CVG pricing

[KnotBB]

I'm excited!  I got wood.
I've been lurking for several months but I'm about ready to jump in with both feet, well maybe one anyway. 15 years ago I ran a MD mill on shares and almost starved to death.  Now I'm retired military and have more time than money and less sense than I should.  Looking real hard at a swing mill.  I met Frank Pender last year at the Oregon Logging Conference and got a chance to visit him at home for the 50 cent tour of his mill. A totally amazing man.  Talked with Frank this A.M. about pricing.  I live on the other side of the valley from him.  Too far to throw rocks.

Just bought a Douglas Fir log from BLM that fell into the road and had to be moved.  They couldn't get rid of it in house for fire wood so I got to buy it.  The road department chopped the log into several small pieces (like 5'11") so they could move it with two exception, one is 12' long and 30" small end and the other is 16' long 50" on the small end.  Over 3000 bdf gross scale in five pieces and that doesn't count the slab off of what should have been the but log.  Ring count just inside of the sap is 22 rings per inch.  Sap wood is around 40 per inch.  The 12 inches of center has a lot of rot and pitch but ring count  (4+ pe inch) will make boards for use around home.  The plan is to quarter saw as much as possible.

What should green rough sawn CVG D. Fir be worth to a manufacturer who makes make doors, moulding and flooring.  They have an interest and the first question they asked is "How much do you want for it?"  I don't have a clue.  I have answered with, "More than construction wood and less than ebony".  Anybody got some help for me?

[ronwood]

Welcome to the  forum  KnotBB. Sorry I can't help you on the pricing. If it is good clear wood it should bring a fair amount.

Ron

[extrapolate85]

I have some experience with clear vertical grain DF flooring (1x4" 6-16'). It wholesales for about $1700/m dried, finished and run to non-end-matched patern (it retails for about twice that price). Planing and moulder costs would be something less than $100/m. 

From what I understand about VG door stock, it does not need to be all clear (they are looking for clear cuttings), so it can be a shop type board (maybe along the lines of a #1 and #2 WWPA Shop ponderosa pine grade (I think it is generally finished to 6/4 shop thickness and is dried to <8%). Aside from door stock, stair-runner and flooring seem to be the best market for this type of material. (I think it is generally finished to 6/4 shop sizes). If you sell it for flooring, the fall-down product might be hard to move. Even small knots in 4/4 VG will blow up in a planing mill (VG is all edge knots and it is tough to keep a .95" thick board together when it has a 1" edge knot that goes through the piece. and is dried to 6-8%). I will tell you this, CVG DF flooring is really beautiful.

[KnotBB]

Thanks for the welcome and pricing info.  I'm trying to figure out how to get a picture of the "firewood" I bought for you all to see.
On Lowes web site they are selling S4S 1" X 4" X 8' clear fir for $2270/m and the 1 X 6's for $3990/m.  Quite a difference. By that I assume 1" X 6" and up would be worth more per bdf wholesale also.  Been awhile (15 years) since I've worried about selling wood.  Been stuck buying.

Now all I need is the saw to cut them.
8)
;D

[extrapolate85]

I think if you are determined to get the value out of that log, you should find sombody in your area that can plane your lumber (maybe even dry it for you). I would talk to some of the smaller guys in your area with a planing mill. They will be able to advise you the best regarding which products to make, and how best to market your lumber. 4/4 flooring (in 4" or 6") has the advantage of always being salable; custom homebuilders like to use locally grown and milled wood, and CVG DF flooring is both sturdy and beautiful. Expect that only about 50% of the wood will make the select grade with about 30% C& better, and 20% D select. The other 50% will be into the knots and would likely be better as 8/4 or bigger material, unless you have a good market for shop type pieces. The downside of 6" is that you have a 50% greater chance of knots on the face of the board once you get down into the knots.

Good luck

[Frank_Pender]

Glad to see you made it to the Forum, Steve.  Don't forget, I have a kiln and can get it t & g'ed as well as planed at the same time, in Sheridan for about 15 cents a running foot.

[solodan]

The last time I  priced  12" clear doug fir stair treads, they were about $ 8/lf. I think the stairs are 5/4 and stair tread stock is normally milled at 12' lengths, as most stairs cases are  3' or 4' wide. So the butt of that log could be worth a bit.

I was just in the Lowes a few hours from me, and I thought the price on the 1x6 was closer to $5000/m. so it might vary locally.

And that is a good deal Frank can get you for $.15/lf

[KnotBB]

Well let's see if I got the pictures loaded.  The bar on the chain saw is 20"





Frank the offer is noted, Just had a thought  that I might be able to get that done locally. 
extrapolate85: where does one get a copy of a grading book to better understand.  I really hadn't thought past getting the boards out of the logs

Thanks for the ideas

[extrapolate85]

If you go to the following website (http://www.wwpa.org/_techguide/Login.asp) you will be prompted to regiseter (no big deal, the WWPA just likes to know who uses their resources) and you will be given access to the PDF version of the WWPA Grading Rules for Western Lumber (you can also order a hardcopy from them at the WWPA website). Once you successfully log in you will see grades in the upper left, that is what you want (their website has a wealth of information on lumber quality and grading). I know that there are some big numbers floating around, but keep in mind that Lowes and Home Depot prices are retail at a big ticket store (they cater to somebody that just buys a few sticks). The mill that produced those high price products likely was paid less than $2000/m (which still aint bad). If you are located not too far from Clackamas, you might stop by Disdero lumber, they specialize in selling high quality DF lumber, and I would imagine a guy could learn a fair amount by talking to them.