is this a decent price for 4/4 maple, birch?

[Rich B]

Hi All -

Good morning! I recently picked up a 13" planer, and as luck would have it, subsequently found what looks like a good deal on rough-cut lumber...would let me put the planer to use and say to the wife "see, I really did need it!!" :-) More importantly, could build the many many projects on my to do list.

This pricing looks like a decent deal to me. Since this is the first time I'm ever buying something like this, thought I'd see what other people thought -- good deal or run away as fast as I can? I did a google search to find "benchmark" pricing to compare against but didn't find anything terribly useful.

Thanks for your advice/help!

Maple -- random widths of #1C at $1.25 per board foot Birch -- random widths of FAS at $1.65 per board foot Both are 4/4, rough cut, kiln dried to 7% and in 8' and 10' lengths.

Regards, Rich

[George]

Not to be picky, but soft or hard maple? White or yellow birch?

If the first in either pair, only average to high price. If the second, good, based on MI.

Oh yes, they once were at 7%. Depending on how long out of the kiln, they're much different now.

[Wilson]

Don't expect too much of the planer. It can remove a mild cup, but it can't work miracles. It needs a basically planar surface from which to work. There can be some bumps on one side, but if you have thickness variations, often seen in bandsawn wood, then it's hard to get them evened out. It's worth a little time and money to get decent boards to start with.

I make nearly all my own stock and it's easy to spend a lot of time on a bad board. There are many tricks to learn, like using a carrier board and stacking narrow boards for edging, so start slowly and get a feel for what's possible and what's worth the trouble. Buy small amounts of wood at first, so you don't get stuck with things you can't handle.

For smallish pieces, getting a first surface with a jointer is useful.

[Rich B]

George - Thanks for the reply. Sorry about leaving out that info...it's hard maple and yellow birch. So based on your comments, then, the pricing is "good." Regards, Rich

lumber...would

[Rich B]

Hi Wilson - Thanks for your insightful feedback.

Totally agree with your comment "It's worth a little time and money to get decent boards to start with." If/when I go to buy this lumber and the condition is visibly worse than "decent" WRT planing, I will pass.

Jointer is coming next month so I should be able to take a decent shot at creating beautiful wood from these rough timbers!

Thanks again for your input. Regards, Rich

lumber...would

[George]

Sounds like it should work out.

I'm sure you know that you should not surface more than you need for any given project at once, so that you can have all wood that needs to be the same thickness complete on the same pass. I don't hold with the idea that

4/4 should be 13/16. If it'll make 7/8, it's fine with me. If it goes 3/4, oh well.

WRT the hard maple, plan between the knots and get them out of your face before you even think of planing.