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board volume

wallace

Old Oak
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Theirs an auction coming up for timber and I want to compare what stuff costs at a sawmill. If a board is 108"by20by2=4320/144=30cubic feet. Is that correct
 
Not quite. You need to divide by 1728 to convert cubic inches to cubic feet. The board you described is 2.5 cubic feet.
 
144 (12*12) is the factor to convert square inches to square feet, or cubic inches to board feet for American sawmills.

For cubic measurements you need 12*12*12, which as Mike says is 1728.
 
Aren't their prices unusually low? I am pretty sure they haven't increased them for years, not even during Covid.
They seem to be about £9 per cubic' cheaper that the sawmill near me, assuming I compared the grades properly
 
I cant really believe I'm sitting here writing this, but I've always thought that pricing wood by the cubic metre was a ridiculous way of going about things.
For a start, it's very difficult indeed (for which read "Impossible") to look at a board and guess how many cubic metres it represents. A cubic metre of shorts on a pallet, perhaps, but buying a board or two under normal circumstances, no chance.
The American system of "board feet" however, makes a lot more sense. I can see how long a board is (say about 6') I can guess its width (say about 6") and I can guess its thickness (say about 2"). That's an easy 6 board feet, without any serious calculating.
Compare that with a board 1.8m long by 150mm wide by 50mm thick. I can't do that without a calculator,can you?
Now, having defended the Inches system, I think I need to go and have a lie down.
 
Live-sawn lumber in Germany is priced and sold by the cubic meter. My most recent purchase of kiln-dried American walnut (€3,927 per cubic meter), maple (€1,820 per cubic meter), and American cherry (€2,558 per cubic meter) were different sized slabs from 35mm to 65mm thick, 200mm to 500mm wide, and 2 to 3.5 meters long. The thickness is easy to determine, but the width and length are determined by the shape of the slabs and any flaws in the slabs. For slabs that are mostly free from defects, the width is taken at the midpoint of the length. If there are significant splits, shakes, or holes, the length of the damaged area is not included in the measurements.

Previous to that purchase, I bought a 52mm thick hard maple slab that I selected from the center of the tree. The 3-meter slab was about 500mm wide and had a split in the center that extended well over one meter through the pith. None of the slab with the split was used to determine the length, so the calculated volume was based on a 2-meter length. This was 0.05 cubic meter (about €95) instead of 0.075 cubic meter (about €145) had it not been split. I was going to rip the board in half before resawing it for quartersawn stock, so the split didn't matter to me.

For those who don't know, the U.S. and Canadian board foot is a unit of volume and not length. A board foot is twelve inches long, twelve inches wide, and one inch thick (144 cubic inches). Not including construction lumber, any time I bought lumber from a U.S. vendor, the dimensions of each slab was converted to the equivalent board-foot value for pricing. Estimating the price is easy when the dimensions are factors or multiples of 12 inches. However, calculating the price of a slab of purple heart that is 5.625 inches wide, 1.375 inches thick and 40.5 inches long forces me to use a calculator (2.18 board feet).
 
Our timber here is sold by cubic meter.
The clear pine I bought last week was ZAR9,000.00 per cube and the American Ash was ZAR39,000 per cube.
I don't buy per cube but planks as per my BOM, generally 3600mm long by 154mm wide and 25mm thick. I also select the planks with the warehouse chap. I calculate beforehand what the cost will be and add planing and edge-trim per plank.
 
Mike your timber yard sounds more friendly than mine. I try and avoid using them but if I'm stuck for small amounts I have to go as it's not enough for the sagewerks to be bothered with. They are a nightmare and a try and charge for everything. Unfortunately they are the largest round here and have all the sheet goods.
 
I have to hire a van to collect some stuff I got last week from the auction house who are doing the timber auction, thats why I thought it would be a good chance to stock up on some oak for a project next year.
Prices were really nothing special or remotely cheap for waney edge boards, on average people were paying £100 a board. There was some other stuff like elm, ash and a little walnut which ended up selling for £160 so about £80 a cube'. Even the tool auction was pricey with a box of random chisels making £40 and a few G clamps being £50.
 
Mike your timber yard sounds more friendly than mine. I try and avoid using them but if I'm stuck for small amounts I have to go as it's not enough for the sagewerks to be bothered with. They are a nightmare and a try and charge for everything. Unfortunately they are the largest round here and have all the sheet goods.
MJ80, I found the yard by accident while I was taking a detour around a road repair project. They are the only yard I found so far that will let well-behaved customers search unescorted through stacked slabs. They are also the only yard in the area that stocks multiple thicknesses and colors of Valchromat sheets. I am definitely a small-volume customer, but they treat me well.
 
MJ80, I found the yard by accident while I was taking a detour around a road repair project. They are the only yard I found so far that will let well-behaved customers search unescorted through stacked slabs. They are also the only yard in the area that stocks multiple thicknesses and colors of Valchromat sheets. I am definitely a small-volume customer, but they treat me well.
The two sawmills I use are brilliant, my favourite has heated sheds for the sawn oak. But this place has me over a barrel it does my head in. I've found relationships with suppliers here take a lot of work and getting those Vitamin b introductions, so many places would rather cut off their own nose than help, but that may be a symptom of this area. It's pretty notorious for being 'odd'.
 
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