Milling costs

I found a guy very close to me (<10 miles ) with a band saw that shot me a price of 23¢ a board foot to saw some cherry for me. Seemed good to me but is that the "going" rate?



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That's probably not too bad. How big of a log are we talking here? If you are second guessing the price, look around to see what a board/foot of cherry is going for.......

Here's a reference I found on a quick search on the internet. Not sure what the exact rates are in your area, so this is for reference only....

http://www.intercitylumber.com/Lumber.php#Hardwood_Lumber

Wow by those prices a 8ft 1x8 would be $33.34. My cost to mill would be $1.22. So not a bad deal I guess. Thanks scotty!

1x8's is what I was going to have these logs sawn into. Besides three mantles that i was going to saw 5"x8"x8' to make a 4"x7.5" finished product .What is everyone 's consensus on the width of the 1bys. They will be air dried so warping and cupping may be an issue.

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stack them on a nice flat surface, put stickers between the ground and the first board, and between every board as you stack them. Put some really heavy weight on the top of them (bricks, boulders, rocks, whatever) or you can ratchet strap the stack together in various spots with a cheap set of ratchet straps. Just keep in mind, you'll have to tighten those straps every couple of weeks as the stack dries out.

How long till "dry" and how "dry" is dry?

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Make sure to paint or wax the ends of the boards. It reduces end checking and splitting.

Brian, if I'm not mistaken, an MC of around 6 to 8% or so (give or take) is considered "furniture-ready". Like Jags said, if you want to end up with a 1" board when the wood is dry, you need to get it milled at 5/4 or larger. You want at least that much so when you get to the stage of using it, after you plane it you'll be around 3/4" thick. The thicker slabs you said about milling, they are going to take a lot longer to dry out to furniture capable status (3 to 5 years in normal, air drying conditions).

10-4!

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23c/bdft is a good price does he have mob/demob fee?
Deffinately seal the log ends as soon they are cut.
Sounds like you have some good sized cherry, just be aware that most people have visions of grandure from the butt end of a log size but they end up with less useable lumber than expected.
Most cherry will have 1/2-3/4in sap wood on either side that isn't really desirable in furniture making - just the darker heartwood is what people are after.

I have a Woodmizer bandsaw mill and won't touch $0.23 for a small job. My rate is $50/hr from time I leave my shop until time of return. Think of a $40,000 mill, a truck to transport it, maintenance and blades, insurance, and time for labor, among other costs.

With proper handling and drying along the lines mentioned in above posts, very high quality boards can result from air drying.

When we had milling done, it was about 50c/BF, with a minimum charge. Quarter-sawn was much more, and discouraged. He really only charged by the square foot and assumed 1" thick per cut, which makes sense based on the wear on his saw, but meant that it cost us nothing more to get a thicker board (wood supply was not the problem, see profile pic). We didn't realize the implication of this until near the end, or else we would have a lot more tabletops now...
I'd say cutting 1-1/4" is an absolute minimum to get a 1" finished board; shrinkage, planing and warping/cupping will take their toll. This may depend on wood type.

TE