Lumber in Twin Cities, MN

[Jenny Trice]

Can anyone suggest reliable source of lumber in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota? My go to was Youngblood and they closed about a year ago. There are a few places to get lumber that I am aware of but I'm not particularly happy with any of them (Forest Products, Rockler . . .). I'm on the north east side of the cities but would travel for good lumber at a reasonalbe price.

[Bill Bukovec]

Try Shorewood Tree Service in Watertown. Not sure if he still sells lumber as I moved from Minnesota four years ago. It might be worth it to contact Woodmizer or Timberking for owners in your area.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I'm in the south suburbs. I agree that Forest Products was a disappointment (as far as retail lumber goes).

Discount Lumber Outlet in Savage has a very nice stock of reasonably-priced domestics and exotics. Unfortunately (from my perspective), it's all 4/4 S4S (or at least 99% of it is).

I buy rough lumber from Logs to Lumber in Inver Grove Heights. Brian is a 1-man operation, and it's ran off his acreage/home. You need to call him and see if he's available, so it's not the most convenient thing, and it's definitely not a "retail" operation, but he has an incredible selection. Every crevice of his house, garage, and outbuilding is stuffed full of stock. Simply incredible.

[Tom Dixon]

I'm in the south suburbs. I agree that Forest Products was a disappointment (as far as retail lumber goes).

Discount Lumber Outlet in Savage has a very nice stock of reasonably-priced domestics and exotics. Unfortunately (from my perspective), it's all 4/4 S4S (or at least 99% of it is).

I buy rough lumber from Logs to Lumber in Inver Grove Heights. Brian is a 1-man operation, and it's ran off his acreage/home. You need to call him and see if he's available, so it's not the most convenient thing, and it's definitely not a "retail" operation, but he has an incredible selection. Every crevice of his house, garage, and outbuilding is stuffed full of stock. Simply incredible.

Before I moved to TN in 2013 I bought QSWO from Brian. Beautiful stock. Lots of book match selections. He marked the cuts so he knew exactly where they came from the log.

Too bad Youngblood closed down. I feel very lucky to have a hardwood wholesaler in Clarksville, TN where I live now but I have also purchased lumber from https://www.woodworkerssource.com/ in Arizona and the price with shipping wasn't unreasonable.

[Andrew Seemann]

Forrest Products is more of a cabinet shop that also sells lumber. They have it, but it isn't their main thing.

I just got some soft maple and BBB ply from Industrial Plywood. The maple was quite nice and reasonably priced, especially for H&M planed. They are wholesale, but you can buy from them if you are a member of the MN Woodworkers Guild. Looks like Aetna Plywood is in White Bear Lake. I've never bought from them, but it looks like the same deal with Guild members. The Guild site has a list of lumber suppliers in the Cities on their Discounts page. On the top is a list of alternatives to Youngblood for around the area. I'm still traumatized about Youngblood closing. Industrial Plywood did have pencils though; I haven't checked if they are as good as Youngblood's yet.

Disclosure, I'm a member of the Guild, but mostly for the discounts. I almost never go to meetings (I don't have time), but I save the cost of membership pretty much in any one trip to a lumberyard where they have a discount:)

[Ronald Blue]

I am not from there so have no inside knowledge. I did a search though and came up with some possibilities. Not all are close to the twin cities but could be good resources still. The last link has many possibilities. Some are probably only interested in large volume sales and some cater to whatever needs you might have.
metrohardwoods.com/products/lumber/imported-hardwood-species/ (http://metrohardwoods.com/products/lumber/imported-hardwood-species/)
rootriverhardwoods.com/kiln-dried-lumber (https://www.rootriverhardwoods.com/kiln-dried-lumber)
industrynet.com/suppliers/?category=LU0260-LU0262-LU0264-LU0266-LU0268-LU0270-LU0273-LU0280-LU0320-LU0323-LU0325-LU0327-LU0333-LU0336-LU0340-LU0350-LU0351-LU0353-LU0354-LU0355-LU0365&location=MN (https://industrynet.com/suppliers/?category=LU0260-LU0262-LU0264-LU0266-LU0268-LU0270-LU0273-LU0280-LU0320-LU0323-LU0325-LU0327-LU0333-LU0336-LU0340-LU0350-LU0351-LU0353-LU0354-LU0355-LU0365&location=MN)

[Jason Ost]

Got nothing to add but is good to see some people from MN on the creek.

[Jens Hoffmann]

Siwek lumber in Northeast. They also have a mill in Jordan.
Not nearly as big as Youngblood, but I've found this to be the best alternative so far. Man, I miss Youngblood...