Headed to my first lumber mill/yard...any advice?

[Troy Turner]

I have to drive an hour, but it's the only thing out here in West Texas. Place I'm going to is Acacia hardwooods in Lubbock. They have a website and the prices are worth the trip vs. paying shipping from other places. Called him up the other day and he helped me out good enough for me to want to go up there.

I'm going up for some Ash or Poplar...will decide when I get there. He does have other woods available so I'll do some rumaging.

I know they have rough, but they'll also mill whatever I need. I have a planer, joiner, and all that so I'll probably get his rough. They don't cut the logs onsite, but everything the get is kiln dried between 8-10%. Course out here in West Texas, it's probably less!

What should I look at either mill wise or wood wise or what questions could I ask that'll make this a productive trip?

Thanks for the help,

Troy

[Jerome Hanby]

I'd say main thing to carry is your check book, cause you are going to develop some serious wood lust once you start looking around. Can't speak for any other lumber yard, but the one I frequent usually has some super special for the month. It's pretty unusual for me to leave without some of the special...

You know, since they do milling on site, they may have a bargain rack with odd cutoffs and discards. I've built a ton of shop projects out of those. last visit my place said the economy had hit their milling business pretty hard so they had no bargain bin...

[Kent A Bathurst]

I only buy rough at lumber stores - I'd rather be the one responsible for flat & surfaced. I really dunno much about ash or poplar, but when I go to buy rough maple, or - especially - rough QSWO, I take a block plane to check the color and surface grain on the maple and the surface grain, sapwood, and [very closely] the end grain on the QSWO to keep away from riftsawn. Oh - and a small flashlight [warehouses can be a bit dark] and a tape measure [to match the useable lumber width to your intended cut list].

Be sure to ask/explain to them about the plane first, though - I just told them "I'll treat it like it was mine" and they were fine with that answer. The guys in the warehouse loved it when I pulled out a LN LA Block - they figured I must know what I was doing - wanted to try it out themselves!!!. After that first time, they expect me to have the block plane with me.

None of this may matter to what you're doing, though....just sayin'.

[Ryan Hellmer]

I would ask for 2 things, first, is there a price break at a certain quantity, and second, do they sell culls/seconds. I have a non-commercial sawmill but used to buy from local mills quite a bit. Most mills give a pretty nice price break at 100 bd.ft. You'll use it sometime so you might as well "save" the money. Also, I hauled off a 16' trailer load full of oak and some miscellaneous woods for .25 per board foot. Some of it had sat under the lean-to and got water spots, others were wavy or knotty. With a decent skil saw and a jointer and planer you can yield a lot of useable lumber out of culls and seconds, especially for shop or small projects.

Take that checkbook, as it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission and it will be cheaper than making a return trip (with the price of gas these days).

Ryan

[Troy Turner]

Not going up with the trailer this go 'round. Just going to get what I need (about 25 bdf) or so then coming back. That's the plan anyway. Course, may end up buying a trailer while I'm up there. Want to take the wife with me so she can get a better appreciation of woods other than pines and such for the box stores. Hoping to get a good bond with them so when I do call and want to have it shipped, they know what I'm looking for. I like the plane idea, and I've seen where folks do that or cut back some so they can see the grains. Right now it's going to be painted so I'm not too concerned.

Will definately keep an out for a cut-off bin or discounted lumber. I'm pretty sure with a little work I can turn a "bargain" piece into a "hey, she approves of it" piece :)

[scott vroom]

I may be alone on this, but I'd look for boards with one straight edge...or maybe that's obvious? I recently purhased some 13' oak that was crooked and that I knew would be a PITA to straighten on my 10" cabinet saw. For a small upcharge they made the boards straight and parallel. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Prashun Patel]

You'll learn how to pick the 'right' lumber as you do this a couple times. Here's what works for me:

1) Take a low angle block plane so you can plane off a little of the rough face to see the true color underneath. This is not such an issue on stuff like poplar and ash, but on curly woods like some maple and cherry, it can reveal a lot.

2) Beware that even if they mill it "S4S", it will probably move on you when you get home. Ash and poplar are pretty stable, though, and you might get lucky. At the very least, you'll only have a little squaring up to do.

3) Bring gloves and a tape measure and a calculator.

4) Don't be shy to spend time moving boards to find the one(s) you like.

5) Don't impulse buy. I'm warning you, those flitches and exotics are tempting to grab, but you may very well end up with a lot of odd pieces at home for years b4 you figure out where/how to use them (DAMHIKT).

Just read that this is going to be painted. If it were me, I'd stick with poplar then. It's easier to get a smooth painted finish on it vis-a-vis opengrained and heavily patterned ash.