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While it is true you can often buy IKEA furniture for less than the wood would cost you, for any “real” furniture made out of real wood, anything you build will

While it is true you can often buy IKEA furniture for less than the wood would cost you, for any “real” furniture made out of real wood, anything you build will be far, far cheaper than what you can buy. Of course that is valuing labor at $0 and cost of tools at $0. If you are making something like cabinet doors that are mostly labor and not much wood, you can easily make them for one fifth the cost of what you’d pay from ikea… but tons of labor!

johnwheeler 4y ago
No way! I built myself an oak side table. Solid oak, $200 worth of wood. Now, this was during the beginning of the pandemic when wood prices were through the roof, but still, I bet I could get the same oak table for $150 or less.
- peter422 4y ago
  Are you buying rough lumber? There is some arbitrage as certain species of wood are cheaper if you are closer to where they come from (for example Douglas fir is cheaper on the west coast vs pine on the east coast), and for a small item it can be built where the wood is cheapest and shipped from there. However, I think it’s not likely to make that large of a difference. Wholesale lumber prices aren’t that far off from what a hobbyist pays if you go to the same places.
  - saalweachter 4y ago
    Auctions for new and used wood are a great place for bargain. I built my workbench out of $5 of scrap wood by buying a homemade platform that had been used for judging volleyball games, because no one else wanted a volleyball judging platform and I was willing to break it apart and cart away a couple hundred pounds of lumber. I recently purchased a good quantity of rough cut maple, locust and oak for around 10-25 cents a board foot from another auction because the owner of the woodshop in question was retiring and everything must go.
- pcthrowaway 4y ago
  This seems true to me (as a non-woodworker whose ex-partner got really into it), but what she explained to me was that her own furniture would be higher quality and also made the way she wants it (which you can't really put a price on) You can definitely pick up used solid wood furniture for cheaper than building it yourself (especially if you consider the opportunity cost of your time), but you might not get exactly what you want.
- jstanley 4y ago
  Mass-produced hardwood furniture (OakFurnitureLand etc.) seems to be made of absolutely tiny scraps glued together, whereas if you are making something yourself you're more likely to use larger pieces of wood and less able to make use of small offcuts. I think that accounts for a lot of the price difference.
- jcims 4y ago
  Where are you going to find an oak table for $150? $500 maybe if you're ok cutting corners. I was just out yesterday looking around and there wasn't a thing I'd put in my house (and I'm not that particular) that was under $1500.
jahewson 4y ago
I can’t buy wood at wholesale prices unfortunately. Assuming they have any decent wood at all.
- mc32 4y ago
  They say if you have an Amish mill nearby, they tend to be cheaper and a 2x4 is 2"x4".
  - fest 4y ago
    From what I've heard- 2x4 is actually closer to 1.5x3.5" /s
    - andreareina 4y ago
      And even then you'll probably need to plane it if you need flatness/uniformity.
david38 4y ago
Truth. You can buy wood, used cabinet saw, used thickness planer, used jointer, all for about the same price of my dining table.
dylan604 4y ago
The same thing can pretty much be said about any hobby. I know several people that do handmade clothing with both sewing or knitting. The knitters buying the really nice yarn will spend more in the yarn than a finished item from the store. Aside from the pleasure of just doing something on your own, what you will probably have is something unique. People making electronic projects will probably adding features not available retail, or clothing in patterns and stitch design their own, etc. Lots of way to value something other than $

johnwheeler 4y ago

No way! I built myself an oak side table. Solid oak, $200 worth of wood. Now, this was during the beginning of the pandemic when wood prices were through the roof, but still, I bet I could get the same oak table for $150 or less.

peter422 4y ago
Are you buying rough lumber? There is some arbitrage as certain species of wood are cheaper if you are closer to where they come from (for example Douglas fir is cheaper on the west coast vs pine on the east coast), and for a small item it can be built where the wood is cheapest and shipped from there. However, I think it’s not likely to make that large of a difference. Wholesale lumber prices aren’t that far off from what a hobbyist pays if you go to the same places.
- saalweachter 4y ago
  Auctions for new and used wood are a great place for bargain. I built my workbench out of $5 of scrap wood by buying a homemade platform that had been used for judging volleyball games, because no one else wanted a volleyball judging platform and I was willing to break it apart and cart away a couple hundred pounds of lumber. I recently purchased a good quantity of rough cut maple, locust and oak for around 10-25 cents a board foot from another auction because the owner of the woodshop in question was retiring and everything must go.
pcthrowaway 4y ago
This seems true to me (as a non-woodworker whose ex-partner got really into it), but what she explained to me was that her own furniture would be higher quality and also made the way she wants it (which you can't really put a price on) You can definitely pick up used solid wood furniture for cheaper than building it yourself (especially if you consider the opportunity cost of your time), but you might not get exactly what you want.
jstanley 4y ago
Mass-produced hardwood furniture (OakFurnitureLand etc.) seems to be made of absolutely tiny scraps glued together, whereas if you are making something yourself you're more likely to use larger pieces of wood and less able to make use of small offcuts. I think that accounts for a lot of the price difference.
jcims 4y ago
Where are you going to find an oak table for $150? $500 maybe if you're ok cutting corners. I was just out yesterday looking around and there wasn't a thing I'd put in my house (and I'm not that particular) that was under $1500.

jahewson 4y ago

I can’t buy wood at wholesale prices unfortunately. Assuming they have any decent wood at all.

mc32 4y ago
They say if you have an Amish mill nearby, they tend to be cheaper and a 2x4 is 2"x4".
- fest 4y ago
  From what I've heard- 2x4 is actually closer to 1.5x3.5" /s
  - andreareina 4y ago
    And even then you'll probably need to plane it if you need flatness/uniformity.

david38 4y ago

Truth. You can buy wood, used cabinet saw, used thickness planer, used jointer, all for about the same price of my dining table.

dylan604 4y ago

The same thing can pretty much be said about any hobby. I know several people that do handmade clothing with both sewing or knitting. The knitters buying the really nice yarn will spend more in the yarn than a finished item from the store. Aside from the pleasure of just doing something on your own, what you will probably have is something unique. People making electronic projects will probably adding features not available retail, or clothing in patterns and stitch design their own, etc. Lots of way to value something other than $