Lumber Pilgrimage (big gloat)

[Richard Neel]

Based on Robert Mayer's information about Johnson's sawmill (north-eastern Oklahoma), I made an unscheduled trip up there from Oklahoma City today. Here are some pics of the spoils.

My impressions of the place were very good. The mill has been in operation for about 30 years at the present location. One of the owners gave me a mini-tour of the place and I'm kicking myself that I didn't have my camera. I'm definately taking it next time. They have 4 operating saws and 1 large kiln. It appears they purchase log-stock of mostly domestic lumber and mill/dry it on site. They have a fairly good selection of exotics but not a lot of any one species.

I got:

30 bf of cherry for $4/bf. The cherry selection was not very good and I got the impression that they don't sell a lot of it which surprises me due to the low price. I normally would expect to pay around $8/bf locally in Oklahoma City.

15 bf of some type of South American mahogany for $5.75/bf. The owner didn't know the species but it is very dense and heavy.

12 bf of white oak for $1.80/bf. I also got a piece of 8/4 for $3.50/bf.

7 bf of 1/4 sawn white oak for $2.60/bf!!! I was very dissappointed about this because I would have bought much more. They had just sold their entire stock to another woodworker from Oklahoma City.

7 bf of tiger maple for an astonishing $3.70/bf!

And on a whim I bought 7 bf of something they call coffee bean wood for 1.50/bf. It is a dense hardwood that looks a little like oak but has a bit more color contrast. I think Robert used this stuff in his workbench.

The drive up took about 2.5 hours and the weather was beautiful. I'm really looking forward to getting started on a couple of projects with this haul. I will definately be visiting them again.

Oh, and I am in no way associated with the mill - just a happy customer.

Thanks for looking.

[Roger Bailey]

Richard, it looks like you got some good deals. I look forward to seeing some project pics down the road.

[Dan Oliphant]

Richard, great prices, sounds like a good place to buy stock.

[Martin Shupe]

Directions? Address? Phone number?

You've gotta give us more information!

I don't get through there very often, but it sounds like a place worth looking in on if I'm in the area.

Nice prices, and the boards look nice, too.

I think your coffeebean is also known as Kentucky coffeebean.

[Richard Neel]

Martin,

They have a website at http://www.johnsonsawmill.com. There's not a lot of information on the site but you can get their contact information. The price list on the site is not 100% accurate and needs to be updated. I suggest you call before planning a trip there to check prices and availability. That's what I did. Let me know if you need any more info.

[lou sansone]

great to hear about the nice wood. glad that you paid the guy a living wage. I don't want to get preachy here but a while back folks were bragging about how cheep they could get wood from some folks. the prices were lower than the stump price. Call me "what ever" but fair should be fair for both parties

sermon for the day
lou

[Richard Neel]

I guess I hadn't thought about that aspect Lou. I assumed that the folks there had been in the business for a long time and knew what was what. I'm not one to take advantage of someone and I did have to drive almost 3 hours one-way for the lumber. I didn't intend my post to be a brag. I was just excited about getting some new stock and wanted to share the info with the group. I'm sorry if my message came off sounding like I had just taken advantage of someone and was bragging about it. I assure you that was not my intention.

Feeling a little guilty... :(

[Martin Shupe]

Thanks, Richard, for sharing the info.