Price of dressed oak

[Ian]

Guys, can you tell me how I'm doing here?

I want to buy some oak planking. It's for shelving, lining cupboards and window reveals and for building freestanding bookshelves. It'll be PAR and T&G, and I'm looking at 12/15mm for the sides and top, and 25/30mm for cills and shelves. Width of the planks isn't important - I can rip them to fit the spaces/designs.

My local sawmill can do all this for me (their main business is building furniture), and they're quoting prices of around €34 psm for the 12/15mm and €67 psm for the 25/30mm. I think this is reasonable. What do you think?

Thanks

[Dave&Olive]

hi OK

                  first hello Ian .....OK that's over 4 times the amount I pay for brute oak , but saying that I have all ways planed it my self after , might be less expensive to buy your own machine ??

                            Dave

[Ian]

hi OK

                  first hello Ian .....OK that's over 4 times the amount I pay for brute oak , but saying that I have all ways planed it my self after , might be less expensive to buy your own machine ??

                            Dave

Hi, Dave.

(This is the second time I've replied, I seem to have lost the first response)

Yes, I did think about buying a P/T to dimension rough-cut planks, but I'd also need to buy a table (and cutters) for my router, for the T&G. A lot of expense and a lot of learning for what, at this stage, is a limited project. Given the scierie has all the professional equipment and skill to do it properly, I decided it was just easier to pay the price for convenience.

Mind, at some time in the future, I'm planning to add some bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. When (if) that time comes, I think I'll be able to justify an investment in the equipment

Thanks

[Ian]

[quote user="Ian"]hi OK

                  first hello Ian .....OK that's over 4 times the amount I pay for brute oak , but saying that I have all ways planed it my self after , might be less expensive to buy your own machine ??

                            Dave

Hi, Dave.

(This is the second time I've replied, I seem to have lost the first response)

Yes, I did think about buying a P/T to dimension rough-cut planks, but I'd also need to buy a table (and cutters) for my router, for the T&G. A lot of expense and a lot of learning for what, at this stage, is a limited project. Given the scierie has all the professional equipment and skill to do it properly, I decided it was just easier to pay the price for convenience.

Mind, at some time in the future, I'm planning to add some bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. When (if) that time comes, I think I'll be able to justify an investment in the equipment

Thanks

[/quote]

Guys, if I can come back for some more advice?

I've done the above and learnt that (1) T&G isn't the answer for joining planks (it wasn't accurate enough) and (2) getting it cut-to-size and planed was expensive. However, I have some OK bookcases and windowcills. The next major project is making simple skirting boards and door facings in oak - something around 150mm high, 15mm thick, probably rounded-over at the top.

For this and later projects, I think I want to start from sawn timber, and machine it myself. I now have (A) a table saw (305mm blade, so good for 75-80mm thick timber) and (B) a router mounted in a router table. (For this, I've also made a split fence with a 0.5mm offset between the "in" and the "out" side, so it's good for putting a straight edge on boards - like a planer turned 90 degrees).

If I'm buying sawn timber, I'll need to plane it somehow, so here are my first questions. I know you get what you pay for, but given my limited needs, can I get away with spending £200 (Screwfix/Axminster), €200 (Bricodepot/Leroy) or maybe €100 (Leboncoin) on a piece of (Chiwanese) equipment to do this?, Secondly, can I get away with a simple planer or will I need a planer/thicknesser? (I'm guessing that I can pass the wood over the planer more than once to reduce the thickness - is this possible?)

Now, this sounds like a stupid question, but how do I buy sawn timber for processing? Obviously, I can ask the scierie to cut me planks of, say, 160mm x 20mm which will allow me to machine it to its final size (which isn't critical, anyway). But, would it be a lot cheaper to buy the wood in big lumps and cut off 20mm slices myself? But, how? My saw only makes an 80mm cut - is it possible to cut from both sides, as I've read? Or, do I need a bandsaw now, as well? (I'm starting to run out of space in the barn, as well as wifely understanding.......)

Any pointers in the right direction will be very greatly appreciated!

[Théière]

Brico depot usually sell oak in 20mm x140mm and 20mm x 180mm in 2 metre lengths which sounds like it could save you a lot of work. This of course is seasoned timber.

If you are determined to do it yourself (and there is nothing wrong with that if you have the time) then you could mill it down yourself with an Alaskan saw mill, you'll need a decent chain saw and a ripping chain. This will be green oak so it will need to be seasoned (air dried) and don't forget to wax the ends to prevent shake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNa7HbzLVA

Bon courage!

[Théière]

Probably got to wait another 11 months for Ian to post again [blink]

[Ian]

[quote user="Théière"]

Brico depot usually sell oak in 20mm x140mm and 20mm x 180mm in 2 metre lengths which sounds like it could save you a lot of work. This of course is seasoned timber.

If you are determined to do it yourself (and there is nothing wrong with that if you have the time) then you could mill it down yourself with an Alaskan saw mill, you'll need a decent chain saw and a ripping chain. This will be green oak so it will need to be seasoned (air dried) and don't forget to wax the ends to prevent shake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNa7HbzLVA

Bon courage!

[/quote]

Thanks for the suggestion, Théière, but I'm hoping to buy timber that's already been cut and seasoned

All I have in mind is the idea of buying it in bulk, rough-cut and oversized, and finishing it as I need it. I don't know if this is realistic, but I'm hoping someone will tell me if I whistling.

Thanks

[Théière]

Your local sawmill should be able to oblige. The relatives have a barn full of rough sawn oak air drying for floor boards and that was directly from a saw mill.

[Ian]

Thanks, Théière. That sounds like what I want. I'll go and ask.

Cheers

[Chancer]

Some years ago I borrowed an expensive brand name (Rexon) planer thicknesser from a friend who had not used it much during the guarantee period, to cut a long story short it started making a lot of noise and the brushes wore out, I fitted the spere set which it just shredded as the commutator had decided to become a planer [:(]

It cost me a fortune to replace the motor and I decided to buy my own, but not Rexon, and being short of the green folding stuff I bought a Taiwanese one from the Axminster white range, it looked suspiciously like it had been produced in the same factory as the Rexon one but there was one difference, it is still serving me well after 8 years.

So I would say go for it, try your luck with a cheapy although I wonder just how good the budget (at the time mine was) Axminster or BricoDepot ones are.

Yes you can double rip cut oak, I do it all the time and find it more fast and accurate then my bandsaw, hich is usually in the wrong country! You may need to add wedges to maintain the cut if it starts to spring.

Editted.

I am jealous of all you guys with local sawmills, I live deep in the country but the nearest one to me is 90 miles away on the coast, must be something to do with the fact that there were no trees left after WW1 and all the land now being used for agriculture.

[Ian]

Yup, us country folk are spoilt in so many ways - I never thought access to sawmills would contribute to my quality of life.....

Thanks for the guidance. I think what I'll do is start with rough-cut planks from the sawmill, and try my hand at ripping and planing to size. Double-ripping can come later.

As for buying a P/T, I'm temped by the el-cheapo from Bricodepot at €180, which looks v-similar to the one in LeroyMerlin at €220, which also looks v-similar to the Erbauer sold by Screwfix at £190, and so on........ (I think the chinese factory that makes them also makes Bosch equipment). But I'll see if I can bag a bargain on Leboncoin first.

Thanks again