Jason, your review and appreciation mean the world to us! We built our business on two principles: delivering quality service and top-notch hardwoods. We couldn't be happier to hear that you enjoy our S4S products. Thank you for your support! 💪
Maybe his shaving his beard was a trade off to get a good response from the vendor. And to the vendor: nice quality response, but why did you demand his beard be shaved?
i live about 40 minutes from Baird Bros. and have been buying wood from them for over 25 years never been disappointed good to see props for an Ohio company
I'm suddenly even more grateful for Hugh's Hardwood here in Sacramento. Red Oak is $4.25/BF and Maple is $5.25/BF. I could get all of that wood for less than $250.
This is a very informative look at how to order wood online. The linear rating system can distort the ranking. Example: If the delivery times were close to one another, say 6 days, 7 days, 7days, 8 days, 9 days the 6 day delivery would get 5 points and the 9 day delivery would get 1 point. That is a big difference for just 3 days. Also each of the rating categories are rated out of 6 which means they are of equal importance.
Good point. I think each person might value certain aspects differently...for example, silver ranked higher for me as someone without milling tools. Vs someone that needs longer boards, fast shipping etc. Overall very informative with tons of useful info that can be applied to fit the viewer's unique circumstances/preferences.
I just typed up the same thing without reading the comments. Should be 0-10 (or 0-100) points and scaled. Bunch of stuff shows up quickly, but one is super late, give them points between 8 and 10, but one score of 0. A lot have quality issues, but one is great, give them points between 3 and 6, but one score gets a 10. Having each category the same amount of points kinda makes sense to me. Maybe you need it fast, maybe you need it to be the best, maybe you don't have the money and can deal with worse quality.
The data is there and I think one can apply a weighting to each category that aligns with their requirements. This would then lead to the best choice for them.
Hey there Scruffins, hair goes nothing! This video was well groomed even though it was a bit of a short cut. You are always here to shave the day. Your beard was starting to grow on us. All good things must comb to an end. Thanks for shearing the online sources even though they didn’t make the cut. That will help us with our shavings account. Maybe you can sell that wood as a fund-razor. It could be a mane source of income for someone. Ha!
I have bought moldings from Baird Brothers. It was a pleasure working with them. I got what I ordered. Delivery was easy. I would order from them again without hesitation.
@DownloadFreeWoodworkingPlans I ordered some walnut and some maple. The walnut wasn't great, there were lots of color variations and several flaws. but a lot of the maple had flame figuring. Every piece had planer marks and one piece of walnut had some bad snipe.
If you are going to buy from HD go there in person and rent one of ther trucks for $20 for an hour. At least you might get something useful by picking each board yourself. They are going to grab whatever crap is at the top of the pile for online orders.
I'm SO glad you did a piece on this. I've been struggling with the idea of buying boards online and had no point of reference whatsoever. I recognize four of the retailers you reviewed and I can honestly say, I would have to be in dire need before I tried to make use of the "convenience" of buying boards online from them. Thank you.
Bell Forest Products is a great company to deal with. I’ve ordered a few hundred bf from them and always gotten fantastic quality boards. Their big boxes of exotic cutoffs are also awesome for turners
Bellforest is hands down the best I've used and my number 1 go to. I'm surprised he didn't use them, especially since i saw them pop up when he showed the screen cap of google in the beginning of the video and they were the first result
hardwood for big box is usually 20% more, but its usually ok stuff. hell it could be half assed as still the same quality and 1/14th the wait time as shipped
Not going to get a great selection of hardwoods at either as far as species. Red Oak, Maple or Poplar. HD used to sell Walnut, but no longer does (at least the stores I worked in). Lowes is the same. Quality/consistency though is actually pretty good, and it is all S4S.
@@RB-vr7mqI was just at HD today for something else, and my local HD (near Seattle) carries Walnut still! White Oak is super expensive locally though, definitely not getting $7/board foot like Jason
@@RB-vr7mqIf you have a Menards in the area then try them. They have a decent selection of red oak, alder aspen, popular, cherry, hickory, mahogany, maple and walnut. All in stock and wrapped in plastic. Some have more variety of sizes and thicknesses than others. All probably cost less than ordering it online from any of these places.
I’m under the impression that the control was for rough lumber, would have been interesting for you to have your local wood store prepare the board S4S. I know that when I get mine prepare it generally take about a week so my local shop would not actually ranked first in that regard. I think that one of the main appeal of the online supplier is to be able to order S4S as not everyone is equipped to used rough cut lumber
I hope Jason addresses this comment because I had the same thought- is the price he listed S4S? Also, one must consider availability. With oak/maple/walnut, it's probably not an issue. However, your local place may not have the exotic wood you need while somewhere on the internet will. This is still a great video and the information is certainly useful!
It's his intern stunt double. You think Jason is going to risk his personal safety doing all those "over the work bench" rolls himself?! The foreman would have his hide for that!
I buy mine online from Ocooch Hardwoods. Never had a problem with anything. Quick shipping and always quality stuff. One time they did forget one piece that I had ordered. I called them and let them know. It was on a Friday afternoon. I had the board Monday. Even though I told them not to expedite the shipping cause I wouldn’t be using it soon.
My one and only true woodworking project was a coffee table. I sourced ash from Baird Brothers. I can’t say enough positive things about them. They were open during my Covid lockdown so I could maintain my sanity with this project.
Baird brother is right around me and their wood quality is unbelievable and relatively affordable if you pickup in person. Shipping the wood is brutal on the price!
Thanks for this comparison. Surprised Bell Forest wasn't used. I've purchased rough mahogany from them and it was pretty much perfect. Actually received more than I ordered. I also bought some cherry from Rockler once when it was on sale ... junk. Half of it had wane, knots, bows, and twists ... sent it all back. Whoever did the picking didn't care in the least.
Great video and very educational. Some influencers show getting wood online from a particular company but you know that they are not paying the $30 a BF like we would pay. I was hoping that you would have used Bell Forest Products since i have used them a couple of times with great results. And you have the benefit of picking out individual boards like you would at the local lumber yard since they have pics of each board. Thanks for your videos.
For anyone who doesn’t have access to a lumber yard, you might want to check the nearest dealers to see if they do delivery. I live 2 hours from the nearest hardware dealer, but they deliver to the remote surrounding areas once a week for a $35 delivery charge.
