Disclaimer: I am not receiving any form of compensation for this article. I wish I was, but I am not receiving anything, not even a cookie. I have personally shopped at each of the business mentioned and will probably shop there again. I purchased everything with my own money and the opinions expressed are mine and mine alone. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please feel free to contact me. If you are new to lumber jargon, I explain some these terms and fun lumber facts at the end of this article. Everything I discuss I learned from a number of people, in person, online and in books.
In Part One I told you about the type of lumber you would find at stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s and some of the advantages and disadvantages of shopping there for lumber. I will now tell you about woodworking stores’ (like Woodcraft and Rockler) and what I call specialty lumber yards (like Houston Hardwoods). Where stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot focus on the carpenters, woodworker stores and specialty lumber yards focus on the woodworker.
So now you are wondering what is the difference between a carpenter and a woodworker? Merriam-Webster defines carpenter as a person who builds or repairs a wooden structure, like your home. Merriam-Webster then states that a woodworker is a person who works wood into a useful or desired form, like a bowl, furniture or spinning wheel. So, while I have done some repair work on our house, I consider myself more a woodworker than a carpenter. For the record, both professions require a lot of skill and knowledge. So, one is not better or cooler than the other. I just prefer woodworking. Now back on topic, buying lumber.
The next place I discovered in my lumber buying education are my two of my favorite woodworking stores, Woodcraft and Rockler. Here you will fine folks who are knowledgeable in woodworking and lumber and more importantly honest enough to tell you if they don’t know the answer to your question but will find out. They both also hold classes on a regular basis where you can learn new skills.
Woodworking stores like Woodcraft and Rockler often have a wide range of hardwoods both native and exotic. When it comes to plywood, stores like Woodcraft and Rockler only carry Baltic birch. Specialty lumber stores like Houston Hardwoods have a much wider selection of plywood including Baltic birch, furniture grade and construction plywood. You can learn more about Baltic birch plywood in the Fun Lumber Facts section at the end of this article. Baltic Birch plywood is a higher quality plywood than you will find in stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot. Baltic birch plywood is available in smaller sizes (like 4’ x 4’ squares and smaller). Woodworking stores have lumber from 7’ slabs to ¾” x ¾” x 6” pen blanks. Normally every piece of lumber is priced individually and is S4S (surfaced on four sides). Because it is already machined and ready to use their lumber may cost more than other stores. But if you just want to get in and get out and buy blemish free (no knots, cracks, cupping, twisting or bowing) then this may be the best option for you. In an upcoming article I will present you with a comparison between buying lumber at Woodcraft and Houston Hardwoods. One advantage to buying lumber at Woodcraft or Rockler is that in addition to lumber they both sell woodworking tools, supplies and woodworking books. They can be your one stop shop for your project.
This is an example of a board bought at Woodcraft that is S4S. This wood is bloodwood.
Remember Houston Hardwoods? Some differences between them and stores like Woodcraft and Rockler is that at Houston Hardwoods you can purchase larger boards, in larger quantities and for the most part you pay per the board foot. Also, stores like Houston Hardwoods do not normally sell tools, offer woodworking classes or advice. A large part of their lumber supply is rough cut lumber. Rough cut lumber is right from the sawmill and has not been run through any machines to dimension the boards. So, when you buy their lumber you will have to plane (smooth and flatten the surface of the lumber) and joint (make the joining sides 90 degrees to each other) by hand or with a machine. If you don’t want to or are unable to plane and joint your boards, you may (for a fee) have the hardwood store do that for you. Rough cut lumber is sold by the board foot and all measurements are actual. See More Fun Lumber Facts to learn more about what a board foot is and how to calculate board feet.
This is an example of rough cut lumber bought at Houston Hardwoods, this is soft maple.
