How to Source the Highest Quality Wood for Your Projects: 5 Industry Secrets you Need to Know!
Rule #1: If it isn't dry, it isn't ready to buy!
Drying for Value and not just Function
Every woodworker knows that if you're working with lumber in any industry outside of constructing pallets, you'll want to use dried lumber instead of green, but not all dried wood is created equal. Dried lumber comes in two main varieties, kiln-dried and air-dried, and the differences between the two are very important to keep in mind when sourcing lumber for your projects. In this post, we are going to cover everything you need to know about buying the best slabs and how to find the best live-edge wood for your projects.
Air-drying lumber is cheaper for some because it only relies on careful setup and the natural drying qualities of moving air to get the lumber to a usable point. However, because air-drying can take several months to over a year to complete, weather conditions and ambient temperatures can cause many unforeseen problems. There can be significant costs associated with the storage space and the time to get the wood to market.
Due to this time and cost investment on the part of the seller, while you may find air-dried lumber at a lower price than kiln-dried, it may not be a significant enough discount to offset the downsides that come with air-dried wood.
Conversely, the most significant benefit of kiln-dried lumber is its consistency. As the name suggests, kiln-dried lumber refers to wood that is dried inside a kiln, where all drying conditions are strictly controlled.
Lumber suppliers may advocate for air-drying lumber because of some of the issues that standard kilns cause during the drying process. However, the right technology and equipment investment offsets those problems. For example, we use an iDRY vacuum kiln which circumvents issues that arise from many other types of kilns. Check out rule #3 for more information on the advantages of sourcing vacuum-dried lumber.
Rule #2: Go big or go home! Buy slabs a bit thicker and a bit wider, and a bit longer than your finished dimensions. You can always make it shorter or thinner, but you can't stretch it!
Slab Sizes and Thickness
When buying board wood or slabs for your projects, don't forget the vital importance of your specific needs. Across the board (pun intended), it's wise to buy slabs that are a bit longer, thicker, and wider than you might expect to need.
The process of working with a piece of wood almost always removes some material from the slab, and never adds to it. Starting with a bit of extra material means that you can sand down to a perfect finish without worrying about removing too much!
Also, consider the physical expectations of your project when you are shopping for slabs as well. Different sawmills have different limitations on the maximum width of slabs they can produce. If you are building a massive project like a conference table, for instance, it may be a better idea to work with someone who can do custom milling to ensure you have the size you need or someone who can provide you with mirrored slabs and the know-how on the most effective way to join them. Live-edge slabs are beautiful, but there are many considerations for choosing the best one fr your projects.
Rule #3: Bugs love wood. Most wood sellers kill bugs with toxic chemicals. Heat sterilization is safer and more effective.
As we mentioned above, air-drying lumber is popular because of its low initial investment and less technical know-how required, but it fails to address the issue of bugs, mold, and insect eggs. For example, our iDRY vacuum kiln kills these pests by reaching continued high heat and has achieved FDA approval for the consistency and safety with which it removes these problems.
Those who don't kiln dry and rely on air-drying methods tend to use chemical treatments to get the minimum level of cleanliness and safety, which we believe is not suitable for furniture taking up residence in a family home or living space. It all comes down to the priority of customer satisfaction and the longevity of the products.
The iDRY kiln is also renowned for its speed, so if you find a perfect green slab from a tree that was just taken down, or if perhaps you have a tree you would like to turn into furniture or materials, you won't have to wait a year or so. This quick turn-around is a convenience not offered by air-drying methods.
Rule #4: Equipment is King when Considering Quality
The type of project you are doing and your personal shop equipment will determine the quality of the raw product that you need.
An experienced woodworker will typically have invested in the equipment and processes needed to ensure a well-treated and ready-to-use slab. This affords more freedom of raw material choice than for those who are hobbyists looking to make a weekend project.
If you're looking for a slab to turn into a table and you don't have your own kiln, surfacer, sander, or tried and true finishing processes, it's actually going to be a better idea to invest more in the initial slab. Processes like drying and surfacing are usually considered "value-added processes" because they save the buyer time and money.
While most people understand that a freshly milled slab isn't necessarily ready to become a piece of furniture, even slabs that have been air-dried or even, in some cases kiln-dried, aren't always immediately ready to work with. Surfacing, sanding, and occasionally structural repairs like bowties for cracks or the like are needed to ensure a long-lasting end product.
If possible, find a source for your raw materials that is willing to talk to you about their equipment and processes. Also, someone who can define what they mean by "ready-to-use" and we'll dive into this more in Rule #5 as well.
Especially if you're hoping to make furniture yourself, sourcing materials from a wood company that also does furniture construction is usually a good bet because they can answer questions you may have. They work with the products they are selling and are familiar with the process.
Rule #5: Trust Your Instincts when Wood for your Projects
This is an incredible industry, and the benefits of working with independent wood companies can't be overstated. Still, like most things, not all companies hold the same standards, and not all slabs are sold to the same expectations.
Our company has an extremely high focus on customer satisfaction, and we believe for a slab to be considered "Ready-to-Use," it needs to be vacuum kiln-dried and surfaced. We believe that it is best to select a slab, even if you're buying it online after it has been kiln-dried and surfaced, so you can see exactly what you are going to be working with.
Be cautious and trust your instincts if you're sourcing slabs online or through other avenues that can't guarantee these processes. Green lumber is always going to be priced lower than ready-to-work with lumber, but the reason for that is because time is money.
If you put a green table in your home, you can expect it to crack or warp within a few years, so when buying green lumber, you must consider how you intend to dry it and how long that will take. Conversely, when sourcing ready-to-work with lumber, if the source can't tell you about their drying or surfacing processes, I would recommend you keep shopping around!
Also, be mindful of cracks and other inconsistencies in the wood that may require epoxy or other methods to stabilize the piece. If it seems like it's too good of a deal to be true, it usually is. From other professionals in the industry to hobbyist woodworkers, many will tell you that an initial investment on the right slab will be less headache than picking something up because it's cheap. It's better to buy the right materials than to expend the time and energy to fix the problems that reflect the low cost especially if you don't have the equipment for it.
Always aim for something that is ready to work with, and don't underestimate the amount of work that goes into making a slab ready to use. The value-added processes reflect their cost for a reason!
