[OP]
Member
I've never ordered lumber on the Internet before, but thinking about it. I need about 100bf (a good round number) of either ash, red oak, or poplar. I'm looking for cheap - willing to do all the edging, surfacing and planing myself.
I'm wondering what other's experiences are with Internet lumber buying?
Anyone know of a good Internet lumber dealer?
Tom Hoffman
Folsom, California
Member
Steve Wall of Wall Lumber has been selling in magazines and on-line www.walllumber.com for many years, and I have never heard of a dissatisfied customer. Steve personally called me back minutes after I emailed a question.
I have bought from him, but need to wait for a sale to counteract the shipping charges. If you can pick it up at the trucking terminal in your town, you will save a bunch.
Contributor
i've had many dealings with www.westpennhardwoods.com over the last couple of years. building my house, cabinets and trim. i ordered a whole bunch of qs red oak for my cabinets and if i remember correctly the shipping weight was around 1400lbs..... they shipped it free! granted, i picked it up at the freight terminal, but to me, that's adventagous due to the fact that most terminals will load it for you with a forklift. everytime i call they're always very helpful and bend over backwards to get my order right. just recently ordered some red oak for a vanity for my wife and once again, they were a pleasure to deal with.
cya!
brad
The Country Toad Workshop Rogersville, Al
Member
I've never ordered sizable quantities over the internet - just turning quantities.
My reason? I want to be able to swear up and down at someone if they send me junk....someone who knows I just have to drive a bit to go and return any crap they send me.
I also wonder about the lumber - ash and oak are similar but poplar? Typically, poplar would be poor substitute for ash or oak but ash and oak can be interchanged other than for aesthetics.
You should be able to get those woods in plain sawn 4/4 rough format for $4/bf or less locally. Factor in shipping from far away and you probably won't come out very far ahead.....retailers only have so much room when you're looking at a $400 purchase.
Tim
on the neverending quest for wood.....
Member
Originally Posted by Charlie Plesums
Steve's good people. I usually buy all my lumber from them. I feel fortunate to live within pick up distance, but wouldn't hesitate to have them ship if I didn't. They have a nice selection of products and I've never been disapointed with the service they give.
Member
Tom,
I have used Internet Lumber http://internetlumber.com/ for most of my lumber needs. I have bought 100 BF at a time from them. They have superpaks at a reasonable rate and the quatlity and service is good.
Jim
Guest
I have also purchased from them - about 100 board feet of instrument grade curly maple for a couple of blanket chests. I would recommend going there if you're anywhere close. It's 3.5 hours for me to get there, but they have an enormous stock, and they're super pleasant to deal with.
Member
You might want to check the vendor area at the bottom of the forums. Mike Morgan was (is?) working on a method to get lumber to the left coast. I've bought from him several times and always received excellent quality lumber besides the fact he is a pleasure to do business with. He has shipped me some extra nice stock when he runs across it and recently dropped off 500 BF to my garage door.
Member
I've bought from both Internet Lumber and Steve Wall. I've been very satisfied with both vendors. Lumber has always measured out boardfoot wise and been of nice quality.
Member
Here is a source that I have used:http://www.woodworkerssource.net/Mer...roduct_Count=3
My last purchase was 400 bd ft of Goncalo Alves. They are in Arizona so it will save some shipping costs as compared to Internet Lumber. I have also used Internet Lumber and was happy with both of these suppliers.
Bill Ragland
Winchester, Ca
Member
I recently bought a some finger jointed poplar 1Xs and moldings from Baird Brothers and was extremely happy with the product and prices.
www.bairdbros.com
Steve
Member
Had good experiences with Internet Lumber, Talarico Hardwoods and Hearne. Also had a couple decent purchases from the big auction site on some rather unique stuff.
Wouldn't hesitate to buy from either of them again. I just hate the shipping charges but ya gave to do what ya have to do for certain things being smack dab in the middle of the country.
Greg
Member
I've nnever looked into this--but what am I missing? For 110 bd ft, wouldn't the shipping charge be outrageous?
Member
I purchased cherry and purpleheart from them before. Just today i went to order and the shipping was outrageous - $150.00! so i changed the items in my cart just to see what would happen. Shipping was again astronomical. I checked into my last order - I paid 12 bucks for shipping... I dont get it.
Contributor
I purchased 150 bd ft of red oak and 50 bd ft of soft maple, top grade of each, from Wall Lumber. The good boards were good, but the not-so-good boards were terrible. One 1 x 10, 10 foot long was only good for fire wood. Unfortunately, I could not tell that before cleaning up the boards. Several of the boards had knots that were visible on both sides. I probably got around 70 percent usable wood out of that batch. I've only purchased once from Wall Lumber, so maybe it was just a bad batch of wood. I live about 100 miles from the place and drove down to pick it up.
I purchased lumber from Niagara Lumber with good results. The only possible negative is the size of wood. To get the wood sized for UPS, the wood comes in 70 pound bundles and is at most 8 foot long. Some pieces can be only 4 inches wide and 6 foot long. But it was all good wood.
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