wisconsin lumber find? Any good places to share?

[Shannon Seelig]

Well, again thank you for helping a new beginner out. I have learned a lot on this site and it is quite addicting to see what else is on here. I had to pop in and out last night between the Packer game to see what was new on here. By the way... IS FAVRE Done for good??? I hope not. That is another whole topic.

Anyway. I am from Clintonville Wisconsin (about 40 miles west of Green Bay and 40 miles north of Appleton). I'm looking for a down home place to buy wood from that will help a beginner out with service and good pricing. Any suggestions? With the holidays here, I haven't had time to call any places in the phone book to see whats out there. I would like to stay away from Lowe's and HD if I can help it.
I am thinking of contacting the gentleman that built our cabinets in our home to see if he can hook me up with something. Is that wrong? Any help would be appreciated.
YOU GUYS ARE GREAT,
Thanks again,
Shannon

[Dan Drager]

Hi Shanon,

I am about 1/2 hour north of Madison. There are very few good spots within driving distance of me for wood. One is in Watertown and the other is right off of 45 just south of Fon du lac. I have picked out small amounts from each space for a few projects but don't expect any help for a beginner. I have had my best luck buying wood at auctions. Watch your local papers for auctions and keep your eye under "misc".

[Dick Rowe]

Shannon,

If you are looking for hardwood, Schmidt Lumber in Shawano is close to you. I haven't been there for a while, but last time I was they carried a selection of Walnut, Cherry, Oak, etc. You could pick through the boards to find the ones you wanted.

I have been buying hardwood at Bennett Hardwoods in Wausau. In addition to the typical species found in our area, they have a nice selection of exotics (Wenge, Zebrawood, Padouk, and many others). Again, you can pick through the piles to find what you want, and buy as much or little as you need.

The folks at Bennetts have been very helpful to me. I have been building a bedroom set out of QS White Oak the past year and wanted to take advantage of their price break at 100bf. I asked them to assemble the 'best' figured 100bf they had. I dropped by later in the day to find a great pile of lumber waiting for me.

Pricing is subjective, and in my opinion, they are competitive. I don't think anyone would describe quality hardwood being inexpensive anywhere.

I appreciate being able to walk in, see what I am getting, pick through the boards, and talk hardwoods with the guys who work there.

Hope this helps.

[erik anderson]

I would certainly echo the referral to Bennett Hardwoods. They are a big hardwoods dealer to several manufacturers and have their main wholesale yard down in Prairie du Chein with probably a couple of million board feet a year. However the family lives in Wausau and a few years ago they built a new corporate office in town and included a retail sales division.
They have all the domestics and as mentioned previously a really impressive selection of several exotics. The owner, Sean, is a great source of information and loves to talk wood.

[Keith Barkhau]

Shannon,

Two places I've personally dealt with are Badger Hardwood (Walworth, WI) www.badgerwood.com (http://www.badgerwood.com) and Kettle Moraine Hardwood (Caledonia and Hartford, WI) www.kmhardwoods.com (http://www.kmhardwoods.com). Both have pretty good prices and selection, with Badger having perhaps the better selection and KMH the better prices. I've probably bought 300-400 bdft from KMH and have been pretty happy with them.

If nothing else you should take a Saturday morning and make the drive just to see how much better the selection is outside of Home Depot.

[Jeff Heil]

Just curious what they charge a bf for 4/4 oak, maple or cherry. Their website isn't very helpful. We will be in Wausau next week with an empty truck bed.....hmmm Thanks!

[Keith Barkhau]

Badger's prices: http://www.badgerwood.com/products.html

KMH Prices: http://kmhardwoods.com/fsetprices.htm

Yeah not the best websites--you gotta hunt a bit to find their prices.

[Keith Barkhau]

Sorry Jeff just realized you were taling about Bennet. I've never shopped there, but have heard good things.

[Dick Rowe]

Eric,

I looked in my shop, but couldn't locate a price list.

I did, however, find a couple of receipts from purchases last year which may help. Keep in mind, their prices fluctuate a bit based on current market availability and pricing, but I have found them real consistent over the years.

I haven't purchased any red oak or cherry recently, but the 4x4 (15/16") QSWO was around $5.25bf for 100bf, a bit more for less than 100bf quantities. 4x4 hard white maple was about $4.50bf for less than 100bf. I also bought some 8x4 QSWO for about $6.50bf for less than 100bf.

Another nice thing (you can tell they are all woodworkers there), they sell 'thinned out' hard maple (11/16" raw) boards for use in drawers. I bought some about a years ago and it was about $2.50bf for less than 100bf.

I also bought some exotic pieces for accents (just a few boards). Purple Heart 4x4 was about $4.50bf, Padouk about $5.50bf, and Wenge about $12.00bf.

Please don't hold me (or Bennetts) accountable for the numbers I just rattled off, some were almost a year old. I personally have found them to be great folks to deal with, and they really know their stuff.

[James Evans]

Up in Crandon, you can check with a fella Bud Evans, He is my uncle, and hooks me up with what i need. he cuts a lot of cabinet lumber for a few places up here. he has two kiln units, and possibly a vacumn kiln in the near future. 715-478-5722. just leave him a message.

[Andy Livingston]

I sure hope Farve stays for one more!!! Good luck with the wood.

[Jeff Heil]

I have purchased wood from Kettle Morraine hardwoods almost exclusively for the past 5 years. They are very easy to deal with. I usually call ahead for 100 bf of white oak or whatever I need and they have it pulled and banded together. They will even put the whole budle on my truck with their forklift. I have gotten to the point I don't even sort thorough it as their quality is always great. They give a modest discount for over 100bf and have bins of about 100bf of each type of hardwood to sort through to fill your needs. Sounds like their prices are a little better than the Wausau lumberyard, but they are competeative and beat most of the lumberyards here in Madison for price and selection! Thanks for the info!