If you don't want to spend too much on lumber it is best to buy them while it is still green and just been cut by a sawmill. This type of lumber needs to be dried out first before you can use it and if you have a project this will not do. I love using products that I personally made myself but if you have a lot of money to spend and you are in a hurry you can just purchase the lumbers you need in any home improvement shops.

As soon as you have decided a the project you want to do and the kind of lumber you need, the next step is getting your materials. This is a matter of locating a local sawmill and asking if they have any lumber of the species and quality you need. Chances are that they will have a pile lying around somewhere that you can sort through and take your pick of the boards. Green lumbers shrink when it is dried up so you might want to get something that is a little bit over sized.The prices of the lumber in the sawmill are really affordable so there is really no need for you to ask for more discount but if you've been a frequent customer they might be the one who will offer it to you.

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Drying the lumber will be the next thing you would want to do after bringing it home. Air drying is on of the ways to dry you green lumber this is done by piling your boards directly under the sun but protected from the rain For each 1" thick lumber , it will take you a year to dry so if you have 2" thick it will take 2 years 3" 3 years and so on. 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

Using a solar kiln is one way of drying your green lumber, so if you don't have it yet the plans is downloadable online. These kilns can be built for only a couple hundred dollars. When you bring your lumber home you can immediately put your lumber in the solar kiln and begin drying. The time it takes to dry will vary due to your location, time of year, and other things. But generally about 30-60 days in the solar kiln will dry your lumber down to 6%-8% moisture content. So it will be ready to use right out of the kiln.

After your lumber is dried you can begin processing it. The very first thing you must do is joint one face of your panel. This can be achieved manually with a hand plane or perhaps the simple method by using a jointer. It makes things a lot easier if you cut the board down to a length close to your final needed length. The thickness planer is the next stop for that board. This process will make the board equal in thickness. Once you plane the board down to your final dimension, afterwards you joint one side either by hand or by using 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. Just set your fence or edge guide to the desired width and use the jointed edge of the board as a reference. You are now close to starting your project. You will really save a lot of money by processing your own boards for your projects