4 ms·

You gotta find logs (which you can get at firewood places or haul off people’s downed trees) for very cheap/free and then saw your own slabs. The dimensional lu

You gotta find logs (which you can get at firewood places or haul off people’s downed trees) for very cheap/free and then saw your own slabs. The dimensional lumber at stores is incredibly expensive. You have to have a jointer and a planer for this to work though.

iLoveOncall 4y ago
So in summary, “Why would I buy $500 of wood planks when I can build them myself for $2000 of tools and logs?”, got it.
- vbezhenar 4y ago
  Hand tools can be pretty cheap if you're not after some luxury brands. They won't be as nice, I guess, but they'll do the work.
  - neverartful 4y ago
    Agreed. I believe that used quality tools can often be found for a reasonable price. This is especially true if you don't mind doing some cleanup/repair on them.
- bergenty 4y ago
  Well the $2000 is a one time investment. You can probably make furniture for the next 20 years with those same machines.
thrwyoilarticle 4y ago
Shouldn't a downed tree take months-years to dry out before it's suitable for working?
- Intermernet 4y ago
  2 years seems to work well where I live, but it depends on type of wood, recent weather, where you live, where you store it and many other things. I have a bunch of timber in various states of readiness for a bunch of different projects. It's a slow start, but once you've been doing it for a couple of years you will generally have something you can work with.
- rhinoceraptor 4y ago
  Yes, it depends on the thickness of the slabs, the local climate and the initial moisture content of the wood. But, that much lumber is worth a lot of money. I think most domestic hardwoods are currently in the $5-$10 range per board foot (e.g. 12"x1"x1"). And that's rough sawn, you still need to mill that into usable pieces.
- bergenty 4y ago
  At least a year but what I’ve found is a lot of trees that get downed are already dead and dried out before a storm eventually brings them down. In this case, there is no waiting. Alternatively you can take them to a kiln to get dried and the price still ends up being far below what you would pay per board foot for S2S lumber.

iLoveOncall 4y ago

So in summary, “Why would I buy $500 of wood planks when I can build them myself for $2000 of tools and logs?”, got it.

vbezhenar 4y ago
Hand tools can be pretty cheap if you're not after some luxury brands. They won't be as nice, I guess, but they'll do the work.
- neverartful 4y ago
  Agreed. I believe that used quality tools can often be found for a reasonable price. This is especially true if you don't mind doing some cleanup/repair on them.
bergenty 4y ago
Well the $2000 is a one time investment. You can probably make furniture for the next 20 years with those same machines.

thrwyoilarticle 4y ago

Shouldn't a downed tree take months-years to dry out before it's suitable for working?

Intermernet 4y ago
2 years seems to work well where I live, but it depends on type of wood, recent weather, where you live, where you store it and many other things. I have a bunch of timber in various states of readiness for a bunch of different projects. It's a slow start, but once you've been doing it for a couple of years you will generally have something you can work with.
rhinoceraptor 4y ago
Yes, it depends on the thickness of the slabs, the local climate and the initial moisture content of the wood. But, that much lumber is worth a lot of money. I think most domestic hardwoods are currently in the $5-$10 range per board foot (e.g. 12"x1"x1"). And that's rough sawn, you still need to mill that into usable pieces.
bergenty 4y ago
At least a year but what I’ve found is a lot of trees that get downed are already dead and dried out before a storm eventually brings them down. In this case, there is no waiting. Alternatively you can take them to a kiln to get dried and the price still ends up being far below what you would pay per board foot for S2S lumber.