Are Lumber Prices Killing Woodworking Hobby?

[Mike Goetzke]

I've been busy doing other things for almost two years but my wife requested I build an entryway storage bench. She saw one she liked on Potterybarn. They wanted $1200. I thought I can easily make it much cheaper. Rough estimate is $800 in oak, $1300 maple, and $1000 in hickory!

They must have large vacuum presses and use a lot of veneering. I might have to see what that option would cost.[attachimg=1]

 

[ChuckM]

Not counting your labor, you should be able to make that piece much cheaper if you used the same kind of softwood and stained it.

If you have a DF500, you could complete it in no time (i.e., within a week or so).

To cut cost if you decided to use hardwood like oak, sepele or walnut, use 3/4" stock for everything including the seat. The 1-1/2" (?) thick material is not necessary.

If the thick look is considered essential, simply modify the seating design slightly, and use a 1-1/2" strip to create the effect.

 

[AstroKeith]

I've been busy doing other things for almost two years but my wife requested I build an entryway storage bench. She saw one she liked on Potterybarn. They wanted $1200. I thought I can easily make it much cheaper. Rough estimate is $800 in oak, $1300 maple, and $1000 in hickory!

They must have large vacuum presses and use a lot of veneering. I might have to see what that option would cost.[attachimg=1]

I think the bench in that photo is made from softwood.

 

[rvieceli]

As per their description, that thing is poplar and veneered mdf.

So comparing prices with at and your options really isn’t a proper comparison.

It will always be cheaper to build a POS piece than something with real wood and real craftsmanship.

No comparison.

Ron

 

[Mike Goetzke]

I've been busy doing other things for almost two years but my wife requested I build an entryway storage bench. She saw one she liked on Potterybarn. They wanted $1200. I thought I can easily make it much cheaper. Rough estimate is $800 in oak, $1300 maple, and $1000 in hickory!

They must have large vacuum presses and use a lot of veneering. I might have to see what that option would cost.[attachimg=1]

I think the bench in that photo is made from softwood.

I know - it says poplar but that cost about the same as red oak.

She likes the aged look. I made some nice raised planter boxes and a matching deck cooler box out of the cedar fence planks Home Depot has. Originally she didn't like the idea but the hardwood sticker shock my persuade her.

Guess I could use dimensional pine and plane it to size. Or I even see HD has 24"x72"x1-1/4" workbench tops on special for $115.

 

[usernumber1]

Curious if can you do a quote for SPF instead of hardwoods, just for apples to apples comparison

I'm also curious how much would a similar piece cost commercially if made out of actual hardwood? My guess $5k+

 

[Mike Goetzke]

I see Douglas fir dimensional lumber at my big box. Is this any good for this project?

Thanks

 

[kevinculle]

While lumber prices aren't fun, I don't think that is killing this hobby.  I don't build projects to save money or make something just like I can find online.  My primary motivations are creating something unique and of high quality and developing my skills and spending my time doing what I enjoy.  If a project takes me a month or two to complete and requires $600-$1,200 in materials and supplies, I consider that a very reasonable hobby expenditure.  We were boaters for over 20 years and I can tell you that hobby makes woodworking look like a screaming bargain.

 

[ChuckM]

I see Douglas fir dimensional lumber at my big box. Is this any good for this project?

Thanks

I'd think so, provided you select the stock properly and allow it to acclimatize in your shop sufficiently.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Mike,

Where in the country are you? There are a couple things I would like to mention.

1) Buy the hardwood that grows and is harvested in your area. I'm lucky living in a hardwood harvesting Mecca, but everywhere has something that is dominant. When I lived in Southwest Missouri, red oak was cheap as chips. Here in Northeast Ohio my "go to" has shifted to Sassafras. It's around $2 a bd. ft., handles exterior exposure well, has lower weight density than poplar but feels stronger, has a grain that passes for ash, and stains remarkably well. Outside this area, though, it seldom grows large enough to harvest. I get tickled about workbenches. Everyone wants a European Beech workbench. Germans started building benches from beech because it's cheap there, not because it is "perfect" for benches.

2) Dig deep. Don't buy hardwood from home centers, woodworking retailers (Woodcraft or Rockler) or your typical retail lumber yard. Find out where the pros buy hardwood. Here in NEO we have Keim, Hartville and Back to Nature. All cater to professional furniture and cabinet shops but are more than happy to deal with hobbyists.

