One ton rolling lumber rack

[gwyneth]

Well, the 3/4 ton rolling cull bin lost some weight when I unloaded some of the plywood. But it gained it back again, and then some, when I took it to the big city (pop. 7000 in the next county).

Though failing, for the third time, to find the hardwood co-op listed in the phone book, I stopped at one of the two building supply places. After the front desk said most maple had to be special ordered, but Big Dan in the warehouse could help with oak, I walked over.

Way up near the roof was a shelf that said "maple and ash 1 x5".

The end result was that I took them all and for $100, Big Dan and his sidekick loaded these 40 eight-ft. boards into the truck. He said most are maple...I'm still trying to figure out the total board footage.

The prices marked on the end are the original per board price, and their method is very customer-friendly (an 8' x 2" being $2 for the board, an 8' x 4" being $4 for the board, and so on.)

[Ken Massingale]

That looks like some real nice stock, gyneth. And what a score for $100!

[gwyneth]

Lessons for new woodbuyers, although they don't apply when you're going in with a list of exactly what you need for a specific project.

Act vague, look around, try to peer into corners and the hardest place for the employees to retrieve stuff from. Look for small piles and labels that favor warehouse organization, not buyers ("misc. hardwood"; "old will-call"; "oak to be sorted").

That's because they favor the "take all of it off their hands" deal. The harder it is for the workers to classify a pile or stack into something that is salable, the more likely you are to get the "all of them gone" deal.

Ideally, you'll spot a pile or stack that's somewhat of an annoyance to employees, because they don't know exactly what to do with. They might know exactly what the pile consists of ("cherry trim miscuts"), that it's too good to throw away, and too much of it to toss into the general cull bin--but just haven't determined a way to describe it to buyers.

In short, too good to toss but hard to sell. Well, hard to merchandise, because once the buyer for the stuff walks in, it's a very easy sale.

[cabinetman]

What a great haul! It would almost have to be free to beat that. Thing to do now is get it home and sort it out, and get it all stickered. Try not to leave it in a convenient pile.

[gwyneth]

What a great haul! It would almost have to be free to beat that. Thing to do now is get it home and sort it out, and get it all stickered. Try not to leave it in a convenient pile.

Thanks! Don't laugh, but, but being a somewhat novice hardwood buyer it's really nice to be reassured.

The first 15 boards have been unloaded, are taking up the floor of the front porch, and judging by the sizes thoughtfully marked on the ends, amount to about 38 board feet.

Further new buyer tips: one way to gauge price is to compare it to pine, particularly if presented with a price for a bargain, stack, or other non board ft. sale.

These 8 ft. boards, at $2.50 per, were roughly the cost of 2 x 4s, so it felt safe to take the whole pile, without seeing it before it came down from the rafters. (In other words, with $100 being in the neighborhood of a reasonable price for 40 8 ft. 2 x 4s--for some reason pine studs are more expensive here than some other localities--anything better would be 'the deal part'.)

The part about not seeing it before it came down from the rafters illustrates an important point for new wood bargain hunters: minimizing work for the yard employee(s) who have to do physical labor with what you're considering.

IMO, the earlier in the transaction it appears to be a labor-saver, the better off you'll be.

Had I asked to see even one of the boards before deciding, I think it would have given off the aura of "this lady is going to want to see each piece after we bring it down from the 80 ft. high rafters and possibly we'll have to carry it back up there".

This is also true about the work involved in calculations, which can seem just as laborious to yard employees as hauling around boards.