Buying a lumber can be quite costly sometimes so it is best if you buy it straight from the source and while it is still green. However if you purchase the lumber while it is still fresh means it can't be used for a while. Your alternatives are to buy dried and dimensioned lumber from distributors or places like Home Depot. These paths are great if your wallet is thick, and you need the boards immediately. I prefer to go with rough cut and prepare it myself.

Once you decide what projects you are going to attempt, and what species you plan to use, you can begin the process. The first thing you need to do is procure the materials. Going to a sawmill and choosing the best lumber for the project is our next step, and if you go to a sawmill you will find lumbers that are just laying around that you can choose. But remember this, "green lumber will shrink while drying!" So make sure you pick stock that is a little over sized.You should find that the price you pay here will be very good, so don't try to haggle the price down. If they like you and you become a repeat customer they will probably give you even better deals later on.

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After you get your lumber home, you'll need to decide on how you will dry it. One of the ways to dry your green lumber is by piling the lumbers under the sun but making sure that it is protected from the rain you have to also make sure that every layer is 12"-24" apart Each 1" thick board will take a year to dry up so if you have like a 4" thick board it takes 4 years. After a year you can bring the umber inside your shop to continue the process since it still has 12%-18% moisture.It is best to keep your shops RH to atleast 50% for the woods moisture to go down to atleast 8% and to do that you can use a thermometer/hygrometer to monitor from time to time

The other method of drying is to build a solar kiln. Plans for solar kilns can be found on the internet. The set back if you want to have it built is around $200. You can place your green lumber inside the kiln to begin drying. Drying the lumber can sometimes depend on your location and the temperature however it usually takes 30-60 days to have it dried or reach the 6%-8% moisture to make it ready for use.

You can start processing the lumber as soon as its dried up. First thing you have to do is joint one surface of the plank. This can be accomplished manually with a hand plane or maybe the uncomplicated way with a jointer. It makes things a lot easier if you cut the board down to a length close to your final needed length. After you have one face flat you then run the board through a thickness planner. This is for you to have an equal thickness . Once you plane the panel down to your final thickness, afterwards you joint one edge either by hand or by way of a jointer. As soon as the board is planed you can now cut it to the final width. This can be done by using a saw. To set your board to the desired width you can used the edge of the board as guide. You now have a board almost ready for your project, just cut the final length needed and build your project. Cutting your own board from scratch surely saves you a lot of money