To the point...for years (decades even) woodworking has not been about saving money. You can make "better", but you can't make it cheaper. Those days ended somewhere around the milleniurm or possibly a few years before. Sadly, you have to do it because you love it, not because you can save a buck...unless you're really comparing apples to apples.

 

[Svar]

Rough estimate is $800 in oak, $1300 maple, and $1000 in hickory!

I think 50 sq.ft of 4/4 lumber would be enough for that bench.
In my local rather fancy lumber store 4/4 S2S maple is $10 per sq.ft., hickory is $6 per sq.ft., less  for rough lumber. That's about 40% increase over the past 10 years. Steeper increase than most things, but not a deal breaker.

 

[Packard]

Lately I have only been building things that would bring value added to my home (new cabinet doors and drawer fronts, new vanity, linen cabinet, etc.). Since I am able to convince myself that each dollar I spend will return more than that when I sell my house in a few years, I can justify the cost of lumber.  Indeed, the cost of lumber is immaterial with that rationalization as more cost means higher selling price.

You just have to figure out a rationalization that works for you. [big grin]

(It also keeps me out of bars.  So there is that savings too.) [big grin]

In my case, fastening any piece of furniture to a wall, means added value.  Having free standing, and it is just another piece of furniture to sell.

 

[Cheese]

We were boaters for over 20 years and I can tell you that hobby makes woodworking look like a screaming bargain.

Amen on that...my BIL has a 38' with a pair of 454's that have Bravo Three out drives. He get's a solid 4 mpg...that's tough going when you only have twin 200 gallon tanks. Purchasing 400 gallons of fuel at marina prices makes purchasing 4" thick cherry burl seem like a walk in the park. Prices are relative...and always have been.

 

[rvieceli]

That old saying has always rung true. " A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into."

Ron

 

[kevinculle]

Amen on that...my BIL has a 38' with a pair of 454's that have Bravo Three out drives. He get's a solid 4 mpg...

That is a very fuel-efficient boat for 38'...we owned cruisers in the 32'-34' range with twin big blocks and the number was always right around 1 MPG +/- 0.1.  200 to 240 gallon tanks and in our last 5 years of boating fuel prices on the water in our cruising area were typically $3 to $5 a gallon.  On our last trip to Georgian Bay in Canada we needed a fill up out in the boonies and the price was between $7-$8 Canadian which I think worked out to about $6 US.  Break Out Another Thousand!

 

[peacefulandpatriotically]

lumber prices are certainly high these days (what isn't high these days??) but to answer your question, I think what is killing the hobby is high machinery prices and a glut of asian junk that has killed American manufacturing over the last couple decades.

 

[xedos]

That old saying has always rung true. " A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into."

Ron

thought the old sayin was " bank on another thousand" 

 

[woodferret]

They must have large vacuum presses and use a lot of veneering. I might have to see what that option would cost.[attachimg=1]

What I've found with a lot of the pottery barn and friends imports (even Ikea) is that they use a lot of blockboard.  It's (typically) softwood core with a veneer, relatively thick in comparison to the clear cabinet grade we get over here.

Any which way you try to source solid lumber, you're not going beat that cost - nor probably stability.  Mostly because mills usually inventory select and better.  The stuff shoved inside the blockboard are a couple grades below.  Ungraded crap for really cheap blockboard.

All said, it's still better than particleboard we get here. 

 

[jaguar36]

I've noticed that some woods have doubled in price, but others are about the same as they were 10 years ago.

If you're curious you can look at the pricelist from Hearne Hardwoods, a big lumberyard in PA from 2015 here.

Cherry (4/4 FAS) went from $5.00 in 2015 to $5.50 today.

White Oak went from $4.00 to $9.50!!

So if you're concerned about wood prices, just find a different species. 

 

[peacefulandpatriotically]

I've noticed that some woods have doubled in price, but others are about the same as they were 10 years ago.

If you're curious you can look at the pricelist from Hearne Hardwoods, a big lumberyard in PA from 2015 here.

Cherry (4/4 FAS) went from $5.00 in 2015 to $5.50 today.

White Oak went from $4.00 to $9.50!!

So if you're concerned about wood prices, just find a different species.

if I'm not mistaken, high white oak prices have been said to be driven by high demand for oak barrels, which is supposedly driven by a surge in bourbon production the past 5+ years.