Buy cherry online or retail????

[Mark]

Greetings All, We are in the final quarter of a major house remodel which includes a new kitchen with cherry cabinets. My wife likes the look and now we want to consider cherry to trim out the doors, windows and soffits. My dilemma is whether to price and buy online or retail. Has anyone bought cherry online and been satisfied? I'm wondering if there is enough of a price advantage buying sight unseen(online) over going to the local hardwood store and picking and choosing. Since I already have a Unisaw, DW735, DJ20 and Rikon 18" bandsaw, I would be able to put them to good use. I'd even be willing to buy 8/4 or even 12/4 and resaw in order to get fairly consistent coloring. I'm just concerned that since cherry has that whole heartwood/sapwood thing going on, that I may have to scrap more than if I can pick and choose myself. Thanks for your input, Mark

[B A R R Y]

Hardwood "Store"? Yeah, that would be expensive. The word "store" makes me wonder if you're buying from a Woodcraft, which can be really convenient, but super expensive..

However, if you're ordering from a local lumber supplier, I'll bet you can cream a mail order supplier for a decent sized trim order. Shipping adds up fast. If you happen to have some 5 Minute epoxy and a tube of black artist's oil paint, and order #1 common, I'll bet you'd be shocked at how much lower the price may be.

You don't necessarily need FAS for trim, if you choose the best sections of #1 common for the most visible parts.

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[Toller]

I personally wouldn't buy online. I like to pick and choose, and will pay more to be able to do so. However, if your local cherry is expensive, consider...

are about 75 miles from me and I went there once when I needed a lot of cherry. I was amazed at how uniformly good their entire stock was.

[Mark]

By store, I meant OWL Hardwood supply, near Chicago. I don't know what their bft price is yet, but I may take a look anyway. I agree Woodcraft would blow the budget out of the water...

[Mark]

Thanks, I've bookmarked them and will look into it. Since this will be such a visible project, I may need to pay a little more to get the lok I want.

[dpb]

Mark wrote: ...

How much (in bd-ft) are you talking about here? I routinely buy hardwood "sight unseen" because there's no distributor within 200 miles. But, I buy minimums of 4-500 ft at a time. It will all get used eventually. I agree w/ the other respondent that 1C is often the "best buy".

[henry]

I have had good luck on line, but I also think some sapwood adds caracter to cherry.

[dpb]

I wasn't against online per se, although I can get shipped from the suppliers I buy from in concert w/ local lumberyards and/or other individuals so shipping is far less than what what online suppliers have wanted in what little looking I've done. If you're relatively close to one or don't have other local sources, sure, go for it...

For OP, I'd gather how much if any sapwood he wants to allow in the woodwork would depend heavily on the style and character of the cabinetry he already has installed. If it's all heartwood and a fairly "period" look, sapwood would (so to speak :) ) probably also be distracting from that "look and feel". While it is, of course, possible to minimize the color differences w/ judicious finishing, doesn't really sound like cost is a constraint here...

[todd]

I would define a "hardwood store" as a "store" that sells mostly "hardwood". In the Chicago area, where the OP apparently is, that includes Owl Hardwood Lumber Company and not a whole lot else.

todd

[todd]

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The price list I have is a bit out of date, but I think you can figure on $7-8/BF for 4/4 cherry at Owl. The only semi-local place that I know of that you'll get it for less would be Kirkland Sawmill in Kirkland, IL. It's a bit of a drive for me, but for a bunch of BF, it can be worthwhile. I've bought maple there a couple of times for about half the price of Owl.

todd

[B A R R Y]

I'm not picking on anyone, it's just that "store" gives a top dollar retail-esque picture to me when used with lumber. It may very well be a regional dialect thing. Please don't take it personally.

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[Stephen M]

Personally I have never bought on-line, so I can't address that issue. Forget the resaw idea though. You will pay a per-bd/ft premium for thick stock and then spend a huge amount of time resawing it. If you need 1" nominal stock, just buy 4/4.

Regarding sapwood. It generally only shows up on one face of the board, so unless the application can be seen from all sides, like a table leg, it's not that big of a deal to work around.

-Steve

[Mark]

I realized that thicker does cost more per bd ft after I started pricing all the options. 4/4 is fine for me