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How to Get Cheap or Free Hardwood Lumberby TimAnderson on January 20, 2008

Table of Contents

How to Get Cheap or Free Hardwood Lumber ........................................................................................

Intro: How to Get Cheap or Free Hardwood Lumber .................................................................................

Step 1: Forklift Lessons ......................................................................................................

Step 2: About That Lumber Rack ...............................................................................................

Step 3: "Stick" Your Stack ....................................................................................................

Step 4: Deal With Bugs ......................................................................................................

Step 5: Bundle Covers and Pallets ..............................................................................................

Related Instructables ........................................................................................................

Comments ................................................................................................................
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Author:TimAnderson author's websiteTim Anderson is the author of the "Heirloom Technology" column in Make Magazine. He is co-founder of www.zcorp.com, manufacturers of "3D Printer"output devices. His detailed drawings of traditional Pacific Island sailing canoes are at http://www.mit.edu/people/robot.

Tim's philosophy involves building minimum-consumption personal infrastructure from recycled scavenged materials.Redirecting the waste stream. Doing much with little. A reverse peace-corps to learn from poor people all over the world.

Intro: How to Get Cheap or Free Hardwood LumberHere's how to buy new lumber in bundles for less than firewood. This seems to work best for hardwoods, cabinetmaker type stuff. This is how I got the wood for thesenice shelves and this human-powered hydrofoil and many othe projects.

Construction grade lumber, seems there's no bottom end to that market, and no way to insult the customer with a product too inferior. Fine hardwoods seem to beanother matter. There's some with problems the vendors can't stand to sell or discard.

Go to a lumberyard that has an owner or manager. Find that person and ask them if they have any bundles they want to get rid of cheap. Possibly he'll give you a lookrecognition. When I did that he had plenty. He sold me some bundles for what he paid minus a random factor. Some were "throw me a twenty".

So he forklifted his distressed bundles on my truck's lumber rack and bottomed my springs out a few times for a few twenties. He's a good businessman and maximizinventory turns. He wants me gone quickly cuz his partners slept through that class.

For instance this bundle of ash with some beetles eating it. I don't care about the bugs because they'll die as soon as I seal the wood and cut off their air supply. Or I cfreeze the wood and kill them that way.Also a couple of bundles of "rustic" cherry for the cost of firewood. A customer had returned them for being too rustic (spits, knots, and rotted spots). But actually only top layers were bad. So then I 'm making container shelves from nice ash and cherry because it's cheaper than plywood. The mater ials themselves are so good theseshelves will be bringing someone joy and materials for projects for many lifetimes after I'm gone.

Now that the lumberman knows I can make wood disappear, he's happy to give me more good deals. I t's the start of a beautiful relationship.

P.s. Do you see any beetles in this photo? Only some of the boards had them...

Step 1:Forklift LessonsI get back to the tower. Some new interns need a forklift lesson.So I show them some really vir tuoso forklift handling.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Container-Shelves/http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Human-Powered-Hydrofoil----The-%22Hydrothopter%22/http://www.instructables.com/id/Container-Shelves/http://www.instructables.com/id/Container-Shelves/http://www.mit.edu/people/robothttp://member/TimAnderson/http://member/TimAnderson/



Step 2:About That Lumber RackI got the lumber rack for used for $30 which is less than the pipe would have cost.This is a nice rack. The rear crossbars drop into brackets in a really handy way.When I got it It was way too big for my truck, which was perfect.I cut sections out of it with an abrasive saw and welded it back together so it fits my little truck perfectly, better than any commercial rack. Commercial models are tallethan necessary so they'll fit more models of truck.Look up the relative size of your truck bed and the wreck with a rack that you're shopping at here.

You might wonder why some racks have a dip in the side pipes. That's so they'll be lower than the crossbars. It makes it a lot easier for the forklift to pull out afterlowering something onto the rack.That's a useful feature to have.

If you don't have a welder already, go build one now.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Microwave-Transformer-Homemade-Welder/http://www.kanopykingdom.com/truck_bed_size_charts.htm



Step 3:"Stick" Your StackHere's the right way to stack your wood.It's called "sticking". Put little sticks between each layer of wood.That encourages airflow and drying.If you stack boards on boards water will wick in between and stay there. Your wood will rot, mold and get eaten by slugs and bugs. Stack your lumber in the shade ifpossible or it will crack and warp.

This stack has a plywood board on top to shed rain. It's on a wheeled dolly which was handy for moving it until I got it into the perfect spot.

Step 4:Deal With BugsAfter you stick your wood the bugs will start dying off.They need air and water. Sticking the wood lets it dry out, reducing the water. Slugs and snails will disappear.If you seal the wood all inhabitants die cuz it cuts off the air. Epoxy is good for this. Linseed oil has worked well for me also.

