What's a cherry slab worth?

Jeb Taylor

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Decatur, Alabama
I found this add on craigslist, a guy near me has a bunch of 5/4 cherry and a 3" x 18" x 10' slab from a 125 yr old cherry tree. He wants like $1.50/bd ft for it, but that might just be the 5/4 stuff. It's been air drying for 1.5 yrs, sticker stained, and looks to have some cup. It's probably all #1, but some very interesting pieces from what I saw.

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So, my question : what's a 3" x 18" x 10' slab worth? I'm sure it's still green at 1.5 yrs old also. If it's got the pith in the center, what problems does working with that cause? I'm guessing it's a center cut slab from the pieces I did see laying around.

Would I be committing a horrible sin to cut something like this up? I really don't know what to do with something so big, I'll never have a saw to resaw it without cutting in half first. I even thought about a workbench top but it's going to take to long to dry. Also is anyone who'd be willing to pick it up in alabama interested in it? pm me if so.

I'm going to look at it in person saturday. It sounds to good to be true, but I won't be shocked if I show up and it's all cupped/twisted to bad to be used for much.
 
I tell you what Jeb I would have been there already to buy and asked the question later after seeing the picture of it.
 
Yeah, well it's not exactly next door. Saturday is my first real oportunity to go get it. I'm definitely going to get all the stuff at 1.50 that looks good.

What I wasn't sure about was the slab if he wants a more for it, what it's really worth. I wont' buy if it's not a bargain, but not sure what to set as a limit when I go over there.
 
A buck-fifty is a pretty good price.

I doubt the sticker stains are actually stains. Just the presence of the stickers, blocking the light from the cherry, will cause lighter colored areas. Likely, once planed, and set out in the sun for a couple days, you won't be able to find where the marks were.
 
My lumber guy sells #2 for $1.75 bdft, #1 for $2.35 bdft, and Select for $3 bdft. He's the cheapest around and has good material.

As far as the slab, figure up the board foot in it and figure the price for the category it falls under then probably double the price for the thickness. Looks to be the way my lumber guy is doing it based on his price list.
 

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What's it worth???:dunno::huh:
If I'm selling it, a million bucks or as close to that as I can get for it. :eek:
If I'm buying it, as close to a buck as I can get it for. :rolleyes:
Depends on which side of the fence you are on I guess. :rofl:
Seriously though, to some it isn't worth the time and effort to dry, joint, plane and work with. :doh:
Others see beauty in it like you and those are the ones you bid against. :(
If it is to be marked and put away, the cheapest you can bargain for, if you have a select project in mind that this will help it be the greatest creation that has formed in your mind for a particular person, it is priceless. :thumb:
This answer is a little sarcasm, but also a little like Toni's answer to the Michigan slab, they are unique pieces for unique projects to enhance their looks. Takes unique craftsman to enhance it. So to be honest, I look at this type of wood as an investment, I have a little stashed away and quite honestly, some of that stash will probably outlive me, I hope someone else finds it as a diamond in the rough and treats it as so. So, if a project dictates this, buck fifty seems quite reasonable. It cared for properly will probably even resell years to come with a better return than a savings account now does. :eek:
 
Jeb the photo you posted has too little detail to make a careful assessment of the wood. Things like knots and splits can significantly limit the use of a board. OTOH, if you can work around defects, so much the better.

Just about whenever I've seen a good deal on rough wood, I've jumped on it. I have walnut I bought 26 years ago, and cherry 20+ years ago, that I still haven't used. As Jonathan said, they have gone up in value.

$1.50 a bd ft for rough, possibly ungraded, and rather green cherry is a good deal, not necessarily a great deal, depending on defects. Certainly worth looking at. A lot depends on whether or not you have the room to sticker and dry it for a few years too.

Don't forget to post a picture of what you do end up buying.
 
I am in the process of building a dedicated slabber. It is a unique market. They can be worth something in the rough, but I am only interested in using them to make finished products and want to be able to control the way the slabs are cut. Learning how to dry them with the least amount of degradation will be more of a challange.

Curious to see what you come up with for a final product if you pick it up.

$1.50 for air dried is not high, and it is not low either. Inspect carefully for evidence of powder post beatles, they like cherry. Mmmm...
 
If the wood is usable and not many defects then buy it up. Then you can find someone with a kiln and have them finish drying it. I am lucky, we have a guy down the road with a vacuum kiln and it dries the wood quick. I always send my air dried lumber to the kiln to finish it of. It does two things, one it dries it and two it kills and lving bugs in it.
 
I was second there, so the best 1/2 of or so was already taken. The guy before me bought most of the 10' boards unfortunately. Wish I'd been closer, it would have been a nice score. Ended up getting around 90 bf for $120, but 1/3 of it was short pieces, 4" x 5' or so.

The original tree was 4.5' wide, but they quartered it with chainsaws to cut. It had also fallen before being cut, so it wasn't in the greatest shape. What I did get had some amazing grain to it, and most of it will be usuable in smaller pieces. The cracks, cup, and twist of the boards don't really allow it to be used for say a dining table top, but I should be able to make some nice smaller things like end table, small cabinet, etc.

I did manage to get one pretty nice piece, the slab. It turned out to be 8/4 x 14" x 10'. It has 3 knots in it that aren't that attractive, but it's a nice piece of thick cherry, and since it was only 8/4 shouldn't take to long to dry. A year more or so I'm thinking (already 1.5-2 yrs drying) I'm not going to mess with it until I get a moisture meter.

I have pics at home, just have to get around to posting it.
 
Here's some pics of the wood. I wish the one piece wasn't cracked, it would have been something else. I love the grain paterns in it though.
 

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Well don't give up on that cracked piece yet Jeb. After what Larry and I saw on the tour de wood that has been made with wood that many a woodworker would have considered junk or defective would boggle your mind. There is more beauty to be had in that knot on that cherry board than you could ever find in all the so called perfect furniture grade cherry out there!
 
Yeah I love that knot :) I dont' know what to do with it, the cracked section is curled up about 1/4" or so on one side of the crack. The slab has some rather boring knots in it, not nearly as interesting as the one with the crack in it. Would it be possible to fill the crack with epoxy or something then run through a planer, or hand plane the high side down 1/4" or so to make it flat again?
 
How thick is the slab if you did flatten it with a hand plane? I wouldn't chance running it thru the planer. Maybe a drum sander would be better. You could fill it with epoxy but after all the discussions Larry and I had this weekend with a few other woodworkers it will just end up looking like a crack filled with epoxy. In other words boring.
 
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