Replies

1. 
   heartwould | Jan 17, 2009 01:35am | #1

   Generally, my experience has found two ways that you can approach the business of supplying wood: 1) stock standard thicknesses (3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 8/4) in whatever widths are available to you; 2) get a kiln and offer custom cuts--including QS.

   Local markets will differ, but some areas have a much wider selection of trees available for harvest than others.  Each woodworker may have some sort of specialty or a particular wood he/she prefers to use.  If, for example, someone does a lot of Mission Style furniture, they may seek QS White Oak while someone else would rather use a different cut of Cherry or Mahogany or Maple for their work.

   My suggestion would be to find what your local market tends to use most and stock that. 

2. 
   mapleman | Jan 17, 2009 05:00am | #2

   what types of cuts/widths/lenghts of cherry/maple/poplar/walnut do you have the most trouble finding?

   I work at a cabinet shop that also sells wood/plywood to other area woodworkers/cabinet shops. I'll make some generalizations:

   Widths: Naturally, everyone wants the widest boards possible. Most lumberyeards charge a premium for boards over a certain width (7", 9", 12"). Most people will take a narrower board if the wider boards are more $ per bd/ft. 6"-12" is the norm for lumberyard stock.

   Lengths: Most weekend warriors won't want to transport and store 12'-16' lumber. Most pro cabinet shops that make their own doors will want longer boards because you get greater yield. Depending on the size of your garage, I would say a good median would be boards in the 8'-10' range. Or, shorter if you are going to sell them at a reduced rate as selects.

   Cuts: I assume you mean thickness? If so I would stock a few boards of 8/4 in all of the above species. 10/4, 12/4, and 16/4 would be a slow mover and take up valuable space. Maybe try to get on some sort of schedule where you get deliveries from the mill (or make pickups) on certain days - if you have a customer that wants "X"  bd/ft of 12/4 walnut then special order it from your supplier.

   You also may want to look at the problems of having a large delivery truck coming to your home (neighborhood?) and unloading large amounts of lumber. If you have a commercial garage then these are probably not legitimate concerns.

   In any event, good luck with your endeavor. Just remember that construction and manufacturing is down 43% nationwide so don't sink your life savings into this unless you have a sure bet.

    

   Lee

    

    

1. 
   mcguire | Jan 17, 2009 04:51pm | #3

   Thanks.  Do you have any thoughts on the local demand for crotch wood or wide ive-edge slabs? 

1. 
   mapleman | Jan 17, 2009 06:09pm | #5

   mcguire,

   I'm not local to you so I can't say for sure. I'm sure if the crotch slabs were nice and priced right they would sell, however I think that is sort of a specialty thing also - not everyone coming in is going to be looking for crotches.

   I might focus on your basic woods in 4/4 and 8/4 thicknesses and see how that goes. I don't see a reason to stock loads of specialty stuff until I see how you do with the regular stuff. You will know once people start coming in and asking for different stuff what your best sellers will be.

   We don't stock everything at work, however we have a supplier that delivers to us each morning. What we don't have in stock we can usually get the next day. That may not be an option for you but if you can get in in a few days that might keep your customer from going somewhere else.

   Good luck,

   Lee

3. 
   danmart | Jan 17, 2009 05:52pm | #4

   http://www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com/stocks.htm

   You might want to check out his stock. He is a big supplier for quality wood for Northern VA and the DC area. His stuff is top quality when I dealt with Wayne.

   He knows just about every mill within reasonable distance of his business. Who knows .. maybe he'll give you some ideas.