Help please - how to sell off cheap lots of beech etc

[Dibs-h]

Dibs - Mikey...

I'm also in Yorkshire and would be interested in either some beach or maybe some sycamore.

Can maybe jump in or assist with you guys, if that's ok?

I don't see why not. Best thing to do is to work out the sort of qty of what you want - that way we don't end up hiring a long wheel sprinter when a std transit would have done.

I don't think the timber for 3 or 4 peoples would fit into a car - so I'd be hiring a van. Vans fit 3 up front so the more the merrier. Unless we only have 2 - more wood in the van.

For anyone else who lives on the Yorkshire to West Mids (B'hm) corridor - if you are after a small amount that would fit in a car - I would be nipping down to Brum before Xmas to drop the wife & kids off at her parents and then collecting them a week or so later. On the "collection" trip the car would be empty, so could drop some wood off. But it depends on what sort of spare capacity we have.

Phil - Yeah sure, work out what (how much) you want and we'll take it from there.

For all those wanting to jump in - I suspect that we'll probably hit a weight limit before we fill the back of a van. Just googled Beech and the density was listed as 720kg/M3. Most vans have a payload of around 1200-1400kg. So we may only fit in somewhere around 1.5M3. Sounds a lot but only around 54 cubic foot, which between 3-5 people could be a lot or not. Anyway - just food for thought.

OR we just up it to a 7.5tonner and whilst the cost of hire\fuel might just double - so does the payload (almost). I might just be getting a bit carried away with this - might turn everyone only wants < 5 cubic feet. :shock:

 

[Weirwolf]

Dibs
After staying down in a 5 star hotel the other week (birthday present was an Ariel Atom Track day down at ProDrive) the wife liked the space afforded by the king size bed. So was thinking of making one. It may be a little ambitious for a 1st project, but nothing ventured...

So would need enough beech/sycamore for a king size bed of a design yet to be finalized.

If we needed to make up more quantity, then could always do a bench hook too. :lol:

 

[Dibs-h]

Dibs
It may be a little ambitious for a 1st project, but nothing ventured...

My 1st real project was 2 flights of stairs - 7 treads each. That included making the jigs - so I would suspect the bed should be easier.

So would need enough beech/sycamore for a king size bed of a design yet to be finalized.

Funny that - I have the same on my list of things to make as well. I'm sort of erring towards some sort of Stickly\Shaker hybrid.

 

[Mikey R]

Funny that - I have the same on my list of things to make as well. I'm sort of erring towards some sort of Stickly\Shaker hybrid.

Hmm, now that youve got me thinking of all this, I really should replace the base for my futon with something a little better than Ikea pine. Hmm... 7.5 tonnes you say...

(Maybe getting carried away now)

 

[noddy67]

Wizer if you're looking to add buyers in the Kent area then I'm in for some 3" beech if there is still some available. I'm down near Tonbridge.
Thanks

 

[Ross K]

Just to let you guys know this is not forgotten about. We will be taking the current kiln load out and into stock in the next few days which includes the bargain price beech etc. During this process we'll quantify what's in there as per the preceding thread postings.

It's like watching a kettle boil, it seems to take ages....

Will be in touch soon.

 

[wizer]

Thanks for the update Ross.

Just to let everyone know. I have quite enough wood for the moment so I won't be buying anytime soon. So count me out of a group by for the south.

 

[Dibs-h]

Just to let you guys know this is not forgotten about. We will be taking the current kiln load out and into stock in the next few days which includes the bargain price beech etc. During this process we'll quantify what's in there as per the preceding thread postings.

It's like watching a kettle boil, it seems to take ages....

Will be in touch soon.

Cheers Ross - still interested. In a post earlier - you said that you'd get back on how much there was and how many kiln loads that might be? Might be useful info - for some of us to work out if we might be ok to visit as originally planned or whether we may need to adjust our plans.

Cheers

Dibs

 

[Mikey R]

Cheers Ross - still interested. In a post earlier - you said that you'd get back on how much there was and how many kiln loads that might be? Might be useful info - for some of us to work out if we might be ok to visit as originally planned or whether we may need to adjust our plans.

Dibs, Weirwolf - It looks like Im not going to the US this year after all, so if youre still planning on picking up some timber let me know and we'll share costs. I should be free for a trip any weekend from mid October when Ive moved into my new house

 

[bobscarle]

I am still interested in getting some sycamore, probably only about 5cu ft in 1" boards. I had considered driving up there. However, seeing that some members from Yorkshire might be visiting, there could be an opportunity for me to halve my journey. Would it be possible for you to bring a little more back with you? I will of course contribute to the hire and the fuel. I can pick the wood up from one of you on your return.

Bob

 

[Dibs-h]

Dibs, Weirwolf - It looks like Im not going to the US this year after all, so if youre still planning on picking up some timber let me know and we'll share costs. I should be free for a trip any weekend from mid October when Ive moved into my new house

Mike - that's ok. Hopefully I'll have my workshop weathertight by then and have somewhere to store it. So Mid-October onwards should be fine. Lets see what Phil (in Scarborough) and Weirwolf have in regard to their schedules.

I am still interested in getting some sycamore, probably only about 5cu ft in 1" boards. I had considered driving up there. However, seeing that some members from Yorkshire might be visiting, there could be an opportunity for me to halve my journey. Would it be possible for you to bring a little more back with you? I will of course contribute to the hire and the fuel. I can pick the wood up from one of you on your return.

Bob

Bob - I can't see us max'ing out the van payload - so I think it would be safe to assume you'd get your 5cf.