I know you won't want to hear this, but I have had several great experiences ordering cherry, walnut, and mahogany online from... Home Depot. And they allowed me to order 8 foot lengths.
Crossing my fingers on a delivery I have coming today from HD. It’s only a bunch of 2x8 ground treated deck board, so I figured it wouldn’t matter much anyway, but it was really my only option right now
Baird Brothers is by far the highest quality wood I've found. They also practice sustainability and burn their sawdust to power their kilns. Their sales team is incredible. Eric Hiner is a pleasure to work with. I HIGHLY recommend.
I live near Cleveland and have been looking for a more reasonable priced source of hardwood than Home Depot or Menards. I've considered Yoder Lumber near Millersburg but that's an hour and a half away. About the same distance away as Baird Bros.
I'm honestly surprised by the Woodworkers Source. When I lived in AZ, I used all of their local stores and never had any issue, the stores are great, the people are great and the wood you pick out was great. Since I've moved to another state, I have always kept them in mind if I needed to order online since I've dealt with them and knew that you could make an online order. Thought that they'd be up near the top in this blind test.
Also agree with you. I use Woodworkers Source exclusively for my hardwood needs. They have a large selection of exotics and their standard hardwoods are priced right….typically well under $15 bft. I do live in AZ but I have to travel 100 miles one way to stock up. But if I only do that three or four times a year it’s not a hassle and I can select nice looking wood for reasonable cost.
Agreed. I have nothing but good experiences ordering online from them. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so this was very unfortunate for them.
I've ordered online from Woodworkers Source for years and never had any problems at all. I was really expecting them to be one of the best companies throughout the whole video. Not sure if it's just a fluke or what. But this definitely doesn't look good for them.
I have used Advantage Lumber, mainly east coast except Santa Fe, CA. I have ordered lumber as long as 12" to 13" no problems. The quality was great, and shipping was no longer then 10 days from the plant in Fla to PA. Ron USCG RET
Im within free delivery for Baird Brothers, In Ohio. I imagine shipping across country affected the price a lot. The wood I get from them is always higher quality and cheaper then the local bib box stores.
Baird Brothers probably is my preferred dealer, they are a saw mill and hard wood supplier. I can go and pick out slabs but if Im getting surfaced boards or hardwood ply having there truck deliver and unload for free is great.
I can agree. Baird brothers worked well for me. I purchased hickory for a project and one of the boards had an issue. Without hesitation they addressed my concern and sent me a replacement. I'd say they stand by their product and present the best quality possible.
Also. Look for lumber yards that are “local” but may be an hour or two away. They may have really good shipping rates for being within a certain distance. I have one here in Dallas that does free next day delivery on orders over $400 within 75 miles. So you might be able to find some savings that way.
Two things I would have liked to be included is: 1. The packaging. Was there enough protection against the box being dropped or twisted during sipping? What about cushioning and stiffeners? 2. Customer Service. If you contacted the seller via website, email, or phone, how hard was it to get problems sorted out?
I’m amazed that Woodworkers Source was rated so low. I’ve ordered white oak multiple times from them and it was excellent quality and good color match. I did specifically order premium quarter sawn white oak though, so I’m not sure if that made a difference.
I've also ordered rough sawn Walnut from Woodworkers Source and it was not only inexpensive but really nice quality. I'm surprised they didn't do as well here.
I am lucky enough to live about 30 minutes away from one of the Woodworkers Source locations (Black Canyon Highway - Phoenix, AZ area). The guys that work there are all very helpful and knowledgeable. The huge variety of wood has caused me to wonder through the store for much longer than planned and change my project ideas more than once! Besides that, Mark's videos (Mark is the CEO) have been very helpful at introducing me different wood species and finishes.
Your ranking method is very misleading. The boards should not be graded relative to each other, but rather get an absolute grade between 1-6. After all, theoretically there can be 2 boards that deserve a score of 6 because they are of high quality and 4 boards that deserve a score of 1 because they are of low quality. According to your method, they would receive the grades: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and this really does not reflect reality
One factor you didn’t think to rate is actually their return policies. That’s probably one of the most important factors when using online retailers. And to be fair to some of these online stores, it sounds like the usability might be a bit higher than a local retailer if they’re sending you milled boards. I mean it would probably save them more on shipping. For me personally, I think you over-weighted delivery time and under-weighted price. You can plan to buy early but material cost can make or break a project. For me at least. I think the price should match the quality.
Oh and now that I think about it, what’s the distance of all these retailers from the delivery address? Are the most expensive ones the furthest away leading to a higher cost?
A couple of years ago I was in the hardwood center and you came in. I'd been watching your videos for a while but never imagined you were in the area. My first and only celebrity TH-cam sighting to this day. I didn't say hi because it seemed weird to say "hi I know you from TH-cam." That is all.
Thanks for the video, very comprehensive and although there are a few other factors to take into account, it seems about as fair as it gets. The only note I would make, the lumber you got from your local lumber shop was probably not S4S at ~$7.50/bf. If it is, then we’re definitely all missing out. Then again I’m in Canada, so prices are different but that seems really cheap for S4S white oak.
I have been driving the hour and a half to Dallas for lumber mainly because i don't trust the online lumber quality , you pretty much nailed it on this video .
Moral of the story, don’t buy wood online. It seems to expensive and takes forever to receive and if there is a issue with the wood takes more time and frustration. Find a good local lumber yard and get to know them. In my opinion 😎
Since i live in a city with a really good hardwood dealer, i wouldn't order online. And we have a couple of "ok" sources. But if i had to drive over 100 miles i would think twice. But ¢20+ for a board, i guess id drive 200 miles.
Great video! One thing I would point out, you should factor "shipping cost" into the wood from local store as well. Fuel, mileage, and your time for both travel and shopping. Still way below the shipping cost for the online orders I would guess, but not zero. Also, I can never seem to leave the wood store without a couple of shorts for smalls projects.
Baird brothers are the bomb diggity. I have only purchased moldings (a lot) but products have always been perfect and customer service and packaging has been awesome. No reservation in saying that's the best spot.
This was great information. Anyone who has a limited number of tools, owns a small vehicle, and the nearest quality wood supplier is 200 miles from home has few options. I will pay for wood that is good out of the box. Thanks.
