Moving to Memphis

[Greg Hairston]

Well It is official. I received Orders this week and will be moving to Elvis land. Can anyone in the area give me some sources of wood suppliers. I am really interested in Mills but all sources will do.

Thanks

Greg

[Joe Meazle]

Gerg,

I used to live over there and go back 3 or 4 times a year. There are two woodworking supply places Colco, lots of Wood and a good amount of tools finishes etc., then there The wood working shops less wood bust some average selection of tools and supplies both are pretty proud of what they sell. Scott Banbury runs Midtown logging and lumber. He has a woodmizer. Real nice guy and a member here but I think he posts more at Woodcenteral. There is supposed to be another suppler out in Collierville but i never made it out there. I hope that helps. I know it does not sound like much but there is whole lot less here in central Arkansas.
Joe

[Larry Crim]

You must be going to Millington? I just got orders there also, you beat me to the wood ? I am lucky to get a quick deployment in before I get to leave.
Larry

[Scott Banbury]

Thanks for the reference Joe and welcome to Graceland Greg! :)

Greg,

Colco is the source for exotic woods.

For plain domestics, there are several suppliers of Oak, Soft Maple/Birch, and Polar. Nixon Lumber Company has good prices.

If you need 200 bdft or more of anything, it's worth talking to Noonan Greene, an independent lumber broker operating out of Bolen-Brunsen Lumber Company.

There are a couple of circle and bandmills operating around Millington but good luck tracking them down--their customers regularly call us when they can't get hold of them :D

Of course, I'd be happy to sell you some wood, but you'd have to settle for BIG WIDE pieces of Walnut, Cherry and Quartersawn Oak since that's what we saw. I haven't updated it since we moved to our recently acquired shop at 1750 Chelsea, but feel welcome to visit our website at www.scottbanbury.com (http://www.scottbanbury.com/). (We will be updating shortly.)

Again Greg, welcome to Memphis :)

[Greg Hairston]

Scott,

I dont know... Wide Walnut, Cherry and Quartersawn oak. Not sure if I can handle the excitement ;) . If the prices are right you have a new customer. I usually buy quite a bit of wood several times a year. I use a private mill here in my area and we have a great working relationship. I like to write him checks and he likes to cash them.

I will give you a call this week while house hunting. Maybe I can visit your operation.

Larry,
When will you be arriving and what will you be doing. Let me know if I can be of any help prior to your arrival. I am doing the house hunting thing this week. Got my orders Monday and they said detach November. Got to love my detailer. If you need information on the housing market I may be able to help.

Thanks to all....

Greg

[Larry Crim]

Gregg I'm with you on the wood maybe we can arrange a combined purchase from scott when I get my shop set up.
I have a whole house full of furniture I need to build starting with the bedroom and I am a wal-nut. Thanks for the offer to assist I sent you a pm.
Larry

[Scott Banbury]

Larry and Greg,

Y'all come on by and see me when you get to town, I'll PM you my cell # so you can make sure I'm around.

I've got a 1000+ bdft each of Cherry, Walnut and QS White Oak comin' back from the kiln sometime the end of this month or beginning of next. Most of the Cherry's already taken by a 5000 CD storage cabinet and entertainment center I'm building on commission this winter, but the Walnut and Oak will be up fer grabs somewhere between $3 and $5/bdft depending on grade and width.

Y'all would both do well to collect some logs out 'round Millington and have us saw 'em up for ya--I get calls all the time out there from folks wantin' to give me ther Walnut trees to get rid of the mess they make :D

[Joe Meazle]

Guys,

let me tell you the stuff I saw at Scott's was pretty sweet. The stuff on the website is a true sample not an exception. I saw a whole stack of wide walnut when I was there. He keeps the logs indexed when he mills them so you can easiley get boards from a single log. I was trying to figure out how to get 100bf into the Honda Civc. I dirve the truck to Memphis from now on.

Scott is that QS white oak you were sawing ready now? Any more trouble from the City?

Joe

[Scott Banbury]

Joe,

The QS Oak you saw us sawin' is at Jorgensen-Bennett gettin' kilned and I expect to get it back within a month. Kiln drying is our biggest problem--all the kilns around here are huge conventional types and they don't dry from green. Instead our wood has to yard dry to 25% before they'll load it and it sometimes takes up to 6 months before we get our wood back. :(

We're going to remedy this by installing our own dehumidification kiln in our new shop over the winter. :cool:

Shelby County Commercial Code Enforcement really reamed me this summer. :mad: Even after we sawed every log on or about my property, they still insisted that I could not have my woodworking shop at my home (not allowed to make money on a residential lot), that I could not keep my money-making Woodmizer parked in my own driveway despite my being at a deadend and noone being able to see it unless they're tresspassing, and that I couldn't have airdry stacks in my yard even if it was for my own use. :confused:

They basically forced me to buy an industrial property to avoid heavy fines and potential incarceration for contempt. :( Things worked out alright in the end though as I was able to scrape together enough capital to buy a 4500 sqft building on Chelsea Avenue right across from Wilson's cypress yard. It has a lakefront view of Kilowatt Lake, 3 phase power and came with a working forklift and 7.5hp 36" American Woodworking Machinery bandsaw--all for $30,000. :D

I can't remember if I showed you my old 17' x 22' shop. If I did you can imagine what a joy it is to have 1200 sqft of the new shop dedicated to all my big green machines. :)

Here's a shot of my cousin unloading a nice oak log at our new place . . .