Internet lumber - Cen Cal

[daniel lane]

Hi, all -

I've done the standard search for previously posted threads, but in general I'm not finding what I'm hoping to find. Can anyone help?

I'm located in central CA, about 3-4h north of LA - we have pretty much nothing when it comes to lumber selection - I know of two suppliers, one of which is insanely proud of their lumber, and the other is never open (they say on the door they are open, but I've never been there during business hours where the door is unlocked.) I'm getting ready for a workbench build, and although the Schwarz suggests anything local that's cheap, dry, and flat (I think I'm paraphrasing here) I'm disinclined to use Doug Fir knockoffs from the BORG and don't know of any other options. I'm looking for a good supplier of lumber with reasonably priced delivery of hardwoods to the west coast - I know about Wall and a bunch of others on the east coast, but I'm hoping for something closer, as I suspect shipping lumber from NC isn't going to make my all-up costs all that reasonable.

Anyone have experience ordering from internet suppliers to CA? I know about MacBeath, and several in LA, but I don't exactly have the time to drive 3-4h to LA or SF to get good pricing, and am willing to pay (within reason) for delivery. Ideally I'm looking for 12/4 or thicker hickory, but I'm open to several different woods and thicknesses (have some other projects in mind, too). Alternately, I'm open to very large slab purchases, within reason. (Anyone know of a good, reasonably priced source for old construction timbers?) Extremely alternately, I'm open to paying someone to deliver lumber to me from a nearby source (to them), but I suspect the odds of that are about as much as the odds of finding a dinosaur bone in my backyard.

Thanks in advance for any help you all can offer, I truly appreciate it. It's hard living in a small town! :/



daniel

[Stan Mitchell]

Finding a good hardwood dealer on the west coast is a pain. Most of our favorite hardwoods are grown back east. I've found that if you want a large quantity of hardwood that is native to the east coast, having a pallet load shipped via freight is your best bet and will be much less expensive than buying local at $7-10 a board foot.

I wouldn't call Visalia a small town (lived in nearby Tulare for 40 years) but I totally understand the drought in finding hardwood. I'm in eastern Oregon now and black walnut and west coast cherry is about the only local hardwoods at a reasonable price. I like working with quarter-sawn white oak and finding more than 20-30 board-feet on hand at my local source is impossible.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Daniel -

I've used woodfinder.com before to locate dealers in my area. I searched around Hanford (I guessed at a town a few hours north of LA - looks like I was pretty close!) and got the following matches...




Pacific Coast Teak - Importer of Plantation Teak (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/015530.php) Paso Robles CA (68 miles)



Baker Milling and Hardwoods - Wide Walnut Slabs (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/013961.php) Gilroy CA (113 miles)



Jackel Enterprises (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/000421.php) Watsonville CA (124 miles)



Global Wood Source Inc. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/008201.php) Santa Clara CA (128 miles)



Woodcraft - Ventura, CA (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/014873.php) Ventura CA (140 miles)



MacBeath Hardwood Company (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/014999.php) San Jose CA (144 miles)



Out Of The Woods (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/012269.php) Bonny Doon CA (144 miles)



Woodcraft - Dublin/Bay Area, CA (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/012020.php) Dublin CA (159 miles)



Woodcraft - San Carlos, CA (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/013149.php) San Carlos CA (167 miles)



Rockler Woodworking and Hardware #25 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/listings/012251.php) Pleasant Hill CA (177 miles)


You could also try to locate cabinet shops or other wood-oriented outfits and see where they get their wood.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Very hard to find Hickory thicker than 4/4. MacBeath has some 8/4. I think Bohnhoff in L.A. has some 6/4.

[Stephen Cherry]

Lumber will show up on craigslist, and at auctions:

http://visalia.craigslist.org/mat/2645341518.html

I've seen lumber at auctions go for giveaway prices. Even yard sales.

