Green Walnut Slabs


Pwk5017

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I am out of touch with live edge prices, and green lumber is compounding my current issue. The slabs are 24"+/- wide and 12' long sawn at 10/4. Pretty good looking material that i am interested in. Unfortunately the guy wanted $15/bdft. I wasnt sure how much market knowledge he had, but i calmly explained $15bdft for green material is beyond insane. Even at $5, i dont know how interested i am... They have very subtle curves, and live edge or no live edge, a bookmatch could make a great table top a couple years down the road. 

 

Anyone buy or sell slabs or green walnut recently? Im buying KD FAS or Face and better 8/4 walnut locally for $7-8 a bdft. Right off the bat, i think $3.50-$4.50 is a fair price for green material, but even typing that sounds absurd. I remember two years ago i was buying KD material delivered to my door for that price. 

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Slab pricing is not the same as lumber pricing. If you want lumber you'll pay lumber prices. You want slabs? Double it in my area. I routinely see green walnut slabs from 15 at the ugly sap wood spectrum to 25-30$/bf in clear slab form. You're paying a premium for it being big and continuous. If you don't need that, don't pay it.

I have seen a few slabs I would have bought and green, they sell in hours. Again. My local market may not be yours but I don't know of 1 Sawyer who would even return an email from someone wanting to negotiate on the price when there are full price buyers a few inches down the inbox.

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It costs less for a sawyer to cut "slabs" than it does to trim the slab into boards.  The only difference between a slab and a board is the bark. What the man is asking for his walnut is way too high in my opinion - especially for green wood.  I wouldn't think of charging someone that much money. Of course, in Missouri, we have lots of walnut.  I guess there are sawyers in certain areas of the country getting high prices for their slabs because there are people willing to pay their price.

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Yeah, the price for Slabs is kinda bass ackwards. Less time to cut, not graded lumber, rarely properly dried, the list goes on and on. Owell, let those dawyers make hay while the sun is shining. That market is gonna fade eventually and they will be out of luck. 

 

When he told me the price per slab and I did the math, I informed him with a smirk that he was asking $15 per bdft for green lumber. I then told him I'm not trying to insult him, but that was absolutely asinine. Anyways, it ended with him asking what I thought was fair, and I said even for $5 a bdft I probably wouldn't be interested. He said he could do $5, but I still don't think that's fair for me. That's why I started the thread. I don't mind buying up the whole log and taking the time to stack and dry it for a year or two, but $5 a bdft for green stuff is insane. Walnut is insane, in general. 

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7 hours ago, Jfitz said:

What he REALLY said was he had no problem overcharging you by $10/bf.  

Haha it was a strange call in general. So you quoted me one price and then discounted it 70% off within the matter of seconds? Wtf...

 

i buy a lot of wood and sell some, so I am pretty good with market price etc, but green lumber is something I've never dabbled in. As much as I do want two of these slabs, I think I'm going to pass. I just don't know where I'm going to properly store two 12' lengths at that width. They will need leveled platforms, tons of weight on top, air circulation and on and on and on. Not to mention I was thinking they might be dry in 1.5 years in my basement. You guys have me thinking at this width, it might be 2-3 years before I'm touching these boards. No thanks, they aren't that special. If they were 30"+ wide with some crotch figure or curl, then I would go through the trouble. 

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15 hours ago, Pwk5017 said:

Haha it was a strange call in general. So you quoted me one price and then discounted it 70% off within the matter of seconds? Wtf...

 

i buy a lot of wood and sell some, so I am pretty good with market price etc, but green lumber is something I've never dabbled in. As much as I do want two of these slabs, I think I'm going to pass. I just don't know where I'm going to properly store two 12' lengths at that width. They will need leveled platforms, tons of weight on top, air circulation and on and on and on. Not to mention I was thinking they might be dry in 1.5 years in my basement. You guys have me thinking at this width, it might be 2-3 years before I'm touching these boards. No thanks, they aren't that special. If they were 30"+ wide with some crotch figure or curl, then I would go through the trouble. 

Cremona gets lumber dry a heck of a lot faster than people say he should. I'd say that he isn't drying it to EMC except I've bought some wood from him and he's usually below my shops EMC. I'd also say it's been drying longer but he videos and posts every piece he mills.

The situation seems like your dealing with someone that doesn't know what's going on, I'd pass.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I didn't see this thread when it was posted. I'm in shock that anyone would ask $15/bf for green walnut. Like, I can just go get it for free from everywhere, and pay to cut it and dry myself. If I had to take a guess, $0.50/bf. I get that a tree has value, but when you buy from a lumber mill/hardwood place for a high price, you are paying the work that it took to get that wood to you in good condition. Maybe if I lived in a place where walnut isn't plentiful, though, I could see it. 

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