I've found my self relying on the BORG's to get lumber. As you all know their lumber selection is limited, for instance I've only found two home depots that carry Maple and the stock they carry is often warped....no good. I've gone to Woodcraft & Klingspor's and their S4S stock is wicked expensive. Rough cut seems like the way to go, but I don't have a joiner/thickness planer. Any suggestions?
Novice - Where to get wood
- Thread starter joepoolplayer
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Rough cut and friends with planers is a good way to go. 
Are you coming to the picnic?
Seriously, if you need to plane so much that it would be too much to ask, then it probably makes economic sense to buy one yourself. You can save so much on the wood (especially with suppliers like Saw4You) that you will pay for the planer. But if it is just the odd piece here and there, don't be afraid to ask. It doesn't hurt your cause to forget a nice piece of wood when you leave or to offer assistance to others here when you get a chance. I would offer to help, but I don't have a planer. But I just planed a few short pieces last week courtesy of another member (thanks, Matt!)...
Are you coming to the picnic?
Seriously, if you need to plane so much that it would be too much to ask, then it probably makes economic sense to buy one yourself. You can save so much on the wood (especially with suppliers like Saw4You) that you will pay for the planer. But if it is just the odd piece here and there, don't be afraid to ask. It doesn't hurt your cause to forget a nice piece of wood when you leave or to offer assistance to others here when you get a chance. I would offer to help, but I don't have a planer. But I just planed a few short pieces last week courtesy of another member (thanks, Matt!)...
My bad :embaresse I should have mentioned Scott Smith as well and I forgot he will surface. He doesn't usually list maple, but he may have some; I don't know...
When I saw your reply, I figured you were going to give me a hard time about having found someone to take your place since you [STRIKE]ran off[/STRIKE] moved away with [STRIKE]my[/STRIKE] your planer. :rotflm:
When I saw your reply, I figured you were going to give me a hard time about having found someone to take your place since you [STRIKE]ran off[/STRIKE] moved away with [STRIKE]my[/STRIKE] your planer. :rotflm:
Andy your planer service is still available at the old rate structure. You just have a little longer to walk. :wink_smil
Wurth Wood group off Poole Road in Raleigh has 13/16 stock straight line ripped for around $3/bf in maple at my last purchase from them. They have birch, soft/hard maple, alder, cherry, red oak at the minimum. Seems to have always had good quality stuff.
One thing about Wurth is that they do sell off gross tally -so they add about 10% to the measurement to account for shrinkage in drying and straightline ripping, but the price is lower a BF than what you pay at other places. Their hours are not the best for a hobbyist either.
One thing about Wurth is that they do sell off gross tally -so they add about 10% to the measurement to account for shrinkage in drying and straightline ripping, but the price is lower a BF than what you pay at other places. Their hours are not the best for a hobbyist either.
Welcome to the group! A very wise man had the exact same question as you about 7 years ago and now we have NCWW. At the top of this page there are a couple of brown horizontal menu bars (if using PC/Laptop). The second one has a selection "Woodworking in NC" If you click on it this excellent information pops up:
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/view.php?pg=woodlist
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/view.php?pg=sawyers
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/view.php?pg=woodlist
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/view.php?pg=sawyers
In Jack's last CL ad, maple is $1.10/bf, so that is when you have to think about the quantity and decide if doing your own surfacing makes sense or not. 10 bf- no way. 100 - maybe. 200 - definitely...
Well it seems I have a lot of half stories today...
I didn't realize Jack offered that. I have only seen the "open air" side of his operation (the sawmill itself and the stacks).
I didn't realize Jack offered that. I have only seen the "open air" side of his operation (the sawmill itself and the stacks).
As the others have mentioned, there are other local providers - I'll add The Hardwood Store, who is also a sponsor. They're out on the way to Greensboro.
I'm over in Raleigh, just north of the airport, and you are welcome to come over and run some wood through my planer any time!
Chris
Thanks Chris. I'm about 10 minutes from Brier Creek, so I might just take you up on that.
Best,
Nate
Best,
Nate
Lot's of good advice here already. A couple of things to consider:
- If you're going to do a lot of woodworking, buying lumber rough is the way to go, no doubt about it.
- You lose a lot of material going from rough to finished, which is why it's so expensive. With rough lumber, you're the one paying for rough edges, cupped/ twisted boards, knots, checks etc. With finished lumber, the store pays for that. Also, since not every store has the necessary equipment, transport costs are added to the price as well. That's how you go from $0.50/ board foot for green lumber to $7 finished at Lowe's.
- Jointing, planing and ripping lumber is a lot of work. For the hobbyist, that's goodness. More time on the project! For the professional, time is money.
- Good equipment for processing lumber can add up. You can get started using a standard 12" 'lunchbox' planer and greatly expand your wood universe. If you buy used, that's a couple of hundred bucks. Add a jointer and you can tackle rough boards. But now you find your jointer isn't wide enough and you're tired of using a planer sled, so you buy a bigger jointer. And that blizzard of chips that come out need to be collected so you don't spend an hour sweeping every day. You can easily spend several thousand dollars here.
- Most woodworkers are more than happy to help you joint/ plane some lumber. It's good justification for buying these toys...I mean tools....
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