# Where do you get your exotic woods?



## captain38 (Dec 23, 2008)

Well, I figured this should probably go under starting off, if not, please redirect this post. 

Where are some of the best places to buy exotic (bloodwood zebrawood mahogany purpleheart etc.) woods? Anybody have any favorite sites or good experiences with buying woods? Only thing I have around here is home depot and lowes...pretty disappointing.
Anyhow, I would like to hear back...this may be a thread already, and if so, I missed it so if you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction I would appreciate it!
thanks


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI captain38

A good place is eBay you can find some great woods at some great prices,you just got to watch the shipping charges..

Also at HD/Lowes,look in the flooring dept..some great woods...if you look for the broken bundles/boxes you can ask the guy on the floor to mark it down.. and he will the norm.. 

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captain38 said:


> Well, I figured this should probably go under starting off, if not, please redirect this post.
> 
> Where are some of the best places to buy exotic (bloodwood zebrawood mahogany purpleheart etc.) woods? Anybody have any favorite sites or good experiences with buying woods? Only thing I have around here is home depot and lowes...pretty disappointing.
> Anyhow, I would like to hear back...this may be a thread already, and if so, I missed it so if you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction I would appreciate it!
> thanks


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

Ebay almost exclusively.

http://myworld.ebay.com/exoticwoods2000/

You need to forget about the shipping cost with exotic2000, they seem high for shipping and he does not combine, BUT if you get a good price, add the shipping and figure out the board ft per piece. I still get a better price than anywhere else. But you do have to be aware of the price. 

I look online, figure out the board foot price and than go to eBay and bid whatever I need to get 50% to 75% of the average bd ft price with tax if I was to pick up.

I never go to pick up if that tells you anything. This is just one place of many you can use.

Do not get caught up in the bidding there is always another piece. Now on the other venders they will show the exact piece you are getting and sometimes I do bid whatever it takes if I want that piece.

Here is a place for Curly Maple:

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Masters-Millwork_W0QQsspagenameZL2222QQtZkm

This guy combines shipping and I got 13 pieces yesterday for only 24.00 for the shipping portion of the bill for all 13 pieces combined!

It only makes sense to buy as much as you can from him at the same time. And never pay first he can not issue a refund you need to ask him to combine and he will modify the invoice before you pay... After you get the invoice you ask him for a price request and he is TOTALLY honest and will charge you dirt cheap shipping, many others will not. On my order the shipping actually said 123.00 so he discounted it 99.00! Of course it does depend on where you live.


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

+1 for http://stores.ebay.com/EXOTIC-WOODS-OF-THE-WORLD

I've gotten three items from him now and even with the shipping, it has been right at or below what I can get the same stuff for "local". And by local, I mean driving about an hour each way.

Not a bad deal to have the stuff delivered.

I would swear however that I saw a note in one of his Buy-It-Now listings about combining shipping but I just peeked at a few and couldn't find it. If you knew you were going to win more than one auction or hit more than one Buy-It-Now it might be worth an email of phone call to see about combined shipping.

And hey Nick, I hope I didn't snipe anything away from you!


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

No he does not combine unless you really buy a lot. 

I have purchased a big amount a few times from him maybe 60 pieces or so at a time and the freight worked out okay. I think I averaged 3.25 a Bd Ft which is great for Wenge and Santos and Zebrawood etc.

If you look at the "buy it now" prices with the included shipping auction they are just to expensive. Just bid and wait and see it always works out to half of what his "buy it now" sales cost.


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Peach state lumber in Kennasaw Ga They stock lots of the exotic woods from Ebony to Zebra. They have some pieces with a 4,250.00 price tag (already sold). www.peachstatelumber.com 

Some times they will have a couple barrels with cut off pieces in them, 25.00 per barrel and it is what it is. Last time, which was the first time, I wanted some walnut also so I picked out a couple small pieces, well they guy never charged me for the walnut and the cashier only charged 20.00. I will go over there from time to time now and get some left overs so I can experiment with some things and sooner or later I will buy an amount for a project. 

They had some small pieces of wood there some kind of African Ebony or something, it was 3"x4" x 4' price 85.00 for the one piece. The stuff felt like iron, the kind of wood that would fight with your saw and win!! When you go on line you will see what their inventory is and the price per BF. They also have the normal every day stuff and lots of it.


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

I love wood , all different woods, thats why I like to make the inlays. 

I use woods I never before could ever use and because the pieces are small I can use the most expensive woods. I collect wood too as many here know and have a nice hobby collection, I think about 1000 species last count. I need to dig them out I have not looked at the collection in a long while.


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

I am with you on that one Nick I just love to see different types of wood together.


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## thistlefly (Dec 2, 2008)

I envy you guys... and perhaps one day I'll get to that point.

One interesting bit of trivia: I play a lot of music, one instrument being Native American flute; the guy who makes my flutes made the fetish (a block which is part of the mouthpiece/airflow) for my last flute out of a peach tree root, in the shape of a lizard. (I'm now in Northern California and had told him about the many lizards around my property.)

The mottling of the root was just phenomenal for the lizard carving... incredibly creative on his part. 

Bob


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## Ralph Barker (Dec 15, 2008)

One good place to look is:

http://www.woodfinder.com/

Their listings will help find a dealer reasonably close to your location. 

