Buying Black Walnut Lumber

Black walnut trees are hardy, fruit-bearing specimens that usually age gracefully. They seldom have the problems that affect many other trees. People commonly use the lumber to build furniture and gun stocks because of its ease of use, strength and distinctive grain. However, you will not see it at your local home supply store very often. Finding black walnut lumber requires research or lumber mill contacts.

Instructions

1. Use the Yahoo Directory to find sawmills that make wood veneer. The veneer made from top quality sections of black walnut trees is mainly used for interior building construction. Then the sawmills sell the remaining, less valuable wood as rough cut board lumber. Black walnut trees are native to the Midwest and the eastern regions of the U.S.. so look for mills that harvest local timber in these regions first.

2. Register at Agriseek to view buy and sell offers from wholesalers, distributors, small tree farmers and individual tree owners. The advertisers list both board lumber and entire trees. Review sale offer prices, distance, quality and board curing time for each sale offer. Post a lumber wanted ad here if you do not find any listed sellers reasonably close to you (see Resources below).

3. Avoid offers to harvest urban growth. Since black walnut trees live up to 200 years, and experts agree that many of them may be hiding spikes and other perils that the current property owner could not know about. The additional problem of damaging utility lines and properties nearby make it too expensive to fell backyard walnut trees.

4. Visit the eBay auction site. Search for lumber sellers by category or type "black walnut lumber" into the site search box (see Resources below). Use eBay's distance filter to narrow the geographical range of the results to your local area. Select "Buy it Now" in the Buying Formats tab to see only results that give you the option to purchase immediately rather than enter an auction.

   Compare shipping costs, options and prices in your results. Check each potential seller's reputation and customer feedback score. Register at eBay as a buyer if you find the lumber you need at the right price, or save the results to a watch list that you can retrieve later.

5. Consider picking up your lumber instead of having it delivered. If you find a dealer or seller within 100 miles, you may be able to save money by renting a truck to bring the boards home yourself.

Tips & Warnings

• Defects like knots, decay and crookedness determine how much of a black walnut tree is used for veneer or lumber.

Resources

• Agriseek has agricultural products for sale.
• Black walnut lumber can be found on eBay.