Oak slab price

[Jack.P]

Just interested Does 120£ seem a bit pricy for a prime grade slab of kiln dried oak with no splits etc ? 80mmx400mmx700mm .

needed for chair making but this is turning out to be expensive project .

thanks 

[Squaredy]

That is pricey for less than a cubic foot of Oak.  But prices have gone up a lot recently and when you want such a short piece you will always end up paying over the odds.  Also it is thick - so has been four years or so drying.  Better to buy a whole slab maybe 3 metres long and find another use for the rest, but in the short term that will cost you more.

[topchippyles]

I would have been £60 on that jack for 100 mm thick 

[Rough Hewn]

Just interested Does 120£ seem a bit pricy for a prime grade slab of kiln dried oak with no splits etc ? 80mmx400mmx700mm .
needed for chair making but this is turning out to be expensive project .
thanks 

You’ve bought top quality.
Prime grade.
Kiln dried.
No splits.
80mm thick.

I got asked for some cutting board blanks recently.
800mm x 450mm x 100mm
Character oak
Single live edge
Planed on 5 sides
I explained a 5” board of oak that size is very expensive when air dried for 8-10 years.
Worked out at £130 each if he bought 3 at a time.
And that’s before cutting and planing.

[Rough Hewn]

That is pricey for less than a cubic foot of Oak.  But prices have gone up a lot recently and when you want such a short piece you will always end up paying over the odds.  Also it is thick - so has been four years or so drying.  Better to buy a whole slab maybe 3 metres long and find another use for the rest, but in the short term that will cost you more.

As squaredy says buy the whole slab.
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[ARV]

We'd have been about the same price as Topchippyles. But that's just based on the volume of wood. If the board had been planed or a straight edge put on, we charge for the original volume plus a charge for the work.

 

[Jack.P]

decided I could make do with a smaller bit so paid 70 for 95x95x1.6 .I am making a copy of a 200 yr old rosewood chair .its amazing the work and skills  that went in to some of the old handmade furniture and now a lot of it can be bought very cheaply .

[Jack.P]

As a wet day project had made all the chair components but it seems it’s harder to get perfect angular mortise tenon joints without going through the whole way through the timber  .first proper attempt at carpentry but think this one a bit too complex 

apparently though if someone can build a chair like that they can make almost anything  

Edited December 5, 2020 by Jack.P