Wow, no Bellforest? You can handpick from the site, you can contact them directly for your order and they work with you. I think you had a big miss not having Bellforest in your test.
One thing not mentioned with the Rockler purchase is how many novice woodworkers would have thought to themselves, these look wrong but it can't be that they sent me the wrong species and just glue them up into a project.
Very informative and excellent video Jason! I purchase my wood from Bell Forest Products and have never been disappointed! Great company to do business with! 👍👍🔨🔨
Can confirm, Baird Brother is great. I've bought from them a bunch of times. Last time I ordered some oak crown and base for a small project. With shipping from them in Ohio to me in Florida, it was still cheaper than what our local hardwood dealer wanted to charge to mill it. And I was blown away by how smooth the boards were vs what I normally get from our local store. Baird really does some good quality work. I'd also like to say their website is really good. I'm often up late when working on a job estimate, just not enough hour in the day. It's very easy to pull acurate material and shipping costs from it.
After watching this video, I’m really thankful for the several sawmills in my back yard, all within 30 miles of my shop. One note about those miles, my nearest big box lumber store is 26.5 miles from my shop so I’m driving the same distance regardless of where I shop. I’ve never paid over $3 for a board foot of white oak, and maple isn’t bad for $5 a board foot. The lumber is all air-dried for a minimum of 3 years in open-air barns, and the cuts are generous. The surfaces are raw, but honestly they look and feel better than the surfaces at my local big box so that’s actually a plus in my book. Plus, we can pick our pieces. Bring your moisture tester, but I’ve never found anything under 5%, and nothing over 9%, so I don’t even test anymore. We have to load our trailer ourselves, but we have to do that at the big box store, so that negates itself right away. All in all, it’s always an experience!
Thank you for this video. I live in an area where my only options are big box stores, so information like this is great for expanding the woods available to me.
Just ordered a bunch of wood from them. I went with 8/4 inch unfinished as I like to do all my own milling anyway. They seemed to have the best rep I found online (as recommended by actual woodworkers).
SIZE MATTERS!(no,seriously). Great experiment & analysis Jason! 1 factor hardwood buyers should note is quality & size rarely increase proportionally. For example, if you ordered 1’ length boards from each company I’d expect uniform high ratings. Doubt you’d see any defects. Now place the same order for 16’ lengths. I’m guessing 1/2 the orders would be unfilled & what showed up would look less impressive than what you received here. Slight bows over 12” length seem benign. Same curve stretched over 192” looks horrific. Etc.
This was informative. Should do local suppliers test the same, including homedepot. Mainly because my HD has better wood than my local supplier, so I think ppl are against them just to "stick it to the man", lol.
We need a follow up video on what happened with the products that presented problems. Replacement wood... switcheroo for the stuff that wasn't long enough? That would be a second and critical half of the story.
I have bought from Wood workers Supply a number of time and have been pleased with the wood I've received except for two orders. One of those was white oak. I'm not sure why your order from them was so expensive as that has not been my experience. But you do have to plan ahead as they are not speedy when it comes to delivery. Great review overall!
I have never been disappointed with Ocooch hardwoods. They have what is called project ready wood. It is S4S and the measurements are exact. you get a true 3/4 x 3 x 24 for example
Good stuff! When I lived in Portland, I never had any issues. Between Crosscut and Woodcrafters, I was very well covered. And that only represents a portion of all the great places to source hardwoods. So I moved to central Oregon a year ago and noticed that, well, we don't have a whole lot of hardwoods out here. And since I am just now getting my shop outfitted with benches, etc., I need to find a reliable source. This video is very helpful. Thanks! I may just need to drive to the valley and overstock... :)
I will say in the beginning of my amateur woodworking, the local lumber stores intimidated me with dealing with the board feet and varying options. Not all of them allow you into the wood area and some do not offer S4S. However, I took the leap and learned. Most of the time they are very helpful. Always best to go during the day on a weekday when they are slower and can spend more time with you and your needs. I wanted to some specific length and width walnut and they brought the stack to the loading area and let me choose what I wanted.
I ordered 10 board feet from Woodpeckers because it was one of the deals. The price for the walnut was descent however what I got was terrible. The wood was bowed, poorly planed, had knots in the middle of the boards, had sap wood, and some of the pieces were not 4' as advertised. I did not attempt to contact them because it was awful all around. I had seen Four Eyes order a lot of wood from Woodworker's Source and never mention an issue however since there are some local to me, I would rather go into their show room. However, their prices are higher than other local hardwood dealers so I don't.
In Florida red oak is abundant. We get it free every hurricane. It's actually "swamp oak" but it's still red. A lot of live oak too but it's heavy and is some of the hardest wood I seen.
I hope you let us know if and/or what any of these companies had to say about this test. I think I would go to the “silver” supplier if time was not an issue. They knocked it out of the park on every category except time. To me, quality is the biggest determinant. All in all this was a very good test regime.
But at over $30 a board foot? One would have to have zero local options within several hundred miles to make that worth it. It’s already an expensive hobby, those prices simply make the hobby unthinkable for the majority of woodworkers.
I believe in local sources, I like to see what I'm buying, I worked for Hardwood distribution yards for 15 years, we received huge VC variations in grade, color and sizes. If you order from someone, you get most anything that comes off the stack, if they allow it, it's best to pick out your own. Paxton The Wood Source is an excellent choice, they are in several states and carry exotic woods as well. Red and white oak are always separate. We even carried red oak in three different areas it was from. Appalachian, northern and southern. The nicest was northern red oak, great color but narrower cuts, Appalachian was very nice and wider variations while the southern seemed off colored, more mineral stains, wavy and smelled rotten. But now white oak, that's the best looking in my opinion.
Incredible content here. For those looking to buy boards online, I HIGHLY recommend Bell Forest Products. I have dealt with them quite a few times and have never had anything go wrong. What I ordered is what I got, when I pick a board, it's the board I get. Thank you much for this video and comparison, it does really help us all out and gives us options. Keep it up!
