Oak prices

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kasandrich

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Can anybody give me an idea of the price for a piece of Oak?

3" thick, 5 or 6 feet long by 18"

A friend of mine wants a tv stand made, but I have told him that just that piece of Oak is going to be expensive, but exactly how much?

I think we are talking about seasoned Oak not green.
 
He couldn't afford it.

I know of no supplier with those sizes in stock (the width is the problem) - green oak in those sizes may be available but then you will need to wait three to five years for it to dry.

I suggest you make up a veneered box structure for him!
 
Check out UK oak at corby - in my experience they are much the cheapest ( under half the price of deep in wood, and about a third cheaper than vasterns)

http://www.uk-oak.co.uk/product-catalog ... _Oak_Board

btw 18" is very wide for one board - it will be difficult to source and prone to cupping - my suggestion would be to edge joint either 2 x9" or 3 x 6" with biscuits
 
kasandrich":19sbhetx said:
Can anybody give me an idea of the price for a piece of Oak?

3" thick, 5 or 6 feet long by 18"

A friend of mine wants a tv stand made, but I have told him that just that piece of Oak is going to be expensive, but exactly how much?

I think we are talking about seasoned Oak not green.

That is going to weigh about 50kg!!! as well as cost the earth even if you can find someone with stock.

Bo
 
A good piece of oak that width and 3" thick is going to be a rare piece of timber.
You will need 2.25 cubic feet so allow for 2.50 cube at a minimum of £50 per cube plus vat
This gives you a rough guide, but could very easily end up costing more
 
A bit of Oak that size is going to be so rare that it will be hideously expensive. I'd suggest forgetting 50quid a cube. They'll be able to charge practically whatever they want - I'd expect it will easily be twice that.
 
I know a place where you can get oak of those dimensions, however, from what I recall most of his pieces go through the centre of the trunk so you have to deal with the pith. Every time I have come across pith in oak it has been junk unless you are very much after a rustic look. He may have some pieces that aren't through the pith. As the others have said though, you WILL pay for it, not cheap at all
 
kasandrich":281j4bqa said:
Can anybody give me an idea of the price for a piece of Oak?

3" thick, 5 or 6 feet long by 18"

A friend of mine wants a tv stand made, but I have told him that just that piece of Oak is going to be expensive, but exactly how much?

I think we are talking about seasoned Oak not green.

thing i have to wonder is why he wants a slab of those dimensions anyway - in addition to being extremly expensive and difficult to protect from warp it will also weigh an absolute tonne

if he just wants a thick top there are easier ways , like a torsion box made out of oak faced ply and lipped with oak
 
What's wrong with having it in 2 or three jointed boards?

If your friend wants to pay to have this made (reasonably cheaply) let me know Rich.
 
wizer":2zsef30m said:
What's wrong with having it in 2 or three jointed boards?

If your friend wants to pay to have this made (reasonably cheaply) let me know Rich.

mind that back tom - 3 bits of 3" x6" x 6ft jointed together will weigh a shed load more than you ought to be lifting
 
If he wants oak like that he might well be after the rustic look. My local garden landscape centre sell new oak sleepers for about £18 each. You might be worth checking out google
 
I know this is a bit of a tease but I bought quite a bit of seasoned (10/11 years) oak and chestnut from a local farmer just before Christmas. Although I didn't get any 3" thick I did get plenty 2" thick and up to 4metres long. In france the wood is priced on m3 and I got the first lot (the good quality stuff) for 500euros/m3. Wich for your length and width at 2" thick would be 22euros 50 cents! He came to see me after Christmas and sold me the 2.5m3 he had left (some splits and shakes) for 400 euros!
 
oh and btw, if he wants Sycamore instead of oak, I have those sizes in stock :shock: :lol:
 
I'd suggest forgetting 50quid a cube. They'll be able to charge practically whatever they want - I'd expect it will easily be twice that.
I agree is hard to price for unusal sizes but I was only giving an approx figure, based on some 4" waney edged oak 15" wide I bought for £65 per cube.
5' long is not a very long piece and there are still quite a few trees yielding 20" waney edge boards

I ordered a quantity of 14' long 7" x 1 1/2" european oak boards and received a number of 15"+ wide boards as well. it was ashame to rip them down
 
Hi,

I bought some 2 1/2" AWO not too long ago (3" would be a bit more though!). As others have said, width will most likely be a problem but edge jointing is easy and perfectly acceptable. I paid £2600 ish incl VAT per m3. You are asking for about 0.061 m3 so it would cost around £160. You generally need to allow about 50% wastage (we're now at £240) + any profit you want to make.

HTH

Richard
 
you jammy pipper froggy,

has your farmer got any left????

my cheapest supplier for oak is around 1400 euros a metre cube for 100mm thick down to 900 for 25mm, and i have to buy the whole trunk (3.5mlong). for single planks its up to 1700 euros. you dont pay for the sap here though, passage is always measured just with heartwood.

for this project a 40mm profile is chunky enough. a couple of 2" boards, cut off the sap and pith, join it up, job done. very contemporary.

all the best

jeff
 
Richard Findley":aya9dbqk said:
Hi,

I bought some 2 1/2" AWO not too long ago (3" would be a bit more though!). As others have said, width will most likely be a problem but edge jointing is easy and perfectly acceptable. I paid £2600 ish incl VAT per m3. You are asking for about 0.061 m3 so it would cost around £160. You generally need to allow about 50% wastage (we're now at £240) + any profit you want to make.

HTH

Richard

I guess your supplier must have big windows to see you coming :shock: I pay about £25 ft³ for American White Oak which is approx £1000 m³. You will however only get one edge and one face free of sap wood - not a problem if you are edge jointing 2 pieces but worth bearing in mind.

Steve
 
jeffinfrance":3mmx6dv2 said:
you jammy pipper froggy,

has your farmer got any left????

jeff

As it happens Jeff he has. He is clearing out another building. He owns a lot of property which is costing too much in taxes. So he is selling the buildings which all house lots of wood (Oak, Cheery and Chestnut) that he planked during the 1999 tempest in the Limousin. If you live close enough I can put you in touch with him. He wants per m3 Chestnut 400€, Oak 500€ and Cherry 600€.
 
awkwood":2upadmpu said:
5' long is not a very long piece and there are still quite a few trees yielding 20" waney edge boards

Very true. Before Christmas, I bought two 10ft lengths of 2in. ash where both averaged 26in. between the waney-edges!! :shock: As Damian says though; because of the pith, I lost a good amount of heartwood down the centre of the boards, where it had split, cracked and checked. :?

As awkwood commented; you'd be very fortunate to find a yard or sawmill who would happily cut off such a short length and sell only that to you as they may not then be able to sell the other half. You'd have to buy a full length at extra cost, which is why it would be more economical to buy a longer, narrower length and edge-joint several boards (assuming this will still satisfy the client).
 
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