buying rought cut lumber

Most will sell by the board foot. Each seller is different. Can you process the rough sawn?
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

A board foot is 144 cubic inches, and a square foot is 144 cubic inches. They are the same thing. The way you figure it out is multiply length (in) x width (in) x thickness (in) / 144 = board feet.
so 24”x6”x1”/144=1 bf, = 1 sq ft. Now board feet are determined by the thickness so 12”x6”x2”/144=1bf, = .5 sqft. So they are the same if you buy 1” thick.

-- Chief Petty Officer USN(RET) 1991-2011

Any rough cut lumber will save you money, lots of money.
When I used to buy finished S4S lumber, I would come home with a few boards (always one short of a finished project). Now I come home with trailer loads full of lumber.
You will buy it by the board foot, and I suggest looking locally from small mills or property owners.
If the lumber has air dried for more than a year, you can often finish drying with a home dehumidifyer, heater and fans. Avoid green lumber unless you want to stack and sticker it for a year or more.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

The problem i have is there are no local hard wood suppliers and no hardwood trees we (have pine and aspen)
I have been getting finished lumber from Paxton lumber in Denver (its a 4 hour drive one way) but i think that they are a little high on there prices. what grade do you guys use I make mostly small projects and cutting boards. Im planning on making some furniture in the future.

The price for rough cut is much lower, but you will spend significant time cleaning it up.

If it is all hobby (time is free) then you save big bucks.
If you want to spend more time making THINGS, and less time making Flat Boards… then the economics vary.

Note that even if you buy planed lumber, it wont be flat and ready for use, but you will save a ton of wear on your planer and jointer knives.

I get my stuff in Kansas City, prices are good, from Metro Hardwoods. They are the “Consumer/Retail seller” side of Liberty Hardwoods in KC.
I can get it delivered to Salina Kansas – 170 miles for a 40 dollar drop fee.

Steve Wall Lumber is very popular, though I have not used them. They usually ship to a freight terminal (probably Denver) not to residential but you might see what thier cost is. Since you do a lot of small stuff they also have UPS bundles as specials that will ship by UPS for a not crazy fee, given gas cost to go to denver and back.

Basically all the good lumber is East and West coasts.

-- "_If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves_." Edison

Check out Lumber Locator. If you are driving 4 hours one way it might be advantageous to buy online and have it shipped.

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

EDIT to the above
Wall Lumber doesn’t do the UPS bundle – - they call it a 20 BF bundle and it ships Fedex Ground

It is more expensive than I remember – 20BF of 4/4 red oak is 98 bucks – so 4.90/bf whichi is pretty high.

Metro hardwoods – My supplier:
http://metrohardwoodsinc.com/specialsofthemonth.html

4/4 WALNUT 3’ & SHORTER
$2.50 PER BOARD FOOT
SURFACED TO 25/32” AND 7/8” THICK

4/4 SOFT MAPLE
$2.79 PER BOARD FOOT
SURFACED TO 25/32”
AND STRAIGHT LINE RIPPED ONE EDGE

4/4 POPLAR
$1.79 PER BOARD FOOT
SURFACED TO 25/32”
AND ONE EDGE STRAIGHT LINE RIPPED

4/4 RED OAK SHORTS
SURFACED TO 25/32”
AND STRAIGHT LINE
RIPPED ONE EDGE.
$1.99 PER BOARD FOOT

-- "_If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves_." Edison

Which is heavier – - a board foot or a square foot?

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

Gus – A square foot is an area of measurement comprised of 144 square inches. In even terms, an area bounded by 4 sides that are 12 inches in length. A board foot is a measure of volume. In even terms, it also is 12 inches square (just like a square foot) but is one inch thick which makes a board foot 144 cubic inches.. When calculating multiply the width (in inches), length (in inches), and thickness (in inches) of a board and divide by 144 for the number of board feet in a board. Most all wood (especially hardwood) is sold by the board foot. I grew up in Elkhart, Kansas (on the Colorado line) and have been through your are many times. I throughly understand about the limited availability of good wood out there. I understand that there is a Paxton’s in Albuquerque as well. You might give them a try.

-- Roger M, Aiken, SC

As others have mentioned, s4s is never truly square and flat. Best and cheapest option is getting lumber rough and then milling it yourself if you have the equipment.

First check this website
http://www.woodfinder.com/

Second, not all places that sell lumber list on that website. I.e. distributors who usually are hesitant about selling retail won’t really list on that website. But, they often have the best prices because your cutting out the middle man. Luckily, I don’t have problems purchasing from those types of places. Although, you might be just buying small quantities, to them at least, you might be able to pick up “shorts” (stuff that is scraps to them) which to us is a pretty good board. Another option is to purchase shorts and scraps from millwork shops or cabinet shops, just call around… a lot of shops, which have a lot of work, don’t have the room to keep all the spoilage from jobs another option.

Some plywood dealers also sell hardwoods, but don’t really advertise
it since they service industry primarily. I’d be surprised if there’s
only one show in town in a city the size of Denver.

Gus,

I am in Colorado Springs. If you go to Denver, check out Austin Hardwoods. Google it for their website and you can see what they all have. You can get S4S, rough, millwork, or just about anything there and their prices are the best I’ve found. Also, if you can establish a wholesale account, they do that along with Wellco Hardwoods here in the Springs.

-Noah

It’s cheaper still to cut the tree yourself.

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

That is what I do! I sell to local woodworkers rough sawn, air dried hardwood.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

thanks. ziggyz what does it take to have an wholesale account there. I talked to paxtons about an industrial account there is some what of a discount. I also talked to a local cabinet shop and they said they would order me wood . bit i still think its seems on the pricy side. how much do you guys pay for 4/4 rough cut Walnut, Purple heart, padauk, and soft maple? here is what I got for Quote at paxtons on a industrial account. this was all high grade lumber which i know i don’t need. Walnut was 7.05 bf Soft maple 2.95 bf Paduke 8.00 bf Purple heart 10.60 bf