Redditch isn't a million miles from the in-laws in brum, so I could stick it in the back of the estate when I come to collect the wife & Kids and meet somewhere convenient. That's likely to be around Xmas time. Considering we'd probably end up going on Oct (end) or Nov (start) - it would only be about 4-6 weeks before you get it.

Mike - I think you wanted around 7cu
Bob - your's is 5cf
Weirwolf - any ideas on qty?
Phil - any ideas on qty?
me - I suppose I'd better get a finger out and work out what I fancy making & in what & how much timber is required.

 

[Ross K]

THanks for your further replies, chaps.

We've been busy at work converting workshops into a showroom so have been flat out for the last few weeks so we haven't done the assessment of stock out in the yard yet, but will try to do so over the next few days.

What we will do before then is evaluate the quantity of the wood that should come out of the kiln this week, weather permitting.

 

[Weirwolf]

Sorry, not been keeping up to date with the forum since our new arrival a month ago. He seems to be taking up an awful lot of our time.

I'll get the plans out for what I want to do and have a reconnoiter. Though I've never worked with raw timber, so may be back on here asking for some help!

% wise how much should you over estimate for un planed?

 

[big soft moose]

Thanks for the update Ross.

Just to let everyone know. I have quite enough wood for the moment so I won't be buying anytime soon. So count me out of a group by for the south.

heretic :lol: - there is no such thing as enough wood , think of all the "wasted" space under your dininf room table, behind the sofa, under the bed etc - i'm sure swimbo would understand

 

[Dibs-h]

THanks for your further replies, chaps.

We've been busy at work converting workshops into a showroom so have been flat out for the last few weeks so we haven't done the assessment of stock out in the yard yet, but will try to do so over the next few days.

What we will do before then is evaluate the quantity of the wood that should come out of the kiln this week, weather permitting.

Ross - some of us are trying to work out cutting lists and wastage. This obviously will be greatly affected by quality of the timber coming out of the kiln.

Are you able to provide details of the quality of what is coming out of the kiln? What kind of wastage would be be looking at to get the timber from it's currenty state to PAR?

Dibs

 

[Dibs-h]

Just spoke to Ross - they were expecting to empty the kiln this week but due to a bereavement the chap who does it won't be back at work till next week.

I discussed wastage etc. and he mentioned that as a general rule when making furniture they assume 50% wastage. But this could reduce if mostly small pieces are being cut or increase if longer pieces are required.

He did say that he would try and post up a piccy or two when the kiln is unloaded, of some peices that are representative of the state of the timber - i.e. gives an idea of the warp\twist in them.

The load in there does contain sycamore, beech and some oak - but he should be able to confirm this when the kiln is unloaded next week. To give you an idea their kiln is about the size of a pair of 40' containers - so can't see their timber running out any time soon.

The moisture content is expected to be around 10% - but I dare say that can be confirmed when it is emptied.

HIH

Dibs

 

[Ross K]

Hi Dibs. Good to talk to you today.

Yes, the question of wastage is a bit of a how long is the string question.

I made an oak table the other day and because the boards were superstraight, just 20mm longer than needed and only a bit thicker than finishing thickness, my wastage was only about 10-15%.

More usual is 50% but it really varies on what you're making, how much thicker your stock is than the finished pieces, how many long lengths you're trying to squeeze out of each plank, how many imperfections in "feature" qualities etc etc.

And of course how straight the boards are, as in bent, twisted or cupped, or all three! On that one there are no hard and fast rules and even looking along the board by eye it can be quite hard to tell, only when you get it on a big surfacing bed can you really tell. Or a truly flat floor. of which we have none at work, sadly!!

Thanks for your patience - as Dibs says, we have plenty more, it's just a case of needing to wait about six weeks for each kiln load but there should be plenty to go round from the first kiln full. You guys on here are in the front of the queue.

 

[Ross K]

Right chaps, the kiln is unloaded and below is a list of what was in there. Sorry for the format. Numbers on their own are total cu ft figures.

Most of it is nice quality so will be at the higher end of the prices I quoted further back in this thread - still cheap though. I will try to pull out a couple of boards to get representative photos posted up here. All of it is in the stock shed so I can't pull out specific boards, so please don't ask me to tell you what 3 of the 27 boards 37mm thick look like for example - you'll just have to accept our general quality assessment for now and then when you get up here we can sort through the wood in more detail.

Also please keep all the detailed questions limited as I'm doing all of this in my (unpaid) spare time to help our coop shift this stock. Ideally if you can get to us a list of what you're interested in we can reserve it for you subject to you coming up to collect it soon after this. Once on site we can start to sort through boards etc to make up each order.

Happy shopping!

Qty/Length/Width/Thick/m3/ft3
Beech
9 2700 250 55 0.3341 11.79
5 2400 280 55 0.1848 6.52
9 2200 280 55 0.3049 10.76
4 2400 260 40 0.0998 3.52
9 2100 260 40 0.1966 6.94
5 2400 260 40 0.1248 4.41
28 2900 230 40 0.7470 26.37
27 2400 250 37 0.5994 21.16
40 2100 220 30 0.5544 19.57
16 2200 260 30 0.2746 9.69
120.74
Sycamore
23 2000 270 30 0.3726 13.15
7 2000 400 55 0.3080 10.87
16 1500 250 50 0.3000 10.59
34.62

 

[jlawrence]

OK, who's up for a group buy in the south west (ish).
I need to make a new bench - at least. Just working out how much wood I actually need.

 

[RobertMP]

I'd like to be able to pick some up withing driving distance of london but can't see it happening. I'm watching the thread just in case