# Keeping track of wood prices



## antieuclid (Feb 6, 2010)

So far here in Denver I've shopped for wood at Paxton, Austin, Woodcraft, and Rockler. And I'm close to giving up on keeping track of prices. None of them have pricing information online, Austin doesn't even have pricing available in the store without talking to the sales staff, and the price differences can be quite significant. And completely unpredictable. Woodcraft is more expensive than Paxton on Wenge, but their Walnut is half the price by board foot. What do most people do? Spreadsheets to keep track of prices on different woods at different stores, or just picking one store and hoping it all evens out?


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

you are lucky to have options. i have one lumber retailer plus woodcraft. the dealer wins every time, but not by as much as i wish.


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## wseand (Jan 27, 2010)

I have two near me. Bluelinks, which merged with Austin they have good prices. And I have Adam's that is a Molding company but sells hardwood mostly domestic and they will e-mail their pricing when asked. So I have one for Exotics and Imports. Everything else is 200 miles away.


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

I do not have that many choices. For domestic I do, but I stick with the same few sawmills because they are very good to me. That definitely falls in the area of things where I will be loyal and not worry if I'm getting the absolute best deal "today". For the amount of free lumber they often throw in, I'm getting the best deal.

As far as exotic, I've only bought at Woodcraft. I've heard there is another place.. and some local lumberyards… (am new to this city) but haven't checked them out yet. I wish we had a Rockler! I love their website. I do not mind being loyal to Woodcraft - the store is great, and I'd like it to continue being there.


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## uffitze (Apr 23, 2010)

Hey Wiley, I just checked Craigslist real quick and found a few small sawyers in the Denver area … you'll probably get better prices from them than you will the retail stores. (But, if you are looking for exotics, you'll be stuck with the retail outlets.)


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## uffitze (Apr 23, 2010)

As far as what to do to keep track … there's no real good answer. Experience goes a long way, but also stop in at the stores from time to time to see what they've got. It would be nice if there was a standard, but realistically that's not going to happen due to the variability in figure in the wood.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I shop for what I need and who has what I need at the best price when I need it. Delivery is a big factor for me since I'm far away from all of the suppliers.


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## KayBee (Jul 6, 2009)

I'll call them a lot of times. Then go look at the cheapest one first to see if it's anything worth buying. Also helps to have the name of the person who quoted price because you can get different answer in person. Their price can change with every shipment. woodcraft and rockler usually pretty steady on price though.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I almost always buy my domestic lumber directly from a sawmill and they always give me a great price.

Exotic lumber is a different matter. It is very difficult to compare prices because selection is so limited. If I see it and I like it and I intuitively think the price is fair - I buy it. I have a pretty good knowledge of what exotics should cost based on my experience.


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

Jim, have you ever purchased from Crosscuts in Portland?

It may be a distance from you, but definately worth a look.

They had a huge selection of exotics when I was there last (it has been a few years), including a lift of purpleheart planks about 4" thick x 10" wide x 20'+ long that had just arrived.

I purchased purpleheart, yellowheart, lacewood, bubinga, and a sampling of other woods, some I had never seen before (only in books).

On the topic, in Edmonton Alberta, we have three main lumber suppliers for hardwoods, two have exotics.
I set up accounts with all three, and do keep checking in with them "in case I NEED something"...


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## uffitze (Apr 23, 2010)

Crosscut is fairly expensive … but, if you want exotics it is one of the better places to go in town.


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## childress (Sep 14, 2008)

Wiley, what I've found out is that the price of lumber fluctuates almost daily, Kinda like gas. That is why you don't find any prices without talking to someone.

I think that's why A1jim said "I shop for what I need and who has what I need at the best price when I need it"

Of course, this come from experience with dealing with lumberyards only, not retailers, but I'm sure that's why you are having trouble with "keeping track" of the prices. You will probably just need to shop around at the time you need what you need. Hope this helps


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## noknot (Dec 23, 2008)

If you have a home depo they will order what ever you want


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## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

I hate living near a big city (Atlanta), but one good thing about it is the selection of lumber suppliers. I can buy just about anything, exotic or domestic, rough from 4/4 to 12/4 at good prices.


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## sandhill (Aug 28, 2007)

And you will pay top price from HD and not get the better stuff that you get when you can pick your own but that even goes for mail order unless you see a picture of what you actually ordered.


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## 76winger (Nov 12, 2009)

I need to find some lumber mills in my area for future projects where I need longer pieces of lumber. I can get a lot of what I need at Woodcraft or Rocker when I only need a single piece, but I can see how the price would quickly skyrocket for a larger project needing sever boards.

For local timber in use with my turning projects, I'm getting a lot of stuff given to me. Cherry, Walnut, Boxelder and even Persimmon (is this any good?) is starting to build up in my storage. Of course it's firewood length and green so I have to halve or quater it, seal the ends and set it aside for a long time before I can used it, but it's inventory none the less!

For exotic woods of any size though, retailers seem to be about the only choice whether storefront or Internet.


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## ropedog (Mar 26, 2008)

Check out the hardwood emporium in lakewood they have good prices and a good selection.


