Portland/Vancouver Tool/Lumber Places to Peruse.

[Fred Bryant]

I am going to be in the Portland Oregon/Vancouver Washington area this next weekend. Any places, lumber/old style hardware stores/tool places that I should peruse?

Thx's, Fred ( jyblood@nwi.net ).

[Jeff L Miller]

You would like Gilmer Hardwoods in NW portland. Miles Gilmer is a great guy and he has tons (literally) of hardwood available for purchase. Instrument wood, piles of exotics, rare stuff etc. A very nice place to visit.

Hippo hardware on 11th and East Burnside is a great place to walk around, cool vintage hardware stuff.

You can not miss Voodoo Doughnuts at 3rd and Ash in SW Portland, gain a few pounds with some of their specialty doughnuts.

Powells books at 10 and W. Burnside is a great place for any book you could ever want. 5 stories of books, any subject and all day to prowl. Take a look at the woodworking section..wow! Try their rare book room for a treat.

Give me a call at 503 793-7505 and I will give you some good advice on the local spots to visit.

Jeff

[Jim Koepke]

I'll second Jeff's mention of Gilmer Hardwoods. That is just fun to go in and look. Check their web site. If there is a particular piece you want call them and reserve it. Or they can find things if you have the item number.

My wife and I like to dig through their discount barrels. It can get pricy real fast though.

There is Crosscut hardwoods in Portland. They have a location in Seattle also as I recall.

There is also Sure Way Building Center in Vancouver that has a selection of hardwoods. Mostly I go there because they carry a good selection of 1X pine. Their prices are good on the softwood, but you need to pick through the 1X12 since it is #3 grade. I can get a 1X12X8' for half or less than what the Borges charge. The 1X6 & 1X8 are also at a good price but are a better #2 grade.

They often have cut offs or odd items priced to move.

I have not found too many good places for tool buying in the area. Found a few places on Powell, but nothing I would advise unless one was just trying to kill some time.

jtk

[Andrae Covington]

Another lumber supplier is Crosscut Hardwoods (http://www.crosscuthardwoods.com/).

For something a little different, there's the Rebuilding Center (http://rebuildingcenter.org/). Lots of bits and pieces of old houses. If you go through the main building, across the alley there is a separate building with lumber. It's almost entirely softwood construction lumber, plus baseboard trim, t&g floor boards, etc. So nothing exotic or 30 inches wide. But that's where I sourced all of the old-growth douglas-fir for my workbench.

If you want something a little more "foofy", but still well-made reproductions, there's Rejuvenation (http://www.rejuvenation.com/). Period lighting fixtures is their specialty, but the store also usually features furniture by Stickley as well as some local craftsmen (at least last time I was there). They also have a small section of vintage parts and pieces similar to the Rebuilding Center.

You might consider poking your head in Gary Rogowski's Northwest Woodworking Studio (http://www.northwestwoodworking.com/). You'd probably want to call first and see if they're doing any classes that day.

[george wilson]

You guys are like me. I went to Haileigh (sp?) and bought a milling machine in the early 70's while my wife was laying in the Sun in Miami!! When I was ion the bus,everyone kept telling me I was going to miss the race!! That seems to be the main reason everyone goes there. A large used machinery co. was there. Harry Hollander. He was nice and drove me back to Miami,where he lived. The mill was a little Burke #4,the forst REAL mill I had. The first one was an Atlas. We also had supper there with a guitar maker I had somehow met. Can't recall who he was by now.

I never liked laying in the Sun.

[Brent VanFossen]

You might consider poking your head in Gary Rogowski's Northwest Woodworking Studio (http://www.northwestwoodworking.com/). You'd probably want to call first and see if they're doing any classes that day.

Northwest Woodworking Studio is hosting the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event Feb 10 and 11.

I'll recommend Gilmer Wood another time. Great people, and a world-class selection of exotic woods.

Woodcrafters (not Woodcraft) at 6th and Davis http://woodcrafters.us/ is all new, but they offer just about everything. They have a terrific book section, machines, handtools, a nice selection of hardwoods, and cutoff bins scattered and in the rear.

[Fred Bryant]

I have been thinking of picking up a backsaw and this will give me a chance to try some. I am just getting started and still need the touch/feel to evaluate. Maybe I can also pick up some sharpening tips. Who knows, I might see some of you guys there on Sat.

Thx's, Fred ( jyblood@nwi.net )