Scored just over a hundred board feet of white oak for $150. All of it is 9' to 13' long, widths range from 6" to 13", about 90% is clear. Beautiful material. Wish I could find a deal like that on black walnut.
I like oak, but love walnut. At around $16 a board foot it falls into the stupid expensive category. I keep an eye out for green rough sawn walnut on marketplace, but it gets snatched up pretty quick.Walnut was my father's favorite wood, but I favor oak. Oak's my favorite, from the growing tree, to finished lumber.
There are a few fellows around here that run sawmills, I can get green white oak for $1.40 a board foot, but it has to dry a year before it's useable. It's also 4/4 which I can deal with. 8/4 material is problematic because I can't rip down boards more than 6" wide. I had a 14" band saw that I picked up cheap and tuned up, it was great for resawing wide material, but the dust collection was a joke. I ended up selling it because I couldn't stand the cloud of sawdust that came out of it. I'd like to buy a new one, but the cheapest one that I'd consider is $1500, and my shop is getting a little crowded.I built a small 22"x50" stand alone island awhile back, and the 11bf 5/4 White Oak top alone was 120 bucks. Hardwood is so costly here, I grabbed a couple old Maple headboards and repurposed into cutting boards (or for the fancy charcuterie boards). Big wood indeed.