Milling mail order lumber

[Beechwood Chip]

All the hardwood dealers "near" me are more than an hour away, and I don't have a truck.  I can carry stuff on my Outback roof rack but that's a pain, and I'm limited to about 6' inside if I put down the seats.

So, I'm considering going with mail order lumber for my next projects.  All of the suppliers seem to sell S2S.  I get that they don't want to pay shipping on wood that I'm just going to plane off, but I don't see myself trusting that the wood will be square and true after being shipped from a different climate.

Should I order oversize and re-mill when I get it?  Or assume that it will be very close and I'll only have to take off a 32nd to true it up?  Anyone have a mail order hardwood dealer they recommend?

[BillyJack]

I drove 45miles one was to get to work at the furniture company. When I had my Plymouth champ , I hauled a 16” 1x12. I Remember every time  I hit a big hump in the road the back of the board wood skip off the ground. What I went through to save money. I had the 1x12 way up I under my dash to hold it.

 

Id drive the hour if it were me..

 

[Mark J]

No experience to share, but I'm sure every supplier will be different.  I'd buy oversized until I got to know the supplier.  Bell Hardwood seems to have a good reputation 

[JohnG]

In my experience, even locally sourced S2S material needs to be milled again. So I wouldn’t buy the exact dimensions you are needing, but if it’s a reputable dealer then you probably won’t have an excessive amount of milling to do. 

[krtwood]

The worst boards float to the top of the stack and they aren't going to go fishing through the stack for you.  

I'm driving a Ford Maverick now with a 4.5' bed and a ladder rack.  The yard I go to will give me one free cut per board.  It's a bit of a compromise for lumber hauling but it'll do it.  I would never go back to buying lumber online except for unusual/spalted boards off ebay.  But then I just had this idiot ship a delicate board with burls with nothing around it but cling wrap and it snapped in half so even that I'm getting fed up with.

[Coop]

On 8/19/2024 at 8:38 PM, krtwood said:

The worst boards float to the top of the stack and they aren't going to go fishing through the stack for you.  

I'm driving a Ford Maverick now with a 4.5' bed and a ladder rack.  The yard I go to will give me one free cut per board.  It's a bit of a compromise for lumber hauling but it'll do it.  I would never go back to buying lumber online except for unusual/spalted boards off ebay.  But then I just had this idiot ship a delicate board with burls with nothing around it but cling wrap and it snapped in half so even that I'm getting fed up with.

@Chet and I just had a similar conversation. He suggested taking a quality jig saw and blade to the lumber yard and cut to your desired lengths. My plan for the future. 

[Beechwood Chip]

I'm just graduating from Home Depot to "real" lumber.  The lumber yard I went to last time sold 14bf boards (14'+ x 13" x 7/4), so I was just choosing from what was on top.  But the quality was good.  For that project, I bought one board and had them rough cut to 56", so fitting it in the car was no trouble. 

I had come equipped with a battery powered circular saw, extra batteries, a charger, and an inverter, since I wasn't sure what to expect.

That project was a commission I was doing for a friend (semi-hobby) and I was charging time and materials.  I later realized I could have saved him money if I had gone mail order.

I mostly want to avoid the 2.5 hours sitting in traffic - that's not how I want to spend my fun, hobby time.

I'll reconsider buying local when I have my cut list.  Thanks!

[legenddc]

On 8/19/2024 at 10:27 PM, Coop said:

@Chet and I just had a similar conversation. He suggested taking a quality jig saw and blade to the lumber yard and cut to your desired lengths. My plan for the future. 

That's what I do. Bring a plan to the yard and know where to make your cuts at. No reason in transporting a 10' long board home if you're only making something 2' long.

I bring a jigsaw and a speedsquare. Gets me close enough to straight.

On 8/20/2024 at 8:51 AM, Beechwood Chip said:

I'm just graduating from Home Depot to "real" lumber.  The lumber yard I went to last time sold 14bf boards (14'+ x 13" x 7/4), so I was just choosing from what was on top.  But the quality was good.  For that project, I bought one board and had them rough cut to 56", so fitting it in the car was no trouble. 

I had come equipped with a battery powered circular saw, extra batteries, a charger, and an inverter, since I wasn't sure what to expect.

That project was a commission I was doing for a friend (semi-hobby) and I was charging time and materials.  I later realized I could have saved him money if I had gone mail order.

I mostly want to avoid the 2.5 hours sitting in traffic - that's not how I want to spend by fun, hobby time.

I'll reconsider buying local when I have my cut list.  Thanks!

I have same issue if I'm doing a project for money. Thankfully a local cabinet shop started selling plywood and lumber after getting enough phone calls from hobbyists asking for it. They seem to charge $.50-1.00 board foot more than the place an hour away so you have to balance the time vs how much you're buying.

[pkinneb]

I buy a fair amount of figured wood from Bell Forest and can tell you that it typically comes a bit oversized so 4/4 is typically 4/4 etc and while surfaced, to your point, you will need to touch up pieces as you use them. 

FWIW I use my cordless skill/jig saws in parking lots frequently 

[Botch]

Jason from bourbonmothwoodworking.com ordered from five different prominent (ie first page on google) hardwood mail-order places, and did a fairly comprehensive review of the results:

I'd bookmarked this video, even though I still have a Toyota Taco and a good hardwood source in SLC (MacBeath's).  Hope it helps.  

[wtnhighlander]

2 minutes ago, Botch said:

... ordered from five different prominent (ie first page on google) 

 

 

You know, the best possible place to hide a body is on page 2 of google search results....

[Botch]

We.e.e.el.ll.ll, it's easier to grind them into stew meat and cook them off within 10 days...    

[Beechwood Chip]

On 8/20/2024 at 9:15 PM, Botch said:

Jason from bourbonmothwoodworking.com [...] did a fairly comprehensive review [...]

That's what got me started thinking about mail order.  After this discussion and re-watching that video, I think I'll try out some more lumber yards and hardwood dealers in my area.