Cheapest place for small amounts of lumber in Bristol area ?

[white_sw]

Being new to woodworking with hardwoods, I have only used oak, ash and beech that all has been given to me. I am venturing down to Yandels this weekend for a look around.
Can anyone advise where I can purchase small amounts for hobby use in or around the Bristol area ? I would collect it so wouldn't require delivery. I'm on a steep learning curve
with types and uses of wood so I am a little reserved about walking into a timber yard where they will expect me to know what I am talking about. Maybe even rip me off as I don't
know what prices to expect to pay.

Any pointers / help would be gratefully accepted.

Cheers,
Sam

 

[wizer]

Olly'll be along soon to confirm. But I think he uses Interesting Timbers?

 

[Joints]

Hi there mate,

Myself and OPJ are in Bristol aswell so would be nice to hear about you, where abouts are you, you have a shop etc?

I mainly use Yandles and Interesting Timbers for when you just need a plank or two for a small job but I have just used Charlestons (something like that) which is just outside Radstock.

They are really quite good, nice clean yard and you can pick and choose what you like, have a nice selection of planed all over boards aswell if you have'nt got big tools at your place and the price is very reasonable.

I bought about £400 worth of oak and will be buying another lot from them, there was quite a lot of boards with some funky mould on them but the ones I picked were really nice.

Its also very close to Interesting Timbers (which is a very nice friendly place to go!!) aswell so you can hit two birds with one stone, Yandles is quite a lot further away.

Links: http://www.interestingtimbers.co.uk/

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?zoom=15&t ... |BA3%203PT

That link is actually their shop but if you drive through and out of town 5 minutes down the A362 (I think) on the left of the road is the yard with lots of garden softwood stuff outside.

Hope it helps, George


Also, delivery of I.T and Charlestons is pretty reasonable about £25-30 for however large an order plus they will cut it up for you if you need to put it in the boot!!

 

[OPJ]

I cannot recommend Interesting Timbers highly enough; they're service is excellent all round and they're always the first place I call when I need some hardwood. Their prices are very reasonable too.

Charltons World of Wood are slightly more competitive on price, I think. But, I haven't used them personally myself - haven't had a reason to go anywhere else! :wink:

Yandles are good for exotics but, I also find them very expensive, even for individual boards, compared to somewhere like Interesting Timbers.

Normally, I don't recommend Robbins (near Ashton Gate) because they are generally bloody expensive! Same with Clarks Wood, unless you're buying a lot of wood. Saying that, Trigger (who's based in Kingswood), bought some kind of 'discount bundle' from Robbins not long ago. May be worth a look if you're mainly looking for turning blanks - see this thread.

There's more advice in this old thread. :wink:

 

[tommy]

If you don't want to stray out of Bristol then Robbins are a good bet, they have a huge rack of offcuts out the back of almost every timber you can imagine. Go in with a rough idea of what you want and if they're not too busy they'll usually go out back and bring back something suitable. Catch them on a good day and they might let you look yourself. I went in just before xmas for a few bits of maple and came away with two 6' long 2"x5" boards for £6! but it all depends on who serves you and what kind of mood they are in! I think that the bargain bundles they do are put together from this rack when it starts to get a bit full. The other advantage with Robbins is that the timber is usually nice and dry and ready to work straight away, a lot of out of town yards store their timber outside.

The other one to try is the Bristol Wood Recycling Project, they have all sorts of hardwood offcuts and bits of old doors and furniture, nothing big but you might find enough to make a drawer or small piece of furniture.

Both aren't the cheapest, but why drive an hour out of town just to try and save a few quid on little bit of timber.

Good luck.

Tommy.

 

[OPJ]

Bloody hell, Tommy, 2.33am?!? I know you said you were busy and all but...

---

White_sw, don't know where you are but, are there any cabinet makers or joinery firms near you? Might be worth giving them a call also (Yellow Pages?) as they generally seem to accumulate small offcuts at times and I'm sure they'd be happy to get rid of some at times. What's too small for joinery and furniture could still be large enough for 'turning! :wink:

Tree Surgeons are also worth contacting - they may be able to provide you with lumps big enough for decent sized bowls.

 

[Trigger]

OPJ's right,

I bought 3 bundles of iroko, maple and cedar for £40. When Robbin's have a bundle sell off they normally advertise it on their website so it's worth keeping an eye on that or as suggested just ask what off cuts they have.