I moved from an area where I had 3 local sources within 20 min of my shop to the backside of bumble fu*k nowhere so I'm forced to buy online now which has pretty much priced me out of working for miney. I've used WWSource several times and the last two orders were absolute firewood. Purchased walnut that netted out to about $20bf and waited like 10 days to get bowed, warped, cupped lumber. I'm not sure I can use them again. I don't have time for them to make it right and im sure they would but I can't have projects jamming up the shop for so long. Looking forward to trying other options. Thanks
I appreciate this video as I don't have a single hardwood supplier within two hours of me, and the one two hours away is only open during my work hours, so knowing what the good options are for ordering wood online is nice to know.
My experiences of lumberyards are that you have to scrutinise every sheet and board for defects, bends, twists and damage, so I wouldn't trust an online suppler not to dump a load of garbage on me l, knowing that the agro and hassle of returning the lumber is a real pain. Call me a cynic? 🥴
I once bought 100 bd ft clear alder online from Woodworkers Source out of Phoenix. It was not clear (abundance of knots); the pieces were irregular such that a five-inch board tapered to a live or semi-live edge to 3-1/2 inches; and most had some other defect (split, gouge, bow, bend, etc.) such that the waste was phenomenal. I sent an email with pictures to the store but got no response. I did a follow-up telephone call but the guy I spoke to said he didn't look at the pictures I sent because he didn't know how to do that. I ended up eating the cost and using what I could in various projects, which was not often. In fact, that was about four years ago and I still have some of that junk in my shop. Never again.
I live close to Baird Brothers I’ve been in construction for 43 years we buy all our hardwood from them , if you go to the warehouse they let you pick whatever boards you want
I wish you came out with this video a week ago! I just ordered some purple heart from Woodworkers Source. It’s a 3 hour drive each way to my usual hardwood supplier so I took a shot ordering from them. Side note: I ordered from Kencraft a couple of years ago. I took a while for the wood to arrive, but it was nice quality.
Thanks for this video. I've never seen anyone test different online sources before. I've contemplated ordering online a few times, but I've always ended up going with my local shops. I may consider online for the hard to find species though.
I wish we had a hardwood store here where I live. My best option is contacting local "sawers", private ppl doing it for fun and a bit of profit. When I'm in need of a specific material, I ask them. If they don't have any, I have to go online. And I don't even have many options there EITHER haha
I've had issues with Woodworker's Source hardwood, also. I do buy plywood melamine and MDF melamine panels (black and/or white) from them at a very good price and usually free shipping. Otherwise, I usually "bite the bullet" when I need wood and make the 160 mile round trip to Austin to go to Austin Fine Hardwood. I save up $$$ for a long time and get as much as I can afford. Thx.
I have struggled with debt many times. Five times I have cleared my debt, including the mortgage. Keep in mind that mort is the Latin word for dead. I am back in debt again. Oh well. I am not dead.
Excellent video. Looking over the comments is interesting, too for all of viewer's favorite places. My favorite sources were in the midwest in the '70s to the '80s which likely no longer exist. One was a huge space with several 3 sided sheds full of every kind of wood you could think of - if you could find it. All was completely rough. There was one guy who knew were everything was. I'd go with a sharp knife to verify the species. Shipping didn't happen.
Great video Jason. I’ve been looking for someone to do one of these. Where I live, I only have big box, online or Facebook marketplace with home lumber mills. This gives me another good choice.
This is video is probably quite helpful. Pretty tough on some of these sources as doesn't sound like they did too well. Just some comments. I've been cutting wood for 60 years. I've built over 100 cabinets, tables, furniture etc. I think each of us has different abilities with our shops. For folks with complete shops, we don't really care much if the wood is completely surfaced, has more than 1 straight edge, and for that matter, particularly caring about moisture content. We do care if it is warped and cupped, twisted etc. We very much do care about the grain and esthetics. Of course we want the moisture to be level by the time we use it with local humidity. I surface all wood that for each project with jointers and planers and my wide belt. Fortunately I live in an area that has decent hardwood sources. I go between them fairly often, but have a good relationship with the closest place. I ask them to give me a text when they break out new unit of wood. Most companies want to see you, so they will do that. I keep a fair amount of wood on hand, (another reason I don't care that much about the moisture content). So it would seem I don't need to buy wood online, right? Wrong. I've bought wood online for almost 45 years. Why? Because most hardwood lumber yards don't carry particularly "fancy" wood. Flat sawn, sure, quarter sawn, probably, but figured lumber or other special stuff, not so much. I used to find a good supplier that I could buy from and would have them go pick over their stock and have them ship me the best they could, and I'd pay a bit over the price that they quoted. I got some great wood that way. Unfortunately, most of those suppliers are gone. But not all, and more and more, with the internet, for figured wood, you usually see good pictures of the exact wood you are buying. My point is, if you are buying white oak, or maple, or common wood, try to buy extra and keep stock, especially if you have to drive a distance. But if you are looking for something special, you might well have to get it online.
I ordered 6 pieces of 7' premium black walnut from Woodworkers Source and had the exact opposite of your experience. It was listed as having at least 7" clear and half the boards showed up at 8" to 9" clear with only one board coming in at exactly 7" clear once ripped to eliminate a knot hole. They were pretty much flat out of the box, at 7' you are going to get a little bowing off of most wood, and as I was going to glue them up for a tabletop it worked out fine. They were 3/4" finished S2S and the surface finish was pretty good only needing light sanding to take it to finish and they had one edge straight ripped. I got 189 board feet for $519 - they were running a special for a 6 pack of boards and the shipping was free and I got $10 off for signing up for their newsletter. I calculated the board feet at 3/4" as that is what they arrived at despite the site listing them as 4/4 and the actual thickness is 13/16ths. I requested that the boards match as closely as possible and they did, and the little sapwood that was on one piece was on the rough edge that disappeared once I ripped the boards to size. I'm not getting paid for this, and I don't have any relationship with Woodworkers Source other than giving them money for wood, but I was happy with what I received. The time from order to receiving my wood was 14 days but as I wasn't in a hurry that really didn't matter much to me.
Without the beard, I don’t know if I trust him. 😂
Took me far too long to realise it was even him 'o.O
I do. DONT!
I was thinking the same thing 😂
Who's this????
😅😅😅
Jason, your review and appreciation mean the world to us! We built our business on two principles: delivering quality service and top-notch hardwoods. We couldn't be happier to hear that you enjoy our S4S products. Thank you for your support! 💪
Please keep your comments strictly on topic to the fact that Jason shaved his beard, thank you.
