On-line Wood Purchase

[Tom Veatch]

This is a follow-on to this thread in the Deals and Discounts forum.

Background: Asked if anyone had any experiences with WoodVendors.com. Nobody indicated any experience with them but I threw the dice and placed an order. I promised that if anyone was interested, I'd post comments about the experience when the pig came out of its poke. Here are my comments.

• Ran across their website from a Google search looking for rough cut walnut.
• Communication excellent. Telephone answered promptly and courteously. Email responses received within hours.
• Ordered 250 bd ft of 4/4 Select & Better, Walnut, KD, Rgh, RW, L 6-8' at $4.50/bd ft.
• Placed the order and received a telephone call Monday morning asking if 8' boards skip planed to 15/16" would be acceptable. Agreed that was acceptable. Wood on my dock Friday morning.
• By my rough calculations, the delivery contained about 268 bd ft - definitely not a short count. All of the boards 6" or wider. Most in the 6-8" range. One monster 15" wide. None of the boards shorter than 8'. Most in the 100"-105" range. Some over 9'.
• Most of the boards have beautiful grain and good color; a little more sapwood than optimum, but balancing that against the overage on board foot and I'm satisfied. Minor amount of end checking, surface defects per grade or better. Very minor warpage: no obvious cupping, twist, or bow. A few of the boards had mild to moderate crook. Overall impression of the wood quality - Not quite FAS, but at the high end of Select.
• Don't have a moisture meter, so I can't give a definitive reading on moisture content, but handling and inspecting each individual board, I didn't get an uncomfortable feeling about moisture content. I believe a week or two of acclimation and it'll be good to go.

Bottom Line:
Would I do it again? You bet!

Disclaimer: I have no business nor personal relationship with the company or with any of the personnel of WoodVendors.com other than as a paying customer.

[Alan Bienlein]

Sounds like a decent place to deal with. Will have to keep them in mind for my next purchase. Any possibility of pictures?

[Bob Borzelleri]

I did a calculation on shipping 100 feet of hard maple to northern California. It came out to $178 plus $50 for residential delivery.

Dropping the order down to 10 ft. was $15 less for shipping. Total pricing seems higher than the two local hardwood shops.

[scott vroom]

I did a calculation on shipping 100 feet of hard maple to northern California. It came out to $178 plus $50 for residential delivery.

Dropping the order down to 10 ft. was $15 less for shipping. Total pricing seems higher than the two local hardwood shops.

Bob, where are you finding hard maple for <$2.28/.bd ft in nor cal? Best quote I've found is MacBeth's $3.06/bd ft for 4/4 rough (15/16").

Scott

[Tom Veatch]

Sounds like a decent place to deal with. Will have to keep them in mind for my next purchase. Any possibility of pictures?

Ask and ye shall receive.

The stickered stack of boards:
Walnut Stack.jpg

Some sample boards off the top of the stack:
Sample Boards.JPG

What that pile of lumber is destined to become:

Two more of these and a couple of matching bookcases for each. This is the prototype and the leaded glass inserts are not installed in the upper doors. This one was fabricated from some walnut paneling reclaimed from a remodeling job and given to me by a good friend and neighbor. (He may wind up with the prototype, if he's willing to haul it off.) The color is a deeper and darker walnut than shows in these photos. The only finish is a couple of coats of BLO.
Wine Cabinet 01.jpg

Wine Cabinet 02.jpg

Wine Cabinet 03.jpg

(By the way, I avoided the +$50 residential delivery charge by having it shipped to the terminal and held for my pickup.)

[Alan Bienlein]

Thanks for the pics Tom. The wood looks just as good as anything you could find locally. I was going to buy 4/4 cherry from them since they were about $2 a bdft cheaper than a local hardwood supplier in Houston delivered to my door. I ended up at a local sawmill northwest of Houston and ended up buying 250 bdft of pecan instead.
12-5-09 001.jpg
Decided I wanted something different. I think I will use them for the walnut I'll need to finish our bedroom set.

P.S. I'm not going to let loml see the pics of the cabinets your making as I have enough to do already.

[Richard Amabile]

Alan:

I have been looking for good wood suppliers in the Houston area (good quality at a good price) and they seem hard to find. Can you provide some information on the place you bought your wood (Northwest of Houston)? Any other recommendations would be appreciated in that I am just getting back into woodworking after a long stretch when the time just was not there.