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## steveni70 (Apr 21, 2009)

I'm in Denver and have been a bit frustrated by the selection. I've looked at the online places, but with shipping, the prices are usually more. The price sheet at Rockler has some of the best selection and prices, but they don't usually have everything in stock. I think I'm going to start a spreadsheet to keep track of places like Austin (their 4/4 african mahogany is $6.40 btw). It's around a 3 hour drive, but I discovered Collectors Specialty Woods They have some good live edge boards and it may be worth a drive for a special top.

Also check out Centennial Wood. I haven't been to the new store, but it's another option.


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## Sawmillnc (Jan 14, 2010)

This will give you general idea of how much concentration yards sell lumber.

http://www.woodweb.com/Resources/RSLumberBuyingGuide.html

If you are basing market movement off the Rockler or any other wood retail website, that is an exercise that could prove rather expensive.

Note this is only for NA hardwoods by region. Exotics are subject to whims of import/export costs.


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## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

Wiley,

I'm also in Denver and this is what I have discovered… so far.

Austin Hardwoods
-good selection
-typically their pricing is as good, or sometimes better than Paxton
-they can mill rough timber for you, on-the-spot if you need them to for a minimal upcharge
-the biggest drawback I've noticed is that the salespeople that I've dealt with on 3-different occassions now, are not very friendly. I feel like I'm wasting their time or something. I don't appreciate that feeling.
-The guys in the warehouse seem nice enough though, go figure.

Paxton Lumber
-you can get rough lumber, but they don't have all the equipment to mill it for you
-a good selection of some exotics that come dressed S3S, but it is certainly more expensive/BF than their rough lumber. I do not currently have all the tools necessary to mill rough lumber though, so I pay the higher price.
-I like the fact that they will run specials. I keep my eye out for them, and then try to buy what's on special if it's something I feel that I can use. Granted, I may not buy much of it, but it's still nice to have that option. There specials are usually 30% off or so, making it worth it at times.
-I am in their system as a "contractor" so I automatically get 10% off every time I shop there (except not on something that's already on special. If and when I ever get into a larger quantity order, the price will drop accordingly (sliding scale). You just have to make sure that you are in their system. It took me going there 3-times and asking for the contractor pricing before they actually entered me into the system.
-The staff is helpful and friendly. I don't feel like I'm wasting their time. It just feels more friendly and comfortable to me than Austin, which feels more like an assembly line… "next…next!"

Hardwood Emporium (actually recommended to me by a Rockler employee)
-I've only been there once. I actually had trouble finding the place, but now that I know where it's at, I'll probably give them another shot.
-Their prices seemed about the same as Austin, better in one quote I got.
-My biggest issue is that the guy I dealt with on the day I went in, never called me back. I realize a phone number can get lost, misplaced, etc. I've done it before. It would've been for a decent-sized order of some exotic sheet goods. Not a huge order, but certainly not a small one. I might help a friend build a wall of shelves and I was trying to get a quote for that. Never heard back? I should probably give them one more shot.

I have yet to contact any local sawyers, but I should probably do that. Very well might be able to get better pricing from some of them, plus it'd be supporting the little guy, so to speak.

I've also shopped both Rockler and Woodcraft, but have yet to purchase any wood from them. I just haven't needed anything yet that I couldn't get at Paxton for the same price, with a lot more wood to choose from.

So at this point in time, I'm a bit loyal to Paxton, as I've had the best experience with them. It also helps that they're only a 10-minute drive from my house. Sometimes I'll just drive over there to "window shop" and I usually end up coming home with something, even if I hadn't planned on it. It's one of those things where you see a piece of wood and say, "Oh that might make a really great drawer front!" or something to that tune. I do have a little bit of a stockpile of wood down in the basement and almost all of it has come from Paxton.


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## ropedog (Mar 26, 2008)

Hardwood Emporium is now closed.


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## JonathanG (Jan 18, 2010)

Roper,
Thanks for the heads-up on Hardwood Emporium. I'll scratch them off my list.

BoardSMITH,
Are you buying rough lumber, then milling it? I would think so at the quantities you probably work with? There's definitely a price difference from rough to S3S/S4S from what I've seen. Like I said, I just don't have all the tools yet. I still need a jointer and a planer before I can mill rough lumber. Austin and Paxton certainly have better pricing on their rough lumber, and of course, the quantity discount can sometimes be very attractive (depending on the quanitity… I don't need 500BF of walnut, maple, etc. just yet for end-grain boards!)


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## Mike57 (Sep 18, 2007)

Surprisingly, I have had luck with Craig's List. It is hit and miss, but I recently came up with book matched curly Walnut boards 10' long and 12" wide, 12/4 cherry and some other interesting lumber.

If you have the equipment to joint and plane the wood, and you're willing to go into someone's barn or garage, you might find some gems at bargain prices - you have to be careful to avoid wind checked lumber, but often you can get several boards in a series - and people often charge a lot less than what the Rocklers and Woodcrafts of the world are charging. Another thought is to find guys with portable sawmills - they often sell the wood that they cut into planks.


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## Sawmillnc (Jan 14, 2010)

Find you a good sawyer..beat both the retailers and the commercial guys.


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