Showing my noobieness / wood sources

[W Canaday]

I've looked at The Orange Box and can not find hard maple boards for a workbench top. Where do you folks find such lumber?

FWIW, I'm in Detroit, MI

Bill

[Todd Fatheree]

You need to find yourself a real hardwood lumber supplier. Check

to see if anything pops up in your area.

todd

[Lew Hodgett]

Let your fingers do the walking.

Start with a telephone and Wolley Segap.

It's the o;d fashioned way, but it works.

Lew

[Leon]

All the HD's in Houston carry Maple. Expensive but they carry it. Look in the yellow pages under lumber or hardwood lumber for a cheaper source.

[cieslarz]

Bill: Try public lumber , located off I-75 on the northeast corner of 7 Mi. Rd. Link public lumber.com. cieslarz

[George]

Next time you visit the better peninsula, tow a trailer and fill it up.

Else, still some real lumber dealers in the yellows.

[B a r r y]

HD's in central CT have large 4'x8' "Maple" and "Cedar" signs hanging from the ceiling, but not the wood.

I don't buy hardwoods from HD, but sometimes it's fun to ask for maple and cedar while standing under the sign.

Lowes has maple, branded as "Choicewood", but the wider boards are often glued up.

[Dave W]

I was in your position last year at this time and decided to use ash after seeing the incredible price of hard maple. The bench works well and if there is a difference in hardness I cannot see it! Dave

[wood_newbie]

New to Michigan myself, but by "better peninsula," don't you mean "the Wisconsin part of Michigan?" :-)

All kidding aside, do you guys have much cherry up there? And what kind of prices do you get for it? I go camping up there all the time (from Detroit), and would love to haul back a butt load if the price is right.

[wood_newbie]

I use Public all the time...good selection, get to pick my boards myself.

Another good one is Armstrong Millworks in Highland. Still close enough to Detroit to make it worth your while for a visit. Their selection is better than Public, and they have an entire barn filled with wide boards (11" and up). They have hard maple anywhere from 3/4 to 12/4. And if you've never seen a 16' long 12/4 hard maple board...bring a dump truck.

You pick your own boards, but if you don't straighten the bins afterwords, they will beat you with a hose.

Great guys, though...and they have a 36" sander they will do the machining for you at an incredibly nominal price.

[RonB]

Good info from previous posters. All I would add is that your time is well spent searching your area for hardwood dealers or sawmills (search for hardwood, sawmills, wood, lumber, etc). I buy much of my stock from a local hardwood dealer at a fraction of the big-box prices. He is about 25 miles away but well worth the drive for quantity. I have recenty searched out a couple of mills that are located 120 east (SE Kansas) that sell kiln or air-dried wood at half of the local mill cost. I have to haul it so I must buy in quantity.

However, the best part is that these folks are a good resource. They know the products and are full of information. The smaller mills make a lot of their money selling to schools or contractors and they are competitive. The ones with which I deal are very open and easy to work with. Some also provide limited milling services.

Good searching!

RonB

[George]

Select and better is over $200MBF right now, but there's a good amount available from most mills west of Shingleton or so. Eastern is a bit more toward softwood.

[Lew Hodgett]

Directions to Ann Arbor according to the late Woody Hayes:

North till you smell it,

West till you step in it.

GO BUCKS! !

Lew

[George]

I heard it as Bo and Columbus.

How many OSU football players does it take to screw in a light bulb?

One, but he gets three credits....

[Mike O.]

Ron, which mills are you using in that area? I'm in Wichita and always looking for sources to buy larger amounts. Thanks

Mike O.

[Lew Hodgett]

That one fits every ethnic group out there.

The ultimate game of one up's man ship was pulled of by Monohan , the guy who started Dominos Pizza and now owns the Detroit Lions, among other things.

Story is, he gave Bo the Dominos pizza store on or immediately adjacent to the OSU campus.

Lew

[wood_newbie]

Why, I ought to punch you in the throat for sayin' that :-)

Truth be told, I'm a transplant...GO GATORS!!

[Lew Hodgett]

Last Saturday was the ONLY game that meant anything to either team.

THe BUCKS will be happy all year.

Lew

[Doug Miller]

Look in the Yellow Pages under "Lumber" for a dealer who advertises that he sells hardwoods.

[RonB]

The one I mentioned in my post is the Oxford Wood Works Mill located about two miles east of Oxford (Straight West of Winfield).

. In addition to hardwoods they also provide pretty fair prices on Baltic Birch plywood. Their veneer plywood is higher than the local Lowe's or HD but it is of good quality.

A second local source is Papa's Woodshop @ 1029 N. Waco, Suite 8. This was a small workshop/hobby business that grew into a wood store. The original owner, Dana Fish, offered low enough prices to keep me from driving to Oxford for small quantity. He also offered some "exotics" such as Purpleheart, Padauk, etc. The shop has recently changed hands and is also home to a small remodeler. I was in there last week and his stock on Oak was down and he had none of the exotics in stock. However, he called a day or two later to tell me he had a new shipment. Certainly worth a check.

A potential source I just came across about a month ago is Korinek Bros. Sawmill north of Oswego (620-795-2823). The handle Oak, Walnut, Cherry, Cedar and some others - all air dried. Their prices are very low. They plane for .20/bd ft but even planed, still low. My sister-in-law is also checking out the Advinson mill (included in link below) near Fort Scott. And there is another across the Mo. State line East of Fort Scott.

Might also try sources like: