Value of boards?

[myxpykalix]

I had a large oak tree in my backyard that i cut down 5 years ago took the logs to the sawmill had them sawn into slabs from .75 to 2+" thick and from 12" to over 30" wide by 8' long and kiln dried. They have for the most part just been sitting and i haven't used the majority of them and i have someone interested in buying/trading for some of it but i have no idea what this is worth:confused:

Everything on the bottom shelf is the oak. How would be the best way to figure out what it's worth? I think i spent about $150.00 to have it sawed and probably $200.00 to have it kiln dried.
It would seem it would have more value as a large slab say 2" thick X 30" wide by 8' long rather then calculated by board foot?

[steve_g]

Jack

My local mill (a 5 hour drive) charges $2.25 -- 3.50 /bf for KD Oak with a 10% up charge for widths over 10". Shorts (under 5') are discounted, sometimes dramatically...

The "Art wood" sawyers are asking in the $10.00 /bf range.


SG

[steve fedor]

Good pricing for oak in Texas. I didn't think oak trees grew down there. In Ohio #1 common in the rough is @ $2.75/ bd ft. S4S is more. It looks like there is some profit potential in that stack. The wood web may be an option.

[garyc]

Jack...

A board foot unit is 1" thick (or nominal, if planed), a foot wide, and a foot long. Thickness is stated as "quarters" as in quarter of an inch. 4/4 (four quarter) for 1", 8/4 for 2", etc.

Here is a formula to calculate board feet:

(width in inches / 12) * (length in feet) * Thickness in inches = BdFt

for example... 30" wide by 8 ft long by 8/4 (2") thick returns: 30/12 = 2.5

2.5 * 8 * 8/4 = 40 BdFt

Most places have a 10 to 15% premium on lumber over 4 or 5 quarter, depending on MC and true. Add more for unique figure or exceptionally straight grain. Depending on local availability, going price varies with region.

Side note: As a shop owner I learned to be wary of "home sawn" lumber, even if kiln dried. After drying, if wood is exposed to ambient humidity above 35% it will have an increase in Moisture Content. Always use a moisture meter when you buy/sell rough lumber

[Brian Harnett]

You would be much better off making stuff from the wood My last order of oak I got was 1.90 a bf for red oak I had gotten over a thousand feet in the order I think the undiscounted price was 2.10 that was kiln dried and delivered.

I mill a lot of my own wood just because of the unique pieces I can get I don't really know how to put a price on that stuff.

[sneakers]

In my area red oak is commonly seen burning in fireplaces and the many sawmills sell it for about $1.00 a board foot.

Good luck
Gary

[bob_reda]

Actually the thicker the board the more it costs per bd foot, not linear foot. Your 2" thick stuff would be 10/4 not 8/4 Thats what they are doing now a days. If you had a piece of wood 11x11x3/4(1 bd foot) that ran $2 price per board foot total price $2 that 11x11x10/4 (approx 2.5 bd ft) would run $2.75 per board ft. total price $6.87 for the piece.

[myxpykalix]

Gary,
Thanks for that info, that is one of the first things you are required to know in woodshop is how to measure a board foot and using the "quarters" designation.
I used to have a Doyle Stick to measure board feet on logs but don't remember where i put that darn thing.
This is what the wood looked like when i first cut it. Beautiful. I kept some that i air dried that still has some remnants but the majority that went into the kiln just lost all the beauty.

Brian,
There's no doubt I could make more profit using the wood to make a table and sell rather then selling the slab, but it was an inquiry from someone who may want to buy/trade for something that has me trying to establish a value.:confused:

[cabnet636]

is there a reason it was not stickered ? also is this how it sat for the full time of has it been moved?

[cowboy1296]

Here is the only thing I ever did out of Red Oak. As you can see the grain really pops out at you. I think that red oak is pretty.

[shilala]

Around here, Red oak is $2.15 a board foot for 4/4, $3.00 for 8/4.
At my mill, there's very little upcharge for width, and they're very cool about how they figure widths. There's Skinny, Medium and Wide. 12" and over is Wide, and the upcharge is around 15 cents.
If there's crazy wide stuff, it's first come first serve. Sometimes they'll keep big goofy slabs for making those coffee tables you see, 3 or 4 inches thick, lots of bark inclusions, maybe 6' long and 4' wide, around 200 bucks.
For those pieces you have that are 30" wide, maybe a 50 cent upcharge per board foot would be fair. Personally, and this is just me, I wouldn't buy them because they'd just be a struggle and my planer only goes to 12 1/4". (I'd have to rip them and resaw them to use them.)

That said, if I'm trading with this guy, I'm going to be generous with him if he has something I need. If I'm just taking what he has to get rid of the wood and do him a favor, not so much. If he has no idea what wood costs, he's not likely to realize what a $300 pile of wood looks like, and it sure doesn't look like much.
I'm not sure if the stuff you have there is cupped or curved, either. The prices I pay are for perfect, clear, equal width, very well done stuff, S3S. If your stuff is anything less than that, it's value would plummet right to "I don't want it" in my book.
I hope that doesn't sound mean or disrespectful at all, I sure don't intend it to be, Jack. I'm just telling you how I think about this stuff and it's fresh in my mind cause I'm headed to the sawmill real soon. :)

[jTr]

Hey Scott -
Regarding your planer limitations - have you tried surfacing a slab of lumber on your 'bot? Works quite nicely - just run a surfacing routine tailored to your slab of lumber....;)

I sometimes refer to the 'bot as my 60x96 planer.:D

jeff

[shilala]

Hey Scott -
Regarding your planer limitations - have you tried surfacing a slab of lumber on your 'bot? Works quite nicely - just run a surfacing routine tailored to your slab of lumber....;)

I sometimes refer to the 'bot as my 60x96 planer.:D

jeff
My table is only 48x48, so it wouldn't be much help to me, but yes, I have used it to surface pieces before. It's way easier to run the parts through the planer, I don't have a vac hold-down.
If I were ever working a slab, you can bet I'd work something out!!! :)

[gene]

Jack,
I think that its worth what you can get out of it. 1.00 or 10,000.00 a ft doesnt matter. if you and the person that you are bartering with come to an agreement then money doesnt matter . Wurth wood group that i buy from is around 2.20 a bf s2s delivered . for what its worth:)