Need some help pricing lumber.

[retoid]

Hey, I am wondering how you guys price your lumber?
I can understand it is going to vary from what type of wood you are selling but where do you start? How do you get a general price of lumber?

I am trying to figure out a few numbers to see if I can benefit from buying a band saw mill. I was going to just check with some of my local hardware stores that sell lumber and check the cost of their lumber and go from there.
I was wondering if you had any tips for pricing irregular cuts of woods as well.
I am familiar with the Board Feet measurement and would use that.

The wood I am particularly looking for a value on is NW Red Cedar.

Any advice would help.

Thanks.

 

[woodshop]

Don't want to put a damper on things for ya, but there are just WAY too many variables to even give you a ballpark figure. OK... that said, anywhere from a buck a foot to $8 a foot... how's that. Specialty wide crotch figure stuff, sky is limit, it's basically what the buyer will pay. If you find somebody that REALLY wants that particular piece of figured wood, he/she might pay a lot for it. Of course most small time woodworkers are looking for bargains. Now, we talking kiln dried, air dried? If air dried yourself, except for a few local woodworkers maybe, you're gonna have a harder time marketing it. Factories and small shops often won't take a chance on air dry unless they know it was really done right. Honeycombing and other defects from improper drying only tend to show up later when you run it through the table saw or planer when it's too late. Then, every part of the country has expensive species and cheap species, often depending on how far away it has to be shipped. If you're in California and you want true Pennsylvania high grade cherry, you're gonna pay $8-10 for it. Here in PA, if you're willing to run out to the rural parts of the state and visit a local mill, you might get that same cherry for $2-3 a foot. Location location location, coupled with supply and demand for that particular species in your area are what is gonna set the price of lumber for the most part. Not saying you're not going to be able to sell any lumber... just saying it's a lot like those folks who think they can plop a table down at a craft fair, stick some of their work on it and go home with a fist full of money. They may have the most beautiful turned bowls at the show, but if they're not marketed right, or at the right price for the area or show, or most folks at the show for whatever reason don't even see them, they might as well be Chinese knockoffs you can get for a buck at the dollar store 'cause you're not going to sell many of them.

 

[retoid]

Don't want to put a damper on things for ya, but there are just WAY too many variables to even give you a ballpark figure. OK... that said, anywhere from a buck a foot to $8 a foot... how's that. Specialty wide crotch figure stuff, sky is limit, it's basically what the buyer will pay. If you find somebody that REALLY wants that particular piece of figured wood, he/she might pay a lot for it. Of course most small time woodworkers are looking for bargains. Now, we talking kiln dried, air dried? If air dried yourself, except for a few local woodworkers maybe, you're gonna have a harder time marketing it. Factories and small shops often won't take a chance on air dry unless they know it was really done right. Honeycombing and other defects from improper drying only tend to show up later when you run it through the table saw or planer when it's too late. Then, every part of the country has expensive species and cheap species, often depending on how far away it has to be shipped. If you're in California and you want true Pennsylvania high grade cherry, you're gonna pay $8-10 for it. Here in PA, if you're willing to run out to the rural parts of the state and visit a local mill, you might get that same cherry for $2-3 a foot. Location location location, coupled with supply and demand for that particular species in your area are what is gonna set the price of lumber for the most part. Not saying you're not going to be able to sell any lumber... just saying it's a lot like those folks who think they can plop a table down at a craft fair, stick some of their work on it and go home with a fist full of money. They may have the most beautiful turned bowls at the show, but if they're not marketed right, or at the right price for the area or show, or most folks at the show for whatever reason don't even see them, they might as well be Chinese knockoffs you can get for a buck at the dollar store 'cause you're not going to sell many of them.

Well put. Thank you very much!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Hey, I am wondering how you guys price your lumber?

I ask or call around to see what "others" are selling there's for, and what grade there lumber is. Then i look at the grade of mine, and make a decision on my price.

Rob

 

[peterrum]

I agree that there are too many variables but the products you would be able to get hold of and sell in Bellingham would be fir, pine, red cedar like you mentioned and I think you have big leaf maple there. The cedar would be in demand this time of year for building decks and the prices for that are pretty hefty these days. I've been working overseas for three years now so I haven't been able to get up to date on all of the current prices but when i get back I will be going to the lumber yards and seeing what they charge now. I think I will be in for a bit of sticker shock. The last time i was back home I took a look at some 1x6 fir which was s4s to use for baseboard. I have an older home and this is what they originally used. Anyway, the price on that at Rona was about $3.59 a linear foot, add the taxes in and i was looking at about $4 a foot. That is when i decided to get my own CSM and make my own lumber.

 

[dancan]

we have a larger local mill that is also a building supply retailer , they sell their rough cut spruce/fir/hemlock at the price of planed spruce lumber .

 

[retoid]

Thanks guys.

I am definitely very new to this field and have a lot a research to do before I make any decisions. The comment about air dried vs. kiln dried lumber got me thinking. What all is involved in a kiln? I would imagine we could build one of our own if it did not require to much special work.

Cedar is definitely a treasured wood out here in the NW due to its decay resisting qualities. However I have found out that several tree cutting services are willing to give it up at a very small price. This is how I get most of my cedar now for building mt bike features.

