Has Oak shot up in price?

[transatlantic]

Has European Oak shot up in price lately?

In regards to woodturning blanks, seems to be around the same price as Cherry these days

 

[Droogs]

wood in general has gone up in price by around 106% over the last 18 months according to an article I remember reading a month or so back

 

[Trevanion]

In general, since January all timber has gone up around 15% or thereabouts, that goes the same for pretty much everything at the moment though, ironmongery, paint, consumables...

I've heard through the grapevine that Celotex and similar is going to go up 25% across the board next month so if you need some get it now.

 

[transatlantic]

Given the current circumstances, I appreciate everything is more expensive as running costs are more expensive due to slower production, fewer staff etc. It just seemed that Oak had gone up by far more than any other species.

 

[MikeG.]

Yep, it's getting ridiculous, and that was the case even before lock-down. I just wish that someone would start milling chestnut in decent size boards, and drying it properly, because it is a wonderful wood and pretty much a like-for-like replacement for oak. They've got some absolutely gorgeous supplies in northern Spain, to the point where filling a lorry with the stuff is getting seriously tempting.

 

[transatlantic]

I find Chestnut to be much lighter in weight, and much more fragile/flaky/dusty. But I do agree, it does look a lot like Oak. I just go by the weight to tell them apart.

 

[Daniel2]

Yep, it's getting ridiculous, and that was the case even before lock-down. I just wish that someone would start milling chestnut in decent size boards, and drying it properly, because it is a wonderful wood and pretty much a like-for-like replacement for oak. They've got some absolutely gorgeous supplies in northern Spain, to the point where filling a lorry with the stuff is getting seriously tempting.

Hi Mike,
As a matter of interest, what does a cubic metre cost at the moment ?
It's around €400 here for "artisanal" air dried. Around €7-8oo for kiln dried.

ATB,
Daniel

 

[MikeG.]

£1900+ (excluding VAT). This is for furniture grade 1" through-and-through boards, air dried (sometimes finished in a kiln).

Interesting that the air dried stuff is twice the price in France of the stuff which is more highly sought after here, the air dried.

 

[MikeG.]

I find Chestnut to be much lighter in weight, and much more fragile/flaky/dusty. But I do agree, it does look a lot like Oak. I just go by the weight to tell them apart.

Honestly, the chestnut I worked with in Spain last year was every bit as good (and heavy) as any oak I have worked with in the UK. I used both seasoned chestnut, and some massive lumps of green stuff, which was indistinguishable from green oak other than for the medullary rays. Maybe the Spanish stuff is just loads better than UK chestnut.

 

[Daniel2]

£1900+ (excluding VAT). This is for furniture grade 1" through-and-through boards, air dried (sometimes finished in a kiln).

Interesting that the air dried stuff is twice the price in France of the stuff which is more highly sought after here, the air dried.

Wow !! La Vache !!!
I should start buying and exporting.

I suspect the difference in price, here, has a lot to do with market demand.
Whilst there remains a steady market for real timber products (furniture, general joinery, etc),
this is mainly catered for by medium sized small production businesses.
They tend to opt for lumber of a reliable source, often grown in commercially managed
plantations, where it's behaviour can be rather more safely predicted.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are quite a lot of people, like myself, who have
sufficient time, enthusiasm and general love of the material, to seek out individuals who
have their own felling & sawing operation. Often, that timber is wild grown, full of large knots, bent,
split and just about anything else which is the dystopia of the commercial world.
You can rummage around, take the time to pick the pieces that suit you, discuss a price
on those individual boards that will leave a lot of waste, etc, etc. This is then reflected in
the price.
Having said that, there are some yards better than others, naturally.
I only have a love and passion for wood. I am not a commercial operator. Therefore, issues such
as speed or profit do not need to concern me. I consider myself very fortunate in that respect.

ATB,
Daniel

 

[Just4Fun]

As a matter of interest, what does a cubic metre cost at the moment ?
It's around €400 here for "artisanal" air dried. Around €7-8oo for kiln dried.

£1900+ (excluding VAT).

A bit different here. A local ebay-style auction site has oak at 3200 euro.
I don't know if that is typical as I don't buy that sort of thing. I stick to cheaper options even though this limits me to softwoods or birch available at my local sawmill.

 

[transatlantic]

Here is a piece of some spindle stock I bought. Its as light as feather and you can see how fragile it is by all the torn grain from where its been cut. Lovely finish, but difficult to turn.

 

[Torx]

It’s because B&Q have bought it all.

 

[sammy.se]

Has European Oak shot up in price lately?

In regards to woodturning blanks, seems to be around the same price as Cherry these days

Yes, the FT reported on this recently...

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/timber-prices-soar-on-renovation-demand.124486/

 

[jackal]

Hi, I haven't posted for a while but reading some of the posts this covid thing has hit production. I live in France and buy Oak on a regular basis form our friendly mills. They tell me they have stopped exporting to the UK due to local demand lack of production and EU member timber allocation that will be affected after December. They don't believe UK will be a viable market!

 

[Gingerbloke]

Good morning,
some of you have remarked on the similarities between Oak & Sweet Chestnut. So, for those who were unaware, they are related. They both belong to the Beech family, (or at least they did when i was at college. Occasionally things get reclassified And either moved to different classifications or are given one of their own)
So the Beech family name is Fagaceae. Within this family are about 8 different types of different trees so to speak. Referred to as a Genus. So we have the different genus’ of Beech (Fagus), Oak (Quercus) and Sweet Chestnut (Castanea). Then we move to Species. So a common Beech is called (Genus) Fagus - (Species) sylvatica, Sweet Chestnut is Castanea sativa, English Oak is Quercus robur. So within the species element there can be many different types of tree. So using Oak as an example. There are two Types of Oak that are deemed to be ‘Native’ to the British Isles. The English Oak (Quercus robur) & the Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea) then we can throw in an introduced species, say Red Oak (Quercus rubra). I shall stop rambling now! This may or may not be of interest, delete as appropriate...

 

[Daniel2]

It's actually very interesting, @Gingerbloke .
What about Horse Chestnut vs Sweet Chestnut ?

ATB,
Daniel

 

[Gingerbloke]

On another note, where do you

It's actually very interesting, @Gingerbloke .
What about Horse Chestnut vs Sweet Chestnut ?

ATB,
Daniel

Good morning Daniel. Completetly different families. Horse Chestnut belongs to the family Hippocastanceae and is called Aesculus hippocastanum. This i would say is the common Horse Chestnut. Has rather nice white flowers. As a timber it is deemed as having little commercial value.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

We have a local joinery company where I pop in and ask for off cuts always offering to pay; these offcuts are for woodturning and I can come away with some decent woodturning blanks for £25 all nicely dried and in assorted sizes; mostly oak; ash and meranti; they can be 4" thick and 12" wide; it's just down to luck as to what they have but a a car load for £25 cash has to be a huge bargain.

For my metalworking I visit a local metal supplier who supplies to the trade; they have a £25 minimum order but are about four times cheaper than our local hobby store. For heavy metal like box and channel or rsj's a trip to our local scrap yard saves me a fortune buying the metal by weight.

Kind regards, Colin.