I called my lumber yard today and talked to them about board foot
pricing compared to linear foot pricing.

I paid $3/board foot for random width cherry. The person I spoke to
today said that a 1x8x8 board of cherry is 2.20/linear foot.

If I understand the pricing correctly, the cost in board feet of that
board is $16, but the linear foot price is only $17.60.

If I'm doing that right, it seems to me that it would take a long time
to pay for that planer if the difference between random width boards
and finished boards is only about $1.60 on an 8 foot board.

Now, I understand that over the course of 1000 bdft of lumber, that
makes a difference. But this is just a hobby for me, so it will take a
long time for me to go through a bunch of lumber like that.

Am I missing something? Or are the savings from finishing your lumber
yourself only apparent using economies of scale?

Thanks,
--Michael

wrote:

I called my lumber yard today and talked to them about board foot
pricing compared to linear foot pricing.

I paid $3/board foot for random width cherry. The person I spoke to
today said that a 1x8x8 board of cherry is 2.20/linear foot.

If I understand the pricing correctly, the cost in board feet of that
board is $16, but the linear foot price is only $17.60.

If I'm doing that right, it seems to me that it would take a long time
to pay for that planer if the difference between random width boards
and finished boards is only about $1.60 on an 8 foot board.

Now, I understand that over the course of 1000 bdft of lumber, that
makes a difference. But this is just a hobby for me, so it will take a
long time for me to go through a bunch of lumber like that.

Am I missing something? Or are the savings from finishing your lumber
yourself only apparent using economies of scale?

Thanks,
--Michael

Purchased surfaced wood will not be as uniformly flat as what you can
make with your own equipment at home. For fine furniture, you need
either planes or a jointer and planer, plus a TS to make straight, flat
boards.

Dave

wrote in message
oups.com...
I called my lumber yard today and talked to them about board foot
pricing compared to linear foot pricing.

I paid $3/board foot for random width cherry. The person I spoke to
today said that a 1x8x8 board of cherry is 2.20/linear foot.

Ok, If you found a piece of random width cherry that was 1x8x8' you would
pay $16.00. The S4S per linear foot would be $17.60. IMHO you would be
wasting money if you bought the planer. Typically however S4S sold by the
linear foot wood is consistantly 3/4" thick and is normally 7.25" wide. So
you actually loose 3/4" for that s4s stock sold by the linear foot. So
really if you buy a 1x8x8' s4s board sold by the linear foot you are only
getting 4.83 actual BF as opposed to random width 1x8x8' and you get 5.33 BF
assuming thicknesses being equal. Soooo your savings increases. But IMHO
there is not enough prioce difference to justify buying a planer to mill the
wood to 3/4" thick + your time of sellecting the boards and your time
planing.
THIS IS NOT THE NORM. Typically for Red Oak I pay about 3.25 per liner foot
for 1x8 and about $3.25 per BF for randonm width. That equates out to about
50% more for the s4s material sold by the linear foot in 1x8 sizes over the
random width s2s or s3s.


If I understand the pricing correctly, the cost in board feet of that
board is $16, but the linear foot price is only $17.60.

If I'm doing that right, it seems to me that it would take a long time
to pay for that planer if the difference between random width boards
and finished boards is only about $1.60 on an 8 foot board.

Exactly. In this case it really does not pay to have the planer for this
kind of savings. HOWEVER, the planer is very nice if you need material
thinner than 3/4" thick.

Now, I understand that over the course of 1000 bdft of lumber, that
makes a difference. But this is just a hobby for me, so it will take a
long time for me to go through a bunch of lumber like that.

Am I missing something? Or are the savings from finishing your lumber
yourself only apparent using economies of scale?

In this instance you are on target. Typically though you pay a greater
percentage more for the s4s material.

Now, if you have a saw mill in the area you can save a lot more buy buying
rough cut. I bought 250BF of Red Oak 4 weeks ago and will save $857.00 over
buying S4S for the same amount. That amount pays for just over 2/3's of my
new Delta planer.

Now, with that said, you can flatten you rough cut lumber with a planer and
sled and after surfacing both sides flat you can straighten the edge on you
TS with a simple and inexpesive jig. I invested about $80 for a sled to
work with the planer and the jig for the TS. No need for a jointer when
working with agbout 8' lengths of wood that will fit in a planer.


Thanks,
--Michael

wrote in message
oups.com...
I called my lumber yard today and talked to them about board foot
pricing compared to linear foot pricing.

I paid $3/board foot for random width cherry. The person I spoke to
today said that a 1x8x8 board of cherry is 2.20/linear foot.

If I understand the pricing correctly, the cost in board feet of that
board is $16, but the linear foot price is only $17.60.

If I'm doing that right, it seems to me that it would take a long time
to pay for that planer if the difference between random width boards
and finished boards is only about $1.60 on an 8 foot board.

Now, I understand that over the course of 1000 bdft of lumber, that
makes a difference. But this is just a hobby for me, so it will take a
long time for me to go through a bunch of lumber like that.

Am I missing something? Or are the savings from finishing your lumber
yourself only apparent using economies of scale?

Thanks,
--Michael


Do you plan to make everything out of 3/4" stock? What if you need 1/2", or
7/8", or 1 1/8"? Also, you can't count on yard-finished lumber being uniform
in thickness, so if you're planning on doing wide glue-ups, you can expect
the inconsistencies in thickness and straightness to multiply quickly.

