Cheaper wood alternatives

Eric, I would keep my eye on craigslist. I see cherry and walnut all the time for $2-$5 in the Chicagoland area.

-- Julian, Park Forest, IL

Julian, thanks. I’ve been paying attention to the Indy area craigslist and there was some a few months back but I didn’t know how much I would need and hadn’t decided on species yet. I think chicago 8 hr drive roundtrip may be too much for me just for getting wood. I think next time I see cheap prices I’m just going to buy!

Socalwood, any suggestions on stains to use?

-- - Eric Indianapolis, IN

You might try this guy.
www.woodsbygwgreen.com
I got a good deal on some quartersawn white oak.

-- MW | www.MissionWorks.com

Butternut can be stained to be “walnut like” and is very nice to work with, usually run under $3 BF here (usually closer to $2). Maple stained dark can resemble cherry a bit.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Wood prices seem to be like gasoline prices, not a lot of logic for the regional prices.

In trip to the mill this week I bought Ash, Rustic Maple, Sassafrass, Basswood and Hickory for between $2 and $2.50 a bd ft. The Cherry and Walnut I bought were $4 and $3.75 a bd ft.

Alder at this mill was $4.95 bd ft.

All of these were in less than 12 bd ft of any one type, 4/4 R1E and under 10” width. Mill was in Toledo, Ohio.

Later in the month I am going to the west side of Michigan and expect to get some Cherry at greatly reduced cost from a different mill.

Steve.

I have some of socalwood’s alder and it is great! Wonderful straight grain to work with and the natural color is perfect like it is but takes stain rather well.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

Wow. I love LJ. I can write any question and I’m surprised how fast people respond. Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Since I wont be purchasing wood for a couple of weeks I have some more time to look around at prices.

-- - Eric Indianapolis, IN

Have you tried www.woodfinder.com to locate alternate suppliers? You can set the search region by zip code and I think radius in miles.

Since you have a bandsaw and planer (I’d suggest a jointer or at least a few hand planes too) you can deal with rough cut or skip planed wood. The fewer machining steps applied before you get it, the cheaper it will be. Maybe you can find a small sawmill within 100 or 150 miles (or pick your driving distance) and get your wood there.

-- Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Hey Eric
These are all good suggestions In my area black oak and ash, are in the $3.50 Bf range If you what to overcome some blocking issues when you finish you could consider poplar,and pine both around the $1.85 bf in my area. If you buy wood you have to do some more milling instead of buy s4s you can save $ 1-2 BF.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

RWyoung, I have #4,5, and 7 hand planes and for the time being that will be used for jointing until I get a jointer.

-- - Eric Indianapolis, IN

I can match “Poplar” to “Cherry” and only an expert could tell them apart. If I was not an honest man it would be easy to “rip off” a client. Its inexpensive, strong, machines easily, sands easily, and takes a finsih well. Its density is close to cherry as well. Poplar is also a fast growing tree and often its commercially grown. For customers who are budget oriented, I highly recommend it.

Good Luck.

-- "Good artists borrow, great artists steal”…..Picasso

Eric,

That GO555 you have coming, if you have it fitted with the riser block, and a good resawing blade, can solve your problem. Build yourself a resawing jig, and look at Craigslist for someone posting free wood. I have gotten plenty of free Pecan, Mesquite, Oak, etc… that is sitting and drying, stickered in my attic right now, for no bucks…

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

Typically…what width is available in poplar commercially?
Oh and Eric…lets see the Model! That way we can compare it to photos of the finished product and see if you made any mistakes…oops…I mean changes.

-- Dan, Sterling Alaska, Before you criticise some one, walk a mile in their shoes...then you will be a mile away and you have their shoes!

Dbhost, I may have to do that. I did buy the riser block since I didn’t want to buy nice blades only to regret not having the riser and then buying more blades. So I thought it would be more economical to get it upfront :) It’s being delivered on Monday and I can’t wait. I think I will create a resawing jig for it, thanks for the suggestion. I see a lot of free “firewood” and trees chopped down (you move) on craigslist that I keep eyeing and now that I will have a bandsaw I will be paying much more attention to.

Roman, Poplar or Alder might be the way to go for this project. However, if I did poplar for the nightstands and stained it and then later decided to do the bed frame or dresser in actual Cherry, could I match the two easily?

-- - Eric Indianapolis, IN

Hey Roman
Is your secret for making poplar look like cherry somthing you can share with us. I would like to know since your work always looks so great.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/