Richard Neel
01-06-2006, 7:24 PM
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.
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.