[David Brimm]

These are the lumber suppliers we use at work to provide our ash, walnut, poplar, maple, etc.. you'll have to call or email them though since neither of the website are setup for online ordering. We order anything from 10bd' to 1000bd' from both on a monthly basis and I believe both are located in the California central valley.

http://www.higginshardwoods.com/index.php

http://www.aurahardwoods.com/joomla/

[Chris Tsutsui]

I've seen pallets of lumber selling for cheap on ebay as well.

[daniel lane]

Thanks, all. I haven't had much luck with CL - seems like all the ads with lumber are for 2x4s/etc. I usually search the Fresno and Visalia CL for lumber about once a month, just can't be bothered doing it every day or week when nothing ever shows up! BTW Stan, you're right that Visalia probably shouldn't be called a small town, but most of my life I've lived in one of the 10 largest cities in the country, and it just feels tiny to me.

John, I tried using woodfinder and mostly find stores in LA, maybe SF. The majority I've seen haven't had much of a web presence, so perhaps I give them short shrift. I was down in LA a few weeks ago and stopped by one store to pick up some smaller pieces, I was not at all impressed with pricing. Haven't been up to SF to look, but I'm really intrigued about MacBeath. Overall, I'm hoping for a referral to an internet supplier, since choosing at random may result in a difficult and pricey argument that a delivery was crappy quality.

Finally, David, thanks for the names. You've reminded me that I once talked to Higgins, but they are only B2B - no retail. I've been thinking of signing up my company as a customer, something I could almost certainly get away with given seniority (I've been with them since founding) and my role. Hmmm...now I'm really starting to think of that route. I'll give them a call and see about stopping by next time I'm up in Fresno.

Thanks all, and again if anyone else has a recommendation for an internet supplier, please let me know!



daniel

[George Gyulatyan]

John, I tried using woodfinder and mostly find stores in LA, maybe SF. The majority I've seen haven't had much of a web presence, so perhaps I give them short shrift. I was down in LA a few weeks ago and stopped by one store to pick up some smaller pieces, I was not at all impressed with pricing.

Daniel,

If you ever come down to the LA area definitely check out Bohnhoff lumber. Great guys, great selection, great prices. The only place on the West Coast for example where you can find Wenge for $17 BF while everywhere else they go for $25.

They carry Honduran Mahogany for a little over $7 BF where as it is over $9 everywhere else.

All their lumber is rough sawn, no S2S or S4S stuff there. You can call them in advance to check what they have, and if they don't have something that you need, you can place an order for it and they'll get it for you, at very reasonable prices. Definitely much better than what I've seen at other hardwood places in the area (Arroyo hardwoods, House of Hardwoods, etc.), including places that specialize in sheet goods.

No web presense though.

[daniel lane]

Actually, George, LOML and I are talking about visiting family in Huntington Beach, in part because I was complaining about local lumber availability. I will make a note to call and visit Bohnhoff, thanks for the note.

As an aside that appears relevant, I'd like to mention that I finally got in at the local shop that seemed closed a lot. Not sure why I had problems before, but the proprietor was very friendly and the selection looks decent, so I will retract some of my snark. The prices were high relative to what I've seen elsewhere and online, but it's hard to complain that the local mom-and-pop sized store has higher prices than the giant lumberyards. If nothing else, he was kind enough to crosscut a piece of holly for me so I didn't have to buy the whole length at $37/bf, and as I'd been unable to find holly to date, I will continue to support my local store when I can.


daniel

[Gary Curtis]

Schmidbauer lumber in Eureka has logging and milling operations in the Northern counties. They regularly truck lumber north and south along the 101 and I-5. Look for their listing in the 530 area code and 707 code.

In that area code look up Almquist Lumber --- yards in various cities in Humboldt, Del Norte and Siskiyou Counties. Logging, so they truck milled lumber all over. Almquist has a great website.

In Los Angeles, Bonhoff Lumber (either 323 or 310 area) is an industrial-scale lumber dealer. I'm sure they have trucks going north of the Grapevine.

[Jeff Strickler]

[QUOTE=Stan Mitchell;1804972]I'm in eastern Oregon now and black walnut and west coast cherry is about the only local hardwoods at a reasonable price.


Stan - I'm not far from you, up in Walla Walla. Do you have a favorite local source?