Just priced out what it was going to cost for my next board in western red cedar and it is almost $400… Ugh. Also, I can’t seem to find white cedar. My hope was to do a hollow board with a red cedar bottom and red cedar b/c strips with a white cedar deck.
Does anyone have a good source?
Thanks!
It would help if you told us where you are.
3rd coast - Houston, Texas. Honestly, shipping charges would seem to be the least of my worries. The local place here is selling Western Red Cedar for 3.80 / board foot @ 6" wide and charges 0.20 / board foot to plane it to 1/4 inch. So… At about 90 board feet for a board, it really adds up… They also sell 12" wide for 6.80 / board foot same .20 for planing… It seems a bit steep.
You need to hook up with your local woodworking crew, and this list may not be the best place for that, but it's a start.
Let your fingers do the walking, and shop around with the local wood craft scene. You shoudl be able to find someone with a bandsaw capable of resawing 1x6 cedar, and a thickness planer to get it right. Thoughts off the top of my head include luthiers (guitar makers, other musical instruments etc) if any in your area. Maybe boatbuilders, millwork shops, cabinet shops and so on.
Or maybe you'll learn what those tools cost, and buy them for yourself. I think that would make you realize that the prices quoted probably aren't overly expensive at all. I've been watching for a bandsaw in my local CL for some time. I'd buy one without a motor and use the one from my jointer if need, but nothing has come up that I want to buy, and now my job may be evaporating in the near future so discretional funds are nowhere to be found anyway.
Edit: one more souce comes to mind - demo contractors. These guys might pay you to remove some stuff from a work site, or make it available from their yard at a reduced price. Sometimes there are building materials recyclers that have neat stuff, too.
Hey Da5, you better Craigslist this one. These cedars grow like weeds in your area, and you should be able to find a local guy with his own mill. We've got two of them here in NW FL who sell for around $2/board ft. Good Luck!
For building materials, I buy from Liberty Cedar in RI. They have another location in SC. Go to their website, and follow the links for cedar.
http://www.libertycedar.com/sc/ourproducts.htm
They have a page where you can enter your zip code and find local dealers.
i think honolulu has it correct.
too much waste by planing down 3/4 planks to 1/4.
best recipe is to resaw flat grain boards into quarter grain strips of desired thickness.
if you check out any of the "strip-built" kayak folks you'll see how they go about the process.
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/Building/StripBuilt/Weir.html
many also list suppliers like "Noahs" .
http://www.noahsboatbuilding.com/noahusa/items.asp?Cc=19&Bc
which probably isn't any bargain, just an idea of where to look
good luck,
-bill