Mail order timber?

[brianhabby]

Hi Brad,

Well there you go, I've been asking around locally for ages and no one has mentioned these two suppliers. The Mostyn Estates site is interesting, they appear to specialize in home grown Welsh oak and all their wood is supplied with a traceability certificate which could be useful if you sell any pieces (I always live in hope...!)

I tried the phone number in Abergele but got no reply, it was after 5:00pm on Saturday so perhaps no surprises there, I'll try it again next week and report back.

Thanks for the tips Brad

regards

Brian

 

[Anonymous]

Glad to be of help, Brian.

Please let me know how you get on with the Abergele place. They advertise in Furniture & Cabinetmaking magazine and I've spoken with them on the phone but I don't know what kind of operation they have. They would be of interest to me as I'm only an hour away.

Cheers
Brad

 

[inandout]

Brad

If you can manage a trip to Southampton then R.A. Bampton ltd at Four Maries Yard, 31, Vespasian Rd, Southampton, Hampshire SO18 1AY have a good selection of hardwood. What I like is that you can walk around the timber shed and choose the piece you want.

Regards

Andrew

 

[the_g_ster]

Thanks for the Southampton place, do they store it well? What kinda selection do they have?

I went to goodwillies just outside portsmouth, sadly their sheds are pretty run down so alot of the wood is pretty wet given this last bout of bad weather. real shame as good choice but half is just useless.

G

 

[Anonymous]

My question is: Are mail order timber suppliers reliable in the quality of timber supplied?

I would always prefer to go to the supplier and select my own timber, board by board. That way I can go home with the best boards on offer, straight, good figure, and without sapwood (particularly important with cherry or walnut).

If the timber merchent picks my order for me, then more than likely one of the lads in the shed will simply take the required number of boards from the top of the pack at random. Indeed, the merchent has a vested interest in him doing so - he has paid the same price for each board in the pack, and unless he is going to regrade them and price accordingly, he needs to charge the same price for each board out to the customer. He doesn't want to be left with any stock, and so each order will be picked randomly.

I guess I'm lucky - living in a major conurbation I've got maybe a dozen good hardwood stockists within an hour's drive. Even if I had to travel twice that, though, I would do to pick my own wood. The secret is to get up early, be at the timber yard for when they open at 8.00am, and be back in the workshop for 10.30 for a lovely day making lots of shavings!

It only takes a couple of iffy boards on a delivery to cost you more in time and aggravation than the money spent on fuel.

And hey - its a day out!

Oh, and another thing: By visiting the timber yard yourself you can get some great bargains. The other week I'd gone to one place for some oak and noticed a big pile of assorted short lengths of 1" European sitting in the corner of the machining shed. It turned out to be off-cuts from a big job they'd been doing for a building company. £50 cash to the MD and I had about 40 pieces between 3 ft and 4 ft long and 6" wide in the back of the van. You don't get deals like that over the phone!

At British Hardwoods they have a bin full of oak off-cuts which you can help yourself to for free! (they just ask that you leave it tidy)

In my furniture I seldom use a piece of wood over 4ft long anyway!

Cheers
Brad

 

[Woodcrafts]

Have always had good service from West's, but do check out their minimum order value to qualify for free delivery, otherwise their delivery charge can be a bit steep. Far better, if you can, to visit them and select (but as they are a working sawmill they prefer you to phone in advance to arrange a suitable time). They do have a small user department selling smaller quantities as well as turning blanks, supplies, tools etc.

Some experience with English Woodland Timbers - again positive. Not sure what their delivery is like as I prefer to self select.

 

[brianhabby]

Boy, it's cold in them thar hills today...!

Hi Brad

Just had a great drive up to see Dave Hoyle in Llangernyw which is outside Abergele on the road to Llanrwst. It's about 12 miles inland from Colwyn Bay where I live. After all the rain we have had lately it was nice to be able to drive through the country on such a great day as today. It was frosty but very bright (I've been working outside all day) and the scenery today makes me appreciate living in such a beautiful part of the country.

Anyway to the point of this post:

As promised, I went to have a look at the timber yard you gave me the phone number for. The firm is Hoyle Hardwoods and is run by Dave Holye. I don't have a lot of experience in choosing hardwoods and Dave was very helpful in helping me make a decision. I bought a couple of pieces of ash about 8 feet long by about 12 inches wide (waney edge) for £20 which I am going to rip down into 2 inch strips. buying similar from my local stockist would have cost me over £75 with the VAT...! - I think I got a bargain.

There was a lot of timber in the place, most of which was under cover in a large barn although some was stacked outside in the yard (for seasoning I expect). He stocks a lot of different species and will provide a price list upon request. He also arranges delivery anywhere in Britain at cost. Dave lives across the road from his yard so if you phone him you might not always get an answer during the day, the best time is about 6:00 O'clock in the evening but you can always get him on his mobile which is 07880 760804.

A couple of examples per cubic foot in 1" thickness:

1st quality oak £29
Ash £17
Cherry £24

All waney edge. He will rip it to a square edge for you at extra cost.

I don't know what you are used to in timber yards but I think today's visit was well worth my time and I will definitely be visiting him again.

By the way, what's the best (and safest) way to rip a board that has two waney edges? I can't just place it against my rip fence.

hope the above is of some use.

regards

Brian

Dave Hoyle clambering for my wood

 

[Shultzy]

I'm sure this has been covered on other posts, but I think it goes like this.

Put a line down the board a long the grain.
Parallel a line to this one as close to the waney edge as you want.
Screw the ends of the plank with the second line parallel to the edge of a sacrificial board.
Run sacrificial board along fence.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the info on Dave Hoyle's place; I'll definitely be making a trip over shortly.

As far as sawing waney edged boards is concerned, Shultzy is quite right.

In other words, fasten a straight edged board (ply, MDF etc) to your piece of ash with a screw or pin at each end, making sure that the straight edge overhangs one edge of the ash.

Then simply run the two boards together through the table saw with the straight edge against the fence. Remove the screwed on board, spin your ash round, and trim up the opposing edge.

To minimise wastage, however, I would always cut the original plank into the approximate lengths you are going to need first, then follow the above process with each of them. You will understand what I mean when you do it!

Thanks again
Brad

 

[brianhabby]

I cut the wood today using the above method. I had a piece of 6" contiplas that was 8' long and this proved ideal. I got a good 70' of 2" x 1" from the two pieces of ash which works out at about 29 pence per foot.

Thanks for the tip

regards

Brian

 

[Scrit]

By the way, what's the best (and safest) way to rip a board that has two waney edges? I can't just place it against my rip fence.

Circular saw, trestles and straight edge

Scrit