why is red oak cheaper than pine?

The red oak was miss priced. I pay $3 or more for a 1x2x4. Buy all they have

David Byrne wrote:
> Pine board at Home Depot -- $18.75
> Red oak board -- $6.25
> (2) why is pine so expensive?

The question should really be, "Why is the oak so cheap?"
I ran in to exactly the same thing and found out that the pine was per
board, the oak was per ft. Makes the oak too expensive, but it makes
more sense.
Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net

If you are going to be doing a lot more like this, I could suggest you do
what I did. I contacted WoodMiser and they were happy to give me a few
names of people aound me who bought them. I now have several people who can
sell me good hardwood from around $1.00 - $3.00 board foot. Works nicely
for me and nicely for them.

"David Byrne" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A question from a dilettante woodworker:
>
> I'm building (several) little bookcases for my kids, each
> cut out of a 1"x12"x10' board
> Made a prototype out of scrap pine, then went
> looking for a sturdier wood.
> Pine board at Home Depot -- $18.75
> Red oak board -- $6.25
>
> 2 questions
> (1) am I wrong to think that a nice hard oak
> board will make a better (defined as "less likely
> to collapse when abused by little children")
> (2) why is pine so expensive?
>
> Thanks for any thoughts.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> A question from a dilettante woodworker:
>
> I'm building (several) little bookcases for my kids, each
> cut out of a 1"x12"x10' board
> Made a prototype out of scrap pine, then went
> looking for a sturdier wood.
> Pine board at Home Depot -- $18.75
> Red oak board -- $6.25
>
> 2 questions
> (1) am I wrong to think that a nice hard oak
> board will make a better (defined as "less likely
> to collapse when abused by little children")
> (2) why is pine so expensive?
>
> Thanks for any thoughts.
>
Answer to #1, yes oak will make a more sturdy bookcase, and better
looking too.
Answer to #2, Home Depot is nuts.
Actually I would triple check the price on the oak. If its really
1"x12"x10' for $6.25, I would buy a bunch of it. That price figures out
to .62 a board foot which is incredibly cheap for oak by the piece.

Two thoughts come to mind about HD: They sell pine in different
grades, their "D select" clear pine is about 50% higher in cost than
#2 common in my area, and they sell their hardoowd boards by the FOOT.
Are you sure that the price wasn't $6.25 per foot for an oak 1X12?

Also, it would not be unheard of for their cashier to make a msitake
when charging out the dwood, especially if it didn't have a barcode on
it.
--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland
[email protected]

My thought is the red oak board is either mismarker or that is the price per
linear foot. I pay about $2.80 a board foot for kiln dried red oak in the
rough at my hardwood supplier. What you mention -- a 1"x12"x10' is
equilavent to 10 board feet so it should be roughly $28 if I had to guess...
And that would be from a hardwood supplier rough sawn, not S4S (surfaced 4
sides) like the stuff at HD. Although their wood is not sold by the board
foot since it is all dimensioned, IIRC the prices are typically 3+ times the
amount charged for in the rough stock.

Red oak will of course hold up to alot more abuse than pine. You can push
you thumb nail into a piece of pine its so soft.

Good luck... If that oak really is $6.25 for an S4S 1"x12"x10' board buy all
they have!!! (if it is in good shape that is)

--
Brian
www.wood-workers.com/users/lavoie


"David Byrne" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A question from a dilettante woodworker:
>
> I'm building (several) little bookcases for my kids, each
> cut out of a 1"x12"x10' board
> Made a prototype out of scrap pine, then went
> looking for a sturdier wood.
> Pine board at Home Depot -- $18.75
> Red oak board -- $6.25
>
> 2 questions
> (1) am I wrong to think that a nice hard oak
> board will make a better (defined as "less likely
> to collapse when abused by little children")
> (2) why is pine so expensive?
>
> Thanks for any thoughts.

Thanks very much to all for the information.
It was indeed $6.25 a linear foot. (ouch!)
I mistakenly thought the Home Depot
prices were consistent across
wood types. (That would be too easy!)

Will look into rough cut hardwoods and
getting a planer.
(And using a decent lumber yard...)

Dave Byrne

>And as far as Pine being expensive....Can you say Spotted Owl?

Furniture pine has gone up about 50% in the last 20 years, about the same as
most hardwoods. FWIW they don't clear cut hardwoods.

--

Rumpty

Radial Arm Saw Forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher/start

And as far as Pine being expensive....Can you say Spotted Owl?

--


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"David Byrne" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A question from a dilettante woodworker:
>
> I'm building (several) little bookcases for my kids, each
> cut out of a 1"x12"x10' board
> Made a prototype out of scrap pine, then went
> looking for a sturdier wood.
> Pine board at Home Depot -- $18.75
> Red oak board -- $6.25
>
> 2 questions
> (1) am I wrong to think that a nice hard oak
> board will make a better (defined as "less likely
> to collapse when abused by little children")
> (2) why is pine so expensive?
>
> Thanks for any thoughts.

"David Byrne" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A question from a dilettante woodworker:
>
> I'm building (several) little bookcases for my kids, each
> cut out of a 1"x12"x10' board
> Made a prototype out of scrap pine, then went
> looking for a sturdier wood.
> Pine board at Home Depot -- $18.75
> Red oak board -- $6.25
>
> 2 questions
> (1) am I wrong to think that a nice hard oak
> board will make a better (defined as "less likely
> to collapse when abused by little children")
> (2) why is pine so expensive?
>
> Thanks for any thoughts.

I'm quite sure that the local HD prices the maple and oak by the linear foot
with a different price for each combination of thickness and width. Assuming
that yours does the same thing those boards would be $62.50 each ($6.25 per
board foot).

John

On 27 Dec 2003 10:31:25 -0800, [email protected] (David Byrne)
brought forth from the murky depths:

>Thanks very much to all for the information.
>It was indeed $6.25 a linear foot. (ouch!)
>I mistakenly thought the Home Depot
>prices were consistent across
>wood types. (That would be too easy!)

That price was for CLEAR pineywood, obviously. It's harder
to come by than knotty/warped/twisted crap they sell for
garage shelving. (Though MDF is more often found there now.)


>Will look into rough cut hardwoods and
>getting a planer.
>(And using a decent lumber yard...)

You should be able to pick up a used planer for under $100.
I did.


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--Socrates + Web Application Programming

"David Byrne" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A question from a dilettante woodworker:
>
> I'm building (several) little bookcases for my kids, each
> cut out of a 1"x12"x10' board
> Made a prototype out of scrap pine, then went
> looking for a sturdier wood.
> Pine board at Home Depot -- $18.75
> Red oak board -- $6.25
>
>

It has to be a mistake!
Red oak 1"x6"x6' last time I checked at the Borg was in the nieghborhood of
$12-$15.
Your $6.25 price runs out to roughly $.62 a board foot! (It propably was
mis-priced. Should have been $62.50!) Rough sawed here runs about $3, the
local Borg price runs about $4-$5 a board foot.
Greg