Kiss ass
Maybe his shaving his beard was a trade off to get a good response from the vendor.
And to the vendor: nice quality response, but why did you demand his beard be shaved?
Spoilers! LOL
LOL @@SecurityClearancePodcast
I can’t believe Beardgate was not addressed in this video. The viewers demand answers!!! 😂
The blade guard on his clippers fell off when he was trimming his beard. He talked about it on facebook
@@christianhelms6676happened to me too sometime ago, pure agony.
@@christianhelms6676 oof, been there. It sucks!!!
llol
Beardgate is a thing ... LOL! Knowing Jason though, that thing will grow back in just a few hours.
i live about 40 minutes from Baird Bros. and have been buying wood from them for over 25 years never been disappointed good to see props for an Ohio company
I have ordered from them in the past and they were awesome.
They're an hour from me, totally agree.
I'm suddenly even more grateful for Hugh's Hardwood here in Sacramento. Red Oak is $4.25/BF and Maple is $5.25/BF. I could get all of that wood for less than $250.
Right? I've Got Macbeath Lumber near me( 25 minutes away) I cannot imagine what it would cost to get Afromosia or Black limba via delivery.
For us Germans that sounds like an unfathomable dream
Out of curiosity, what kinds of woods do you work with most often and have the most access to? @@dgrwd
Hey!! That’s where my dad always got his wood for his cabinets. Nice to see a fellow Californian!
Thanks for that info!
This is a very informative look at how to order wood online.
The linear rating system can distort the ranking.
Example: If the delivery times were close to one another, say 6 days, 7 days, 7days, 8 days, 9 days the 6 day delivery would get 5 points and the 9 day delivery would get 1 point. That is a big difference for just 3 days.
Also each of the rating categories are rated out of 6 which means they are of equal importance.
Good point. I think each person might value certain aspects differently...for example, silver ranked higher for me as someone without milling tools. Vs someone that needs longer boards, fast shipping etc. Overall very informative with tons of useful info that can be applied to fit the viewer's unique circumstances/preferences.
I just typed up the same thing without reading the comments. Should be 0-10 (or 0-100) points and scaled. Bunch of stuff shows up quickly, but one is super late, give them points between 8 and 10, but one score of 0. A lot have quality issues, but one is great, give them points between 3 and 6, but one score gets a 10.
Having each category the same amount of points kinda makes sense to me. Maybe you need it fast, maybe you need it to be the best, maybe you don't have the money and can deal with worse quality.
The data is there and I think one can apply a weighting to each category that aligns with their requirements. This would then lead to the best choice for them.
@@jbrickey good point
totally agree. I think certain categories should be weighted more heavily.
I've been buying from Baird Brothers for years and specifying their moldings for years. Great people and great service!
Daniel, we're happy to hear you enjoy our mouldings. Thank you for choosing Baird Brothers! 💪
You misspelled “Beard”.
They are good.
Hey there Scruffins, hair goes nothing! This video was well groomed even though it was a bit of a short cut. You are always here to shave the day. Your beard was starting to grow on us. All good things must comb to an end. Thanks for shearing the online sources even though they didn’t make the cut. That will help us with our shavings account. Maybe you can sell that wood as a fund-razor. It could be a mane source of income for someone. Ha!
*chef's kiss*
That was an impressive amount of puns!
*slow clap
Well done!
ChatGPT wrote a zinger.
Well done
I have bought moldings from Baird Brothers. It was a pleasure working with them. I got what I ordered. Delivery was easy. I would order from them again without hesitation.
Robert, thank you for choosing Baird Brothers!
It looks like a good experience.
I went to buy wood online and the shipping was as much as the wood cost. It was actually cheaper to order S4S wood from homedepot with free shipping.
HD will send maple, walnut and red oak right to your door. Thx for let folks know.
What was your order?
@DownloadFreeWoodworkingPlans I ordered some walnut and some maple. The walnut wasn't great, there were lots of color variations and several flaws. but a lot of the maple had flame figuring. Every piece had planer marks and one piece of walnut had some bad snipe.
If you are going to buy from HD go there in person and rent one of ther trucks for $20 for an hour. At least you might get something useful by picking each board yourself. They are going to grab whatever crap is at the top of the pile for online orders.
@@gredystar8333 The only hardwood my HD carries is poplar and red oak and they don't rent trucks.
I'm SO glad you did a piece on this. I've been struggling with the idea of buying boards online and had no point of reference whatsoever. I recognize four of the retailers you reviewed and I can honestly say, I would have to be in dire need before I tried to make use of the "convenience" of buying boards online from them. Thank you.
I'm kinda shocked Bell wasnt one of the companies. I've had great luck with them for exotics
Their prices are pretty good too. $30+/BF for white oak is highway robbery
Bell Forest Products is a great company to deal with. I’ve ordered a few hundred bf from them and always gotten fantastic quality boards. Their big boxes of exotic cutoffs are also awesome for turners
Bell Forest Products, great people to deal with.. Boone & Eric are the best…….
I have ordered hardwoods from Bell Forest and have been very pleased.
Bellforest is hands down the best I've used and my number 1 go to. I'm surprised he didn't use them, especially since i saw them pop up when he showed the screen cap of google in the beginning of the video and they were the first result
Should have thrown the big box stores in there as options so we could see how they ranked verses actual hardwood suppliers.
hardwood for big box is usually 20% more, but its usually ok stuff. hell it could be half assed as still the same quality and 1/14th the wait time as shipped
The HD near me ONLY has red oak. Anything else, nope. Special order only. :(
Not going to get a great selection of hardwoods at either as far as species. Red Oak, Maple or Poplar. HD used to sell Walnut, but no longer does (at least the stores I worked in). Lowes is the same. Quality/consistency though is actually pretty good, and it is all S4S.
@@RB-vr7mqI was just at HD today for something else, and my local HD (near Seattle) carries Walnut still! White Oak is super expensive locally though, definitely not getting $7/board foot like Jason
@@RB-vr7mqIf you have a Menards in the area then try them. They have a decent selection of red oak, alder aspen, popular, cherry, hickory, mahogany, maple and walnut. All in stock and wrapped in plastic. Some have more variety of sizes and thicknesses than others. All probably cost less than ordering it online from any of these places.
