Hardwood suppliers in Oregon

OregonBob | Posted in General Discussion on April 15, 2004 06:48am

I’m planning on building an entire bedroom set out of cherry, and I’m looking for an Oregon lumber dealer that has the best prices on cherry stock. I’m most interested in S2S or S4S stock, since I have a jointer but not a planer.

Any Oregon carpenters out there? Do you have any suggestions?

Replies

Bengst | Apr 15, 2004 07:03pm | #1
Where do you live? If you live in Portland then these folks can help you out.

Crosscut Hardwoods - LARGE selection but not the greatest quality, lots of sapwood in cherry. About $8/bf for 90% heart

Woodcrafters - a bit less sapwood but $8.45 and up/bf

Stay away from Woodcraft

Moxon Hardwoods - decent price but you can't sort through units, they want to keep units not picked over in case someone wants a whole unit.

Endura Wood Products - They can supply you with FSC certified cherry. Not sure what they have in stock now but what I saw a few months ago was awesome. I get my FSC madrone and maple here. They also have tons of reclaimed CVG fir, some that were the bleachers of Ken Kesey's high school in Springfield.

Bob's Big Boards - in Longview, WA. I haven't been there but heard that cherry prices and quality are great. $5/bf?

If you're doing a whole bedroom set and have no planer, plan to spend well over $1000 for your lumber. You'll pay a premium for surfaced lumber. Good luck!

Jeffrey

jmc | Apr 16, 2004 01:03am | #4
OK- Where is Moxon's Hardwoods and Endura Wood Products??

I haven't run across either one. I have been buying from Crosscut but as you said the quality is very poor. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

John

Bengst | Apr 16, 2004 01:39am | #5
Moxon Hardwoods Inc., 2336 NW 21st Street, Portland, Oregon, USA 97209. Ph (503) 226-8169

Moxon is hard to find. 21st is a one way towards the river. As you head towards the river, it's on your right tucked back a bit. Small sign at ground level.

Endura Wood Products 1303 SW 6th

It's a block south of Rejuvenation on 6th.

http://www.endurawood.com

Jeffrey

OregonBob | Apr 16, 2004 08:42am | #7
Thanks everyone, for your helpful tips. I'm in Eugene, but don't mind a trip or two up north. Sounds like I've got some good places to start shopping.

So Bengst, you mentioned how much more I'll pay for surfaced lumber. At what point would it make sense for me to invest in a small planer and get the rough stuff?

Thanks.

wundernaloud | Apr 16, 2004 09:40am | #8
http://www.gilmerwood.com/

sorry did'nt check the stock list. and now thinking back last time I inquired about cherry they said they were'nt going to carry it anymore because quality and price had discouraged them from doing so.

Edited 4/16/2004 2:49 am ET by woodnthoughts
notDusty | Apr 16, 2004 05:39pm | #9
                    BOB ,

        I get charged about thirty cents a board foot to straight line rip and surface . IMHO even though the small planers do a great job , most all my stock gets run through an abrasive planer. The machine has a wide belt sander behind the planer knives , so the grain pull and other defects that a planer leaves for the most part get sanded away. A good example is Alder , it can be a disaster to surface plane, also often times Maple gets chewed up from all the grain switching and such .Also depending on the volumes you will use and the size and capacity of the planer it may take 4 passes per board or more to get it to the desired thickness. That is a pile of time and work , it could take say a few hours to surface a hundred bf or so. Don't get me wrong I generally use my planer on every job some way , and would not want to be without it .But to think you will save money by surfacing it yourself may not always be the case .

                                           dusty

mousejockey | Apr 15, 2004 08:27pm | #2
Try Hardwood Industries in Tualatin.

503-692-6620
LeeEschen | Apr 16, 2004 12:18am | #3
Hi Neighbor,

I have 2 suggestions:

Northwest Timber 541-327-1000, http://www.nwtimber.com

Hardwoods Plus Inc, 541-479-9576, 1290 Redwood Ave, Grants Pass, OR

I see you're located in Eugene. I'm in Cave Junction, and we have other knotheads throughout Oregon and the PNW.

--

Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon;

Gateway to the Oregon Caves
notDusty | Apr 16, 2004 05:41am | #6
BOB ,

Try looking in your local Eugene yellow pages director under Hardwoods . I would strongly recommend Hardwood Industries , give them a call they generally will deliver . They have the highest integrity of any supplier I have used in the last 25 years . good luck dusty
fdampier5 | Apr 16, 2004 06:52pm | #10
Please do a little math..

Rough sawn wood is a little more than half of the price of surfaced wood..

If you are getting say one hundred bd.ft. of wood you can save enough to buy one of those bench top planners.. Most are really pretty decent..

It takes about ten minutes to learn to operate them safely and for the rest of your .life you'll buy half priced wood..

notDusty | Apr 17, 2004 03:40am | #11
                 frenchy ,

      Here in Oregon and the most of the west coast they don't sell graded domestic hardwoods in the full rough . Apparently they don't even grade and sort and select until after surfacing . Typically 4/4 comes in at 15/16" hit and miss , then say when we order it they surface it to 13/16"and can also straight line rip for you. For over 100 bf orders they charge about $ .30 a foot for these services on average. So when you said for a little more than half the price you can buy hardwood in the rough , my first thought would be is it graded ? Now I have read some of your posts that speak of huge loads of hardwood for a few cents on the dollar. I was under the impression that you were picking up the lumber that was thinner or otherwise , could not be sold to the general public at the full premium prices for whatever reasons. I realize the majority of our hardwoods do come from the Eastern part of the states , so maybe that is why out west we don't have the opportunity . I have bought full rough stock but usually it is 8/4 or otherwise in the thicker boards. It would be risky to say buy Maple or Cherry in the rough because the boards take on a sort of oxidized color and would prevent sorting for color let alone defects and some features that determine quality and ultimately grading . It may work differently for you in the East then us out west. I agree completely that a planer is a wonderful addition to any shop , and is a very useful tool . As I said before I use mine generally on every job I do.Perhaps other west coast wood workers can and do buy in the full rough, maybe we will hear from them.

                                          dusty

fdampier5 | Apr 17, 2004 05:45am | #12
I do know of dealers in San Diego who sell boards in the rough. frankly if I were only buying a few boards that would be my choice, but anything over 100 bd.ft. I'd contact Woodmizer and get a list of owners in the area..