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. The only alternative will be by purchasing dried lumbers from home improvement shops , that is if you have a lot of money but personally I'd like mine rough cut and prepared by me.

After you have planned everything from the project to your desired materials it is now time to make a purchase. 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.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. 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." It takes a year to dry a 1" thick board so if you have 2" it will take 2 years etc... 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

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. You don't need much to have these built just a couple of hundred bucks and you have it. As soon as the lumber gets home you can immediately put inside the kiln to have it dried. 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. The first thing you need to do is joint one surface of the panel. This can be achieved manually with a hand plane or the uncomplicated way by using a jointer. Cutting the board to your desired length is advised. And in order for you to have a uniform thickness you may now run through a thickness planer. This is for you to have an equal thickness . Once you plane the panel right down to the final size, afterwards you joint one edge possibly manually or with a jointer. With the board flat, planed to the final thickness you are ready to rip the board to your final width. You can have this done by making use of saw to cut the board. 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.