Buying lumber (ie. wood for dummies)

[dbfletcher]

Ok, now that I finally have two machines that work reasonable well (mostly thanks to the rock), I ma ready to start doing some more interesting projects on other hardwoods. So far I have just carved mostly pine with the ocasional oak board from lowes thrown in.

I am a novice so my questions would be....

Where can i buy wood besides the bigbox stores? Should i just do a google search for sawmills? What do I want to ask for? I really want to get some maple, red oak, ceder, walnut. I'm thinking I can get away with rought cut lumber as typicaly i'm taking the surface of the board off anyways during the carving process. I'm in western PA near amish country (10 miles) so I have had others tell me to go find out where the amish cabinetmakers get there wood... but I dont want to offend anyone and I'm not real sure how the amish view us "outsiders".

Will most sawmills sell to the general public? In my mind I think I would be looking for boards in teh 6-12" width range, 1" thick and 8ft or shorter in length. Can I buy in small quantities (2-5 boards at a time or would have have to buy truckloads?

Any guideance would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to dumb things down as much as possible. I'm still not clear on most wood related terminology.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

[PCW]

Doug,

I live close to a Amish community and I purchased some lumber not that long ago from them. They are good honest people to deal with.

I purchase 700 bf of rough sawed mostly clear ash lumber 10" to 12" mostly 10' in length a couple of months ago for $1.00 foot. It was air dried for 4 years. This lumber was rejected by the veneer buyers but you have ask yourself why. It was hard to find any flaws in the lumber.

[AskBud]

Ok, now that I finally have two machines that work reasonable well (mostly thanks to the rock), I ma ready to start doing some more interesting projects on other hardwoods. So far I have just carved mostly pine with the ocasional oak board from lowes thrown in.

I am a novice so my questions would be....

Where can i buy wood besides the bigbox stores? Should i just do a google search for sawmills? What do I want to ask for? I really want to get some maple, red oak, ceder, walnut. I'm thinking I can get away with rought cut lumber as typicaly i'm taking the surface of the board off anyways during the carving process. I'm in western PA near amish country (10 miles) so I have had others tell me to go find out where the amish cabinetmakers get there wood... but I dont want to offend anyone and I'm not real sure how the amish view us "outsiders".

Will most sawmills sell to the general public? In my mind I think I would be looking for boards in teh 6-12" width range, 1" thick and 8ft or shorter in length. Can I buy in small quantities (2-5 boards at a time or would have have to buy truckloads?

Any guideance would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to dumb things down as much as possible. I'm still not clear on most wood related terminology.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

Doug,
I buy almost all my lumber (Rough cut) from a Amish Lumber Yard. They are nice to work with. Mine will cut and plane it if you wish, or need it. They also have lots of cut-offs most of the time.
Eli Hochstetler is my Amish Lumber Man. He may be able to direct you to the right people in your area. Go to my signature, below, and click on my HOME PAGE link then go to the Amish section and click. You will see the link for Hochstetler Lumber. You will find his page informative and his phone number is there, if you want to talk with him.


PS: I have a Planer and good Table & Radial Saw to get it ready for the CW/CC. Do not use Rough Cut stock in the CW/CC unless you have a sled.
AskBud

[liquidguitars]

Find out the price of wood by the "board foot " by calling lumber stores locally, ask for 60' to 100' volume, for contractors price " 20% to 30% off based on your return sales". keep your paper work for the next time to check per foot price as prices tend to float based on the mood of the salesman :). Do not get wood from a Cabinetmaker in general unless you do work with him or need a odd type of wood.

S4S or S2S " not flat sawn" unless you have a good planer/jointer. 4/4 for a finished size of 13/16" or 8/4 for a finished 1.75" straight lined on one side.
dry to .06 to .10%

Hope this helps a little.

LG

[Hexe SA]

Some of my exotic lumber I buy on ebay. If you have a McCoy Lumber yard in your area the have nice Maple, Ash etc. Just bought a hard maple board 8 foot by 10 " wide and 1" thick rough for $3.99 a bf, came out to 6.5 bf. But if you live near Amish country, by all means go there first
Eva

[supershingler]

i aslo check the "materials" section of craigslist. i bought 185 bf of walnut for 1.50 a bd ft that had some waterstaining and dusty. a couple of trips through the planer and i have a pile of beautiful walnut. small town lumberyard usually stock some hardwood also.

good luck


kendall

[wasacop75]

I have checked with the local hardwood suppliers and get their cutoffs.
its usually very cheap (less $1.00) ft. and usually 2 to 3 ft long.

