Sourcing lumber in southern Arizona

[Don Peters]

I built my old bench forty years ago. It was state of the art at the time, but it, like me, is getting long in the tooth, and I'm Jonesin' to built a new one. The old one was poplar - a bit soft - cheap - fairly stable, and it didn't abuse the wood that was being worked upon it. So now I'm looking at a couple hundred feet of something, and that's where the cheese gets binding. I'm in Tucson - not one of the woodworking centers of the world. The wood supply options here are pretty slim, so I'm looking for you guy's regional knowledge. I need a bunch of KD 8/4 soft maple, alder, poplar - something that will yield a nice bench without taking out a bank loan. I'm willing to drive within the southwest to pick it up. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.

[David Powell]

Don, Woodworkers Source has a store in Tucson (3441 S Palo Verde Rd). I just checked their website and have 8/4 material in all 3 of the woods you are looking for.

[Lori Kleinberg]

I have purchased pretty much all my wood from Woodworkers Source. They are expensive, but have a nice selection. If you can hit a sale that would be very good. I like that you can go in and sort through the stacks to pick what you want.

[Brian Lamb]

In Phoenix you have Spellman Hardwoods, Superior Hardwoods, Mc Killican (used to be American Hardwoods) and those are just a few that I have used. All have way better pricing than Woodworkers Source... I only use them for convenience and when it's 20bf or so... If you get upwards of 100bf the prices are usually half or less than them.

[Paul Girouard]

Arizona Hardware on W. Thomas south of Sky Harbor might have some thing.

[Glenn de Souza]

Make a trip up to Phoenix and visit Peterman Lumber. In my experience, nobody else in the area comes close.