Gary S":3uulx1mz said:
When I buy timber as square edge boards it costs me about £75 per cubic foot for european oak (Interesting Timbers) - more if it's planed. Waney edge boards are about £35-40. I appreciate that tradesmen who buy hundreds of cubic feet, live outside the south east and have been in the trade for years can get it for £20 - lucky you, Scrit, I'm very jealous! :wink:
Sorry, Gary, but I did actually quote
John Boddy, a nationally-known trade and
DIY supplier and the prices I quoted
were for small quantities, i.e. up to 10 cube. If Interesting Timbers can get £75.00 (£63.82 + VAT) then all I can say is that they are actually charging more than I know a couple of national chain builders merchants do - and they aren't known for low prices on hardwoods, either. As to machined timbers, you'll find the trade quotes out something like £20 to £25/hr + VAT for machining, but sawn through and through is not "nearly planed", it's just sawn. If I to go to 100 cubes (in my dreams?) then the price would be quite a bit less, but I didn't quote figures on that basis. In my post I was attempting to quote the sorts of prices I'd expect from a typical small timber yard for small quantities - I rarely post anything to do with trade quantity prices here as it simply isn't relevant. Also note that I quoted prices ex-VAT - if you were to buy from Boddies then you would need to pay 17.5% over the figures quoted, however, I also buy from a couple of local firms who are not VAT registered and their prices are commensurately lower because of that. I presume that you aren't VAT registered so surely that means your price point comparison should reflect this? In any case I wasn't alone in coming in with those sorts of prices as two other members, from the West Midlands and Gloucestershire respectively, also quoted figures in the same region.
Another point for you to note is that for timber to be useable on many interior projects it needs to be kiln-finished down to about 10% which you cannot achieve with air drying in the UK and that's what oak from a yard should/will be unless specifically sold as "air dried". Once again air dried to a higher RH reduces the end user price as there's less cost involved. Isn't yours air dried
not kiln finished?
Gary S":3uulx1mz said:
If anyone can name a company that will sell me square edge hardwood for anything near £20 per cubic foot then PLEASE let me and everyone else know!! I'm sure I wouldn't be the only person interested...
Please read my original post again. I didn't say that, although I will state that waney edge can be had for well under £20 if you buy green, in quantity and accept ungraded timber, defects and all. Dried costs a bit more, kiln finished more still
Gary S":3uulx1mz said:
The reality is for me (and many other hobby woodworkers I guess?) that reasonably priced timber is not easy to come by, so I don't want to sell myself short on something that you can't pop into your local yard and buy - English Oak.
Well in reality it's much the same for the trade. There are companies out there, nationally known and well-respected firms, who will happily put a large dent in your pocket simply because you've been unwary enough not to ring round a few places for prices. I also suspect that more than a few yards will hike their prices if they have the inkling that you aren't "in the trade", so learning how to deal with yards can be a great help. But that's something which only comes with experience, I'm afraid.
Gary S":3uulx1mz said:
Looking forward to the abuse that will no doubt follow this...
No abuse. Call me a cynic, but £75 a cube (Interesting Hardwoods) is not a realistic price - it is just rampant opportunism! The reality is that any product is worth what you can get for it. Whether that is fair or equitable is another matter.
As for your own costs, I'd agree with the comment that that isn't really the issue. The issue is what is a reasonable price to ask in view of the fact that your timber isn't graded, sorted, kilned or planed. Under the circumstances I feel that you should be looking for a tad less than a reasonable yard would ask before VAT is appplied - just like anyone in the trade your costs shouldn't be of concern to the end user, only the price, so I'd seriously suggest pitching a few pounds below Boddy's price.
Scrit