[dbfletcher]

Hmmm... I guess I need it dummied down a little bit more. When you are saying check with the local hardwood suppliers... I dont actually know what that means. I have a Lowes in my area and an 84 lumber. I did a google search for hardwood, indiana pa.... and i can't say that anything really looked all the 'local" (hour plus away). In the phone book there area bunch of "hardwood flooring" places, but nothing really for lumber.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

[fwharris]

Hmmm... I guess I need it dummied down a little bit more. When you are saying check with the local hardwood suppliers... I dont actually know what that means. I have a Lowes in my area and an 84 lumber. I did a google search for hardwood, indiana pa.... and i can't say that anything really looked all the 'local" (hour plus away). In the phone book there area bunch of "hardwood flooring" places, but nothing really for lumber.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

Doug,

Try "mill works"

this is what I got off of google: I did not look at all of them, just the first one..

http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=mill+works,+indiana,+Pa.&fb=1&gl=us&hq=mill+works,&hnear=indiana,+Pa.&view=text&ei=cVXWSqH9OozKtge_yp2ZDA&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQtQMwAA

[Chief]

Hmmm... I guess I need it dummied down a little bit more. When you are saying check with the local hardwood suppliers... I dont actually know what that means. I have a Lowes in my area and an 84 lumber. I did a google search for hardwood, indiana pa.... and i can't say that anything really looked all the 'local" (hour plus away). In the phone book there area bunch of "hardwood flooring" places, but nothing really for lumber.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

Doug, check your yellow pages for saw mill. There are a lot of sawmills in PA; you just have to get a little out of the city.

[dbfletcher]

Cheif,

Thanks, I will do that. I wasnt sure if sawmills sold directly to the public in smallish quantities. I knwo when I looked at a few before they mostly were jsut talking about truckloads of material. I guess I'll call around and just ask.

I was suprised at one of the earlier replys that said he can call his amish guy on a phone. I thought the amish avoided all electric and technology. I guess they are moving with the times as well. I was wondering how I would contact the amish.

I'm actually quite a bit out of the city. The closest big city would be Pittsburgh which is about 1.5 hours away. My town is about 13,000. So not real small, but not real big either. I grew up ihn a town of about 1800, so Indiana seems like a big city to me!

I was just worried about going someplace where they would see right away I'm a true novice when it comes to woodworking and terminology... and they would take advatage of that. Ok.... so maybe I'm not real trusting these days.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

[geekviking]

I'm the same way :cool:

[gwizpro]

Doug if you are willing to travel a little bit to Latrobe , pa. go to Gutchess lumber, they are the largest supplier of hardwoods in our neck of the woods, they sell to all the major lumber yards and YES they will sell to you too, I buy 1000 to 1550 BFT bulk red oak FAS 4/4 1x10x12' for little over $2.00 BFT,.

They also have a store where you can get the same deals for 1 piece... tell Colby Tom from GWiz sent ya.....

Tom

[dbfletcher]

Tom,

I did see that one. And no.. Latrobe isnt too far. I go down that way once a month or so. Can I ask what part you are from?

Doug

[Ike]

Wow I wish I lived in PA! In the west coast J.E. Higgins is the cheapers source for lumber. I too buy my lumber rough cut, but I also have 2 planers and jointers. I do have to travel 6 hours to get my reclaimed old growth redwood.

The bottom line Home Depot or Lowes will be too high unless you talk to a manager and work a deal with them. Sounds like you have many choices in PA I am jealous! I can't wait for next week to get home and finally be able to work in the shop.

I am rebuilding the soda wagon and make it more better!

Ike

[gwizpro]

Hi Doug,

I live in a town called White Oak, but my shop is in North Huntingdon about 15 minutes outside Pittsburgh off Route 30. I have been buying form Gutchess for about 8 years, they have always been good to us small guys. Their yard stocks over 5Million BFT. They have their own kilns and wis sorting equipment (sorts lumber by width automatically). If you go at the right time a a guy called Hud is there and he has time he will give ya a tour.

