Where do you get your lumber?

[Sweet Chuck]

I'm just curious as to where the some of you guys get your lumber. I see some of you using some pretty unique woods that I know you can get via mail order, but that seams to be pretty expensive. All the saw mills around me are milled to order places. I'd really like to be able to select the boards that I want from a stack, but about the only place around here that I can do that is Home depot and the price is high and the selection is bad. I'm in Columbus Indiana if any of you have any suggestions for places near me.

[JR]

The Rockler near me has nice collection of hardwood, although not a huge inventory. There's a Rockler in Indy.

I think Woodcraft has similar in-store inventory. They have stores in Indy, Merrivale, and Louisville.

You should also be able to find a lumber yard or hadwood supplier nearer to home who would have good stuff.

HTH,
JR

[mschrank]

Woodfinder.com is a good start.
I typed in your zipcode and looks like MacBeath Hardwood in Edinburgh is not too far and has a decent selection. Of course, I'm hundreds of miles away and don't really know....

[DonHo]

WoodCraft does have a pretty good slection of hardwoods, prices although better than HD or Lowes are still pretty high. There is a sawmill about 110 miles from me that has a pretty good slection of local lumber, I buy quite abit from them. I also buy online from Steve Wall Lumber in NC, shipping is costly but you can get a good slection at prices that are not much different than WoodCraft. I also buy lumber and turning blanks on ebay, sometimes you can get good buys and most of the bigger dealers will let you combine different lots to save on shipping.

DonHo

[MikeMcCoy]

Don't write off the internet folks too fast since there are some decent buys. A BT member gave me some decent places for oak and a few other species but I've found I can get premium lumber for not much more than the run of the mill local stuff. I had 200 BF of quarter sawn oak deliver this week that came to around $4.60 a BF. That may seem high to some but this was all 4/4 cut milled at an inch and an eight with all defects cut out and flecked all the way. The same guy I got my oak from brought 500 BF of ash, oak and primo cherry to my garage for less than what I could buy local a few months ago.

[JimD]

I have a little dealer in town that is only open in the afternoon during the week. I have to take off work to get wood from him but the prices seem OK (about $2/bd ft for poplar, less than $4 for oak). I can pick through the boards to my hearts content. He sorts out the figured boards, however.

If I have to get something on the weekend or for a bit better selection, there is a larger place in Charlotte a couple hours away. They are open Saturday morning. They sell above 1 inch thick rough and plane the 4/4. They do not sort it, however, so I've gotten some figured maple for un-figured prices. They also let you go through the pile to get the boards you want and then they write you up.

I have lived in three other cities and not had things much more convenient. In Pittsburgh, Pa, I had a small family run sawmill that also had a kiln half an hour away but you were limited to whatever they had cut recently. There was a woodworking store with american and other hardwoods in the back across town close to an hour away. Kansas City had more options but none real close to me. Omaha had about the same as Pittsburgh.

I don't think any of this helps you directly but maybe it will give you an idea. I look in phone books and ask around.

Jim

[Tom Slick]

I have a place called Mayan Hardwood that is about 50 mins away. they have a nice selection at decent prices. the local lumber yard (construction supplies) has a decent selection of mediocre grade hardwoods for expensive prices.

[crokett]

Don, if you are getting wood shipped from NC check out The Hard Wood Store - hardwoodstore.com

They are about 1/2 hr from me and that is where I go. Very nice folks, good quality woods and pretty reasonable on price.

[LCHIEN]

yet another question that's answered in the BT3 FAQ.

[drumpriest]

Our local Rockler has a pretty excellent selection, and the prices are quite good. red oak at 3$, cherry 5$, walnut 7$, and a good selection of exotics to boot. I can't complain. There is also a great lumber mill near my folk's house that has excellent veneered ply prices for cherry and mahogany. Between those 2 places, they get 95%+ of my business.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Our local Rockler has a pretty excellent selection, and the prices are quite good. red oak at 3$, cherry 5$, walnut 7$, and a good selection of exotics to boot. I can't complain. There is also a great lumber mill near my folk's house that has excellent veneered ply prices for cherry and mahogany. Between those 2 places, they get 95%+ of my business.

Mike Morgan is in your area and has some of the clearest wood I have ever laid my eyes on. If you are not familiar with him let me know. His prices are quite a bit less, and again the quality is just nothing short of amazing. He has some EXCELLENT QSWO right now for around $4 bf. Zero defects, 100% QS with all rift cuts removed.

As to where I get my wood . . . . . when I NEED something I usually go to Groff and Groff. Otherwise I deal with rouge wood pimps and peddlers. A forum member hooked my up with a Mennonite sawyer with a huge kiln that can take care of most of my domestic needs. I have a guy here in York that specializes in highly figured maple, cherry and slabs. He gets a lot of my stock money.

[Sweet Chuck]

I've noticed that Rockler doesn't have lumber longer than 60 inches on their website, I'm assuming this is mostly for shipping reasons. Do they have longer lengths in the stores?

What about Woodcraft, theres one of those in Indy too, but they only have small blanks on their site.

[DonHo]

I can't speak for Rocker but WoodCaft has lumber at least 8' long in the store, at least the one in OKC does. I suspect they all do, Rockler probably also.

DonHo

[LCHIEN]

yes, I think there's a 60" limit on length for UPS and other shippers, a large oversize surcharge applies beyond that.

And yes, woodcraft and Rocklers I have seen both have longer pieces of hardwoods in the store.

[djmcheme]

drumpriest,

I am from Butler which is north of Pittsburgh. I am wondering where u get you lumber exactly. I could use a couple of sources in Pittsburgh area.

Thanks