alot of specials , shorts ect and I talked to the salesman and said he would beat Myan, I got some competion going, only trouble is I bought a 8/4 X 3.5" X 125" Purpleheart, @$6.75 BF ,he charged for 7BF, I get 6 BF by my calculations, I'll go in tomorrow and check his mathematical ability,
Anyway thanks for bringing them up, they really have a nice selection.
 
#11 ·
Yea not being picky but that turns it into $7.78 a BF, what if I bought 40 BF? maybe thats how he beats the competitors price, I'm going back tomorrow for the math test , I'll let ya know what happens, maybe just an honest mistake, or maybe a trick of the trade, (like car salesmen!!) I hate going into stores and there are no prices on the products ,or price lists, like NAPA AUTO PARTS, Ect.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for bringing up the calculation of BF. It has been long long time since I had any need to calculate BF and at that time it had little practical meaning for a teenager.

Anyway, reading this thread got me working with the formula and I have to say I finally really got it.

Thanks Mark for the problem and Karson for the correct BF calculation.

Dalec
 
#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
If you do (length in feet X width in feet X thickness in inches) you don't have to do the division at the end. I can't divide by 144 in my head. I've noticed when I'm buying a stack of lumber, they always let me pay for the gaps between the boards.

To the original topic - I asked my favorite salesman about price shifts. He told me that it was pretty dependent on what was popular at the time. Maple was pretty big a couple of years ago, but it's less popular now, so the price is down a bit. He said the only wood that has a really strong seasonal cycle is Alder. Alder will be most expensive in winter and early spring. And it's popular right now, too!
 
#17 ·
Dennis if they used 4" instead of the 3.5" then he would have been charged for over 8 BD. FT.

2" X 4" = 8" X 10.4' - 8.04 Bf. Ft. This is using Peters formula, which is easier without paper.

The sawmill owner that I've bought from before would add up all of the widths for boards that were the same length. 6" + 8' + 10" + 4" +3" + 5" = 36" or 3' X 8' long = 24 BD. FT.
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
When I go to Myan they measure width exactly and length round down unless it's really close, I bought a 7 1/2 " piece of maple charged me for 7", that's how Stanton matches thier price, I use this at home, it even adds up totals

http://www.buckwoodcraft.com/board_foot_calculator.htm

When I go shopping I write down a few calculations on paper for certain sizes and guestimate while in the store, don't like carrying a calculator, if I had the calculator I would have caught it. and saved some vasoline
 
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