[bowfingers]

Doug,
I live about 20 miles north of you. There are a lot of Amish saw mills around that will sell you lumber, most sell rough cut green lumber, a few have dried and planed boards check out the Smicksburg area. There is also a mill near smicksburg (not Amish ) Pearce Lumber they sell kiln dried rough cut lumber.
If you need any help PM me! I am no expert but I might be able to help.
Denny

[dbfletcher]

Doug,
I live about 20 miles north of you. There are a lot of Amish saw mills around that will sell you lumber, most sell rough cut green lumber, a few have dried and planed boards check out the Smicksburg area. There is also a mill near smicksburg (not Amish ) Pearce Lumber they sell kiln dried rough cut lumber.
If you need any help PM me! I am no expert but I might be able to help.
Denny

I was just up in Smicksburg for Fall festival (Amish festival or whatever they call it). Do you have a number for Pearce? It is kinda nice to find others near me.

Thanks,

Doug Fletcher

[bowfingers]

Here is the number
Robert Pearce & Sons Lumber
7416 Route 210 Hwy, Smicksburg, PA 16256 (724) 286-9757

[pine acres woodshop]

[QUOTE=dbfletcher;106751] "I'm thinking I can get away with rought cut lumber as typicaly i'm taking the surface of the board off anyways during the carving process."






Do not try to put rough cut lumber in your machine, it will destroy your machine. You need to mill the lumber first before you use it. Plane and joint your wood so it is flat, and square. If you do not have the means to accomplish this yourself, most lumber yards will do it for you at an additional charge.

[wasacop75]

I was talking about a couple of places close to little rock that sell end pieces of hardwood. They sell to trim carpenters and the such...

But now i am going to have to find an amish place close so that i too can get the good buys on hardwoods...
and Cedar and cyprus.....;)

[AskBud]

I just edited post #3 to make clear the I do not run the Rough Cut stock in the CW/CC without getting it milled (Planed & straight).
AskBud

[dbfletcher]

Mark and Askbud,

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm sure I would hav tried to run it thru the cw without planeing it first.

I see there is a big price jump when you go from a 12-13" planer to a 15". Any recomendations?

Doug Fletcher

[AskBud]

Mark and Askbud,

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm sure I would hav tried to run it thru the cw without planeing it first.

I see there is a big price jump when you go from a 12-13" planer to a 15". Any recomendations?

Doug Fletcher
It will depend upon where you want to draw the line(s) in the sand.

Questions to ask yourself:
Where is your $$ limit?
How wide will you want to buy rough or thick stock, and plane it yourself, rather that having the Lumber Mill do that job?
Do you want a unit that the table rises & lowers, or would you rather have the head do that function?

Most mills will plane their stock to your thickness need/wish, at a small fee.
I have an old Shopsmith 12" planer that the table moves. For my money, I would buy a wider one next time with a moving head. I may depend on how and where you will store and use the unit.
The newer/better units now come with Spiral/Helical cutters, rather than the 3 or 4 flat blades. My Amish man just refitted his monster planer with the Helical blades (and it cuts like going through butter).

The link below is for $$ and Spec info, not as an endorsement of where to buy.
http://www.woodcraft.com/Search/Search.aspx?query=Planer

PS: Your planer will come in handy for you, those times where a project does not carve the way you wish. You may want to plane the board to a thinner thickness for another try/project rather than burning the wood or CW time.
AskBud

[TIMCOSBY]

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php
and click on forum extras button at the top. when it pulls down you will see "find a sawyer" this will locate people in your area.

[hess]

I was talking about a couple of places close to little rock that sell end pieces of hardwood. They sell to trim carpenters and the such...