As someone without the vehicle to move wood, thanks for this video!
For those prices it would be cheaper to rent a uhaul and get better wood
@@builtat_the_beach1516 ain't that the truth
See if you Home Depot rents flatbed trucks. One near me $30 for first 75 min. Enough time to run to a lumber yard and back.
@omm2745 that's a great price. I'll definitely look into that
You could put the 4ft boards in the trunk of an Uber :)
I’m under the impression that the control was for rough lumber, would have been interesting for you to have your local wood store prepare the board S4S. I know that when I get mine prepare it generally take about a week so my local shop would not actually ranked first in that regard. I think that one of the main appeal of the online supplier is to be able to order S4S as not everyone is equipped to used rough cut lumber
I hope Jason addresses this comment because I had the same thought- is the price he listed S4S?
Also, one must consider availability. With oak/maple/walnut, it's probably not an issue. However, your local place may not have the exotic wood you need while somewhere on the internet will.
This is still a great video and the information is certainly useful!
I wasn’t ready for the $600 Wagner moisture meter price tag.
who's this stranger?
That's what happens when you run out of hair on the arms to check your chisels with...
@@jaafarmejri3361 😂💀
It's his intern stunt double. You think Jason is going to risk his personal safety doing all those "over the work bench" rolls himself?!
The foreman would have his hide for that!
I buy mine online from Ocooch Hardwoods. Never had a problem with anything. Quick shipping and always quality stuff. One time they did forget one piece that I had ordered. I called them and let them know. It was on a Friday afternoon. I had the board Monday. Even though I told them not to expedite the shipping cause I wouldn’t be using it soon.
That's who I use when I need to order something. Never had an issue
love them best prices from online
Checked them out, can't order anything longer than 24" unless I'm missing something. Not really useful for 90% of what I do.
@@robingreding7696same. Not many uses with 24” lengths
@@robingreding7696 you can just had a buch of 6 footer orderd
My one and only true woodworking project was a coffee table. I sourced ash from Baird Brothers. I can’t say enough positive things about them. They were open during my Covid lockdown so I could maintain my sanity with this project.
Eric, we're thrilled to be a part of your coffee table project. 💪
Baird brother is right around me and their wood quality is unbelievable and relatively affordable if you pickup in person. Shipping the wood is brutal on the price!
It also varies by how far you live from the mill. Jason would pay a lot more for the same wood shipped from Maine than from Washington state.
"That's ugly, old person wood." Lol.
Thanks for this comparison. Surprised Bell Forest wasn't used. I've purchased rough mahogany from them and it was pretty much perfect. Actually received more than I ordered. I also bought some cherry from Rockler once when it was on sale ... junk. Half of it had wane, knots, bows, and twists ... sent it all back. Whoever did the picking didn't care in the least.
Great video and very educational. Some influencers show getting wood online from a particular company but you know that they are not paying the $30 a BF like we would pay. I was hoping that you would have used Bell Forest Products since i have used them a couple of times with great results. And you have the benefit of picking out individual boards like you would at the local lumber yard since they have pics of each board. Thanks for your videos.
For anyone who doesn’t have access to a lumber yard, you might want to check the nearest dealers to see if they do delivery. I live 2 hours from the nearest hardware dealer, but they deliver to the remote surrounding areas once a week for a $35 delivery charge.
I know you won't want to hear this, but I have had several great experiences ordering cherry, walnut, and mahogany online from... Home Depot. And they allowed me to order 8 foot lengths.
Really? Didn't know one could do that. And the prices were reasonable?
Crossing my fingers on a delivery I have coming today from HD. It’s only a bunch of 2x8 ground treated deck board, so I figured it wouldn’t matter much anyway, but it was really my only option right now
Baird Brothers is by far the highest quality wood I've found. They also practice sustainability and burn their sawdust to power their kilns. Their sales team is incredible. Eric Hiner is a pleasure to work with. I HIGHLY recommend.
We love Hiner! ❤
I live near Cleveland and have been looking for a more reasonable priced source of hardwood than Home Depot or Menards. I've considered Yoder Lumber near Millersburg but that's an hour and a half away. About the same distance away as Baird Bros.
I'm honestly surprised by the Woodworkers Source. When I lived in AZ, I used all of their local stores and never had any issue, the stores are great, the people are great and the wood you pick out was great. Since I've moved to another state, I have always kept them in mind if I needed to order online since I've dealt with them and knew that you could make an online order. Thought that they'd be up near the top in this blind test.
Agree with you. I’ve been ordering from them for a while now and have been nothing but completely satisfied
Also agree with you. I use Woodworkers Source exclusively for my hardwood needs. They have a large selection of exotics and their standard hardwoods are priced right….typically well under $15 bft. I do live in AZ but I have to travel 100 miles one way to stock up. But if I only do that three or four times a year it’s not a hassle and I can select nice looking wood for reasonable cost.
Maybe they dump lower quality online and sell higher in person?
Agreed. I have nothing but good experiences ordering online from them.
You only get one chance to make a first impression, so this was very unfortunate for them.
I've ordered online from Woodworkers Source for years and never had any problems at all. I was really expecting them to be one of the best companies throughout the whole video. Not sure if it's just a fluke or what. But this definitely doesn't look good for them.
I have used Advantage Lumber, mainly east coast except Santa Fe, CA. I have ordered lumber as long as 12" to 13" no problems. The quality was great, and shipping was no longer then 10 days from the plant in Fla to PA. Ron USCG RET
Ha, seeing their name reminded me how well they treated me in the past. They sent me free samples the first time I considered ordering from them.
Can't thank you enough for this "experiment" and analysis!
In Canada I use KJP from Ottawa.. the wood is always good and the prices are fair, plus fast shipping
Im within free delivery for Baird Brothers, In Ohio. I imagine shipping across country affected the price a lot. The wood I get from them is always higher quality and cheaper then the local bib box stores.
big box stores here in Colorado only sell red oak .and some walnut. they sell white oak there?
Ohio doesn’t have a local hardwood dealer? We have a lot of them next door in Indiana.
Not white oak but we do have on that has a lot of options.
