Hi all,
I'm fairly new to woodworking. I tinkered a lot during my high school years
and some after. But now I've got my own garage (900 sq ft!) and have big
plans. I've got the tools: table saw, band saw, work bench, etc., but I
don't know where to look for the wood.
I know good wood supply sources are coveted by woodworkers, but can anyone
give me some good ideas where to start my search. I'm in rural Virginia,
near Richmond, and thought I would like to get some Oak to start with.
Suggestions? Anyone willing to give a direct source?
Thanks in advance,
RK
For quality kiln-dried hardwoods, try
http://www.walllumber.com/default.asp
It might be a bit of a drive for you (slightly northwest of
Greensboro, NC, near the VA border) but he's treated me ok in the
past, and the pricing on his website will at least give you an idea of
the middle of the road market. No affiliation. Also, as someone
suggested, try and get friendly with a mill or a sawyer, as green
wood, if you have a place to sticker and dry it, in a few years gets
dry, and the investment is worth it.
Mutt
"77clearly" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<IgUWc.3222$Y%[email protected]>...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm fairly new to woodworking. I tinkered a lot during my high school years
> and some after. But now I've got my own garage (900 sq ft!) and have big
> plans. I've got the tools: table saw, band saw, work bench, etc., but I
> don't know where to look for the wood.
>
> I know good wood supply sources are coveted by woodworkers, but can anyone
> give me some good ideas where to start my search. I'm in rural Virginia,
> near Richmond, and thought I would like to get some Oak to start with.
>
> Suggestions? Anyone willing to give a direct source?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> RK
RK,
I live in Richmond, and have bought my lumber from a few different places.
First, pick up one of the trading posts that are sold in convenience stores.
Occasionally you'll find some lumber being sold in the building supplies
section.
As for retailers:
1) Plywood and plastics near the diamond has good prices, in general not
super quality, ok selection in terms of species, but decent (you get what
you pay for). Good selection of sheet goods though
2) Siewers - really good selection and great quality, but higher prices.
For instance their walnut was about $1.50 higher/bf than plywood and
plastics, but their quality was quite a bit better.
3) Northland Forest at Zion's Crossroads - call them and they'll fax you a
pricelist (434) 589-8213. Their prices seem really good but I haven't
bought from them so I can't comment on quality, etc. My van gets about 9
miles to the gallon so I'd really have to buy a lot of lumber from them to
justify the cost of the drive (siewers and p&p are 5 minutes from my house
whereas NF is about an hour).
Hope this helps,
Eric
"77clearly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:IgUWc.3222$Y%[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm fairly new to woodworking. I tinkered a lot during my high school
years
> and some after. But now I've got my own garage (900 sq ft!) and have big
> plans. I've got the tools: table saw, band saw, work bench, etc., but I
> don't know where to look for the wood.
>
> I know good wood supply sources are coveted by woodworkers, but can anyone
> give me some good ideas where to start my search. I'm in rural Virginia,
> near Richmond, and thought I would like to get some Oak to start with.
>
> Suggestions? Anyone willing to give a direct source?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> RK
>
>
"77clearly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:IgUWc.3222$Y%[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm fairly new to woodworking. I tinkered a lot during my high school
years
> and some after. But now I've got my own garage (900 sq ft!) and have big
> plans. I've got the tools: table saw, band saw, work bench, etc., but I
> don't know where to look for the wood.
>
> I know good wood supply sources are coveted by woodworkers, but can anyone
> give me some good ideas where to start my search. I'm in rural Virginia,
> near Richmond, and thought I would like to get some Oak to start with.
>
> Suggestions? Anyone willing to give a direct source?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> RK
>
Sadly, I just moved away from southeast VA. I brought approximately 2000 bf
of oak, cherry and poplar with me to Texas. My advice is to get to know a
sawyer (I used a guy out of chesapeake who had a woodmizer, can't remember
his name right now, but he is in the chesapeake phone book). You can either
have them saw trees that you identify or he can let you know when he finds
wood available. If you find a tree yourself and have it sawn, it will
probably cost about 30-50 cents/bf. The sawyer can also help you judge
whether a downed tree is worth milling.
Montyhp
>
"Montyhp" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "77clearly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:IgUWc.3222$Y%[email protected]...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I'm fairly new to woodworking. I tinkered a lot during my high school
> years
> > and some after. But now I've got my own garage (900 sq ft!) and have
big
> > plans. I've got the tools: table saw, band saw, work bench, etc., but I
> > don't know where to look for the wood.
> >
> > I know good wood supply sources are coveted by woodworkers, but can
anyone
> > give me some good ideas where to start my search. I'm in rural
Virginia,
> > near Richmond, and thought I would like to get some Oak to start with.
> >
> > Suggestions? Anyone willing to give a direct source?
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> > RK
> >
> Sadly, I just moved away from southeast VA. I brought approximately 2000
bf
> of oak, cherry and poplar with me to Texas. My advice is to get to know a
> sawyer (I used a guy out of chesapeake who had a woodmizer, can't remember
> his name right now, but he is in the chesapeake phone book). You can
either
> have them saw trees that you identify or he can let you know when he finds
> wood available. If you find a tree yourself and have it sawn, it will
> probably cost about 30-50 cents/bf. The sawyer can also help you judge
> whether a downed tree is worth milling.
>
> Montyhp
>
> >
The sawyer's name just came to me: Paul Garrity. He is active in Tidewater
Woodworker's Guild.
Montyhp
>
>
> I know good wood supply sources are coveted by woodworkers, but can anyone
> give me some good ideas where to start my search. I'm in rural Virginia,
> near Richmond, and thought I would like to get some Oak to start with.
If you don't mind driving on I-64 Yukon Lumber in Norfolk has a good
selection of material.
Closer to home in Richmond you could try the Woodcraft store.
www.woodcraft.com will get you directions to the store. They would be
likely to know what is available locally
Tigger
On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 04:08:08 GMT, "77clearly"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I'm fairly new to woodworking. I tinkered a lot during my high school years
>and some after. But now I've got my own garage (900 sq ft!) and have big
>plans. I've got the tools: table saw, band saw, work bench, etc., but I
>don't know where to look for the wood.
>
>I know good wood supply sources are coveted by woodworkers, but can anyone
>give me some good ideas where to start my search. I'm in rural Virginia,
>near Richmond, and thought I would like to get some Oak to start with.
>
>Suggestions? Anyone willing to give a direct source?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>RK
>
I'm nowhere near you, but this might help.
http://www.woodfinder.com/