Trip(s) to Lumberyard
The goal when starting my small dresser project was to use up some of my scrap and not have to purchase anything. So far I’ve had to purchase some pine at the big box store, and now I’ve taken a trip to the lumberyard. And I still don’t have the plywood for the drawer bottoms.
I remember reading someone’s description on reddit that there’s two kinds of lumberyards. Some sell to professionals and won’t give you the time of day. And some cater to hobbyists and are friendly and helpful. The trick is to find the right one. I have found that to be true. I had only been to this lumberyard once before, but it’s my new favorite.
When I first started buying hardwood, I looked for wood species that had a reputation for being easy to work with handtools. The shortlist was poplar, cherry, walnut, and soft maple. My current lumberyard has those, along with harder woods like oak, elm, and locust.
They keep the boards stacked on end, so you can pivot and shuffle the boards to see their faces.
I do not worry about calculating board feet, but do try to itemize the pieces I need. For example a tabletop would require enough boards to glue up a top, some narrower aprons, and some thick legs. And if the top is 20″ wide, I’ll have to decide to glue up two 10″ wide boards, vs three or more narrower boards.
My current lumberyard sells ‘shorts’ less than four feet for a discount. There are at least four bins like this. I rarely need pieces longer than four feet, so they are always worth a look.
For this visit I only needed some basswood for drawer sides. But I stocked up for future projects that are far enough along to have an idea of how much wood I’d need. The big purchases are cherry, ash, and sassafras. Other purchases are impulse buys or just to add to the stockpile.
This picture shows the first days haul. From left to right is walnut, butternut, basswood, sassafras, ash, and cherry. Yes I drive a small car. If I fold down the seats I can get nine foot long boards stretching from the passenger dashboard to the trunk. Boards usually fit ok. Sheet goods are a problem.
After a few weeks I made a second trip. I miscalculated or miscut some sassafras pieces so had to go get one or two more.
Left to right is hickory, catalpa, white oak, ash, sassafras, basswood, and a funky piece of sycamore. The sycamore was free, an odd sized offcut they were giving away. Catalpa has been on my shortlist of woods to try. I figured I might as well buy it since I might never see it again. The wood database says it’s carveable and weather resistant so I might cut off a few ends to try some outdoor carvings.
Hopefully I won’t have to go back soon.
A list of projects in various stages of gestation:
- Small Dresser – poplar, sycamore
- Coffee Table – sassafras, ash
- Printer Stand – walnut, butternut
- Hall Table – cherry
- Splay Legged Table – butternut, ash
- Splay Legged Table 2 – walnut, hickory
- Splay Legged Table 3 – basswood, southern yellow pine
- Five Board Bench – white oak
Now to stop planning more projects and actually get to building.