Who usually has the best prices on walnut in the Raleigh area?

[kooshball]

I am going to be in need of some walnut (~100bft) for a bed that I am planning to build. Is there a "usual" lumber yard that has a good price on walnut in the Raleigh?

Thanks

 

[CarvedTones]

Jack (Saw4You here on the board) lists it in his CL ad at a very good price. I have never gotten any walnut from him, but the lumber I have gotten has been good.


ROUGH SAWN LUMBER (Rolesville)

Date: 2010-03-15, 7:00AM EDT
Reply to: sale-vjv2g-1644668104@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]



All rough sawn and air dried lumber

Framing pine .50 b/f
pine siding 4.00
walnut 1.75 b/f
Cherry 1.50 b/t, If there is enough orders,premium grade clear, North Carolina mountain cherry--5.00 b/f
Maple 1.10 b/f
Persimmon 4.00 b/f
Poplar .90 b/f Hackberry, great for furniture, 1.25 b/f Elm 1.50 b/f White Oak flat sawed 1.25 b/f All mantel pieces vary in price, please call for pricing

Red Oak 1.25 b/f
Quartersawn poplar 1.10 b/f
1" pine boards .50 b/f
Quartersawn Red Oak 1.50 b/f
Sycamore 1.50 b/f Furniture grade pine and quartersawn great for floors 1.25 b/f Call Jack 919-669-1859

 

[RobS.]

I have walnut for sale @$1.50/bf. I'm about 35 miles east of Raleigh. I have a lot of wide boards about 5' in length and another stack that is about 11' in length. Boards are are random width/random length. If you are interested you are welcome to pick through and get what you want. I've also been pretty generous when figuring board footage. There is some checking here and there, but I should have enough for your project - I think I have about 600 bf. (I don't count checked ends when figuring bf. which ='s free wood and I usually toss in a free board or 2).

I tried last week to post pictures of this with a classified ad, but they got about half way through downloading and went to the message about connection failure :dontknow:.

 

[Mike Davis]

Do you have any thick wide boards Rob? 14+ inch wide by 3 to 4 inch thick?

 

[kooshball]

What is the stability difference between air dried lumber and kiln dried lumber?

Thanks!

 

[CarvedTones]

Cannaworms alert! Some folks feel pretty strongly about there being a vast difference. The only thing I have heard that I really find all that believable is a slight color difference from some chemical not having as long to effect the wood when it is dried quickly or being activated by the heat. Even the thing I believe has competing explanations and I am not sure which is true. But furniture made from either type holds up just fine with normal construction techniques.

 

[CrealBilly]

Cannaworms alert! Some folks feel pretty strongly about there being a vast difference. The only thing I have heard that I really find all that believable is a slight color difference from some chemical not having as long to effect the wood when it is dried quickly or being activated by the heat. Even the thing I believe has competing explanations and I am not sure which is true. But furniture made from either type holds up just fine with normal construction techniques.

Are you referring to steaming, a method used for black walnut that bleeds the heartwood into the sapwood?

 

[CarvedTones]

Are you referring to steaming, a method used for black walnut that bleeds the heartwood into the sapwood?

Not exactly, but maybe it is related. :dontknow: There does not seem to be a clear consensus on AD versus KD as far as one being superior, but there does seem to be a consensus that it will look slightly different. I don't remember which comes out ever so slightly lighter.

 

[scsmith42]

What is the stability difference between air dried lumber and kiln dried lumber?

Thanks!

From a "stability" perspective, there should be no difference if both were properly dried and down to 8% MC.

However, there are at least four different types of kiln drying; Conventional (high temperature), dehumidification, solar, and vacume.

Conventional wisdom is that material dried in a high temperature kiln machines differently than air dried lumber.

Low temperature drying, either in DH, Solar, or Vacume, should machine similar to air dried.

Additionally, some species such as walnut, are typically "steamed" at the end of a high temperature kiln process, and it affects the coloration of the wood. This does not occur in materials dried using DH, solar or vacume.

 

[kooshball]

As long as I am consistent with my source (or drying technology) it seems that I should be able to buy lumber for my bed room set over the course of a few months and still have the pieces coordinate or will the color variance be significant.

I am not planning to mix and match within the piece (i.e. the bed will be one lumber purchase and the chest of drawers another, etc.)

Thanks again!

 

[RobS.]

My wood is all 4/4. It was cut after hurricane Floyd. It all came from the same tree. It was stacked and stickered in a barn immediately after cutting. It stayed there until last spring when I moved it to the barn in my back yard. It does have some checking and a few boards have bowed. There are some minor blemishes from knots. But overall it looks as good as some of what I've seen selling for much higher prices. You are welcome to pick through all of it and get exactly what you want. It is available for inspection by anyone with no obligation to buy any of it. I have that wood sickness that would not allow me to see it get hauled off to the landfill. I haven't used it in 11 years and I could use the space.

 

[eyekode]

I have bought a small quantity of walnut from Jack and I thought it was a great deal. The wood looks great and machines awesome. However this is the first walnut I have ever bought/worked with .
Salem

 

[eyekode]

I would buy it all at once if you could. Buying from a single tree would be nice too. From my meager experience it seems each tree has it's own personality. I guess it depends on how you are going to finish it. If you are going to stain or dye it darker it probably wouldn't matter as much.

 

[lwhughes149]

As a newbe five years ago I purchased walnut from a lumber yard and let it dry over time. I have continued to purchase walnut, cherry and red oak from this same lumber yard knowing I had to let it dry. I have made several pieces of furniture from the walnut and couldn't be happier with it. The wood is beautiful. My opinion, it's a good price, go look at it. I paid $2.00 a bf for mine.

 

[kooshball]

These sources sound good for the 4/4 stuff but any idea where I can get some 16/4 for the legs of my bed?

Thanks

 

[merrill77]

Are you referring to steaming, a method used for black walnut that bleeds the heartwood into the sapwood?

Since you brought it up, I think there is an distinct advantage to air-dried walnut. I have both. I strongly dislike steamed walnut because the sapwood, despite the best attempts of the vendor, has a distinctly gray tint to it. If you're going to stain it, then it won't matter. OTOH, if you're going to stain it, you might as well buy poplar :nah:

I have some air-dried walnut and the sapwood is a pleasing creamy white which would contrast very nicely with the heartwood if incorporated into the design. At least the sapwood would be useful for something else. When working with the steamed walnut I used for my barrister bookcases, I could pick out the steamed sapwood pretty easily - most of it ended up in the firewood pile.

Just my 2c
Chris