What price for Iroko? = is this a rip off?

[La Gib]

Hi Guys.

I need some Iroko for a table that I am building for a friend. I've had a price for some iroko which is a bit high.

4 number 2.1 meter lengths of 4 x 1 prepared = total 8.4 m

9 number 2.1 meter lengths of 3 x 1 prepared = total 18.9 m

2 number 2.1 meter lengths of 3 xi 3 prepared = total 4.2 hm

The finished sizes will be slightly smaller taking planing into account.

£250.00 + vat = silly money.

I need a better idea of what people expect to pay for iroko. I am going to try some other timber yards on Monday.

I'll start with the company in wycombe. I live in the Uxbridge area.

Cheers Alan

 

[TheTiddles]

For PAR you might not be too far off a reasonable price there, the cost of machining the wood flat and square tends to really shoot the price up. For a good general idea SL Hardwoods have a good listing of prices for materials

Aidan

 

[big soft moose]

I make that £68.50 per cu ft , which is high but not extortionate for PAR ( probably that figure is a bit high as it doesnt allow for any wastage)

sawn iroko looks to be about £27 per cuft , but PAR is always a lot higher

IIRC jase - JFC - is or was doing a big project in iroko , and he lives near london somewhere so you might want to shoot him a pm for advice - he doesnt come to these parts much , but is easily contactable on the other side ( tho that said he'll almost certainly be buying it sawn)

 

[Karl]

If you're buying PAR, make sure that you're happy with how the timber will be prepped, and whether you'll be getting sapwood in there too.

I bought a bit of PAR oak earlier in the year, and sent half of it back, the quality of the timber was that bad. The rest of it wasn't prepped very well - bow/cup/twist. Had to do more work on it to get it in a reasonable condition.

Wouldn't bother buying PAR again personally, but if you don't have the ability to prep it yourself, you may have no choice.

Cheers

Karl

 

[big soft moose]

but if you don't have the ability to prep it yourself, you may have no choice.

i suppose another option might be to pay a bigger firm to do the prep from sawn for you - normally i'd say ask around local members on here but iroko dust is fookin horrible stuff, so you arent likely to find someone who's going to fill their 'shop with clouds of it just for a few beer vouchers.

 

[Doug B]

( tho that said he'll almost certainly be buying it sawn)

you obviously don`t know Mr PAR very well, Pete :lol: :lol:

 

[big soft moose]

( tho that said he'll almost certainly be buying it sawn)

you obviously don`t know Mr PAR very well, Pete :lol: :lol:

well i assumed that was why proffesionals lhad all the big machinery - but i'm open to correction, as i dont know him at all - i just remembered reading his thread about the iroko conservatory.

(personally I only ever buy sawn , because i'm a tight buttocks - if i want ready finished i normally buy furniture off the 'bay and strip it down, but that said i dont use iroko much because i'm alergic to the dust)

 

[Dodge]

SL Hardwoods get my vote for Iroko - I have bought quite a bit off them over the years and have never had any problems with the quality of the timber received.

Dodge

 

[Phil Sewell]

I was quoted around £20 per cube plus vat for iroko at Whitmores recently. I don't know how much they charge for machining.
P.

 

[big soft moose]

Its a shame the corby wood mine isnt operating anymore, cos that would have definitely been your best bet

you might want to drop tom - (wizer) a pm, because he was talking about selling a lot of his wood before he moved house, and i know he had some corby iroko originally.

 

[jasonB]

Don't sound too bad for small amounts, quick look at SLH would give you £170 for sawn material with no waste so add a min of 10% say £190. Thats £60 for machining which is not unreasonable.

Waste is the big variable, if your supplier only has 3.0m lengths in stock then he will charge you for the 900mm cut off the end, if he has 4.2m in stock then have you allowed for a saw cut and cleaning up the ends?

Jason

 

[JonnyD]

Don't sound too bad for small amounts, quick look at SLH would give you £170 for sawn material with no waste so add a min of 10% say £190. Thats £60 for machining which is not unreasonable.

Waste is the big variable, if your supplier only has 3.0m lengths in stock then he will charge you for the 900mm cut off the end, if he has 4.2m in stock then have you allowed for a saw cut and cleaning up the ends?

Jason

I make the order about 3.85 cubic ft which is allowing a 30% wastage allowance SL hardwoods must be rip off merchants as my yards price would be about £85 plus vat for that lot.

cheers

jon

 

[Mattty]

Hi Guys.

I need some Iroko for a table that I am building for a friend. I've had a price for some iroko which is a bit high.

4 number 2.1 meter lengths of 4 x 1 prepared = total 8.4 m

9 number 2.1 meter lengths of 3 x 1 prepared = total 18.9 m

2 number 2.1 meter lengths of 3 xi 3 prepared = total 4.2 hm

The finished sizes will be slightly smaller taking planing into account.

£250.00 + vat = silly money.

I need a better idea of what people expect to pay for iroko. I am going to try some other timber yards on Monday.

I'll start with the company in wycombe. I live in the Uxbridge area.

Cheers Alan

Alan, Maybe use a more sustainable timber such as European Oak?

From Cites- Iroko
Wood type Hardwood
Introduction Formerly known as Milicia excelsa Benth. and Hook f.and Milicia regia
A. Chev.
Environmental
Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as LR – Lower Risk
(near threatened): close to being classed as Vulnerable. Also meets CITES
Appendix II criteria

 

[katellwood]

Am I wrong here but if I remember correctly PAR stands for "planed all round" i.e. just put through a thicknesser.

What is needed here is PSE (planed square edge) which is where its straightened then squared before put through the thicknesser or in other words faced and edged then finished to prerequsite sizes

Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[woodbutcher]

you should also ask for finished size and not par most hard woods are prepped to finished size!

woodbutcher
(richard)

 

[jasonB]

It will propbably go straight through a 4 sider, hopefully passed over a surface planer first.

Just putting it through a thicknesser will only take care of two faces, by PAR I assume the OP means all 4 sides prepared

Jason

 

[promhandicam]

Hi Guys.

I need some Iroko for a table that I am building for a friend. I've had a price for some iroko which is a bit high.

4 number 2.1 meter lengths of 4 x 1 prepared = total 8.4 m

9 number 2.1 meter lengths of 3 x 1 prepared = total 18.9 m

2 number 2.1 meter lengths of 3 xi 3 prepared = total 4.2 hm

The finished sizes will be slightly smaller taking planing into account.

£250.00 + vat = silly money.

I need a better idea of what people expect to pay for iroko. I am going to try some other timber yards on Monday.

I'll start with the company in wycombe. I live in the Uxbridge area.

Cheers Alan

Try Kevin at http://www.surreytimbers.co.uk/. This is the company that JFC and others including myself have used recently and have been happy with. You can pick your own boards and Kevin now has a planer thicknesser for preparing timber too if required.

Steve

 

[La Gib]

Hi all

Thanks for all you replies.

Having read all the posts I will get a price for sawn timber. My main concern was cupping and twisting. With sawn timber it does give me a greater chance of getting the timber straight. I was trying to avoid the machining of the timber as I have heard the pitfalls. I have recently up dated my extractor system and have the Axminster combination machine to help prepare the stock. If I wear a mask as well I should be fine.

I will let you all know once I have some more prices.

Cheers Alan

 

[La Gib]

Using SL hardwoods calculator for sawn timber I'm down to £202.72 including Vat. Getting better

 

[promhandicam]

. . . I have recently up dated my extractor system and have the Axminster combination machine to help prepare the stock.

If you have a properly set up planer thicknesser then it is a no brainer - buy sawn timber and prep it yourself.