Then there is cupping, warping, etc. to deal with, unless you plan to cut it
out as waste. Add that to the price per usable foot.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I called my lumber yard today and talked to them about board foot
pricing compared to linear foot pricing.

I paid $3/board foot for random width cherry. The person I spoke to
today said that a 1x8x8 board of cherry is 2.20/linear foot.

If I understand the pricing correctly, the cost in board feet of that
board is $16, but the linear foot price is only $17.60.

If I'm doing that right, it seems to me that it would take a long time
to pay for that planer if the difference between random width boards
and finished boards is only about $1.60 on an 8 foot board.

Now, I understand that over the course of 1000 bdft of lumber, that
makes a difference. But this is just a hobby for me, so it will take a
long time for me to go through a bunch of lumber like that.

Am I missing something? Or are the savings from finishing your lumber
yourself only apparent using economies of scale?

If you have a source of good quality S2S, and you are satisfied with what
they have, you may not need a planer.
Generally, the variety and selection of rough wood is much better than that
of S2S.
OTOH, a few days ago I bought some S2S butternut because it was easier to
see what it looked like planed.

And of course, there are those occasions that you need it exactly 5/8"
thick. Tough to do without a planer (or a drum sander).

I live in San Diego, CA. The local hardwood lumber yard sells 4/4
cherry for $9.35 and adds $0.14 bf for S2S.

This is retail pricing. Are the prices you guys quoting trade pricing?
I know they rip us off at retail but $3 vs $9 is a big jump.

Local Rockler has 4/4 S2S cherry for over $10 bf.

wrote:

Am I missing something? Or are the savings from finishing your lumber
yourself only apparent using economies of scale?


Motorcycles are not about saving gas, motor homes are not about saving
hotel bills, and home shop planers are not about saving money at the
lumberyard.

I have a perfectly good 15" planer, but I pay a little extra to have
the lumberyard plane my boards to within a 16th or so of the final
thickness. Then I do the finish planing at home. Their planer cuts
faster than mine, but mine gives a much better finish. But even if
that weren't the case, I'm always needing a thinner board to go here or
there.

You can get by without one, but you'll always be working around the
lack of a planer.

DonkeyHody
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do
nothing." - Edmund Burke

wrote in message

Am I missing something?


Yes, saving money is not a reason to buy a planer. Dimensioning and
smoothing lumber is the ONLY reason to buy a planer. First time you want
7/16" shelves you will know why you should have a planer.

Thanks for all of the replies. I understand that sometimes you need
thinner boards, but I left that out of the equation because, as someone
said above, there's nothing else to do--besides hand planing--when you
need a thinner board. So I understand that part of the argument for a
planer.

I just wanted to make sure I needed one before I went and purchased
one.

Thanks,
--Michael

I live in Memphis, and the place I'm getting these prices from is a run
down place in the downtown area with wood stacked everywhere. They sell
to anyone. J & J Lumber, if anyone wants to know.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in Memphis, and the place I'm getting these prices from is a run
down place in the downtown area with wood stacked everywhere. They sell
to anyone. J & J Lumber, if anyone wants to know.

I don't want to know about a place selling cherry for 16 bucks a BF, even if
the place is next door.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in Memphis, and the place I'm getting these prices from is a run
down place in the downtown area with wood stacked everywhere. They sell
to anyone. J & J Lumber, if anyone wants to know.


Whoops. Sorry, guy. I messed up. I see now the 3 bucks a BF. Been checking
too much Ebay, I guess, seeing exorbitant charges where there are none.
Three bucks is good.

"Jerry" wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in San Diego, CA. The local hardwood lumber yard sells 4/4
cherry for $9.35 and adds $0.14 bf for S2S.

This is retail pricing. Are the prices you guys quoting trade pricing?
I know they rip us off at retail but $3 vs $9 is a big jump.

Local Rockler has 4/4 S2S cherry for over $10 bf.

http://www.dansvilledimension.com/lumber.html
I have only bought from them once because it is a 90minute drive and closer
places are only about a dollar more, but it was excellent material.

The reason I bought my planer had nothing to do with cost. Even if you buy
finished lumber, chances are slim that it will be the same thickness, let
alone really flat. It will surprise you how much better things turn out when
using truly flat, square and uniform material.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I called my lumber yard today and talked to them about board foot
pricing compared to linear foot pricing.

I paid $3/board foot for random width cherry. The person I spoke to
today said that a 1x8x8 board of cherry is 2.20/linear foot.

If I understand the pricing correctly, the cost in board feet of that
board is $16, but the linear foot price is only $17.60.

If I'm doing that right, it seems to me that it would take a long time
to pay for that planer if the difference between random width boards
and finished boards is only about $1.60 on an 8 foot board.

Now, I understand that over the course of 1000 bdft of lumber, that
makes a difference. But this is just a hobby for me, so it will take a
long time for me to go through a bunch of lumber like that.

Am I missing something? Or are the savings from finishing your lumber
yourself only apparent using economies of scale?

Thanks,
--Michael

"CW" wrote in message
.net...
The reason I bought my planer had nothing to do with cost. Even if you buy
finished lumber, chances are slim that it will be the same thickness, let
alone really flat. It will surprise you how much better things turn out
when
using truly flat, square and uniform material.


Same here. I wanted to have control over my lumber thickness. That said
however there is a place in Houston that sells s4s lumber and it is as close
to perfect as you get. It is always a dream to work with and I have never
purchased any 4/4 that was not exactly 3/4" thick. If I am on a dead line
that is where I buy.