There are other places to buy good wood . Look at sawmills. There are many independent sawyers in the south and some even have airdried lumber. Like Lew said the last Cherry I bought was 2.50. A friend has a line on walnut someone is giving away and going to see it Monday. I will get more if you want to come down and pick it up.

Where I lived in central NYS, there is a third generation family lumber mill. Mostly domestics - hard/soft maple, cherry, walnut, and butternut (my favorite for interior trim work), plus pine and probably other species that I'm not familiar with. All kd, sorted and stocked in a large cc building. Plus a molding shed with multiple profiles and species.

That (and family) are things I miss about living there. But when my son comes for a visit, he always has room in his truck for an order.

There are a couple of promising places in Summerville, about 90 minutes away. Haven't made the trip yet.

10 hours ago, John Morris said:

Well I know where I'm going when I get out east! 😆

Stop in for coffee!!

QSWO - $20.00/bd-ft. I needed a board that would yield qty (3) 3/4" x 8-1/4" x 33" and have a lot of figure. If I remember correctly, this board was 13/16" x ~9" x 9'. Do the math = $135.00. This board was used for the lwr (3) drawers. Wide QSWO 4/4 was hard for me to find in 2022. Danl

I’m officially spoiled because I buy exclusively from Frank Miller Lumber in Union City, Indiana right on the Ohio line. My faves are walnut and cherry but also buy white oak, red oak, maple and a variety of worldwide species from them. Think purpleheart , etc. I was there last Friday and got a new price sheet. Here’s a sampling for 4/4 QSWO per board foot:

Outlet Price - $8.00

Over 100 bf - $7.27

Over 500 bf - $6.67

Over 1000 bf - $5.71

Business Price (where I buy)- $5.33

4000+ bf - $4.88

32 minutes ago, Ron Dudelston said:

4/4 QSWO per board foot

Great prices for QSWO!

These guys are over the top good to work with. A solid Christian company with good prices and a full stock. I think Fred Hargis and maybe Keith Mealy both buy from there.

Maybe I can figure out a detour when going to visit family in Michigan/Ohio. 😉

I prefer to buy rough lumber or if I can't get that what is called either skip planed or hit and miss planed. The shop where I learned most of the useful craft I know was very particular about milling out your lumber correctly and getting it truly flat. In order to hit your thickness spec, you need to start as thick as you can. I only buy S2S if I'm desperate, because I've too often had to hunt around in a board to get the flat bits from it. S2S is made with a double sided planer, so if the board has a wicked bow or a snake like shape, that will persist when planed and you'll just have a thinner crooked board.

I still like cherry a lot, though it's a bit out of fashion lately. I would love to have a local sawyer, but I make do with a couple commercial yards that will sell retail (taxable sale is often what they call it). I like all wood though, even the difficult to plane hard maple. It's the worst for tear out for me, worse even than mesquite. I tend to have a lot of walnut around, that's what I use for producing grips.

12 hours ago, Ron Dudelston said:

These guys are over the top good to work with. A solid Christian company with good prices and a full stock. I think Fred Hargis and maybe Keith Mealy both buy from there.

Yes, I have bought from there, sometimes a trip up and sometimes they deliver a load (no charge).

Another good place is Wilhelm, just over the Indiana line NW of Cincinnati. You go there, tell them what type of wood you want, they fork lift down a skid, and you pick out the boards you want, satisfying your length, width, and thickness needs. They then tally up the board feet. If you want, they will run it thru their planer, and if you still want run it thru their drum sander for a bit more per BF. What I learned, then, is to allow at least an hour there. Don't expect to run in and get two boards and be out in 10 minutes.

Even closer to me is Muterspaw. They basically run a mill in their barns behind their house.

Edited February 13Feb 13 by kmealy

I love Frank Miller, but I've also come to appreciate Muterspaw. Muterspaw actually has some stock you can' find a Frank Miller, like 12/4 in various woods. But Frank Miller carries a top notch line of plywood, Muterspaw doesn't. From my house both are about the same distance, but in different directions. Just a tidbit, the folks who own Muterspaw bought the Woodcraft franchise in Dayton a few years back.

Edited February 13Feb 13 by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Keith's comment about the long wait Wilhelm's made me chuckle.

I get my stuff (lumber and plywood) from a mill at Clear Spring, MD, it's in the central panhandle and run by a Mennonite family. You never go there unless you have at least a half a day. The place is always packed with customers and the little office can hold only about 3 people! Checking the licenses plates is a testimony to there prices and quality- pickups and cargo vans from hundreds of miles away! You get to pick out your own stuff. They also offer mill work services.