Baird Brothers probably is my preferred dealer, they are a saw mill and hard wood supplier. I can go and pick out slabs but if Im getting surfaced boards or hardwood ply having there truck deliver and unload for free is great.
I can agree. Baird brothers worked well for me. I purchased hickory for a project and one of the boards had an issue. Without hesitation they addressed my concern and sent me a replacement. I'd say they stand by their product and present the best quality possible.
Also. Look for lumber yards that are “local” but may be an hour or two away. They may have really good shipping rates for being within a certain distance. I have one here in Dallas that does free next day delivery on orders over $400 within 75 miles. So you might be able to find some savings that way.
That's a good tip!
Which yard is that? I am in DFW area.
As a beginner this is perfect. It shows exactly why you want to choose the boards yourself.
You should have tried Bell Forrest ive had great luck with them
Yup they are in my back yard and one of the best in my opinion
Two things I would have liked to be included is:
1. The packaging. Was there enough protection against the box being dropped or twisted during sipping? What about cushioning and stiffeners?
2. Customer Service. If you contacted the seller via website, email, or phone, how hard was it to get problems sorted out?
I’m amazed that Woodworkers Source was rated so low. I’ve ordered white oak multiple times from them and it was excellent quality and good color match. I did specifically order premium quarter sawn white oak though, so I’m not sure if that made a difference.
I've only ever ordered carving blocks and once when it was on sale baltic birch from them and it was great
I've also ordered rough sawn Walnut from Woodworkers Source and it was not only inexpensive but really nice quality. I'm surprised they didn't do as well here.
I ordered walnut the only time I ordered from Woodworker’s Source and the quality was great.
I am lucky enough to live about 30 minutes away from one of the Woodworkers Source locations (Black Canyon Highway - Phoenix, AZ area). The guys that work there are all very helpful and knowledgeable. The huge variety of wood has caused me to wonder through the store for much longer than planned and change my project ideas more than once! Besides that, Mark's videos (Mark is the CEO) have been very helpful at introducing me different wood species and finishes.
Your ranking method is very misleading. The boards should not be graded relative to each other, but rather get an absolute grade between 1-6. After all, theoretically there can be 2 boards that deserve a score of 6 because they are of high quality and 4 boards that deserve a score of 1 because they are of low quality. According to your method, they would receive the grades: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and this really does not reflect reality
I've used Baird Bros. for decades for milling antique mouldings and hardwoods.
Happy to have your support John!
One factor you didn’t think to rate is actually their return policies. That’s probably one of the most important factors when using online retailers.
And to be fair to some of these online stores, it sounds like the usability might be a bit higher than a local retailer if they’re sending you milled boards. I mean it would probably save them more on shipping.
For me personally, I think you over-weighted delivery time and under-weighted price. You can plan to buy early but material cost can make or break a project. For me at least. I think the price should match the quality.
Oh and now that I think about it, what’s the distance of all these retailers from the delivery address?
Are the most expensive ones the furthest away leading to a higher cost?
A couple of years ago I was in the hardwood center and you came in. I'd been watching your videos for a while but never imagined you were in the area. My first and only celebrity TH-cam sighting to this day. I didn't say hi because it seemed weird to say "hi I know you from TH-cam." That is all.
Thanks for the video, very comprehensive and although there are a few other factors to take into account, it seems about as fair as it gets.
The only note I would make, the lumber you got from your local lumber shop was probably not S4S at ~$7.50/bf. If it is, then we’re definitely all missing out. Then again I’m in Canada, so prices are different but that seems really cheap for S4S white oak.
I have been driving the hour and a half to Dallas for lumber mainly because i don't trust the online lumber quality , you pretty much nailed it on this video .
Moral of the story, don’t buy wood online. It seems to expensive and takes forever to receive and if there is a issue with the wood takes more time and frustration. Find a good local lumber yard and get to know them. In my opinion 😎
Since i live in a city with a really good hardwood dealer, i wouldn't order online. And we have a couple of "ok" sources.
But if i had to drive over 100 miles i would think twice. But ¢20+ for a board, i guess id drive 200 miles.
Great video! One thing I would point out, you should factor "shipping cost" into the wood from local store as well. Fuel, mileage, and your time for both travel and shopping. Still way below the shipping cost for the online orders I would guess, but not zero. Also, I can never seem to leave the wood store without a couple of shorts for smalls projects.
Who is this guy and what did he do to Jason???
just wait till he takes his cap off next.
Baird brothers are the bomb diggity. I have only purchased moldings (a lot) but products have always been perfect and customer service and packaging has been awesome. No reservation in saying that's the best spot.
Hey, baird Brothers is my local place. Great people
This was great information. Anyone who has a limited number of tools, owns a small vehicle, and the nearest quality wood supplier is 200 miles from home has few options. I will pay for wood that is good out of the box. Thanks.
Wow, no Bellforest? You can handpick from the site, you can contact them directly for your order and they work with you. I think you had a big miss not having Bellforest in your test.
He was pretty clear about how/why he picked the ones he did; first up in google search which is what 99.4% of humanity does. ** shrug **
One thing not mentioned with the Rockler purchase is how many novice woodworkers would have thought to themselves, these look wrong but it can't be that they sent me the wrong species and just glue them up into a project.
Why does my table top have stripes?!
Are we all supposed to just sit here and ignore the fact that you shaved your beard and didn’t address it!
Great to see Baird Brothers on here. They’re my local so I can skip the shipping.
Who is this guy?
Very informative and excellent video Jason! I purchase my wood from Bell Forest Products and have never been disappointed! Great company to do business with! 👍👍🔨🔨
You look like you need a Pale Ale now…
Hipster Moth woodworking…
Can confirm, Baird Brother is great.
I've bought from them a bunch of times. Last time I ordered some oak crown and base for a small project. With shipping from them in Ohio to me in Florida, it was still cheaper than what our local hardwood dealer wanted to charge to mill it. And I was blown away by how smooth the boards were vs what I normally get from our local store. Baird really does some good quality work.
I'd also like to say their website is really good. I'm often up late when working on a job estimate, just not enough hour in the day. It's very easy to pull acurate material and shipping costs from it.
After watching this video, I’m really thankful for the several sawmills in my back yard, all within 30 miles of my shop. One note about those miles, my nearest big box lumber store is 26.5 miles from my shop so I’m driving the same distance regardless of where I shop.