But now i am going to have to find an amish place close so that i too can get the good buys on hardwoods...
and Cedar and cyprus.....;)

Hey WC

I just made a trip to North AR in Flippen the saw mill in town be hind the old wall mart has a great price I got about 250 ft of Walnut for 30. a load of Oak as big as a small car for 50

Cherry about have the size of rhe oak for 35
All the cuts off I wanted for free they burn them

Also went to Akansawer near Yellvile and got Cedar and Hickory lots of stuff I dont know what it is
I filled a U Haul 12 ft up to the top for less than 350 total between the mill and the uh.. Not a smart thing to do dam near used the brakes up coming home out of the hills just to Conway. 4 hr drive for you 12 from here still saved big bucks. A guy that runs the mill here saw the stuff said it would have been near 3k here

Now you need a planner as it is 1inch + thick

Ther is another on Hy 14 cutting across at Leslie to yellvile an a turn to the right after the Buffalo river

I was going to stop and get some stuff from BJB back I was full before I knew it

[pine acres woodshop]

Mark and Askbud,

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm sure I would hav tried to run it thru the cw without planeing it first.

I see there is a big price jump when you go from a 12-13" planer to a 15". Any recomendations?

Doug Fletcher


I have a Rigid 13" planer and a Craftsman 6" bench top jointer. They do a pretty good job. I wish the jointer was larger for flattening wider stock, but it works well for the CC/CW. I do not use wide material for the CC/CW. I usually make wider pieces out of two or three smaller pieces. I do this for a couple of reasons. Wide material cost more and has a greater risk of warping. By jointing two or three pieces together you can use up your scrap pieces, it is easier to flatten and square smaller pieces, and it has added stability. Good luck.

[wasacop75]

hesstx

There is also a couple over by jonesboro someplace and there is a mill near searcy. i need to call them and see what they have.

i am going to have to take a road trip one of these days and see what i can find up that way.

i do have the dewalt 12 1/2 inch plane but still new in the box. i am trying to find a couple acres with a 30x40 shop or so
wife wants her garage back and i am tired of putting things up and taking them down every weekend..

[skeeterman]

wasacop, I can email you a phone # of a guy in benton that can get you any type of wood you want and reasonably priced, i get a lot of cypress from him. he has walnut, cherry, cedar.
steve

[hess]

hesstx

There is also a couple over by jonesboro someplace and there is a mill near searcy. i need to call them and see what they have.

i am going to have to take a road trip one of these days and see what i can find up that way.

i do have the dewalt 12 1/2 inch plane but still new in the box. i am trying to find a couple acres with a 30x40 shop or so
wife wants her garage back and i am tired of putting things up and taking them down every weekend..

I have the same planner and you will be very happy with what it will handle.

Cant tell you how many hundreds of ft I have planes and only had to trun the blades once. I got an extra set but still in the pack. The trick is dont rush it.

I got all my crap on rollers that way just move it around as to what I need

[hess]

wasacop, I can email you a phone # of a guy in benton that can get you any type of wood you want and reasonably priced, i get a lot of cypress from him. he has walnut, cherry, cedar.
steve
Skeet what does Cypress run

[skeeterman]

I am paying $1.3 per board ft. dont know if this is a good deal but it seems reasonable to me.
steve

[hess]

I am paying $1.3 per board ft. dont know if this is a good deal but it seems reasonable to me.
steve

Sounds like a wiener to me

I would like to get some they say it lasts

[skeeterman]

Hey Hess i pm you the guys phone # if you are ever back in arkansas you may want to check him out,
steve

[hess]

Hey Hess i pm you the guys phone # if you are ever back in arkansas you may want to check him out,
steve

Cool Beans thanks

[jww922]

I've bought turning stock from these guys but haven't tried any flat stock. I was pleased with the turning stock.

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/index.php

[Deolman]

I guess I have to join the ranks of the jealous after reading this entire post. The only wood locally is pine. I will making a trip to Oklahoma City in the next 2-3 months to see my daughter. I will have an empty truck bed I can fill it with anything I can find along the way. It will be covered so it will remain dry for the trip. Since I have a joiner and planer, I am looking 4/4 rough cut.

Anybody have some good suggestions for finding lumber between here and OK city?

[wasacop75]

Check the internet for sawmills or the such on your route.
That or craigslist under materials. I have found a couple there.
found a great one in MS. but that wont help you.

Good luck...

[chkorte]

Around here we're pretty lucky. Oak, maple, pine, black walnut, cherry and others all available rough cut. My son just bought some black walnut for .75 a board foot. About a month ago Sears had a closeout sale on a 20" planer. With shipping it cost me $1100. Put that with my 18/36 Performax drum sander and I think I'm good for wood.

