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. 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.

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. 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. But remember this, "green lumber will shrink while drying!" So make sure you pick stock that is a little over sized.It will not be necessary to haggle the price of the lumber since the prices here are already discounted but if you are frequent customer they might give you better deal

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After bringing the green lumber home you will then need to dry it. One of the ways to dry your green lumber is by piling the lumbers under the sun but making sure that it is protected from the rain you have to also make sure that every layer is 12"-24" apart It takes a year to dry a 1" thick board so if you have 2" it will take 2 years etc... 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.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 .

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. 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.

After your lumber is dried you can begin processing it. The very first thing you should do is joint one surface of the plank. You can do this manually with a hand plane or the quick way by having 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. As soon as you plane the plank into the final dimension, you then joint one side possibly by yourself or by using a jointer. As soon as the board is planed you can now cut it to the 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 now have a board almost ready for your project, just cut the final length needed and build your project. Processing the rough boards yourself can really save you a lot of money than purchasing the ready made one from your home improvements shops