Perhaps the easiest way that you can buy you lumber is while it is freshly cut by a sawmill. 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.

If you already have project in mind you may then plan for the materials you will need. If you go directly to a sawmill they will let you go around pick your choice of lumber. 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.

To have effective thoughts on woodworking plans look at viewing my personal web log.

Drying the lumber will be the next thing you would want to do after bringing it home. One step is to pile your boards outside; undercover from rain and direct sun light; flat; with small (1"x1"x how ever wide your pile is) stickers spaced 12"-24" apart, between every layer of lumber (this allows air to circulate around the boards); this is called "Air-Drying." 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 they air-dry the moisture content will be around 12%-18%, this is still to wet to work with, so now you can bring the lumber inside your shop to finish drying.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. The green lumber can be placed immediately inside the solar kiln for it to start 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.

As soon as the lumber is all dried up you can now make it ready for your project. First thing you must do is joint one surface of the board. This can be accomplished manually by using a hand plane or the quick method 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 process will make the board equal in thickness. When you finally plane the plank right down to your final thickness, you then joint one edge perhaps manually or with 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're now almost ready to have a board for your project. You're done, and you saved tons of money by processing the rough boards yourself.