Lumber yard trips

[James Pallas]

Last week a friend drove me to the lumber supplier. I love those trips. I first go to the rough section to see if I can find what I need for projects in mind. If not there I go to the surfaced section where I usually find what I am looking for. I then just look around. I see pieces that I can say, "It would be a real chore to work with that" wild interlocking grain, curly this and spalted that, hard as a rock stuff all the things that people seem to like to work with. I just leave it to look at. What do you like? I'm posting a picture of more or less my style of lumber.
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

My favorite lumber yard gave me a surprise looking through the stacks of premium pine. One of the workers told me they were just about out of that grade of lumber. The yard owner bought a train car load and sold it over a period of years. Now it may be back to knotty pine if they do not purchase another car load of the premium lumber.

It is also fun to walk through their inside yard to look at the hardwoods and other premium firs.

Hopefully my travels will take me into Portland in January. Gilmer Woods is going to put a lot of wood on sale.

jtk

[Roy Petersen]

Used to go all the time to a yard that had raw logs delivered. They'd saw them, dry them and sell the result as rough as well as finished and milled into molding and the like. Everything from absurdly figured cherry to tiger maple, birdseye and more. The prices were not at all bad, all things considered, but you had to be quick. The high figure stuff didn't stay long. Maybe a 40 minute drive one way, and always well worth it.

Just had a look at their website, and it looks like they no longer offer 12/4 like I used to get there. Shame, they were a great resource.
If you're near Oneonta NY, you may want to pop in: http://www.wightmanlumber.com

[William Fretwell]

Almost none of my wood comes from 'lumber yards'. An individual in the country with a huge barn type structure full of assorted hardwoods, bit of a pot luck event. Another favourite was a specialised hardwood supplier in a large city, he died suddenly however but the 2 day clear-out sale by his widow set me up for a while.

There are very few family sawmills around but I have one 50 minutes away just off a main highway. With the ash borer beetle we have a glut of great ash. Taking them your own log and having it cut the way you want is the best. I had the trestles for my bench cut the way I wanted them, just had to dry them!