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. If you have a lot of money to spend then you can probably purchase the lumber from home depot, but if you ask me I prefer mine to be rough and dried by me.

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. Green lumbers shrink when it is dried up so you might want to get something that is a little bit 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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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 Then you allow it to air-dry for roughly one year for every 1" of thickness. This means that 1" thick boards will air-dry for one year, 2" thick boards will dry for two years, and so on. A lumber can b allowed to dry inside the workshop after a year because it usually has 12%-18% moisture therefore it is not yet ready to be used.However since most workshops has low humidity it is advisable for you to purchase a thermometer/ hygrometer that costs around $40 at radio shack so you could monitor the humidity on your shop . The ideal would be 50%RH .

Another way to dry your lumber is by using solar kiln and if you still don't have it you can find the plans online. These kilns can be built for only a couple hundred dollars. The green lumber can be placed immediately inside the solar kiln for it to start 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.

Processing your lumber can start as soon as it reaches it's ideal moisture content. First thing you want to do is joint one area of your panel. You can do this manually by using a hand plane or maybe the uncomplicated approach by using a jointer. You can then cut the board to your lose to the final length needed. The thickness planer is the next stop for that board. This process will make the board equal in thickness. Once you plane the plank down to the final thickness, then you joint one edge perhaps manually or by making use of a jointer. Cutting the board to the final width is the next process after you have planed the it to your desired thickness. You can use any kind of saw to do this. Just set your fence or edge guide to the desired width and use the jointed edge of the board as a reference. After you have cut the final measurement you can now start building your project. You will really save a lot of money by processing your own boards for your projects