Cost of Red Oak and Maple

[JimBuis]

Just in case you were wondering what red oak and maple cost in Tokyo, I thought I'd share with you a recent shopping experience.  Last night I went to my favorite lumber yard just off of Shin Ome Kaido, that's the name of the new road that goes to the city of Ome. ;D  I wanted to buy some hardwood for my Wood Shop classes.  They had 11 red oak  2" boards about 12 feet long and of varying widths ranging from 5" up to about 10".  They had four maple 2" boards about 8 feet long in widths from about 10" to 12".  I bought all 15 boards for..................drum roll please..........................the equivalent of $550 (US).  Considering that it is quite common here for a 4" hardwood slab 8' by 3' to sell for close to $1,000, I was happy to get this load.

The lumber is rough sawn.  I'll lose a bit to sawdust and chips.  However, it looks pretty nice cleaned up.

Jim

[Mr Mom]

     JimBuis..... Maybe you should start a lumber import company. I thought lumber was worth alot over there but not that much .


     Thanks Alot Mr Mom

[JimBuis]

I have thought about doing precisely that.  However, space is a problem.  Additionally, making money is not why I am here.  For now, I will avoid money making opportunities.  When I make my final move back to the U.S., I will make an effort at making money again.

Jim

[dewwood]

What part of Japan do they grow Red Oak and Maple in?

[beenthere]

Pics of the lumber you bought would be interesting to see. Am interested in the quality for that price. 

[SwampDonkey]

Well, it's great somebody is making money.  :D ;)

[oakiemac]

Was that lumber imported from the US or Canada or was it grown locally?

[Ron Wenrich]

Actually, that isn't a bad price.  Just running through some rough calculations shows that you paid an average of $36.67 per board. 

All the lumber was 2".  The red oak is 12' long, so if you have an average width of 7.5", you'll end up with 15 bf/bd.  The maple is 8', so if you average 11.25" you'll also get 15 bf/bd.

At that rate, you averaged $2.45/bf.  Even if the footage was only 14 bf, it would be $2.62/bf.  That's a lot cheaper than the box stores here in the states. 

[JimBuis]

What part of Japan do they grow Red Oak and Maple in?

Was that lumber imported from the US or Canada or was it grown locally?

I am relatively certain that the wood came from one of Japan's distantly located prefectures (similar to a province or state)...................North America. :D

What is the quality?  Rough cut.  So rough that I did not dare unload it from the truck without a good pair of leather gloves.  Besides that, once you trim off some of the rough edges and scraps of bark what's left isn't too bad.

In short, this wood came straight off of a commercial mill without any resawing or planing.  As has been discussed on here a bunch of times, I can assure you that I have paid for every splinter, every shaving, and every pile of dust that will be laying on my shop floor after I have cleaned up this material.  They charged me by the cubic measurement in its present state not for what the finished product will look like.

I am glad to get this stuff even if I did not buy it on sale. ;D

Jim

[beenthere]

By quality, I didn't mean surface roughness.   The quality is below the surface.

Is it clear wood, or loaded with knots, holes, bark pockets, and/or splits ???.  I am suspecting nearly clear pieces (like in the HD and Lowes stores for high prices), and your boards are described as quite large for 'clear'.  I'm thinking as Ron said, that the price isn't much out of line (that is assuming the wood is high quality and FAS grade at least), if not cheaper than here :.

[JimBuis]

I am certainly not well versed in lumber grading standards, so I'll take pictures.  I also suspect that my description of the dimensions will prove to be overstated as the numbers were more of a WAG (sophisticated military acronym) than true measurements.  My next post should be more precise.

I will be back!!

Jim

[logwalker]

I went to my local lumberyard this week and was shocked to see it selling for almost $10 a bf for Red Oak. You could have knocked me over with a feather. LW

[SwampDonkey]

Been that up here for years and I know for a fact that they get it for $0.90 or less a board foot.  Maritime Lumber up here are not even in touch with reality. :

[Ron Wenrich]

FAS red oak is selling for about $1.20 green, and the hard maple is about $2.  That's for mixed trailerload lots.

[JimBuis]

Okay, let's see if I can be a little more accurate in my description of the wood I got here in Tokyo.  What does the red oak look like?


This is what the red oak looks like straight from the lumber yard.


Here's what the red oak looks like after planing and a bit of sanding.


Here's a close up of the same piece.

I double checked the measurements of the oak.  It turns out I overstated the thickness.  The 11 red oak boards I bought were only 1" rough and reduce down to 3/4" by the time I plane the roughness off.  The thickness varied a bit on each.  The widths and lengths varied, but the length was about 11' for each.  The width varied anywhere from 5" to 9".  The actual dimensions make no difference to me as they will all be used for various student projects.

Now the maple.  It looks like this.

I haven't planed any of this yet.  The knots on this piece were significant flaws in that they have deep cracks in them that reach out into the surrounding wood.  However, the rest of the board has some beautiful grain in it and it will make some great projects.  The four maple boards were 1 1/2" thick, range in length from 6 to 7' and the width ranged from 10 1/2" to 13 1/2".

I am happy with what I bought.  I wish I could have gotten it for less.  However, good hardwood is so scarce here that I have to be happy with what I've got unless I import my own.

Thanks,
Jim

[Buzz-sawyer]

Jim
I just stacked up a bunch of odds and ends on top of that whiteoak I was cutting the day you were there at the mill.
I wondered,(Did Jim take that white oak chunk to Japan?) Then I trealized it was not likely :D :D :D :D
Boy you could use someof the cherry, red elm, quarter sawn red oak and nice flat sawn oak I have been hoarding!!!!
I will probably end up selling it for a dollar a foot dry!!