Wood prices: Ouch!

[skeeterk]

I only have 3 hardwood suppliers here. Rough cut Maple was in $4-$5 range when I last bought it in May. The local WC has rough maple going for $10 per board foot. I wish we had more selection and availability here in SE Texas.

[tablesawtom]

The nearest woodworking store is Woodsmith and it is a 3 hour trip one way. I was just there Thursday, as we were passing on a mini vacation. And I thought it would really be nice to be able to just go down to the store and get whatever I needed at a moments notice. Sometimes a project gets held up for a lack of a router bit.  The nearest big box is a hour away. and there is an Ace Hardware about 17 miles but their stuff is hit or miss. Anyway I guess it sometimes pays to live 17 miles from the nearest stop light.

Here is a picture of my sales receipt for today. If you look at the tape you will get an idea of the size of the hard maple in the truck. The ash is under it. I know it says common for the ash but most of it is clear. Trust me I am thanking my lucky stars. And I checked on 8/4th ash and it is 2.35 a BD Ft.. He said he had about 200 Bd Ft of it left.

   

   

It pays to look around for local saw mills. I picked up some Pecan when I was around Austin last spring. I thought it was kind of high but I can't get Pecan locally. My wife will have names and addresses for the mills if interested.

Tom

[packerguy®]

What has happened to the lumber industry is really troubling and for as much as people say "oh it will come back down", sadly I suspect it will come down, some but not anywhere near 2018-2019 pricing. 

I also notice a HUGE disparity to local mills and small volume sellers that source locally, versus commercial suppliers. Local is cheaper (their transportation cost are less for one) but there selection and quality is hit or miss. 

I buy from a large commercial supplier where I mainly buy Cherry and Red Oak with a little all white hard maple, everything select and better.

Last year I brought in about 7000 BF and paid $17k. This year 8500 BF and paid close to $28k. So $2.40 to $3.20 a foot on average. I think 2019 was like $1.95 a foot. 

Sure its wholesale pricing, and at a large volume discount but the ratios are still the same. 

What I haven't been able to decipher is, are the prices still up because of inflation, or has the market reset by .30-.40 a BF and inflation has pushed up from there. Time will tell. Im guessing the later and when the market calms we will see what was $1.9 a bf now bottoms at $2.3 or so. Hard to tell. Last year supply was really squeezed. Normally cherry and red oak is plentiful here in the upper midwest. If its not local here, they bring it up from a warehouse in Chicago. Last year they were going as far as Indianapolis....and you can tell some of the cherry was coming from Pennsylvania (not gonna complain about that) but was that price increase because of the transportation coming so far, or the material itself. But most everything I got this year they brought up from Chicago, so the transportation costs driving the price might not be it, unless they still are getting from mills further away. 

Time will tell.

[ajkoontz]

I got a jolt yesterday, going to our only hardwood supplier in Indy.  I'm am starting to build a sharpening station similar to what Lie-Nielsen (formerly) offered.  Since it will be near my bench, and the bench is ash, I asked to see their ash, of which they had plenty.  I needed 8/4 by roughly 1X8ft. to get started.  Easily found a board and went to pay.....$96.00!!  I picked myself up from the floor, and asked how much it is per bd/ft.:  Six bucks.  Last time I bought a quantity of wood, I could get cherry for that price.  My bench has a hundred BF of ash in it @ $3 /bf (built in 2010).

I once asked a high-end furniture builder where he bought his wood.  He mentioned a store wood store in far-west suburban Chicago.  My first reaction was that it was by far the most expensive place.  His answer was that the cost of wood is modest compared to the the other costs of operating a professional artisenal furniture-building business.  As was once said, "The value of something is remembered long after the cost is forgotten". 

Wilhelm Lumber- Brookville, IN  (812) 576-3380

Call them for a price list. Good people, good selection. Maybe not worth the drive for one board, but they had good prices last time I was there. This was 2+ years ago though, so ?? At the time they were significantly cheaper than the place I think you went.

[jteneyck]

I had an epiphany 20 years ago after leaving a lumber yard with 3 boards and $80 less in my walnut.  I started milling my own lumber, first with a chainsaw mill and then 2 years ago with a bandsaw mill.  Of course this is not for everyone and the initial investment can be steep, but I'm way beyond breakeven at this point, even for the bandsaw mill.  

Yesterday and today a friend and I milled two large walnut logs that yielded 550 bf of mostly clear lumber.  From the butt log we cut 8 pieces of 8/4 lumber 18" wide x 9 ft long.  At $10/bf that's over $2000 at retail.  












Think outside the box.  Mill your own lumber or buy from small producers like me.  

John

[Stwood_]

It's not just lumber.  It's everything.  I was at Costco yesterday and the price of beef was insane!  NY Strip steak was over $17/lb.  That's crazy.  Might be cheaper to own a cow and do the butchering myself.

You haven't bought any cows lately I see.

Cow/calf prices are off the charts for small buyers.

[Admiral]

You haven't bought any cows lately I see.

Cow/calf prices are off the charts for small buyers.

Ha!  Maybe my bride is right, she's vegetarian, but even those prices are getting steep.

[AHill]

Ha!  Maybe my bride is right, she's vegetarian, but even those prices are getting steep.

I spent $235 on a USDA Prime ribeye roast today.  It was $17.99 / lb.  At first, I thought it was brisket and about had a heart attack.  So, now I have a marvelous Thanksgiving entree.  Makes me want to be a vegetarian, though.

[john jesseph]

Tons of places to buy wood in Indiana. Northwest has always had very high prices. There’s a place in Brownsburg that has ash for 3.50/bf. You can find way better prices from the Amish also.

[Scoony]

You are going to the wrong place. Look up Bonesteel mill. They have a location closer to me in southern Indiana, but I believe they have another location closer to Indy.

I just picked up some 8/4 walnut ranging from 7" to 10" wide. Of course the walnut is $10.50 a bft, but the other woods are much lower priced.

Best part about their lumber is the way he cuts it. I get very little waste from their boards. The 8/4 lumber is actually 2 1/4" thick and should finish out at 1 7/8" easily. Their 4/4 lumber is usually over an inch thick, so they will plane out to 7/8"