When I started making pecan cutting boards, I needed to find a place where I could buy pecan lumber that was at least 1” thick, 10” wide, had a pleasing grain pattern and mostly heart wood. Heart wood is the inner part of the tree and is normally darker in color and therefore more desirable. None of the stores I had been using carried pecan, so I began to look for other options. This is when I discovered Houston Hardwoods. I soon learned to carefully examine each board for cracks and flaws. This took some time, but the results were worth the time and effort. Some trips yielded eight or nine usable boards and other trips only yielded one or two usable boards. So, for my needs, shopping at Houston Hardwoods was a bit of a hit or miss, so I would normally buy more than I needed just in case my next trip was a bust. It is important to note that while I was not able to find what I wanted they do have an excellent supply of lumber and I have always been happy with my purchases.
At specialty lumber yards you need to be very careful when selecting your lumber. You have to carefully inspect each board for any flaws such as cracks and knots. Also, the length of the boards could range from 4’ to over 16’. The thickness could range from ¾” to 8” and width from 3” to 20” (most of the pecan boards I found there were under 9” in width). Width and thickness affect the cost per board foot so you should buy boards in the width and thickness you need unless the board is really good. If you have a bandsaw you may be able to resaw (cut the board so that instead of having one board that is 2 ¼” thick, you would end up with two boards 1” thick. The hardwood stores also sell S4S which is sold by the linear foot. Specialty lumber yards may be able to make custom trim molding that will match the trim molding in your home exactly. So, if you need to replace unique molding, stores like Houston Hardwood may be a great option for you. Another difference between stores like Lowe’s and stores like Houston Hardwoods is how they refer to the thickness of the lumber. At Lowe’s and Home Depot they refer to boards by the nominal dimensions (like 2” thick) the same board at Houston Hardwoods would be referred to as eight quarter. The thickness for rough lumber is measured in quarter inches. So, if you have a board that is three inches thick you would refer to it as 12 quarter.
One big advantage to buying lumber at a specialty lumber store like Houston Hardwoods vs Woodcraft or Lowe’s is price. You will normally find quality lumber and a greater selection (in regard to species) and size for a lower price per board. Bear in mind though the board will lose thickness in the milling process to make it flat and square. More on this in a later article. I buy most of my lumber at stores like Houston Hardwoods and sawmills because I can get the lumber in the quantity and quality I need. You will learn more about sawmills in Part Three of this discussion.
Here is a board where I have started the milling process to remove the sawmill marks and make the side smooth and parallel.
So, if you want exotic boards like zebra wood you will have to go to woodworking store or a specialty lumber yard like Woodcraft, Rockler or Houston Hardwoods. The amount and size of lumber you want may determine where you go. That and the amount of work you want to put in to getting the boards ready to use. Rough cut lumber does take a bit of work to mill to final dimension and requires more tools (which can be expensive) but I enjoy the process.
More Fun Lumber Facts.
Baltic Birch plywood is designed for woodworkers. The first difference you will notice is that Baltic Birch plywood normally has more layers than construction grade plywood. While construction grade plywood may have some voids in the layers Baltic birch plywood will not. Another advantage with Baltic birch is that you can actually tap it (carve threads in it to accept bolts) allowing you more options for fastening things to the plywood. There is no way you can do this with construction grade plywood.
The difference between a slab and a board. A board will normally be cut on all four sides whereas a slab goes from one side of the tree to the other and may still have the bark on the edges. The width of a slab can range from about two feet to eight feet or more. They can also range in length from about three feet to over twenty feet and are normally at least 2” thick. Slabs are normally used for tables, benches and things like mantels.
When I began to have problems finding the boards I needed to make my pecan cutting boards I started looking at other options. The one option I found that worked well was buying directly from a sawmill. In the third and final part of The Best Place to Buy Lumber I will tell you about my experiences finding a sawmill and buying directly from a sawmill. There are advantages and disadvantages to buying from the sawmill. So please join me on May 20, 2020 for my next post.
One board foot is a board that is 1” x 12” x 12” (144 square inches). So, when picking out lumber it is important to first know the price per board foot. Then you need to know how to calculate the total board feet in the board you are looking at. For example, if a maple board is 3 ½” thick, 5” (on average) wide and 11’ (or 132”) long you would do the following: 3.5 X 5 X 132 and divide that by 144 (the number of square inches in a board foot). The answer is: 16.04 board feet. So, if the maple board cost $6.50 a board foot then the cost of that board is $104.26.
Thank you for your time
Donald Wilton