Where do you get your wood?

I normally get my hardwood from a sawyier that lives about 50 miles from my home. His prices are much better than retail outlets such as Woodcraft or Rockler. Lowe’s and Home Depot have a very limited selection of hardwood and you will pay about $6.00 a bf which is way to much for me. Your best bet would be to locate a local sawyier who can provide you with hardwood lumber.

A good source to try is Craigslist. Hardwood is generally posted in the materials section and, while posts do not show up everyday unless you are near a large metropolitan area, if you are patient good deals can be found there.

Another source to try is Woodfinder. This is a useful site to locate local suppliers. It tends to focus on retail outlets but it can be useful in finding other sources of wood.

Internet purchases are ok and you can find some good suppliers but adding in shipping escalates the cost of lumber. Another source of wood that might be of use is a site member, Barlow sells hardwood.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Ditto on checking with www.woodfinder.com to locate sources near you.

-- Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Google Wall Lumber Co.

They sell 20 bf bundles of various species at a price that includes UPS shipping. Their prices are the best I’ve found on the internet, and the quality of the lumber is excellent.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

http://www.woodfinder.com/

-- Steve, Webster Groves, MO

I almost always try to buy local wood, unless I have a specific requirement or can mill it myself. Here is an old sawmill list from your state, but could help: http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/forestry/05/sawmills2005.pdf
Woodweb’s listing for sawmills: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/directories/sdd.cgi

-- My Etsy store: http://jtcwoodcrafts.etsy.com

Ditto on woodfinder…

FWIW, I have a 14” bandsaw with a riser block, and a shop built resaw jig. I make a LOT of my own hardwood lumber from limb stock, and smallish trunks that neighbors cut down. This stuff seasons in my attic for about a year before I even think about using it…

Species I usually fun into around here are Pecan, Mesquite, Live Oak, Cedar, Ash, and Walnut. I don’t bother with pine as I can buy that so cheap locally pre done it’s not funny.

The lumber I buy is usually from the big box stores. Lowes seems to have better quality lumber in these parts, but YMMV depending on where you live.

For more exotic stuff, and mind you, I haven’t been buying exotics, but I have found a couple of local hardwood dealers and sawmills within about 2 hours of the house… And there is always Rockler and Woodcraft.

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

When I lived in Buffalo Grove, I used to go to OWL Hardwoods. Good stock of domestics and exotics and unusal plywoods also. They can joint or mill for an extra charge.

Stores and Locations
LOMBARD 620 E. St.Charles Road Lombard, Illinois 60148 630.627.5060
DES PLAINES 926 S. Graceland Des Plaines, Illinois 60016 847.824.5025
OAK LAWN 4655 W. Southwest Highway Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453 708.422.1300

vincent, did you ever make it up to WoodWerks up in Waukonda? How does OWL compare?

-- Ryan -- Maple Grove, MN

Yes, I did get to Wodwerks. OWL had a better selection of what I needed (quartersawm and rift sawn oak and matching plywood). Woodwerks had a nice assortment of exotics.

I have also used Woodplanet.com also… http://www.woodplanet.com Whats nice about them is they let you request a quote for any sized order…and they also list offers to sell from various providers….some are small time sawyers that give excellent deals…it’s another tool to add to your wood source.

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!

Do some google searches for “sawmill,” “sawyer,” “hardwood,” etc. I too am new to this hobby, and I recently found a sawyer about 10 minutes from my house in the City of Cleveland. Turns out the guy is a one man shop and gets all his trees from the city and surrounding suburbs that get cut down by the utility companies, which typically go to a landfill. He saws it, kiln dries it, and sells it himself out of his warehouse/shop. Unless you were looking, you would never know this guy existed. You need to dig a little to find the local sources.

Thanks for all the tips everyone! I’ll check out all the links, and search for some more local guys also.

-- Ryan -- Maple Grove, MN

Thought I would continue this thread instead of a new one except I am looking for wood sources in the Tampa Bay area. Any help is appreciated. thanks in advance.

-- Tampa-FL