Inexpensive Hickory/Wht Oak Bed Wood

[72peace]

Just got a really good deal and thought i'd pass it on. This is a new company that currently has a special on 1" Hickory and White Oak for $1 a foot and will plane it down to 3/4 for another $1 a board foot e.g. longbed fleetsite would use ~80' so $106 for Hickory plus shipping or pickup in IA. Since I only live a couple of hours away it works for me.

http://www.eastperulumber.com/1__2_lumber

Cheers,

[54belair]

Do they have the dies to do the double depth groove for the bed strips?

[special-K]

That's an amazingly good price. For that price there's room to pay someone to mill it. I don't know how they do it with white oak and hickory not even being local species. Or are they?

[Sillyoldman]

They're selling it by the Board Foot.

[jamesi20]

The formula for calculating board feet is as follows:

(length x width x thickness)/144

All of the dimensions in this formula are in inches. For instance, a 10-inch wide, 3/4 board that measures 96-inches in length would come out to five board feet: (96 x 10 x .75)/144 = 5

[Tim Christian]

That is a good price but just keep in mind if the lumber is not Kiln dried it will split quicker than the lumber that is.

[72peace]

It says kiln dried and local, also from talking to the folks they don't have all their equipment up so they can plane it down to 3/4" but they can't do the side millwork for another few months, something about getting all the electrical setup and all the right bits for their machine; but since i already have a table saw that would take care of one cut and a router (been wanting one anyway) could take care of the groove. They have other wood also but the Hickory and White Oak are on sale, but for that price you could go with whatever you wanted. She quoted me $106 for the wood and to plane it!

10 sticks at 97" and 8 inches wide at $1 plus $1 to plane would be:

970" x 8" /144 *$2 = $106

From their site:
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Lumber - $1.50 a board foot
We have the following varieties of kiln dried native Iowa lumber for sale for $1.50 a board foot:
Hickory and White Oak now on sale for $1.00 a board foot!

Ash, Cherry, Hackberry, Hickory, Maple, Red Cedar, Red Oak, Walnut, White Oak

This also includes specialty cuts, such as Curly Maple and Quarter Sawn Oak

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Lumber - $1.00 a board foot
We have the following varieties of kiln dried native Iowa lumber for sale for $1.00 a board foot:

Basswood, Elm, Pine

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[Clyde65]

do they ship?

[faribran]

sure sounds like a super deal.... i have done the grove on the edge and the bolt holes...
those are no big deal.

[72peace]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

do they ship?

She said they do ship, just let them know where.

Cheers,

[VA72C10]

The side grooves can also be done on a table saw...set the height where it needs to be and set the fence and rip away...

[Lee H]

Great price. Don't need it for my truck but may get some to top my work bench.

[longbed67]

I spoke with them as they are only a couple of hours from me and between my buddies and I we go through about 1000+ board feet of lumber a year on our projects we build... so this would offer us a big savings... they are looking to expand and are demolishing the building they are currently in which is why there is a sale... the lumber is NOT graded and is not all selects and better.... you would need to sort the lumber and grade it yourself! however you can pick through the lumber and it does not change the price... the lumber is only sorted by species and not by cut either so quarter sawed is mixed with rift sawed and flat sawed. It is kind of kiln dried as they put it in a shop with blow though and in-floor heat and bring the temp up to just over 100*F and it is brought down to cabinet grade moisture of 8-10% but not a true propane fired kiln. All the species they offer are native to Iowa and the midwest and are cut locally. By the sounds of it they mill the lumber themselves.

[longbed67]

Forgot to add the lumber is rough cut, and would need to be straight lined and planed.

[Glorybound13]

Wow. $106? Gotta say that's pretty cheap. Great find.

[rsavage]

That is very reasonable. Find a local mill and have it planed and drum sanded. Router can cut the groove after the boards are cut to width and edge jointed. Keep us posted on your progress.

[72peace]

Originally Posted by longbed67

Forgot to add the lumber is rough cut, and would need to be straight lined and planed.

The $106 price includes planed.

Cheers, I'm going to pick it up this weekend, I'll keep you posted.

[70-Chevy]

You posted this in time for my dad's 66. He needs a wood floor for his bed too. Thanks and let us know how it turns out!

[72peace]

Picked up the lumber yesterday, and Adam (longbed67) was right I needed to sort through what they had to find the pieces I needed, it took some time. But, I found what looks to be some good pieces, I got 8 boards at 8' and 2 at 6' for the sides. The widths varied but I can rip it to size, I had him cut the 8' pieces to 97". They do ship but I don't know that I'd recommend it, just due to the need to sort through them, It ended up costing $104 when done. A friend is going to loan me a router for the groove cuts. All that being said, I probably would still recommend it if you can get there and sort through what they have. I looked at hickory on bedwoodandparts.com and it runs $770 so even with the additional work I did and still need to do it's still a good deal.

Cheers,

[bigpaul]

I have done a couple of beds and had great success with a table saw and dado blade for cutting the grooves. I think the table saw would be easier than the router.

[72peace]

Originally Posted by bigpaul

I have done a couple of beds and had great success with a table saw and dado blade for cutting the grooves. I think the table saw would be easier than the router.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

Cheers,

[special-K]

That is a great deal,but really should pick it up to do your selecting. Shipping adds to the cost as well. I guess I'll stick with local for my bed wood,once I decide the species. I have a saw mill about a mile away and have a whole network of lumber recycler friends with kilns.

[littlee_domn8r]

I've been thinking about doing my own with Pine or Cedar. What is the "side groove" some of the posts are mentioning? I thought it was just notched on the sides so the strips would lie down flush with the wood surface?