Timber prices per cube

[Giff]

I have been buying Poplar, priced by the cube at 25mm sawn. I have just ordered some 38mm at the same time on the same delivery and it is priced at about 20% more per cube. Is this normal. I was just checking before I ask the timber yard why. Thanks Geoff

 

[marcros]

i would expect that it is correct- i cant comment on whether 20% is normal, but...

to get thicker sections out of the timber, the wood probably needs to be of a higher quality, or there is more rejected- either way this has to be covered in the cost. it is likely to take more drying too. Trees may need to be bigger, and therefore rarer- not so much with 25mm and 38mm, but how many trees you would need to process to get 100m of decent 100x200mm timber than 400m of 25x200mm.

 

[Jelly]

It's a general rule that a bigger section will attract a price premium (though the overall reasons for this don't strictly apply to something as small 38mm).

Being an opportunistic aquirer of job-lots when it comes to hardwoods, I dunno how much one should expect to pay extra for another 13mm... I suspect it varies somewhat depending on the specific species.

 

[Steve Maskery]

It's largely because the extra thickness requires more time and energy to season, both of which are costly.
S

 

[wills-mill]

Is the timber any longer or wider than the 25mm? I would think that would make a larger difference than thickness. Pop isn't the hardest timber in the world to dry. Perhaps it is just a size that is used less or they have had to resaw the boards out of a thicker unit for you.

 

[Giff]

No if anything I think the thicker boards are narrower. I think it is a matter of I asked if he would keep the price the same as my last order (July ) but that was for all 25mm. So the new size came in at a new price ! The boards haven't been freshly sawn so I think they were stock. It just makes a nonsense out of pricing by the cube, feet or meter, I didn't ask as I thought a cube was a cube...I will next time. Geoff

 

[Noggsy]

Jelly, how does one acquire hardwood job-lots opportunistically? I ask, as I want to get some beech (or similar) to make a benchtop and I'm looking to keep the costs as low as possible (obviously). I'm in no particular rush, so any tips would be gratefully received.

 

[Jelly]

Jelly, how does one acquire hardwood job-lots opportunistically? I ask, as I want to get some beech (or similar) to make a benchtop and I'm looking to keep the costs as low as possible (obviously). I'm in no particular rush, so any tips would be gratefully received.

I have a friend who's a tree surgeon, and i'm relatively handy with an axe and wedges myself so I have stuff thats in the round, or stickered in my parents garden...

Some of it was being in the right place at the right time, and sticking my neck out enough to make an offer. I've come by teak from lab benches, something that looked like mahogany from the handrails in an old school, a huge slab of mahogany that a clueless rep wanted rid of from his boot, loads of 70mm*13mm (ex 3"*9" PAR) keruing offcuts from work that would otherwise have been burned in the CHP plant and some waney edged ash from a liquidation auction. In particular if you happen to be aware that an old building is being stripped you can sometimes get wonderful things (unless the person in charge is wise to the value of the stuff coming out, in which case it may well be destined for a reclaimation yard already).

Also, occasionally Ebay has things come up; i bought enough purpleheart to make two bedside tables the other day; the shipping made it less of a good deal, but I'd have been bloomin lucky to get that much for 55 quid anywhere else... If you're looking to do small things like boxes there are a few companies selling their more sizable offcuts of highly figured wood (too good just to shove in the boiler in their words) that are ideal for making small pieces or ripping down into inlay material, the value for money varies though.

 

[Noggsy]

Cheers for that, I'm not clued-up enough (yet) to know what is a good deal or not on eBay, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for buildings being stripped. Thanks for the detailed reply.

 

[Jelly]

Cheers for that, I'm not clued-up enough (yet) to know what is a good deal or not on eBay, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for buildings being stripped. Thanks for the detailed reply.

If you are able to get your hands on stuff that's otherwise getting chucked you have to balance the matrial you're getting against the time and effort taken to remove it; they usually want it gone as soon as possible and expect you to do the donkeywork (within reason)... Try not to accept stuff you're going to have to break down in situ to transport (large items of joinery, especially glazed things).

You're unlikely to get much luck with large firms, jobbing builders and smaller local contactors are much more likely to have someone there who has the power to make a decision on the matter and the flexibility to let you on site to collect things; even better is if you can ask the person who's having the work done...