Walnut potential group buy?

[tandemsforus]

If one looks at the wood on the trailer bed in the pic, lots and lots of it looks to be thicker then 4/4 and wider than 6". Am I missing something, is this "really" the pic of mostly 4/4 wood 6" wide????? Give the pic a close look.
Hmmmm, remember its craigslist...

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

I am going to try and get some organization here. If you fall into the "I might be interested if the wood is nice" category, I will interpret that as "no thank you, too much risk for me". Otherwise things will get complicated in a hurry and that is a headache that I am not willing to deal with.


The following people have expressed interest and are willing to take risk on the quality of the wood.

1. cyclopentadiene 250 BF
2. Jeremy Scuteri 250 BF
3. golfdad 200 BF
4. thsb 200 BF
5. Brantnative 200 BF
6. Phil S 200 BF
7. KenOfCary 200 BF
8. Ralrick 100 BF
9. Jeff 100 BF


It looks like we have 1700 BF accounted for.

Anyone else willing to meet and take a look at the wood?



THIS IS NOT THE FINAL LIST. DON'T USE THIS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES.

 

[Jeff]

If one looks at the wood on the trailer bed in the pic, lots and lots of it looks to be thicker then 4/4 and wider than 6". Am I missing something, is this "really" the pic of mostly 4/4 wood 6" wide????? Give the pic a close look.

I've looked and tried to "zoom" in but my Superman x-ray vision isn't working. I can't tell diddly about the length, width, or thicknesses from that single pic. The seller should put the truck outside in the sunlight and take a few 360 degree pics of the 2 stickered bundles on the flat bed that he's wanting to sell.

Anyone else willing to meet and take a look at the wood?

I'll go out of curiosity and also meet some of you other fellas. About +/- 100 bf sight unseen.

 

[tri4sale]

Quick try at zooming and filtering, doesn't clear up much with the crappy original photo

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

1700 BF are accounted for. That should be all of it. Thanks Ken.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Jeff and Willem,
When would you guys like to meet to inspect the wood? My schedule is relatively open with a preference for lunch time on weekdays. Weekends are generally fine.

 

[KenOfCary]

1700 BF are accounted for. Only 300 BF remain. Speak up if you would like to participate.

Uh, 1700 bf was the total available.

 

[Jeff]

I prefer to meet in the morning or up to about 1 pm. Mon-Sat. The High Point area is about 75 miles from me (also for Willem in Pinehurst).

So this will be strictly a scouting trip, with no commitment (or cash), other than a 20 page written report with pics for the other members? They'll then vote yay or nay?

 

[Jeff]

The following people have expressed interest and are willing to take risk on the quality of the wood.

1. cyclopentadiene 250 BF
2. Jeremy Scuteri 250 BF
3. golfdad 200 BF
4. thsb 200 BF
5. Brantnative 200 BF
6. Phil S 200 BF
7. KenOfCary 200 BF
8. Ralrick 100 BF
9. Jeff 100 BF

Is that an explicit commitment to buy it sight unseen wherever it comes from in the piles? This stuff could be no better than #2 Common but at $1-2/bf it's not a show stopper. My crystal ball would like to suggest that the entire 1700 bf is FAS & better!

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Uh, 1700 bf was the total available.

Thank you Ken! My mistake. Good thing somebody out there is paying attention.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

I prefer to meet in the morning or up to about 1 pm. Mon-Sat. The High Point area is about 75 miles from me (also for Willem in Pinehurst).

So this will be strictly a scouting trip, with no commitment (or cash), other than a 20 page written report with pics for the other members? They'll then vote yay or nay?

Saturday morning works for me. I'll follow up on your other questions when i get to a pc.

 

[toolman]

If there is 8/4 and know one wants it I may be in the need, just let me know..

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Ok, it looks like there is a really good chance that this will happen assuming the "scouting trip" goes well. We need to work out some logistics. I'll list some of the potential complications that I foresee and we'll talk about how we plan to deal with them.


