WNC area looking for wood

[CaptnA]

Hi all - Years ago in Asheville there was a great place, Educational Lumber - but they've long gone out of business. Educational had a huge selection of species in many thicknesses widths and lengths. They were always ready with bins of splits/shorts/cuts/etc at 'move it' prices.
Gennett has some decent variety if you need rough boards 4/4, 8/4, or flooring- but where can we find thin stock in varying widths with decent woods? Asheville Hardware is supposed to be "the outlet" for Fairview Sawyers - but they had almost nothing in the store this week when we were there. The 'big boxes' have some basic pine, oak, and poplar but what about other options?
My wife is tired of hearing my 'stories' of the days of old - she wants wood!
Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated~

 

[CaptnA]

For those of you not in the area, where do you find small project wood??
Thanks~

 

[sapwood]

Andrew,
You can start out checking out suppliers listed here. It's from the drop down menu under "Where Are?" in the brown bar at the top of site/forum page. And I'm sure a member from your area (Rob, Cathy) will come along shortly with more specific info. :icon_thum

Hope this helps,
Roger

 

[McRabbet]

Andrew,

Cormark Int'l does have some smaller project lots of exotics, but they are pricey due to contracts they have with some national WW stores. Steve Wall Lumber has UPS bundles (see the list that Roger posted for the center part of the state) and they always have excellent materiaks. I've bought good lumber in rough or S2S from both Bee Tree in Swannanoa and Catawba in Marion. What are you looking for specifically?

 

[cskipper]

Most often, I try to use species of wood that we have and get LOML to re-saw them to thinner stock. Otherwise, you can try these:
http://www.heritagewood.com/index.html
http://www.delswoodcraft.com/thinwood.htm
http://www.ocoochhardwoods.com/index.html
www.scrolleronline.com

 

[Tarhead]

Boy...Educational Lumber. What a place! I spent some money and great time rummaging through that place when we lived there!!

A few WWing buddies and I made friends with the owner of a molding shop in East Asheville/Swannanoa off of Tunnel Rd. just past the Parkway. He had a steady supply of offcuts. When he did flooring we would get pallets of Maple, White Oak, Walnut seconds and shorts and split it up. It was great for small projects, boxes, etc. Hate to say it but a lot of it went in the woodstove. It was cheaper than buying firewood. Check the Yellow pages and go make some friends.

Also keep an eye on http://asheville.craigslist.org/ Click on the materials listing. I see some listings on there from time to time. Probably wouldn't hurt to post a "Wanted to Buy" post on Craigslist in the Material and the Tools section. I'm sure some one up there has a barn full of 60 y/o primo Walnut, Cherry and Oak stock they want to pay someone to get rid of....:rotflm: really...it happens:rotflm:.

Also...shoot a PM to Bonewood. Rumor is he is moving to Cashiers/Highlands from the Swamp. He's on the 10 Most Wanted list for interstate transport of good deals on hardwood.

 

[PurpleThumb]

Andrew,

Cormark Int'l does have some smaller project lots of exotics, but they are pricey due to contracts they have with some national WW stores. Steve Wall Lumber has UPS bundles (see the list that Roger posted for the center part of the state) and they always have excellent materiaks. I've bought good lumber in rough or S2S from both Bee Tree in Swannanoa and Catawba in Marion. What are you looking for specifically?

What Rob said. Also B&K Tools used to have some in stock(Biltmore Ave.) Depending on what and how much, some of us NCWW or WNCWW members may have some we could help you with.

 

[CaptnA]

thank you all for the replies! I tell you what, having people that are close to get help from is fantastic~
As you can tell I'm not a computer 'whiz' although I've used the words whiz and computer in the same thought many MANY times... usually as in "verbing on the noun".... I'm slowly learning to navigate the site ( the loml taught me that term).
I'm mostly looking for nice wood to use on small projects. Boxes, scroll pieces etc where I hate or refuse to piece out a good board. on our recent trip to Gennett we found some curly maple and (OH MY) curly cherry... I can't part out these finds for scroll pieces or such. eventually we will build up the 'scrap box' to the point we can have pieces in there big enough to do something. We're basically just getting the shop running.
And about Educational - why do great things always seem to come to an end? Guess I ought to feel fortunate that I saw such a place in their hey day.
Appreciate the ideas y'all. Got some calls to make and if anyone comes up with more please don't hesitate to drop a line.
Oh and about Cormark - if you've never seen a place filled with dream woods in everything from $10,000 boards to exquisite pen blanks in woods I didn't even knew were really available, consider a trip to Weaverville and talk with Jason or one of the guys. (take a flashlight with you) We've bought a good bit of wood from them but import exotics are gorgeous and expensive. Hard to justify some of the cost for the things we make. Not at all for other. So its always a balancing act.
Thanks again for the input~

 

[danskone]

I have cherry walnut oak and ash backing boards. They are about1/2" thick. I sell veneer in large and small quantitiy. These boards are what is left after we finish slicing decorative veneer