beech or maple and S L hardwoods prices

[StevieB]

I am idly costing a workbench and the cutlist on the plan suggests:

2 boards of 1" x 9" x 96" long
3 boards of 1" x 9" x 60" long
5 boards of 2" x 8" x 84" long
1 board of 2" x 10" x 84" long
2 boards 2" x 8" x 96" long
1 board 2" x 9" x 96" long

This comes out to something like 550 + 100 delivery for beech and 700 +100 delivery for maple. I can buy a sjoberg for about that price without the chance of messing up the build - are SL hardwoods particularly expensive or is that the price of hardwood these days. I was hoping to get the bench timber for around the £350 mark to make it worthwhile me having a go :roll:

I know there are various strategies such as mdf and hardboard tops etc, which is what I shall consider next if hardwoood really is the prices quoted above. I did try going down to 4", 5" and 6" boards (which is how I got the Beech price since max width of beech is just under 9") but it is still alot more than I was expecting.

If anyone knows of other online timber price calculators akin to the SL hardwoods one could you post a link for me? Ta!

Steve.

 

[Karl]

Well by my (somewhat rough) reckoning you need about 10 cubic feet of stock.

My supplier charges £28 for beech and £35 for maple per cubic foot, plus VAT.

So, making an allowance for wastage (to get the sizes you want) of 20%, that'd work out at £385 for the beech and £480 for the maple. Plus delivery.

Are you being quoted for prepared timber, as opposed to rough sawn?

Cheers

Karl

 

[StevieB]

Nope, rough sawn boards from the online calculator. Hope I converted inches to mm correctly :-k

 

[studders]

£100 Delivery from Surrey to Kent? Thats taking the pee!

 

[OPJ]

Well, excluding the delivery charge, I still payed less than that for a load of saw, waney-edged beech for my 'bench a couple of months ago - that included 11ft³ of 3in. thick beech, amongst a little 2in. and 1in. and I still have plenty left over... :roll:

I think you're maths has gone a little bit wrong, somewhere...

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi Steve,

Could be because of the lengths you're using. Try working more along the lines of getting about 3.6 - 4m lengths (12 - 14ft) Also consider that a ready reckoner will always quote high!!!

Last time I bought 26mm Steamed Beech it was £750 cubic metre and 64mm Maple was £1412.60 cubic metre.

I hope this helps,

Richard

 

[jasonB]

I've just worked it out using their chart and assuming all boards are 2.4m long not the 5 & 7ft lengths in your list I get a cost of £388 and thats making a guess for the 10" width as they don't do that width.

Check your maths.

Jason

 

[StevieB]

OK, thanks guys, I will check again and see where I am going wrong.

jasonB - how did you do the calculation - the calculator asks you to put in number of meters required, not board length, so length of an individual board shouldn't matter to the calculation.......

edit - or did you work out the price of each individual board and then total them?

Steve

 

[wizer]

SL Hardwoods tend to be high. Have you tried Morgans in Rochester?

 

[jasonB]

Assumed steamed beech

50mm x 200mm 16.8m ([email protected]) @ £13.50/m = £226.80
25mm x 225mm 12.0m ([email protected]) @ £6.44 = £77.28
50mm x 225mm 6.2m 2.4 of 9x2 and a bit extra for 9x2)@£15.00 =£93.00

Sub Total £397.08
Plus del & vat

Jason

 

[StevieB]

Thanks Jason, not quite sure where I was going wrong but will sit down and work it out again.

Wizer - not yet! I am planning my workshop cellar conversion (imminent arrival of a third child and doing the outside of the house kind of got in the way, still got a deck and pergola to do) and working out what I would like as an ideal, what my budget actually is and trying to make the two meet. Have decided on dust extraction, concluded an upgrade in the table saw department is probably out of reach at the moment and then moved onto a decent bench and am doing rough costs for making a traditional beech bench compared to an mdf/hardboard topped one. I WILL get the conversion started before xmas - what else is paternity leave for.....

Steve.