1. Payment - Unless we can get the seller to host a "lumber run" and allow each person to pay as they show up and take wood, then we need to hand the seller $2,000 before we start taking the wood.

2. Board Footage Issues - The ad says he has 1700 BF and all of it is accounted for. I highly doubt he has exactly 1700 BF and our ability to measure it at the scouting trip will be limited.

3. Transportation - How is the wood moved from the seller's location?


I think the best solution to all of these issues would be for us all to meet in High Point, at the seller's location, on an agreed upon date and time. This allows the collection of the $2,000 to be done at the same time people leave with wood. It allows us to distribute extra wood or even out any shortages. It makes it so each person only has to move the wood they purchased which seems like an easier task than moving the trailer. It also would allow us to make an attempt to sort the wood a bit before distribution, that way nobody has to take the risk of getting crappy wood just because of what was on the top of the pile when it was your turn to take your share.


Of course getting all of us together in one place at the same time on short notice will not be easy. What does everyone think?

 

[Phil S]

Is that an explicit commitment to buy it sight unseen wherever it comes from in the piles? This stuff could be no better than #2 Common but at $1-2/bf it's not a show stopper. My crystal ball would like to suggest that the entire 1700 bf is FAS & better!

Indeed that is an explicit commitment to buy it sight unseen. I will gladly take 200 bdft off the top of the pile without rejecting any board - but to be clear, I am not willing to take my 200 after others have sorted and grabbed only the best boards. A method that has worked well in the past is first buyer takes off the top of the pile and can reject one board. That one rejected board goes on the top of the pile and the second buyer can reject that same board or some other, but only one total. That reject again goes to the top of the pile for the third buyers and so on. We typically just gave the last buyer his rejected board.

 

[KenOfCary]

If everybody can agree to the same thing as Phil and I mentioned - that is taking the x amount of bf off the top of the stack without sorting it, then I think this will work. If people expect to sort through things and take the best wood, then those that show up late will probably leave either unsatisfied or without paying. That will simply not work.

Given the wood is worth having at $1.25 bf, then I think this can be made to work, A few people that can't make a particular date/time for pickup could let somebody else carry their portion to them via Pony Express.

 

[cyclopentadiene]

I agree with Phil and Ken. The thing we all need to remember is that at retail walnut is $6-7 per bf so knots, sapwood etc. are not that big of a deal.

I primarily use 8/4 and with the theory of one takes what they get, I will gladly trade whatever I purchase with anyone that receives 8/4 and does not want thicker material. 250 be of 4/4 will last me a long time but my philosophy is to buy lumber when I can find it at a good price and I will have it available when I need it. My problem will be where to store 60 pieces of lumber as my stock is currently full.

 

[thsb]

i have the same issue related to walnut but the fact that i can store it outside makes it worth buying and the price makes it worth taking the risk on the quality of the wood.

 

[Brantnative]

I echo everything said. Best time for me is on weekends, though.

 

[Willemjm]

Saturday morning works for me. I'll follow up on your other questions when i get to a pc.

Jeremy, thanks for taking this further. If this is good, I don't expect it to be around for long. I'm in Michigan for a couple of weeks, so have to give it a rain check.

 

[danmart77]

Folks I was just up in Gibsonville with a friend who needed some wood. I looked over the display area and took a close look at the walnut and maple. Kiln dried walnut does not look like air dried walnut and it sure does not work like air dried walnut.

If those 4/4 boards are rough and air dried more than 5 years they are surely at rested state and ready to be worked.

I generally don't look for narrow walnut but this wood is at a great price when I think of the walnut pricing in Gibsonville.

One important question would be: Is the rough stock a full 4/4 ? If he was thinking of flooring and the sawyer cut a lean inch of thickness you won't have much to plane and true. I think that is important to consider.

At 2 bucks a foot dry and stacked, it is a deal.