Quarter Sawn Oak?

[9fingers]

I'd say you are not doing to badly at that price for PAR, assuming that there is virtually no waste due to defects.
Paying a little extra is often worth it if the relationship with the yard is good and you can trust then not to palm you off with (rap every now and then.

Bob

 

[promhandicam]

Roger you are right of course, I guess I meant K/D PAR at a trade price ex VAT. No delivery. I buy about £5K of oak a year for various projects and any thoughts from members are just rough guid, width, thickness and length all have an affect.

I pay £90-£110/cu ft for that spec.

Any thoughts welcome.

Depends if you are buying AWO, European Oak, or English Oak - prices vary greatly between species as well as all the variables Roger mentioned. I paid £40 ex VAT for 34mm KD Super prime Euro Oak. This is sawn but square edged and good quality. If you only wanted short pieces you could probably end up with a thickness of 30mm. If you allow 50% wastage then it is working out at £60 / cu ft for PAR. These were for boards between 180 and 300 wide. If you are buying £5K worth of PAR Oak a year at around £100 / cu ft then I would seriously consider getting a decent p/t and doing it yourself. If you spend £1K on a p/t you will still be up £1k in your first year.

 

[wills-mill]

What's the matter with sawing oak in June?

Ideally you want boards to surface dry fairly gently for the first few months after sawing to avoid too many surface cracks. The traditional time to cut planking is probably September to March....
It's so hot at the moment that the uneven drying (especially on thicker boards) will cause damage and lose a fair amount of the timber's value.
You could saw and then run the timber straight into a kiln to control the drying process, but it's space tied up and an energy cost that most firms would prefer not to take.

 

[dcoleridge]

It is always best to fell trees during the winter months when the sap is at
its lowest saturation levels but cutting can be done at any time of the year
as long as timber is protected from extreme heat and too strong an air flow.
Therefore when cut you can use very narrow sticks and place under cover to protect from adverse weather conditions.

 

[markymark12]

Glad to see someone is aware of the best time for planking. Never senses to amaze me how these days everyone seems to know a better way of doing things. Oak particulary is best planked in the months as shown. Only thing i would cut this time of year would be beam or what is they call it, character stuff.
Go to any good mill and they only select out the largest, straightest and cleanest of stems for quartering/billet sawing, and they do not do it in the middle of the field on the hottest days of the year. Part of the reason most log decks are devoid of timber apart from being set aside for later months.
All oak should be air dried to get it free of all free water/fibre saturation, before kilning. It is one of the more difficult woods to dry.