Throwing your wood in sea water until it sinks is a good trick to try.

But don't leave it there. Borers such as gribble and teredo only live in salt water. They die when the board is put in fresh water or taken out into the air.

The live beetles in these shelf brackets gave me fantasies that the insects would chew through them, dropping my axe collection on my head.Then Jesse Hensel told me a trick his dad used. Just put the wood in the freezer and the insects will die. Or maybe the trick was really "do nothing" since they live inFairbanks Alaska and everything there is a freezer.



Step 5:Bundle Covers and PalletsThis company in southern Maine makes wine racks. They buy 20 foot long bundles of plantation-grown tropical hardwood from Malaysia. Supposedly it's "rainforest-saThe bundles come wrapped top and bottom with same-species boards with odd dimensions to protect the rest. The pallets included straight-grained boards 20 feet lon

I stopped and asked about the pile. The manager was delighted. He couldn't use this in his factory because it was too thin or a slightly different color etc. He'd beenwishing someone would use it for something. He was going to have to pay someone to cut it up and burn it. Then he showed me more piles where he'd saved the besboards from previous burns and gave me that too.

I piled my truck (the previous "Ugly Truckling") with enough wood to almost do a wheelie.A lot of my instructables projects were made using that wood.



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Comments

50 comments Add Comment view all 60 commen

BiggDaddyWhite says: Jan 24, 2011. 11:49 AM REPI live in Ohio, And I get these kinda Bugs in a Tree outside our house, I hear everyone say beetles,but these bugs fly, they have a long stinger like tail theyuse to bore into the tree and then lay there larva in the holes...is this an ash borer?? Anyone? I have no idea what it is.this pictire shows more of the holes makes but ive got better pics of the bug. Thank you.

foxy1paco says: Sep 8, 2010. 3:45 PM REPI work at Lowe's in the lumber department; every week there is slightly crooked, still usable hardwood, osb boards and a bunch of other stuff that peoplewon't buy. We end up gathering all that usable lumber onto a cart or two and putting a $$ amount on it. Usually $500 worth in full price lumber can go for

easily $60. Not a bad way to get a bunch of project wood. I'm not sure if Home Depot or Menard's do this as well.

woodenparrot says: Sep 6, 2010. 6:47 AM REPFreezing does not kill bugs. They just go dormant until they thaw out. Don't believe me? Here is a trick that David Blane has used. Catch a live fly. Turn acan of air upside down so it blows out liquid and spray the fly until it is frozen. He then would have it planted it on a car windshield where he would find it anannounce that he would bring a dead bug back to life. He goes over and picks up the fly and blows on it to warm it up and revive it. It works and everyone amazed. Hmm... Maybe that should be an Instructable.

firewoodwarrior says: Jan 29, 2008. 7:39 AM REPThis is not a great tip to use! At least 25 million ash trees have died from this exotic insect pest. Use this wood and run the risk of spreading Emerald AshBorer. No, you won't see the beetles just flying around, but the juvenile stages can be there and you might not notice. Your tax dollars are going to pay forthe control and eradication of this beetle! Think about how cheap that is: the feds have already spent approx. $100 million
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TimAnderson says: Jan 29, 2008. 8:35 AM REPMine were tiny, ate wood not bark, and didn't do anything "S-shaped".So they were not emerald beetles.Here's some more info on the emerald ash borer:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_ash_borerhttp://www.emeraldashborer.info/http://na.fs.fed.us/fhp/eab/

unseen wombat says: Sep 30, 2009. 11:19 AM REPYou should have just posted some white oak or cherry, man. Then you wouldn't have to field so many comments about the bugs. I built some utilitycabinets out of birch a while ago that had some bug holes in it. No idea what they were, but I didn't see a live one among them. It had been kiln-driebefore coming to the lumber yard though.

hawks22gk says: May 18, 2009. 11:50 AM REPFrom what I understand, Ash lumber is safe because it has no bark. Ash Borers live between the bark and the tree and destroy the "connective tissue" forlack of a better term which prevents the tree from being able to move water and nutrients throughout it 's systems. The Borers don't penetrate the tree. Thanot to say that there aren't other nasty critters living in that wood, but at least you can rest your mind on those invasive guys. Personally, I'm not purposelybringing termites anywhere near my wood house, but you can make that decision for yourself.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/44626312.html

PKTraceur says: Apr 19, 2009. 11:56 AM REPI believe those "beetles" you are referring to is the emerald ash borer, an invasive species. Thanks for killing them! -PKT

purplemoss says: Apr 4, 2009. 4:34 PM REPHow many of you think that little red sign was keeping those beetles f rom leaving the wood pile as it sat outside for weeks or months until the wood dealer

finally decides to dispose of it ....there was no quarantine, simply set aside away from customer eyes. As for killing the beetles, you could heat treat the woto over 120 like they should have been done in the first place.