I am going to investigate kiln's, how they work and what it takes to build them. Also I am very curious about how to grade lumber. I will be completely honest and say I have no idea about grading lumber and how it's graded.

Thanks

 

[FJH]

Hey, I am wondering how you guys price your lumber?
I can understand it is going to vary from what type of wood you are selling but where do you start? How do you get a general price of lumber?

I am trying to figure out a few numbers to see if I can benefit from buying a band saw mill. I was going to just check with some of my local hardware stores that sell lumber and check the cost of their lumber and go from there.
I was wondering if you had any tips for pricing irregular cuts of woods as well.
I am familiar with the Board Feet measurement and would use that.

The wood I am particularly looking for a value on is NW Red Cedar.

Any advice would help.

Thanks.

Price home depot and keep your price below what there selling it for and your going to get rid of it!Having said that Depending on what your selling
Its tough to cut dimentional lumber and sell below what these guys are selling
for!But specilty wood CEDAR / Maple / any hard woods its easy to beat em !
I have priced there dimension wood and its not worth putting a saw in a log
to sell the stuff unless your doing specilty beams and sizes!

 

[peterrum]

Thanks guys.

I am definitely very new to this field and have a lot a research to do before I make any decisions. The comment about air dried vs. kiln dried lumber got me thinking. What all is involved in a kiln? I would imagine we could build one of our own if it did not require to much special work.

I am going to investigate kiln's, how they work and what it takes to build them. Also I am very curious about how to grade lumber. I will be completely honest and say I have no idea about grading lumber and how it's graded.

Thanks

You are much like me as I am fairly new to this game as well and i have spent alot of time looking through this site and gaining an awful lot of knowledge. This site and the www.################## have alot of information about air drying lumber and using kilns. I have a bit of Scottish blood in me so i am thrifty(cheap) and have been looking at solar kilns. You might want to check solar kilns out and from my research so far the Virginia Tech research and model is very good. Anyway, use the search tools here and you will find a wealth of stuff on kilns. I wish I had access to the cedar you are talking about and FJH is right about the specialty wood vs. dimension lumber. if you have access to a large amount of cedar then you have it made. Good luck.

 

[peterrum]

my last post didnt accept the other web site but it is Forestryforum dot com.

 

[Backwoods]

The price of western red cedar logs has peaked in March and April. The last 2 years it has peaked at $1,000 a 1,000 bft. Scribner. Now that said, do not run out and buy a mill. There are many other factors to consider. If you run out and mill up several thousand board feet, then look for a buyer. The wood will turn gray before it is sold, then you wind up knocking the price off just to sell it. In the end, you sell the wood for what you paid for the log or less because it is taking up space.
Find a buyer before milling the log, that way the color is fresh and makes nice decks and fences, hence more value. Do not put red cedar in a kiln or you will pull out pretzels as red cedar is prone to cell collapse and most of it will be used outside anyway. You will want to keep it covered even for air-drying.
Hire a local sawyer and spend some time working with him/her to get a feel for the kind of work involved.
(yes my wife is a sawyer to, so I kinda have to be PC here)
I set my softwood prices as milling cost plus the log cost and keep an inventory of logs so that I can pick up logs when they are at there lowest price, thereby passing the savings on to my customers. I never buy a log at any where close to market value unless a customer has a specific need that I cannot fill from my own log inventory.
I do not compete with the big chain stores, in that everything I mill is custom sized to the customers needs rather then the customer having to settle for what I have in stock.

 

[Tree Bones]

Lot of good information here. I recommend more research. My experience has proven it to be very difficult to compete with lumber yard prices. The real profits come from custom milling for log owners or taking orders for material that is not standard sizes available at normal outlets. If you are thinking about upgrading your mill with the intention of earning a living even more research is important. Here is a link to some pricing information: Pricing

You may need to register to read it. Let me know.

 

[retoid]

Thank you guys, I am absorbing all of this information and then some.

Here are my thoughts:
The reasons I am interested in a band saw mill is mainly for the purpose of being able to make extra money off of it. Not turning it into a full time job but more in the likes of a part time.
I belong to a non profit organization in the mt. bike category, we build lots of trails and wood features. So having a bandsaw mill to mill cedar would speed up our process of milling the wood for these projects. The CSM is great for bringing to the location and milling deep in the woods, but I get a lot of cedar logs to my house.
And third, the joy of just having access to a band saw mill to mill up any wood for my personal projects would be a joy.

I would say I fall under the category of recreation use for band saws. I was looking at the Baker Wood Buddy and the Woodmizer LT10 and LT15, the LT15 is kind of pricey for me though.

As for a kiln, it is not exactly relevant to the wood we would mainly be milling. So a kiln would not set us back to start off. I can see this going further where we offer special cuts of other woods as well. But by then, I will have built something like a virginia tech solar kiln.

 

[Backwoods]

Just remember there are several brands of mills in that size range. So shop around.

I have came across quite a few of these tucked under a shed, on the side of the shop, ect. However finding a used one will take time as most people that get them hang onto them for life. I am keeping an eye out for one that I can set up here at the shop where I have equipment to handle the logs and lay out at least 40’ of track for it, just for milling long stock.
Don’t over look the swing saws as they are easy to move and a small one can be packed in to the log. I am also looking for a large one of those to bust down those over sized giants that everyone seems to want me to mill.