Shopsmith Forums

Extra Mile's post on how far to drive for wood has me thinking. (which is dangerous) However, I don't want to sideline his post so here is a new one.

Being a newbie to all of this, I can't say that I know the in's and outs of getting the best deal on decent wood.

Obviously there is the big box stores, but I guess I don't really consider them past a construction 2 x 4..... But I know they do have some common hardwood.

For me, I do have a small business available that specializes in hardwood. I have only been in there once, I bought some Poplar, Red Oak and a couple small pieces of Mahogany. He was very helpful which I was impressed with. Actual pieces of lumber you paid for. But I know it isn't cheap anywhere. One thing he does do is sell off smaller pieces in a "bargain bin". So I picked up some nice "scraps" for what I thought was pretty cheap.

There is another place about 150 miles from me, but that is a bit of a hike.

So, (besides grabbing pallets LOL) what are your sources?

Here, I can get hardwood at Menards and Lowes. Menards has a decent selection while Lowes has almost nothing.
But, a mile or two from my house is a wonderful custom cabinet/hardwood supplier shop. At his shop, I can get any kind and size of hardwood I want at a price better than the big stores, and much better than any online supplier that has to ship it to me. Look around your local area for something like this, and you have found the mother lode.
http://www.roughriderhardwoods.com/

Is this by any chance the one 150 miles from you?

I get all my wood here at a local custom wood shop. It is not a cabinet shop but they do all manner of custom jobs including antique restoration. They don't do any finishing just the wood work. It is a family owned business and has been around for over 100 years. Everything they have is rough sawn which I prefer and they stock most of the common stuff. They will order anything else you want and since they are not really in the business of selling wood to the general public they sell at cost.

garys wrote:Here, I can get hardwood at Menards and Lowes. Menards has a decent selection while Lowes has almost nothing.
But, a mile or two from my house is a wonderful custom cabinet/hardwood supplier shop. At his shop, I can get any kind and size of hardwood I want at a price better than the big stores, and much better than any online supplier that has to ship it to me. Look around your local area for something like this, and you have found the mother lode.
http://www.roughriderhardwoods.com/

Is this by any chance the one 150 miles from you?

garys,
That is not the one that I knew of. The one I discussed was the opposite direction. I get to Bismarck for work occasionally, I might have to check it out.