A good name says: Apr 4, 2009. 12:37 PM REPBad idea Tim. The beetles could still spread. Believe me when I say that you guys don't want to have a pinebeetle issue like we have here in Canada. Itreally sucks.

pilotclan9404 says: Mar 29, 2009. 2:39 PM REPnot a good idea You know, in the 30's when the American Chestnut died off because of an infestation,

Dr. No says: Feb 13, 2009. 2:09 AM REP"Or maybe the trick was really "do nothing" since they live in Fairbanks Alaska and everything there is a freezer." What a t rip, I live in Fairbanks! And yes,everything here is a freezer.

gmoon says: Jan 21, 2008. 9:17 AM REPAh, isn't the wood effectively 'quarantined' to prevent spread of the ash borer beetle? And aren't you risking a of spread of the infestation? I don't have anydirect knowledge of the laws involved, etc. But I wouldn't transport that stuff across any state lines.

popproject says: Jan 22, 2008. 9:33 AM REPgmoon is right. in michigan it is illegal to transport ash for any distance. the emerald ash borer is thought to have come in from asia onboard freight shipdocked in chicago. infected wood was transported mostly to lower michigan where the infestion spread and has effectively killed all the ash trees in thapart of the state. a large effort has been made to cut down ash trees above a certain latitude to prevent the beetle from spreading. seriously bad news.especially if you're a major league baseball player and can't buy a nice ash bat because there aren't any trees left. well, that was more than i expected write, but work is slow and boring right now, so hope all enjoyed the science lesson. :)

cd41 says: Jan 16, 2009. 9:22 PM REPhow did an Asian freight ship get to Chicago?

gmoon says: Jan 17, 2009. 5:11 AM REPSeriously? The St. Lawrence Seaway , of course.

Anyway, all a foreign species "vector" needs is place to hide (usually crate or pallet wood) and transportation--a ship from Asia to California, thea train or truck to the midwest...

Spokehedz says: Jan 24, 2008. 1:34 PM REPpartially right. He tells you how to kill the bugs. Freeze them. Or seal them in with polyurethane.
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T_om says: Jan 24, 2008. 2:01 PM REPWrong. You can't kill borers by "sealing them in" with polyurethane. It is crap information like this that helps spread these and other pests. Woodborers are even hard to kill in a wood drying kiln. Freezing is a joke as to kill all the stages... egg, larval and adult, you would have to bring theinterior of the wood down to about minus-30F and hold it there for a while. Up to TWO WEEKS for some species. There are lyctid, anobiid,bostrichid, and cerambycid beetles, just to name a few, that are capable of damaging wood. Each has a different life-cycle and some can remain the larval stage (where they do the most damage) for up to 15 years. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. THINKING you know somethingwhen you do not is even more dangerous. Tom

cd41 says: Jan 16, 2009. 9:22 PM REPStop ruining our enjoyment of free stuff elspecially wood!

TimAnderson says: Jan 24, 2008. 2:28 PM REPThanks for the info! What other tricks do you have for wood pests? Some of this wood had termites, I saw them crawling around, like tinywhite ants. Tasty nutty white ants. No idea what beetles it might have. If you cut the wood to expose the burrows and let the wood sit , theypush sawdust out of some of the tunnels. That isn't happening with the wood that I froze or built things out of and sealed/oiled, Doctrine fromboatbuilders is epoxy coating stops everything because it's a great encapsulant and stops air/water.

T_om says: Jan 24, 2008. 8:37 PM REPAs posted by the member "zieak" below this comment, fumigation is the best technique, and is the only practical technique for largeamounts of lumber. The burrows you see are usually caused by the larval stage of the beetle, they actually bore out into the ope whenthey are morphing into the adult stage. Then they mate, lay eggs in (mostly) hardwoods, then die. They are commonly called "PowderpoBeetles" because when they finally bore out, there is a bit of sawdust like material pushed out ahead of them.... hence the namePowderpost ... but there are many species that fall under that common name. And in some species, the adults cause damage too.Techniques that work with some species fail to have any effect at all on others. Epoxy drastically slows moisture transfer, but does notstop it, and will not prevent a beetle larvae from boring outward through it. Polyurethane will not even slow them down. Limited populatiodensity of the infested wood you are finding may be the reason you have some anecdotal success with short term freezing and coatingthe wood you are using... not every inch of every plank contains larvae. But sooner or later, you will be introducing these pests into your

home if you keep relying on wood finishes and short freeze cycles to kill them. Tom

mende says: Jan 28, 2008. 8:16 PM REPWhat about vacuum to maybe 0.9 bar for a while?

