jmaichel Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I just spoke with my hardwood dealer to price out some Poplar. 2.44 BF for "Prime" I have not heard this grade given to a hardwood before and it doesn't seem to be listed as an official grade under the NHLA grading criteria. Any insight would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Interesting... I know of a paint grade, not prime grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Marketing to suck money out of your pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPCV_Woodworker Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 There are a lot of alternative grading systems out there. Prime is one that is used in addition to the standard NHLA grading levels. Think of it as FAS-1 face with square edges. I know AHEC uses "prime" grade, as well as Comsel. Here's a link to one their manuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted March 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 There are a lot of alternative grading systems out there. Prime is one that is used in addition to the standard NHLA grading levels. Think of it as FAS-1 face with square edges. I know AHEC uses "prime" grade, as well as Comsel. Here's a link to one their manuals. Excellent! Thanks M. I should have known just to ask you directly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 What was the board foot price, out of curiosity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I just spoke with my hardwood dealer to price out some Poplar. 2.44 BF for "Prime" I have not heard this grade given to a hardwood before and it doesn't seem to be listed as an official grade under the NHLA grading criteria. Any insight would be appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted March 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 What was the board foot price, out of curiosity? 2.44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 FAS S2S with one edge straight line ripped is $1.29 bd ft at my favorite lumberyard. We all have tablesaws so why do you need the other edge ripped? You do know they figure the board footage before they straight line rip. Do it twice and you either get a lot less than the number on the board or they call it premium , raise the price and sell it by the actual footage left . 10" , 12" and even up to 14" boards are pretty common in poplar. Sometimes it's even fairly flat and well behaved ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopnhack Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 You guys are depressing me... I wanted to start a bookcase build for the older child and went in search of some 8/4 poplar or soft maple I was told $3.95 or $5.96 per bd/ft This build is going to be good ol' SYP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 $3.95 for 8/4 poplar isn't outrageous...it's $3.80 at my yard. And we're at $6.00 for maple. It's S3S, but either way...that's pretty cheap lumber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 $1.84 for 10/4 at my yahd. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Dang. That's a great price for that garbage! About what it should be, IMO. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Dang. That's a great price for that garbage! About what it should be, IMO. Apparently in its quartered state it is an excellent secondary wood for drawer boxes. I have to agree that I much prefer hand cutting dovetails in poplar as opposed to maple and day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Wow! I haven't purchased any 8/4, but the last haul of 4/4 poplar I bought was only $0.50 per bf! But then, I got red oak for tbe same price, and walnut and mulberry for just $0.75 per bf. Got lucky finding a hobby sawyer on CL that had a stock of well dried stuff cluttering up his shed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted March 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 I will be making the trek out to my hardwood dealer where said poplar is at in the next couple weeks. I will follow up with pictures! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaissanceWW Posted March 25, 2014 Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 NHLA hasn't changed much since the 1950s and customer expectatons have climbed over the years, especially with the greater access to exotics that are naturally wider and with less sap. FAS doesn't really cut it anymore so a lot of unofficial grades have popped up to try and classify the stuff that exceeds the FAS guidelines. One point however when threads like this pop up and the wide spread of prices surface is that when all things are equal you won't see very much price deviation. I'd say no more than .20-50/bf. If you find a price higher or lower than that range then something isn't equal. That may be how it was dried, how it is cut, lenght/width spec, additional milling, where it comes from, etc. In other words there is no free lunch so if you find a killer deal on a species don't be surprised if there is something you don't know about it. This isn't to intimate that a dealer is trying to take advantage of you (though that happens) but more that there are just too many damn variables to keep track of. This doesn't mean you can't find these deals, especially when you go direct to a mill where they have total control of the wood from stump to board and can cut down on the costs. But these days it is VERY expensive to run from cradle to grave in the lumber business unless you produce only very limited quantities (and usually these guys go out of business pretty quickly). Last thing to keep in mind, domestics have been in a price slump for a long time and now that is changing. Across the board, domestics are going up because the infrastructure to support them has fallen apart and mill after miller and dealer after dealer have close their doors. In some instances the ready to sell national inventory has been reduced by more than 66% yet the demand for the product has doubled as the construction industry climbs out of the recession very slowly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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