source of dry wood

[mkt_value]

I want to make an entry table, but think I wont want to wait for Home Depot wood to dry. Can someone point me to a source of reasonably dry hardwood ? I'm in east Texas.

Thanks for your help.

David

[Greg G]

Here is one way to find local sources. There are others...

G.

[dadiOH]

Telephone book Yellow pages "Lumber"

[J. Clarke]

Home Depot's hardwood is kiln dried and ready to use. The selection is poor and the price is high, but you don't need to wait for it to dry. The same for Lowes.

It's their softwood construction lumber that comes green, and not even all of that.

Beyond that I second Greg's suggestion of

Also, call the Woodcraft stores and see if they have any sage advice--I don't think that there are any technically in "east Texas" but there are several to east of the centerline of the state. Of course they can fix you up as well for a price. Googling "East Texas Hardwoods" came up with in Mt. Enterprise as the first hit--they seem to have a good range of domestic and exotic species and their pricing isn't horrible so they'd be one place to try if they aren't too far away from you.

[mkt_value]

Thanks Greg. I'll check there.

[Phisherman]

Home Depot's wood is dry except for the pressure treated stuff. If it contains less than 10% moisture it's about as dry as it gets. But, there better hardwoods and better value elsewhere.

[RonB]

In our area hardwood from big box stores is high.... as in obscenely high. Their hardwood is previously dried and planed, but oak can cost up to $7.50/board ft.. Maple is higher, when available.

We live in extreme southeast Kansas. Local mills in SE Kansas and SW Missouri sell Oak in the $1.65 - $2.50 range. I just bought 150 bf of oak last week that was planed to 15/16" with one straight edge - $2.00/ bf. Widths ranged from 5" to 12" with very few flaws. The wood was dried to an average moisture content of about 5-6%. So avoid the box stores if possible. The Woodfinder.com suggestion is good and it does identify some of the suppliers we use. However, the SW Missouri area mills are plentiful and some are very small, but provide good product.

In addition to woodfinder.com try the local yellow pages under "sawmills", "hardwood", "Lumber", etc. Also search around for local woodworkers clubs, guilds, etc. If you are in a more rural area, Google yellow pages for the above topics in surrounding areas. Also check around for small, independent cabinet and furniture makers. Some of those folks buy hardwood by the truckload; but some buy from local suppliers. Also check local schools that offer woodworking classes because several of the local small hardwood dealers do much of their business with high schools and an area college.

I am not familiar with your area, but I would think as you moved east in in Texas you might be close to areas that have fairly plentiful local hardwood. For that matter, some of the Maple sold by local hardwood dealers is imported from out of state and is still much cheaper that Lowes or HD.

Shop around. It can take time, but if you are buying much product it is well worth your time.

RonB

[Steve Turner]

Yeah, that's a great price. LOTS of oak in the Ozarks, but you don't say whether it's red (or black) oak versus white oak. I presume the mill where you bought it draws this distinction and sells accordingly?

[smandel]

woodfinder is a great engine, but check the distances it gives you... i seem to recall that it calculates by county, and as a result can be quite a bit off.

shelly

[RonB]

The one I use most sells both red and white oak, with white a little higher. When you get into quarter sawn it doubles in price. They also sell a variety of hardwoods including walnut, cherry (imported from out of state), maple (imported), pecan, sassafras, and others. Occasionally he gets a small amount of exotics like purpleheart. They also stock a pretty good supply of hardwood veneer plywoods and baltic birch plywood. Nothing fancy. He and his sons run the operation our of a couple of metal buildings in the west Missouri Ozarks near I-44. He drys what he cuts and buys some pre-dried.

He told me he takes his out of the kiln at about 5-6% moisture content and then puts it in his storage shed so it can start soaking up the Missouri humidity :^}

RonB

[gimp]

Anywhere near Mt. Enterprise? Try

Good selection, good prices, nice staff.

[Roy]

If you're near Houston, try this site:

[Fred the Red Shirt]

As others have noted, the hardwoods at Home Depot are kiln dried.

Doug Fir construction lumber is sometimes sold green, other construction lumber is usually partially kiln dried, not dried to stability though. Some say this is so that after it is nailed together the wood will shrink around the nails and hold them tight. Given the amount of energy needed to kiln dry wood I suspect that economics has more to do with it and any benefit is incidental.

If your local Hope Depots carry maple, you can find curly maple in the stacks along with plain grained boards.

IMHO, it is worthwhile to spend the time looking for it.

[Lew Hodgett]

Doug Fir construction lumber is sometimes sold green, other construction lumber is usually partially kiln dried, not dried to stability though. Some say this is so that after it is nailed together the wood will shrink around the nails and hold them tight. Given the amount of energy needed to kiln dry wood I suspect that economics has more to do with it and any benefit is incidental.

Was told Doug Fir is sold "wet" here in SoCal since it drys straight while Spruce must be kiln dried or it will twist if air dried, thus there is a shipping cost savings shipping Spruce via rail to the MidWest.

Not confirmed but it makes sense.

Lew

[Nonny]

Dunno if it's of interest, but until the days of kiln dried or air dried lumberyard lumber, many of the farn homes in my part of the country were cut and framed from lumber that came from either the farm or a neighbor's farm. Much of it was green Oak. According to what I was told by any number of folk whose grandparents, great grandparents etc. had "built the old home place," the wood was generally cut, sawed and the framing, sheathing, subfloor, siding and lathwork done as if the home was framed from dry materials. It was essentially dried in, as they say, with the exception of windows and doors. It was then left to dry over a summer, with plaster, windows, doors and cabinets built after the home had "settled in." Using oak as an example, the reason it was lathed was because the oak would be too blasted hard to use normal nails on after it dried.

BTW, framing back then was "balloon," with no thought given to firestops in the open and uninsulated walls.

[Martin H. Eastburn]

When we moved into this house, we built 33 book cases from construction pine. It was wet - I worked on quality joints - locking boards into each other and when we brought one in, it was screwed to the one next to it - matching the rails and screwing it to the wall. In the hall way is the best example -

9 - group of 4 and then 5 - they are DVD shelves that are 7' tall - 9 shelves. Those dried in place and are true to themselves and the wall.

Bowls are often turned wet and allowed to dry. I used to turn and then when finished I would microwave them - on low heat and short times. (they can burn... think fruit woods - ugh!) - once hot and steaming, using gloves... stretch and compress making ovals or odd shapes.

Mart>