Derin says: Jan 2, 2009. 9:44 AM REP0.7 bar would be better,and drcrash's vacuum can go down to near 0 bar.

zieak says: Jan 24, 2008. 7:44 PM REPA fumigation would probably work with some species. Wrap your stickered pile with plastic and bomb it then seal it closed. Let sit for a fweeks and you'll have some pest resistant wood for a while. I might let that breathe for a long time before cutting or sanding it also. Justan idea. I had a shelf fungus that i etched a design into. A year later an insect burrowed out of the thing making at least two holes in the

face of it. I put the whole think in a gallon zip lock bag and then in the freezer for a few weeks and i did not have problems with it for yeaafterward.

Spokehedz says: Jan 24, 2008. 2:15 PM REPSo why was the lumber yard holding these pieces of wood then? Shouldn't they be destroyed by burning them then? Just asking, and goingoff of what the author said to do.

Austringer says: Jan 26, 2008. 1:30 AM REPA mill could stick them in a kiln and kill whatever is living in there that way. I saw the numbers a while back (temperature and time)required to make your wood sterile (at least as far as insects go) but I don't remember what they were off the top of my head. Lumberyards don't have a kiln. The response really depends on what the boards are infested with. It's probably NOT something exotic and rarethat is going to wreak havok on the trees of North America but rather things like termites and powder post beetles that are already prettymuch everywhere.

xirekaj says: Jan 22, 2008. 7:54 PM REP

as long as you stay in the lower michigan area it cant hurt anything considering 99.9% of the ash trees are already dead. My friends woods wasalmost entirly ash and every single one has died. We already got years worth of firewood cut this year.

DanwiseG says: Jan 14, 2009. 11:26 PM REPI work at "Lowes" home improvement store and this makes me hurt... Who in the hell was driving this thing? And their first mistake was having only one baon that bundle... WOW. shameful.

Plasmana says: Aug 21, 2008. 1:43 AM REPThat is a really good idea! Thanks! 5 stars!
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daemonkrog says: May 23, 2008. 10:29 PM REPoh sheesh.. get over it.. He bought some decent cheap hardwood and is passing on a tip. A nice tip I'll be using when it comes time to build some furnitureI'm getting sick of plywood.. even i f it is hardwood ply. (boy i need to post my bookshelf I'm building out of one sheet of ply.)

bigcheeze says: Feb 3, 2008. 6:57 PM REPniiiice going I could use a guy like u.

i make shooting things says: Jan 21, 2008. 12:05 PM REPor you could just use it as fire wood

DeusXMachina says: Jan 30, 2008. 9:44 PM REPI would think that dense wood l ike that would make great charcoal, low methanol content. There goes your bug problem lol...

grizl says: Jan 28, 2008. 8:51 PM REPnow heres a tip i can use, thanks

SWV1787 says: Jan 28, 2008. 9:09 AM REPthis sounds great I need some book shelves and I wanted to make them out of a hardwood that would be durable enough to last and cheep enough to allome to afford the project. I will have to start checking around at the local lumbar yards.

Dr.Ellen

says: Jan 27, 2008. 3:21 PM REPBugs normally live with the seasonal cycle - summer, fall, winter. As the weather gets more harsh, they hunker up and prepare for dormancy during thewinter. But if it's warm one moment, and freezing the next, they don't have time for preparations. So what you do is live in Minnesota (say) and keep thewood in a warm place. Then when the first subzero snap hits, drag i t outside and spread it out so it can cool real fast. The bugs won't be ready for the coldNo guarantees of a perfect kill, but it'll sure knock the worms and beetles back on their heels. Then some other bug-killer can take them out for sure. (Ofcourse you want to make sure the warm place doesn't harbor all kinds of loose bugs. Otherwise, they can re-infest your wood when you bring it back in. Busome insecticide there might work.)

hithisishal says: Jan 26, 2008. 10:20 AM REPFor smaller quantities, check home depot. They collect "cull" (cut, or otherwise damaged) lumber and building supplies. Often, when they have too muchaccumulated, They'll put it on a cart, and sell the whole cart for ~$10. Same thing with sheetrock...if you don't mind using a little spakle, you can get somegood deals. When I worked there, I sniped out a cart, and got a cart of about 15 slightly damaged pieces for $10.

Mexicoman says: Jan 24, 2008. 4:39 PM REPWhen I was in USA I find that big supermarket stores go to not in business or close, the shelf not keep but much cheap sell. I buy 800 feet metal shelf verylarge, 2 meter high, five shelf, .8 meter wide, much strong, will hold truck motor. Cost $10 USD as tip to boss. He happy not have haul it off. I put in big truc

Can learn from this, buy much shelf and lights from ceiling to sell. Was good deal. Is much free in USA. Not so in Mexico. In Mexico, when car crash,insurance can use used parts to fix. Is acceptable here. Different, no? Look for market close, bring truck, be very nice, but no give up. My pleasure providelettle instructable for all. I do same with wood has bugs but kill with mix of boric acid, boraxo and antifreeze. Bring to boil some. let sit, paint on. Is old navytrick for wood to no rot. Kill everything quick, keep insectos out for 10 year. Good stuff. Please to look up on internet.

Grady says: Jan 25, 2008. 4:03 PM REPHey Mexicoman How about a more exact formula as to how much of the boric acid, the boraxo, & the antif reeze you would mix together, & how longwould you boil it? This sounds really good.

Mexicoman says: Jan 26, 2008. 12:30 AM REPI think later to say this. Because come from home improvement site is not to be cheap trick. Is from old US navy way stop wood dry rot many yearsuse on my boat and have boat 18 year now and no rot. When buy boat was much rot. None after replace bad wood and treat all wood. I apply sevecoat for wood and put on one coat hot to penetrate most deep. Go through paint too (glycol) but best on bare wood. Paint all wood top and under aend. Epoxy is work too but must soak wood and paint several coat on end of grain. Can not miss to cover and epoxy must be first thin and later muthick coat. Is much expensive and take much time. Glycol better for kill bugs and work long time. Not cost much. I am sailor for 50 years. This is wobest. Much pleased to give small help.

Mexicoman says: Jan 25, 2008. 11:38 PM REPHola, I look on internet because my formula in record at boat in harbor. I find same formula with search for... boric acid glycol wood rot

http://www.alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/homemade.html

You can use like I do. Is same formula. Please to see article. I maybe wrong about bug kill by freezing. I think Alaska where is freeze all winter buthave many bug in spring... Not understand. I have friend in Tennessee who is doctor of entomology. I ask her about freeze to kill bug. She say freekill bug when talk last year. I call again later, then write back. Thank much for kind question. I like help when can.
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10/10http://www instructables com/id/Cheap-Lumber/

xenobiologista says: Jan 24, 2008. 10:01 PM REPThanks for the information on killing bugs...that sounds pretty easy.

xmascarol says: Jan 24, 2008. 4:45 PM REPYou know, in the 30's when the American Chestnut died off because of an infestation, some of the most prized wood was wormy chestnut. I have a lovelybookcase made out of it as well as a couple of end tables.

kwhizr says: Jan 25, 2008. 1:29 PM REPThat explains that look! I was always wondering why people would have furniture with holes randomly bored in it.... Thank you for that little tid bit.

royalestel says: Jan 24, 2008. 6:51 PM REPI support this instructable! Tightwad approved.

Drunkenlizard says: Jan 23, 2008. 9:03 AM REPAwesome thanks for the tip! Does anyone out there have use for some cheap 1/8in plywood? I have access to a near inexhaustible supply of cut down dooskins and cabinet faces. Should be getting a source on a bunch of smaller pieces maybe up to 1/2in thick.

papaof2 says: Jan 24, 2008. 1:43 PM REPIf you're near Atlanta, I could use some for scroll saw work. If you're not near Atlanta, put it on your local Craig's list (www.craigslist.org) under tools (ifselling) or free (if giving away).

BOXHARD says:Jan 24, 2008. 1:07 PM REP

Man... I just payed 1,300.00 USD for 280 lin feet of 2x6 Cherry... Building some custom furniture for my self. I might have to try that, maybe stock up my oldshed....

sysadmn says: Jan 22, 2008. 12:23 PM REPA variant of this works at the big chains - but mostly for softwoods. Lowe's and Home Depot both keep bins of "culls". Basically, they're the leftover scrapswhen someone buys cut wood, or wood to ragged to sell. Since many of the hardwood and trim is sold by the foot, you don't get a price break on that.However, I've often found 2 4 foot sections of 2x4 for .51 cents each, when an 8 foot 2x4 was $2 - go figure. If you just need an armload of scraps, livesomewhere you can't hoard your own, and don't want to buy more than you need, it's another alternative.

Hoverboy06 says: Jan 21, 2008. 11:50 PM REPNice, I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy decent hardwoods. Now I can! +1!

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