Lumber prices

[CStan]

Those prices are about what I'm seeing for Select from a couple of suppliers in the South. FAS would be about 20% higher or so.

[SteveS]

Eastern walnut is $22/bd ft in Seattle area. Last time I bought several years back in was $10. I opted to get 4/4 and 6/4 sapele in lieu of walnut as it was $11/bd ft, one board even had pommele figure in it for a couple projects currently being worked.

[Gregor1]

This is another supplier in my area. He is about 55 miles from me. The price list is suppose to be posted on line at  " forgedofwood " but I cannot get it to show up on my computer. Nor can my wife. I will post it here. I have tried in vain to make it larger. Maybe you can.

   

[Rob Young]

This is another supplier in my area. He is about 55 miles from me. The price list is suppose to be posted on line at  " forgedofwood " but I cannot get it to show up on my computer. Nor can my wife. I will post it here. I have tried in vain to make it larger. Maybe you can.

PDF : 

  Forged of Wood _ 2021 Hardwood Lumber Price List Fall _ Winter.pdf (Size: 471.73 KB / Downloads: 200)

[Bill Tindall]

This is another supplier in my area. He is about 55 miles from me. The price list is suppose to be posted on line at  " forgedofwood " but I cannot get it to show up on my computer. Nor can my wife. I will post it here. I have tried in vain to make it larger. Maybe you can.

There is a lot of useful information on this price list for someone that understands grades.  Sel and BTR means the lumber could be any one of the 4 best grades of lumber.  That said there is a huge difference in the yield of a "select" board vs  "firsts".   They list "common" at a substantial discount.  There are 3 grades of "common".  If the lumber is #1 common someone experienced working lumber can build just about anything from #1 common and have the piece defect-free.  But if #2 common, the yield from a board would only be 1-2' long narrow pieces of clear lumber.

[MstrCarpenter]

My local hardwood supplier has prices that increase with width on some species. That's what I thought this pricing was. I had to zoom in to see that it was feet not inches. I've never seen that before either.

[Woodshop]

Doug White Hardwoods is usually where I get my supply, you can see the prices here  https://dougwhitehardwoods.com/hardwoods/
always really good lumber pick what I want, But then I have known him for 40+ years and built his cabinets.

[Gregor1]

I am going to let my stupid out here. What does FAS mean?

[msweig]

FAS = First and Seconds. This is the highest grade of lumber.

[Bill Tindall]

I am going to let my stupid out here. What does FAS mean?

Fact- when logs are sawed they yield a variety of sized boards and the boards have a variety and number of defects- splits, knots, bark, etc.  At most half and in cases none of the log will yield clear boards.  Whatever the long yields will be sold for some purpose at some price.  The price the mill will get for clear or nearly clear boards will be several times what they will get for a knotty board.  

We sold lots of lumber to kitchen cabinet makers.  They needed to be able to cut up the boards we sold them to yield clear pieces that they could assemble into cabinet sides and doors, and cut clear frame and drawer front pieces.  They, and all commercial customers order over the phone, or by email.  So how do they specify lumber sufficiently defect-free to meet their needs?  The National Hardwood Lumber Association has established grading rules that enable a customer to know what they can expect to be able to cut (lengths and widths of clear cuttings) from a 1000 bdft pack of lumber ordered sight unseen.  These grading rules are established to meet the needs of customers buying thousands of bdft of lumber to be cut up into smaller clear pieces, not the retail customer buying 2 boards.

Your lumber sources, unless they do their own kiln drying, will be ordering packs of lumber sight unseen from a mill that produces dry hardwood lumber.  They will be ordering by grade.  For retail sales whey will be ordering the best grade of lumber available because retail customers expect, unrealistically, to be able to buy defect-free hardwood lumber.  Logs don't yield much clear lumber and commercial customers do not need clear lumber, just few enough defects to be able to cut the clear cuttings they need from it.  Hence, the best lumber normally available at the wholesale level is lumber that includes the top 3 NHLA grades (firsts, seconds, first and seconds one face(which can be #1 common on one face) or maybe even the 4th "select" grade included.  I have a detailed discussion of how hardwood lumber is produced in the Articles section of woodcentral forum.