Holy mother, timber is expensive!

[bp122]

I know there have been a few threads recently on prices of timber.

I finally decided on the dimensions of my Roubo and asked for some prices.

Unsorted redwood came up to £350 (Chilworth timber) plus vat and SYP is coming up to £825 PAR or £550 rough sawn (Sykes Timber)

What the hell is happening?

Am I destined to just afford the knotsville special from Wickes or Travis Perkins then??

I was going for Chris Schwartz design one but with a split top with 5 inch sq legs and 6 feet long (as opposed to 8 feet in his design)

I live in bucks but wouldn't mind a reasonable drive if it means it will save me some Dosh in case anyone has got a supplier that is reasonable.

 

[thetyreman]

skyes timber really do have insanely high prices, I asked for a quote last year and almost had a heart attack at the prices, I'm sure it's good quality though but they wanted about £280 for only a small amount of douglas fir, enough to build a couple of frames for a small sized double door.

I ended up buying an old pitch pine/doug fir 1930s interior door for £15 on ebay and using the wood from that, whilst it was a lot work taking it apart it was well worth the work, the quality of the old wood if you can find it is far superior to anything available now because of the tighter growth rings and slow growth these trees had, no knots anywhere and a joy to work with hand tools.

The only downside to this approach is working around the tenon holes but it's do-able,

this is what I made:

 

[bp122]

I'm going to need a lot of doors!!

On a serious note, my query with that approach is hidden nails or things like that that might wreck my tools.

 

[JohnPW]

Often than not, a finished product is cheaper than the materials you can buy as a retail consumer.

 

[Ozi]

I'm going to need a lot of doors!!

On a serious note, my query with that approach is hidden nails or things like that that might wreck my tools.

Might be worth getting a stud finder, I don't know how small a nail they would find so don't blame me if you find yourself grinding out notches

 

[bp122]

Ooh, I do have one. might be worth testing it out on some sample nails

 

[Ozi]

If you do end up buying anything from Travis Perkins and although I have had some real tat from them they are good for somethings like hard wood ply I don't know if anyone has noticed but the prices on their web site even if logged in with a trade account are almost always higher than the price they will quote over the phone, can be up to 20% some times.

 

[baldkev]

Bp122, you can get neodinium rare earth magnets that are very powerful, i use them to find screw lines in studs and ceilings. I got one for my brother for his sawmill, he was impressed..... bigger the better, but a 50mm x 20mm x 20mm is very strong. On ebay you can also get fishing magnets, same thing, but with an eyelet attached

 

[bp122]

So last night I found a supplier for SYP up in Manchester, selling 2x12 planks, which I mapped out a full cut list for the whole bench with just 5 planks added two extra to the wire for other projects.
Including vat it came to £300 for 7 planks. Which is very reasonable I thought.

But the shipping is coming at £200 including vat.

Since I can't hire a van and drive there myself due to the lockdown, exploring other options.

So far I have reached out to a man with a van who had helped me get a sofa once and I have put out a quote request on Shiply website. Waiting for responses.

Any other options I may be missing that you guys can share?

 

[tomlt]

Depending upon if you want hardwoods I may be able to help, I have lots of air dried ash (far more than I can use) which would be good for this that I need to clear at very reasonable price. I know advertising isn't strictly allowed, but I'm not really a business, I'm a hobbyist who got into milling because I enjoy it, I'm not really after making a huge profits just enough to fund my woodworking hobby. Send me a list of what you need and I'll see if I can help...you'd still need to collect or man with a van...I have someone ive used a couple of times who would prob do it for 100quid or so.

www.twigstotrees.co.uk

 

[topchippyles]

I am flat out over the next 2 weeks milling 16 ton of douglas fir/ash/oak/larch and all been air drying for 2 years.

 

[monster]

I just purchased enough Accoya to make 3 complete box sash windows - I know Accoya is expensive, but I was shocked when the best quote came in at £1300 inclusive of vat.

As an aside, I've never used Accoya before so looking forward to using it.

 

[bp122]

I am flat out over the next 2 weeks milling 16 ton of douglas fir/ash/oak/larch and all been air drying for 2 years.

So you will be responsible for Dubai's next dust storm!

 

[Richard_C]

Since I can't hire a van and drive there myself due to the lockdown, exploring other options.

From 29 March the stay at home order was rescinded, now you are asked to avoid unnecessary travel but its not mandatory, so you might be able to do it unless you have particular health risks whiuch mean you don't want to. But, Bucks to Mancheter and back, c.400 mile round trip, say 30'ish to the gallon in a van, diesel makes it c. £70 fuel plus hire at say £60 so you are up to £130. 7 hours driving minimum round trip plus 2 (or 4) P stops in service areas so you might need to hire a van for >24 hours becsue the hire shops tend to open 8-5 and you need to unload so 5 might be unattainable. Against that, the quoted £200 inclusing VAT doesn't look terrible. Hopefully you can get a quote from someone who can schedule in a return load or mixed loads to get the costs down.

If you think of it as £500 all in, it might not sound so bad in comparison with your other quotes.

 

[Cabinetman]

I may be wrong but I think car hire places are open again on Monday. And there is a national distribution network called palletline or similar I think the longest they will transport is 3 m. Ian

 

[bp122]

From 29 March the stay at home order was rescinded, now you are asked to avoid unnecessary travel but its not mandatory, so you might be able to do it unless you have particular health risks whiuch mean you don't want to. But, Bucks to Mancheter and back, c.400 mile round trip, say 30'ish to the gallon in a van, diesel makes it c. £70 fuel plus hire at say £60 so you are up to £130. 7 hours driving minimum round trip plus 2 (or 4) P stops in service areas so you might need to hire a van for >24 hours becsue the hire shops tend to open 8-5 and you need to unload so 5 might be unattainable. Against that, the quoted £200 inclusing VAT doesn't look terrible. Hopefully you can get a quote from someone who can schedule in a return load or mixed loads to get the costs down.

If you think of it as £500 all in, it might not sound so bad in comparison with your other quotes.

Precisely what the missus and I were thinking. Although she is not happy about me spending so much on what she thinks "I can do without ", she was particularly not happy about me being out on a 8 hour escapade where she'd have to look after the little monster without breaks on a Saturday.

I spoke to the supplier, he says the delivery will be £120 plus vat if the planks are half the length.

Which is where I'm at now.

 

[topchippyles]

So you will be responsible for Dubai's next dust storm!

I sell most of my sawdust to the local farmers for bedding.

 

[bp122]

Got them in. ki