Best place in MA to get wood

[Adrian Michaud]

Hello Folks,

I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good place in MA to stock an empty wood shop. I normally just get small amounts of wood from Home depot; however, I now want to purchase a large quantity of misc wood. I don't know what I'll be building so I want to get a large variety.

Anyone know of a good place in MA besides Home Depot/Lowes/etc?

Adrian

[Mike Sandman]

Depends on where you are in Mass., but National Lumber has several home center type stores inside 495 and a couple of stores outside 495 -- Gardner & New Bedford. The quality of their lumber is definitely a cut above Home Depot's.

http://www.national-lumber.com/ and click on Locations on the bar at the top.

For moldings and a wide variety of hardwood, Anderson & McQuaid on the Cambridge/Belmont line off Route 2 is superb.

http://www.andersonmcquaid.com/

[Anthony Whitesell]

NH has 2 near me, Highland Hardwoods and Goosebay Lumber. I know there's a place in Rowley or Ipswich, but I think they cater more to the exotic and exotic figured stuff, but worth a look anyway.

[Caspar Hauser]

Adrian, where are you/how far are you prepared to travel?

[Brian Backner]

There's also Downes and Reader in Stoughton:

http://www.downesandreader.com/Site/index.html

For really good quality wood and plywood - they cater to the boat building crowd - try Boulter Plywood in Somerville:

http://www.boulterplywood.com/

Brian

[Russ Kay]

There are two good sources in Central Massachusetts.

New England Hardwood Supply (amusingly, their charges read New England Hardware Supply) in Littleton, MA, just off Route 2, is a small outfit that usually doesn't have a ton of stuff, but one is welcome to pick through their supply of shorts (not all of them are short, either). They stock mainly oak (red & white, some quartersawn), white ash, cherry, walnut, birch, maple, poplar, and mahogany. They often have small bundles of shorts, sometimes 1/2" thick, for half the regular price, and it's usually nice and clear, if small. They do occasionally have other things; I picked up a nice 6' long wenge board there for relatively small change. Their prices don't represent real bargains, but they are fair for this area and they have some very nice wood.

The other place I use is The Woodery, in Lunenburg, MA, not far off Route 12 (or is it 13? I'll have to look it up). They have a much larger supply of wood on hand, both rough-sawn and S4S, including a lot of exotics. (I once got some 2" thick Jatoba at $6.50 a board foot.) They do not carry figured wood as a general rule, but they may have something on hand at any given time. They do have a very large inventory of plywood in various grades and woods. I've bought a lot of their "International" 3/4" birch plywood (11-13 plies) for, I'm recalling, $45 or so a sheet, and used it for shop cabinets. Never got a bad sheet in the lot; no voids, no delamination, faces are decent. I don't have a truck or large car, and they're very nice about cutting down larger pieces. Yes, they charge $1 per cut for plywood, but they're also pretty careful when they do it, so it's worth the slight extra cost to me.

[Adrian Michaud]

Thanks for the replys!

I'm located in Billerica (Intersection of 495 and Rt. 3)

I'd like to buy a lot of wood: qty 5-10 of 4x8 sheets of 3/4" and 1/2" MDF, qqty 5-10 4x8 sheets of 3/4 and 1/2" and 5/8" ply, lots of pine (widths of 2,4,6,8,10,12 by 8-10 feet 1/2"-3/4"), qty 10-20 sheets of 4x8 paneling, qty 100-200 8' 2x4 studs (prob spruce or DF), qty 100-200 8' 2x3" studs (prob spruce or DF), qty 10-20 8' 4x4 DF, qty 8-10 2x10s floor joists (16+ feet), and prob more pine, and then some more pine, and lastly some extra pine.

Adrian

[Anthony Whitesell]

I'd give Seacoast Mills in Brentwood, NH a call, as well as Rand Lumber in Rye, NH. They both actually have a mills on sight. I wonder if they could help you with the pricing on that quantity. The other mills that I used to frequent that dealt with pine all shut down (three of them). I know it would be a bit of a drive, but it might be worth it.

[joe aiello]

try the EMGW.ORG(EASTERN MASS GUILD OF WOODWORKERS ). There are a few members that have sawmills ;they cut and sell a small varity.Prices are good.

[Jeff Duncan]

Your looking for at least 3 different suppliers.

1) Framing lumber (ie. 2x....) best place is your local lumberyard, I'd guess maybe Friend lumber would be close to you.

2) Construction Plywood. see #1 above.

3) Cabinet Grade Plywood, Atlantic ply is in Woburn but not particularly friendly to non trade guys. Boulter is in Somerville and very friendly but more expensive. Downes & Reader carries a small selection of sheet goods down in Stoughton. There's plenty of others around too, depending on exactly what you need.

4) Hardwoods.....anyplace but the box stores Seriously they're going to be the most money for the least quality you can find. Downes & Reader in Stoughton is very friendly for guys buying small (under 300 bd ft.) quantities. New England Hardwoods is another great supplier, small but top notch quality stuff. Anderson McQuaid in Cambridge is another place to avoid, very expensive and quality is hit or miss. They are great for moldings though.

good luck,
JeffD

[Phil St.Germain]

For all of your pine needs you should check out Parlee Lumber and Box in Littleton. They are a saw mill right off of 495.

[Joe Little]

If you are anywhere near Western Mass you have to check out Forest Product Associates. Great people, prices and amazing selection. Best organized lumber warehouse I have ever seen.

http://www.forestproductsassociates.com/

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Adrian - I recently looked for places using woodfinder dot com, but most of the ones that found their way onto my browser 'favorites' are listed above. Highland and New England Hardwood are probably the 2 I selected that would be convenient to you. I have gone to Downes and Reader and I thought they had a good selection, and were very nice to deal with.