rmeglath Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 I was wondering if anyone knows where to get decent rough lumber within a 2 hour radius of Richmond Virginia. The only lumber suppliers I know in Richmond are Siewers who only sell dressed lumber, Wurth Group who also only sell dressed lumber, and woodcraft which sells both rough and surfaced but are very expensive. Lumber around here seems to be very expensive. Like $7/board foot for maple! Even poplar will run me around $3.50/board foot. Also, does anyone know where I can get holly lumber and figured claro walnut (perhaps online?) I can't seem to find any source online that has holly boards that I can cut down for stringing. Thick holly veneer would work too but I'm having difficulty finding a source. Thanks! Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 Welcome to the forum. I bet, once everyone's eyes are open in the morning, someone will be able to help you. Especially the online part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 Try Joe Woodworker / veneer supplies for the Holly. Wurth is mainly selling to the cabinet shops and their boards are usually primo stuff, 13/16 and wide & long which justifies the price somewhat. If they sell it to the public it's at full retail. Ya gotta know a salesman and he can lower the price, but only for a shop buying from him regularly. I have to shop 3 or 4 cabinet supply houses to keep them honest, $18 drawer slides got down to below 13 today, times 13 drawers on one job it makes a difference ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmeglath Posted February 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 Thanks for the suggestions wdweker. I had already checked Joe Woodworker's site and I don't see holly offered. I have bought baltic birch ply from Wurth and they were really nice there. But I spent all of this money on a 12" jointer/planer and don't get to use it much. I made a large cherry table with 8/4 lumber that was already surfaced. I had to rip a 10" board and resurface it due to a twist (had I just milled it down as it was I would have turned an 8/4 board to a 3/4 board). I'd much rather just get rough lumber and mill it myself. For what it's worth I think I may have found my own answer. There is a hardwood lumber dealer in Elkwood VA (not too far from Fredericksburg, around 80+ miles from me) called C.P. Johnson that looks very promising. Unsteamed walnut is listed at $5.50/board foot (as opposed to $9 at woodcraft for steamed walnut) for shorter stock (4-6') and $6.75 for >7' stock. I'm assuming it is not milled. I'm going to check it out and I'll report my experience back for anyone that may be in the area. Does anyone have experience with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDave Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 Colonial Hardwoods in Northern VA still falls within the 2hr window...not sure how the prices compare but I think they maybe pretty high. I have also been meaning to check out CP Johnson as they seem pretty reasonable. Tom C. might chime in as he has more experience it purchasing lumber in this area... http://www.colonialhardwoods.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 ILCW, Dunlap Woodcrafts in Chantilly, Fairfax http://www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com/ Local Wood VA in Berryville, Clarke County http://www.localwoodva.com/(they have a limited selection of wood types since it's all native wood harvested in VA) oak, cherry, walnut, orange osage, etc. Holly and figured claro walnut you can probably get from Dunlap woodcrafts if you give them enough lead time to source it for you. I find their prices to be fairly reasonable. I've had good luck with hobbyist sawyers and tree pruning companies for local types of wood. I've paid as low as $2 bf for air dried black walnut and cherry. http://richmond.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=lumber&sort=rel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 Tc you ain't kidding. $2 for cherry? ? I'd have a hell of a hoarDing problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 Tc you ain't kidding. $2 for cherry? ? I'd have a hell of a hoarDing problem Cherry is native to VA. There's so much of it around here. I bought black walnut and some cherry from a guy who had it air drying in his parents basement for 25 or so years. His parents had passed away and he was selling the house. Had nowhere to store the wood that was stacked and stickered in their basement. He had nearly 5000 BF of black walnut and 3000 feet of cherry. All 8/4 and about 8' long. I bought 150 bf of black walnut and 100 bf of cherry. Sadly I had just bought a bunch of tools and that's all the money I had left in the shop budget. There's a guy selling cherry near here for $3 BF currently. I'm thinking I might start stocking up on cherry for my kitchen cabinets and some furniture I wanna make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 If you find a good one, let me know please. I live about an hour and a half South of Richmond. There is a fairly new supplier inRoanoke, but I haven't been up that way in a long time. If you need any air dried Cherry, or White Oak, I know a guy in Ashlandthat has some, but he doesn't advertise, and has a limited supply of stuff that he mills. I bought some heavy White Oak from him that's nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 8/4 walnut out by me fetches from 9 to 13 and cherry about the same. Hoping lower shipping costs may bring down the cost at some point. If love to have about 500 bf of each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Hhmmm... last batch of air-dried walnut I bought was maybe #1 common grade. I paid $0.75/bf for it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Z. Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Stretch a bit to Annapolis or Frederick and you'll find Exotic Lumber. I know they have holly there as well... http://www.exoticlumberinc.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmeglath Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thank you everyone for your input and recommendations. It's so great that we have this forum to share information. It's good to know that there are some options for me, albeit does require me to travel a bit. Even if the gas prices shoot back up to $4-5 a gallon it's still probably cheaper to head out to some of the places up north to get my lumber. I hadn't even thought about checking craigslist, brilliant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Mark Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Also Northland Forest Products in Manassas also has good prices on domestic hardwoods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLook Posted February 16, 2015 Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 I was wondering if anyone knows where to get decent rough lumber within a 2 hour radius of Richmond Virginia. The only lumber suppliers I know in Richmond are Siewers who only sell dressed lumber, Wurth Group who also only sell dressed lumber, and woodcraft which sells both rough and surfaced but are very expensive. Lumber around here seems to be very expensive. Like $7/board foot for maple! Even poplar will run me around $3.50/board foot. Also, does anyone know where I can get holly lumber and figured claro walnut (perhaps online?) I can't seem to find any source online that has holly boards that I can cut down for stringing. Thick holly veneer would work too but I'm having difficulty finding a source. Thanks! Ryan Try Domex in PA for holly. They have a limited availability sometimes but the quality is excellent and the prices fair. The last time I looked they had thin stock for inlays, lumber and pen blank stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Staehling Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Groff and Groff Lumber is my favorite place to browse for lumber. It is located at: 858 Scotland RD Quarryville . PA 17566 There are a number of other sawmills and lumber suppliers in that general vicinity. I haven't visited them all, but of the ones I have I like this one best. I also buy from Freestate Timbers who are close to home for me. They are located at: Timonium Commerce Park 9572 Deereco Rd. Timonium, MD 21093 Both places have knowledgeable and helpful staff and offer good service. They would be a bit of a haul, but you could do a road trip and stop at both in one day. I enjoy a lumber outing once in a while. I think either would probably be willing to ship if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbinva Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Welcome too! There has to be sawyers/mills around Richmond. The previous posts mentioned the places I've used in N. Va area. There are a lot of firewood sellers from Culpeper, Amissville, etc that probably know where the mills are down there. Another idea is to look for local cabinet shop down there and ask where they get their lumber from.....good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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