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. Your home improvement projects will need to wait for a while if these is the lumber you have intended to use, because this lumber needs to be dried out first. 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. If you go directly to a sawmill they will let you go around pick your choice of lumber. But remember this, "green lumber will shrink while drying!" So make sure you pick stock that is a little over sized.Since the prices of their prices are already very low asking for discount is not really necessary and if you've been a repeat customer I am sure they will give you a better deal on your next visit

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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 a year you can bring the umber inside your shop to continue the process since it still has 12%-18% moisture.The ideal RH of your shop should b 50% for the lumber to dry down to 8% moisture and for you to be able to monitor the humidity you can purchase the rmometer/hygrometer from radio shack that will cost you around $40

One other method for drying a green lumber is by the use of solar kiln . There are a lot of solar kiln plans online. Building it will only cost you 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.

After your lumber is dried you can begin processing it. The very first thing you have to do is joint one face of your board. This can be accomplished by hand using a hand plane or the uncomplicated method by having a jointer. Cutting the board to your desired length is advised. After you have one face flat you then run the board through a thickness planner. This will make the board parallel to the flat face. As soon as you plane the board right down to your final dimension, afterwards you joint one side perhaps by hand or by using a jointer. Cutting the board to the final width is the next process after you have planed the it to your desired thickness. 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're done, and you saved tons of money by processing the rough boards yourself.