[wasacop75]

And where is here???;)

[chkorte]

Central Wisconsin

[Ike]

Today I just bought 10 bft of KD S2S Birch and 7 bft of KD S2S of Red Oak and it cost me $50.00! The birch has a great grain to it and I plan to use it to make the trout clock POM and the Lincoln coin bank POM. Plus the oak too and I have a few other projects in mind.

I bought the lumber from JE Higgins lumber store they normally have a great selection, but today it wasn't great!

I am used to redwood and this is new for me! If anyone has a great source at a great price please share!

Ike

[hess]

Today I just bought 10 bft of KD S2S Birch and 7 bft of KD S2S of Red Oak and it cost me $50.00! The birch has a great grain to it and I plan to use it to make the trout clock POM and the Lincoln coin bank POM. Plus the oak too and I have a few other projects in mind.

I bought the lumber from JE Higgins lumber store they normally have a great selection, but today it wasn't great!

I am used to redwood and this is new for me! If anyone has a great source at a great price please share!

Ike

Ike I hit north central AR each time

The wife is there now cause her mom just had surgy and she has already stopped at flipin and set aside so to bring home. much cheaper then tx

[wasacop75]

Ike:

Have you looked on craigslist under materials?

I looked around here and up by where i used to live in indiana. Was a great deal on walnut up there. Found a great place in MS, but too far from here.

One of these days i have to get to flippin. HSTEX cant be the only one getting great deals here. Over close to Paragould is another place to get decent lumber. Or at least thats what the claims are.

[Ike]

Ike:

Have you looked on craigslist under materials?

I looked around here and up by where i used to live in indiana. Was a great deal on walnut up there. Found a great place in MS, but too far from here.

One of these days i have to get to flippin. HSTEX cant be the only one getting great deals here. Over close to Paragould is another place to get decent lumber. Or at least thats what the claims are.


I will have to give it a look!

Ike

[hess]

Ike:

Have you looked on craigslist under materials?

I looked around here and up by where i used to live in indiana. Was a great deal on walnut up there. Found a great place in MS, but too far from here.

One of these days i have to get to flippin. HSTEX cant be the only one getting great deals here. Over close to Paragould is another place to get decent lumber. Or at least thats what the claims are.

While in flippen just out Waylongs mill in town then arkansawer between flippin and yellvile but has you pc because the day I went the price for cedar got jacked for 35 to 85 per ft/ I pay 85 here the owner was not there so I got hit I will not do that again . Allso BJB has some good wood form th last ice storm Most of us would be happy picking from the brun pile

[ddouglass]

Hess,
Where are you in Texas? I live in the Big Thicket area and just wondering where you are and where you get you wood from other than northern Arkansas. We used to go up around Ozark every year for family reunions and I wold pick up a load of rough sawn red oak for next to nothing. We moved the family reunion site so I haven't been up there in almost 10 years. Boy would I love to go back and get some more of those cheap priced woods again.

Dale

[hess]

Hess,
Where are you in Texas? I live in the Big Thicket area and just wondering where you are and where you get you wood from other than northern Arkansas. We used to go up around Ozark every year for family reunions and I wold pick up a load of rough sawn red oak for next to nothing. We moved the family reunion site so I haven't been up there in almost 10 years. Boy would I love to go back and get some more of those cheap priced woods again.

DaleDale in over by Cleburne we got sisck of paying high $$ over in Est tx so have family in Mt home ans just started picking it up when we ther.

The last loas cost 35o and had a truck and full 12ft long uhauk full woud have cost 000.00 here.

wife is there now mom had surg when to the mill I use asked for pine it was alrerady spoken for then they remembered who she was they then loaded her with Cherry Walnut and some other nice wood and charge 30.00 buck for a full bed load

There is on online

arkansawyer.com that has good wood but pay more BJB has some good wood I got some good slab the last time she whent up

[TIMCOSBY]

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?board=7.0

and click on forum extras, then click "find a sawyer" to find a small sawmill close to ya.

[Spanglerg@hotmail.com]

For Quality Lumber:


http://www.woodfinder.com/

[greenthumb25]

im curious as to what most people use for flooring though
____________________
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