lumber options

[Srbrownjr175]

If you guys are doing a project like face frames for cabinets how are you buying lumber?  Is it more cost effective to buy rough dimensions and mill to width and thickness?  I'm a hobbyist and have limited space and equipment (otherwise known as no heavy cast machines).

Thanks

 

[tjbnwi]

Where are you located. That info helps us direct you to a supplier in your area.

I purchase directly from the mill.

Tom

 

[Srbrownjr175]

Sorry let me add some clarity on what I'm asking.  I have a supplier I was just curious what guys were doing buying S4S or rough cut and making their own dimensional material.  Time vs Cost

 

[tjbnwi]

I purchase material S4S and rough surfaced only. The larger the project the less expensive it is for me to finish the lumber to size. Often I can get piece out of the lumber that would be lost but part of the board foot cost if the mill straight lined the material. QSWO from the mill is 70% less than a local supplier. A $5000.00 order from the mill is not unusual for me. can't beat their Columbia Plywood prices either, at least 25% less than local. Only draw back---4 hour drive each way.

http://www.frankmiller.com

Tom

 

[Kevin McConville]

Questions like this come down to a "what is your time worth" calculation. If your a hobbyist then it's more to do with what work you enjoy doing working on.  As a professional this is a far more complicated question. Most have a value in mind for what they should bill their time out and simply use this in the calculation for a make vs buy type calculation. In reality the make vs buy calculation needs to include opportunity cost calculations.  By this I mean that if you have the opportunity to do other work at your billing rate then it should be used in the make vs buy calculation, but it you don't have opportunity for other billable work then in reality the value of your time is quite different. If you save 2 hours by getting fully prepped material at an additional cost but have no billable work for those 2 hours then you are actually financially worse off.

 

[tiralie]

Sorry let me add some clarity on what I'm asking.  I have a supplier I was just curious what guys were doing buying S4S or rough cut and making their own dimensional material.  Time vs Cost

It depends.
Most projects are a combination of rough cut, S2S, S4S and sheet goods purchased from various suppliers.
Time, cost (equipment and overhead) supplier inventory are all considerations.
Tim

 

[kris]

I'm wondering if anyone could give me any names of good suppliers in the NW Louisiana area?

 

[jacko9]

I started woodworking as a hobby but, with a major house rebuild (doors, cabinets, flooring, furniture, etc) so I invested in industrial milling equipment and purchased rough sawn wood.  The aggravation of buying s4s and having the wood move (warp) even though it's FAS grade led me to milling my own as needed.  I made some mistakes early on buying finished milled wood and dead stacking it while waiting for the time to do the project.  Well, 3/4" lumber had to be milled to 5/8" or less to get straight boards for furniture and I ended up with a lot of wood chips and saw dust.  Short term, keep your purchases small look over the wood carefully and stack it with spacers in between to allow air flow around your expensive purchase.  If you like the hobby a lot, get some equipment to mill flat and straight pieces for your project (furniture projects, not decks and fences).