Wood craft WOOD SALE---are these good prices???

Looks about standard pricing to me.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

really…i just read the back of the ad and they make it sound like these are big discounts—-

“orig prices:

Maple=6.49 and sale 4.29

Walnut=8.99 and sale 5.85bf

Cherry= 8.99 and sale 5.85 bf

Afr. Mahogany= 9.99 and sale 6.49bf

Poplar=3.49 and sale 2.29 bf

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

This probably doesn’t help, and just for reference, but hard maple 4/4, rough sawn is just a little over $3 a bft. Of course, the location has to have a lot to do with it.

Lew

That price seems a little high to me. But I buy mine at the sawmill and I bought Maple for $1.00 BD Ft about 1 month ago. Really it was 420 Bd Ft for $300.00. I need to let it dry some at my shop.

If you can find a sawmill get it there.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

ok guys…bummer…

Maybe the real question is:

How much is a gallon of milk in your neck of the woods? I think we pay waaaaay too much in bay area…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Here in Seattle our hardwood warehouse had some really nice Maple on sale for 4.29bf. Regular around 6.29. Large supply with many figured pieces.
Don’t remember the other prices.

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

oooh…so that is similar price…

milk must be expensive trhere too!! lol…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Keep in mind that its difficult for Woodcraft to give really good prices on wood. They don’t buy it in large enough quantities for the discounts to kick in. Sometime you do run into really good deals though; At the Jacksonville Woodcraft they had a whole bunch of Cherry Common and better that they got in a LARGE lot and where selling it at less that $2bf. That being said there where boards in there that where 8 – 10”’s wide and curly, you just had to pick through the pile to find the keepers.

-- Chris

Most of the wood that I’ve seen at woodcraft was stached against the wall and you could pick all you want. They must have more if they say pick it off the stack and from the top and no picking.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

here walnut is around 6 dollars so that looks good… cherry hits 8 so thats a good deal for here.. poplar is around standard… maples to high… and the african mahogany it high… id pay the same for 12/4… 4/4 is more like 3.50 4 tops

ok…so clearly mixed results…i wonder if any bay area people know how these prices compare…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

We paid $1.44 for 1/2 gallon.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

you had me jumping out of my skin and then i realized you said 1/2 gallon…i thought——man…being in the arctic they must have no refrigeration costs…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Napa….it also depends on the quality….here it appears to be pricing for dimensional wood? Probably of low quality…like the box stores perhaps? I would guess this is very low grade….I would bet they do not list the grading?

I’ve gotten so used to buying rough lumber that I hardly ever price dimensional….The dimensional woods from the box stores is always a hit and miss as they do not store them flat and they do not keep them dry. Then the problem goes to how much more processing you have to do to get a flat square piece…..since this is already processed once…you can’t lose much more of the surface without having to process the entire batch as you will need the wood to be uniform…

Considering all that…the price is not that great….unless you spend a bit of time picking through the stuff to get useable pieces…if there are such.

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!

I live in the bay area and have bought FAS grade cherry (which I picked from their pile) for $6/bdft with delivery. I have also bought black walnut at $3/bdft on craigslist. Buying lumber in Woodcraft and other lumber yards in the bay area is no good. Once you experience buying really good lumber at a decent price, you won’t even think of HD, WC or Lowes.

You might try googling for lumberyards near Napa. I recently heard of this place http://whitethornconstruction.com/hardwoods/ and that might serve your needs.

-- Praki, Aspiring Woodworker

Here’s the scoop. Use this website to find wood suppliers in your area code:
http://www.woodfinder.com/index.php
Then look at their website and see if they have info and price lists. Lots of them do.

Then you can take a look at a recent forum topic I put up

Wood advice for newbies like me

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

prices listed are retail …good for woodcraft or rockler … try googling for hardwood suppliers in your area …sure you can beat the prices … also ebay …http://shop.ebay.com/exoticwoods2000/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

1. 1 common isn’t exactly FAS. I would normally buy FAS so would expect to pay less for #1 common. Also the material is rough sawn. Unless you are experienced picking through rough sawn material and know what you are looking at it can be a pig in a poke. The fact that you have to take it off the top of the pile doesn’t exactly give me a warm feeling.

-- Don, Pittsburgh

Off the top of the pile – they do not have time or space for hundreds of people to be searching through the boards in their store.

I would say the prices are a bit on the high side – you are better of going to a dedicated lumber supplier if you want to start collecting some wood for furniture.

If you buy a lot of lumber, then #1 is OK, but if you only get one or two boards, then get FAS – there should be virtually no waste.

I just got a quote for American hard Maple for 4/4 $2.17 bf and 8/4 $3.54 bf. KD to 6%, this FAS (rough sawn), I can select the boards I want. These prices are from my supplier in Finland (which includes the shipping from the USA). Why is it so expensive from Woodcraft, which is significantly closer to the source of the trees than we are – and we have the little pond to get across (Atlantic).

Remember when you buy the lumber it should be around 6 to 8% – how are you going to store it for maybe quite some time (35% to 45% relative humidity @20°C (68°F) to maintain that dryness.
If you get the storage wrong on big boards it can be a costly mistake.

Personally, I would give Woodcraft a miss on large boards – keep searching

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Wow…this is all great advice…thanks everyone…will try all your links…and let you know how I do…

THANKS!!!

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Hi Matt,

My experience with Rockler and Woodcraft is that you pay an absolute premium even on sale it is still over priced. For the work I do I only buy FAS – FIRST and SECOND grade lumber and the prices below are higher then what I pay for better quality. Last time I was at MacBeath Hardwood in Berkeley and they gave me a price sheet. Here is a comparison for you

Maple=$4.29bf = 3.06 select and better

Walnut=5.85bf = 5.92 FAS

Cherry= 5.85 bf = 5.76 Select and better

Afr. Mahogany= 6.49bf = 6.03 FAS

Poplar 2.29 bf = 1.89 FAS

1/2gallon of milk = 1.99 at Raley’s not MacBeath =)

I hope this helps.

-- Brian, Folsom, CA http://www.brianfullerdesigns.com

thanks Brian…

when I used the woodfinder website macbeath popped up as my closest (other than rockler)...and I have never been there but i always wanted to go…will need to make a run…

Thanks!

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Matt
Check out Aura hardwoods. Prices are significanlty lower than those you posted. Aura has stores in San Jose, Rancho Cordova [Sacramento], Modesto, Santa Cruz and Salem OR.
Ira

-- Rustfever, Central California

Hey Napaman, check out the prices at Plywood and Lumber Supply in Oakland and compare. PALS has thicker stock than Woodcraft, and you can “cherry pick” it yourself.

-- You can't control the wind, but you can trim your sails

Hey Matt, another couple of sources in the “valley” area are:
Hughes Hardwoods in Rancho Cordova and also Higgins Lumber in Sacramento. I have found that Higgins has the best prices. If you are ever up in the Healdsburg area, try Mt Storm in Windsor.

Just remembered, another place to get good wood if you are in the Berkeley area is: Handloggers and I think they are in Emeryville / Albany.They have a good selection and are cheaper than MacBeth.

Good luck !!!! Let me know what you think / find….

-- Gene, Majestic Eagle Woodworks, http://majesticeagleww.etsy.com/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/majesticeagle/

ok…those are all more great ideas…i just checked on all the web pages and it looks like I have some options if I cant find anything closer…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...