For me, there's not much available locally, so I've been using Woodworker's Source in AZ:

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/index.php


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## a1tomo (Dec 3, 2008)

I really like to make table tops from myrtlewood. And i really enjoy going to the southern oregon coast to select my wood from a small sawmill near gold beach. The name of the place is "abe franks myrtlewood sawmill".

For anyone in northern cali. Or so. Oregon, or just passing by, it's agreat place to visit.

One word of caution, they also have a small gift shop, so keep an eye on the wife if you go there!


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

You could try Hardwood Resource 1680 N. Ada, Chicago IL. 773-394-1000.
The last time I was there they had some Ebony, lots of Wenge, Jatoba and Teak. 
I know it's a ways up there for you. 
Have you talked to any of the woodworkers in the Arcola/Tuscola area? They mostly work in Red Oak but I've seen some exotics as accents in some of their work.
Also WEIU ran a story about a carver who worked with some exotics. Don't know how easy it would be to access their archives, though. 
Gene


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Just one more pace to get some great woods from,he will ship via.UPS.

http://www.walllumber.com/exo.asp
http://www.walllumber.com/products.asp
http://www.walllumber.com/default.asp


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## jimcrockett (Jan 18, 2006)

bobj3 said:


> Just one more pace to get some great woods from,he will ship via.UPS.
> 
> http://www.walllumber.com/exo.asp
> http://www.walllumber.com/products.asp
> ...


Wall Lumber certainly has a nice selection but I imagine a lot of us are not in a position to order/store 100bf at a time which seems to be the minimum they will ship.

Jim


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

" Exotic Lumber is kiln dried except when marked (AD) Air Dried. Some end or surface checks are common in the dense exotic lumber. Exotics are measured to the nearest 1/10 bd. ft. Lumber is available in random widths and lengths. We will surface exotics 2 sides for $.40 bd. ft. Above prices are FOB Mayodan, NC. We ship UPS or Motor Freight. *Minimum order* _*10 bd. ft*_. (_OK to mix species_) "



jimcrockett said:


> Wall Lumber certainly has a nice selection but I imagine a lot of us are not in a position to order/store 100bf at a time which seems to be the minimum they will ship.
> 
> Jim


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

It is a confusing site because on a third page it says minimum order 20 bd feet. So that's three different things they are telling you all on the same site.

28.00 for 70lbs seems exactly right for a UPS shipment though and that is what their chart says.


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## a1tomo (Dec 3, 2008)

Another source for all kinds of wood and wood products located in Tacoma, WA.

www.awi-wa.com

Architectural woods Inc.

Don't know what their shipping policy is, I pick up!


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## rarelybark (Feb 11, 2009)

I've purchased purpleheart, mahogany, and lacewood from Windsor Plywood stores at 3 different locations in the lower mainland of BC (Coquitlam, Burnaby & Surrey)


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## AzizaVFR (Feb 2, 2009)

I am very fortunate to have this dealer somewhat local to me. My last time there, I walked through his shop and picked out some Purpleheart and Mexican Chechen for two gunstock projects I have.

Google anexotichardwood.


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## jimcrockett (Jan 18, 2006)

bobj3 said:


> " Exotic Lumber is kiln dried except when marked (AD) Air Dried. Some end or surface checks are common in the dense exotic lumber. Exotics are measured to the nearest 1/10 bd. ft. Lumber is available in random widths and lengths. We will surface exotics 2 sides for $.40 bd. ft. Above prices are FOB Mayodan, NC. We ship UPS or Motor Freight. *Minimum order* _*10 bd. ft*_. (_OK to mix species_) "


Guess they aren't very consistent throughout their website because on the order form it says, "QUANTITIES: We have no minimum purchase on orders picked up. There is a 100 bd. ft. minimum on orders shipped motor freight and UPS shipments are packed only in approximately 20 bd. ft. bundles."

I had misread this that "there is a 100 bd. ft. minimum on orders shipped motor freight and UPS shipments."

Still, 20bf is more than I can usually afford to order but then I'm retired and po folk ).

Jim


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## Check twice! (Feb 11, 2008)

Good day

In the Maritimes (Dartmouth Nova Scotia) we seem to have some good access to both local and exotic spieces of wood. The supplier I choose is continually increasing the choices of exotic and local wood choices.

This lumber is rough or dressed for you and the staff is very knowledgable of woods and their character. 

They are a turners dream in the blanks they offer for most turning needs.

This site may be of some help to local and others looking for good quality woods.

http://www.halifaxspecialtyhardwoods.com/index.asp

Darrell and Cheryl would be happy to assist you in getting the wood you are looking for. NO I do not get a discount, I really enjoy the woods they offer and the friendly knowledgable chat that always goes with the purchase.

Maybe someone may find this site useful. Enjoy.


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## captain38 (Dec 23, 2008)

Gene Howe said:


> You could try Hardwood Resource 1680 N. Ada, Chicago IL. 773-394-1000.
> The last time I was there they had some Ebony, lots of Wenge, Jatoba and Teak.
> I know it's a ways up there for you.
> Have you talked to any of the woodworkers in the Arcola/Tuscola area? They mostly work in Red Oak but I've seen some exotics as accents in some of their work.
> ...



Hey Gene,
you seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about the area I live in for being from Arizona. Did you grow up around here? Also, you are quite right...with the high amish communities in arcola/tuscola there is quite alot of oak...but who knows, I'll have to try that out...thanks for the help.


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

http://www.bellforestproducts.com/lumber-prices/


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