Perhaps the easiest way that you can buy you lumber is while it is freshly cut by a sawmill. This type of lumber needs to be dried out first before you can use it and if you have a project this will not do. 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.

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. Green lumbers shrink when it is dried up so you might want to get something that is a little bit 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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As soon as the lumber gets home drying it will be the next step. 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.If your shop has low humidity you can let your lumber finish drying for a few weeks in there. I suggest that you buy a thermometer/hygrometer from Radio Shack. It is only about $40 and you can buy remote sensors for it to monitor other areas. The humidity in your shop should be under 50%RH to allow your lumber to finish drying down to 8% moisture content.

The other method of drying is to build a solar kiln. Plans for solar kilns can be found on the internet. Building it will only cost you around $200. The green lumber can be placed immediately inside the solar kiln for it to start drying. It usually takes 1-2 months for the lumber to dry down to 6-8% moisture and be ready for use. But sometimes the location and temperature matters..

Processing your lumber can start as soon as it reaches it's ideal moisture content. The first thing you have to do is joint one face of the panel. This can be done by hand with a hand plane or maybe the easy way by having 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 will make the board parallel to the flat face. When you finally plane the panel into your final size, you then joint one side perhaps by hand or with a jointer. As soon as the board is planed you can now cut it to the final width. You can use any kind of saw to do this. To set your board to the desired width you can used the edge of the board as guide. After you have cut the final measurement you can now start building your project. You're done, and you saved tons of money by processing the rough boards yourself.