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How to calculate the wood needed for a project?

Toni Ciuraneta

Toni Ciuraneta

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Looking for another lumber supplier I've found one that even tells people on their web how to calculate the wood they need.
Basically they say that you calculate the total volume of your pieces and multiply it by 3,5 and that will give you the total volume to buy including waste.
I find it too excessive, normally what I do is calculate how many pieces or part them fit in a board of a given thickness, and buy one or two boards, even then, usually I am always left with some pretty big leftovers.
What formula do you use? Are they right?
 
I usually figure the actual board footage, then add 20%. It's often close, but depending on the wood quality (grain matching, checks/knots/sap pockets, etc.) it can be way off.
 
Hi Toni,

You are probably lucky in this case. Like me, you do a few projects at a time so you can be particular. I make a parts list from my design. I take the parts list to the lumber yard with me. I choose boards based on the parts I plan to get out of them. The amount of "extra" material I have to buy will vary with the board in hand and what I can do with it. I imagine 20 to 30% spoil is normal for me BUT, ideally most of this spoil is material that will be good somewhere else on the project; runners, bracing, dividers, etc. ;-)
GnG Low CoD (63).jpg
This sometimes means I buy an 3 meter board to get two 1 meter parts out of it based on the figure I am after.

These parts could have come from the same board but, I would only use the two on the right for "show" parts.
Good-door-Bad-door-1.JPG

The material on the top half should be used for secondary or interior parts.
Good-door-Bad-door-2.JPG
The parts on the bottom half look pleasing to the eye.
 
I have to say, I dont' buy a lot of exotic types of wood, mostly domestic (Cherry, oak, popular, etc). I tend to just buy a bunch (50 to 100 bf or so) all at once and look for the better grain matches from what I get. My main supplier actually charges more (like $1 per bf) if you want to go through the stack, and his prices are cheaper in bulk. I've not gotten many bad pieces from him to be fair though, he grades them pretty well.
 
I design the piece in Cad then I usually lay out the parts of the pieces in the same drawing showing the boards/Sheets with all the cuts on the drawing to make the parts then I round up the board length if I need 2-1 foot pieces and 2-2 foot pieces I would call that an 8 foot board etc. I am never short this way and usually fairly close on the amount I buy.
 
Darren Wright said:
I have to say, I dont' buy a lot of exotic types of wood, mostly domestic (Cherry, oak, popular, etc). I tend to just buy a bunch (50 to 100 bf or so) all at once and look for the better grain matches from what I get. My main supplier actually charges more (like $1 per bf) if you want to go through the stack, and his prices are cheaper in bulk. I've not gotten many bad pieces from him to be fair though, he grades them pretty well.
Click to expand...


my lumber yard only delivers 500 dollars or more
I usually group my projects together and purchase everything Id need for a few projects, and add some because cherry, walnut, sapele, oak, maple, its like money in the bank, it never goes down in value and its nice to have a selection if a quick project comes up.
I usually only run into a headache when I need plywood. I hate to store it in my shed, and I have no way to transport sheets these days. so if I run short, I go to a local paint/;umber guy, pay top dollar and he will rip the sheet for me so I can fit it into the suv, but that usually means Im going to have more waste than Id like.
I used to enjoy making the long trip to the yard, but parking is near impossible, and pulling boards that are piled over my head is troublesome for me these days, so I have to settle with what they pick for me. this last order, I was suprised that every board was straight and in perfect shape. And I appreciate when they bring me expensive exotic plywood sheets, they use a sheet of masonite to protect the face from scratches or damage during shipping.
rosensweig lumber in the bronx, NY. its an incredible lumber yard. They own a couple of large buildings, and the buildings are several stories. last time I was there, they were loading pallets of sheets with a crane onto a truck from an upper floor.
The lumber selection, well, they have everything. Most in many sizes, I dont know what they have in building supplies, but IM guessing thats what the other building is.
when one purchases lumber, at least the last time I was there, you pick it yourself, pile it on a huge metal wheeled dolly, and mark you name on it. Then its passed downstairs to the guy who counts up the bf, its passed thru a hole in the floor.
supplies, by the case only, its not like I can purchase a set of drawer slides from them, case only. but those prices are ok, actually, his lumber prices seem decent also after I searched around. Its a one stop shop, any plywood or lumber I need they stock. makes life a bit easier. there are no more lumber yards on long island worth going to.
 
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I don't do flat work, so I buy very little dimensional lumber... what I do buy I cut and use in my pepper mills, I buy most of my lumber from a local lumber importer... and I usually spend way more than I want... I rarely get out of their shop for less than $300.
 
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