The cheapest way to buy lumber is green and rough cut from a sawmill in your area. However if you purchase the lumber while it is still fresh means it can't be used for a while. Your alternatives are to buy dried and dimensioned lumber from distributors or places like Home Depot. These paths are great if your wallet is thick, and you need the boards immediately. I prefer to go with rough cut and prepare it myself.
As soon as you have decided a the project you want to do and the kind of lumber you need, the next step is getting your materials. Going to a sawmill and choosing the best lumber for the project is our next step, and if you go to a sawmill you will find lumbers that are just laying around that you can choose. You might also want to pick a lumber that is a little bit bigger because lumbers shrink when dries up.Since the prices of their prices are already very low asking for discount is not really necessary and if you've been a repeat customer I am sure they will give you a better deal on your next visit
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After bringing the green lumber home you will then need to dry it. Air drying is on of the ways to dry you green lumber this is done by piling your boards directly under the sun but protected from the rain Then you allow it to air-dry for roughly one year for every 1" of thickness. This means that 1" thick boards will air-dry for one year, 2" thick boards will dry for two years, and so on. After a year you can bring the umber inside your shop to continue the process since it still has 12%-18% moisture.The ideal RH of your shop should b 50% for the lumber to dry down to 8% moisture and for you to be able to monitor the humidity you can purchase the rmometer/hygrometer from radio shack that will cost you around $40
One other method for drying a green lumber is by the use of solar kiln . There are a lot of solar kiln plans online. These kilns can be built for only a couple hundred dollars. The green lumber can be placed immediately inside the solar kiln for it to start drying. It usually takes 1-2 months for the lumber to dry down to 6-8% moisture and be ready for use. But sometimes the location and temperature matters..
Processing your lumber can start as soon as it reaches it's ideal moisture content. The very first thing you want to do is joint one face of the plank. This can be done by hand using a hand plane or maybe the simple way by having a jointer. You can then cut the board to your lose to the final length needed. After you have one face flat you then run the board through a thickness planner. This process will make the board equal in thickness. As soon as you plane the board into the final size, you then joint one side either by hand or by making use of a jointer. As soon as the board is planed you can now cut it to the final width. You can have this done by making use of saw to cut the board. Using the jointed for reference you can now set your board to your desired width. You now have a board almost ready for your project, just cut the final length needed and build your project. You're done, and you saved tons of money by processing the rough boards yourself.