I’ve never paid over $3 for a board foot of white oak, and maple isn’t bad for $5 a board foot. The lumber is all air-dried for a minimum of 3 years in open-air barns, and the cuts are generous. The surfaces are raw, but honestly they look and feel better than the surfaces at my local big box so that’s actually a plus in my book.
Plus, we can pick our pieces. Bring your moisture tester, but I’ve never found anything under 5%, and nothing over 9%, so I don’t even test anymore. We have to load our trailer ourselves, but we have to do that at the big box store, so that negates itself right away.
All in all, it’s always an experience!
Whereabouts are you? Northern US?
@@danieldaponte1819
More like a tad north of the middle of the lower 48. So probably not as far north as you might be thinking.
I really like that mustache! 👌🏽
Thank you for this video. I live in an area where my only options are big box stores, so information like this is great for expanding the woods available to me.
Steve Wall Lumber in Mayodan, NC, y'all. Great folks, great prices, easy to deal with.
No affiliation, just a happy customer.
I used to work for Rockingham Co, small world 😂
100% agree. Better cost, product, and responsiveness than any of those reviewed. Good guys!
Just ordered a bunch of wood from them. I went with 8/4 inch unfinished as I like to do all my own milling anyway. They seemed to have the best rep I found online (as recommended by actual woodworkers).
Steve Wall is the absolute best...best price, fastest shipping, and finest quality. I've been a happy customer for more than a decade!
SIZE MATTERS!(no,seriously). Great experiment & analysis Jason! 1 factor hardwood buyers should note is quality & size rarely increase proportionally.
For example, if you ordered 1’ length boards from each company I’d expect uniform high ratings. Doubt you’d see any defects.
Now place the same order for 16’ lengths. I’m guessing 1/2 the orders would be unfilled & what showed up would look less impressive than what you received here.
Slight bows over 12” length seem benign.
Same curve stretched over 192” looks horrific.
Etc.
This was informative. Should do local suppliers test the same, including homedepot. Mainly because my HD has better wood than my local supplier, so I think ppl are against them just to "stick it to the man", lol.
New guy in the shop?
We need a follow up video on what happened with the products that presented problems. Replacement wood... switcheroo for the stuff that wasn't long enough? That would be a second and critical half of the story.
Grow back the beard IMMEDIATELY!!!
I have bought from Wood workers Supply a number of time and have been pleased with the wood I've received except for two orders. One of those was white oak. I'm not sure why your order from them was so expensive as that has not been my experience. But you do have to plan ahead as they are not speedy when it comes to delivery. Great review overall!
I have never been disappointed with Ocooch hardwoods. They have what is called project ready wood. It is S4S and the measurements are exact. you get a true 3/4 x 3 x 24 for example
There’s nothing they sell longer than 24” tho. That’s really limiting
@@terencemerrittjust ordered 25 board feet that were 72 inches
@@dietdew1100 I couldn’t find anything long on their website 🤷🏼♂️
As someone with very minimal tool inventory this video was so helpful.
Good stuff! When I lived in Portland, I never had any issues. Between Crosscut and Woodcrafters, I was very well covered. And that only represents a portion of all the great places to source hardwoods.
So I moved to central Oregon a year ago and noticed that, well, we don't have a whole lot of hardwoods out here. And since I am just now getting my shop outfitted with benches, etc., I need to find a reliable source. This video is very helpful. Thanks!
I may just need to drive to the valley and overstock... :)
As someone in the desert I really appreciate this video!
I will say in the beginning of my amateur woodworking, the local lumber stores intimidated me with dealing with the board feet and varying options. Not all of them allow you into the wood area and some do not offer S4S. However, I took the leap and learned. Most of the time they are very helpful. Always best to go during the day on a weekday when they are slower and can spend more time with you and your needs. I wanted to some specific length and width walnut and they brought the stack to the loading area and let me choose what I wanted.
I ordered 10 board feet from Woodpeckers because it was one of the deals. The price for the walnut was descent however what I got was terrible. The wood was bowed, poorly planed, had knots in the middle of the boards, had sap wood, and some of the pieces were not 4' as advertised. I did not attempt to contact them because it was awful all around. I had seen Four Eyes order a lot of wood from Woodworker's Source and never mention an issue however since there are some local to me, I would rather go into their show room. However, their prices are higher than other local hardwood dealers so I don't.
In Florida red oak is abundant. We get it free every hurricane. It's actually "swamp oak" but it's still red. A lot of live oak too but it's heavy and is some of the hardest wood I seen.
I hope you let us know if and/or what any of these companies had to say about this test.
I think I would go to the “silver” supplier if time was not an issue. They knocked it out of the park on every category except time. To me, quality is the biggest determinant.
All in all this was a very good test regime.
But at over $30 a board foot? One would have to have zero local options within several hundred miles to make that worth it. It’s already an expensive hobby, those prices simply make the hobby unthinkable for the majority of woodworkers.
I believe in local sources, I like to see what I'm buying, I worked for Hardwood distribution yards for 15 years, we received huge VC variations in grade, color and sizes. If you order from someone, you get most anything that comes off the stack, if they allow it, it's best to pick out your own.
Paxton The Wood Source is an excellent choice, they are in several states and carry exotic woods as well.
Red and white oak are always separate. We even carried red oak in three different areas it was from.
Appalachian, northern and southern. The nicest was northern red oak, great color but narrower cuts, Appalachian was very nice and wider variations while the southern seemed off colored, more mineral stains, wavy and smelled rotten.
But now white oak, that's the best looking in my opinion.
Incredible content here. For those looking to buy boards online, I HIGHLY recommend Bell Forest Products. I have dealt with them quite a few times and have never had anything go wrong. What I ordered is what I got, when I pick a board, it's the board I get. Thank you much for this video and comparison, it does really help us all out and gives us options. Keep it up!
Baird also sells rough lumber, for those of us who like to DIY that. And almost 1/4 the bf price for some of them vs. the S4S!
I moved from an area where I had 3 local sources within 20 min of my shop to the backside of bumble fu*k nowhere so I'm forced to buy online now which has pretty much priced me out of working for miney. I've used WWSource several times and the last two orders were absolute firewood. Purchased walnut that netted out to about $20bf and waited like 10 days to get bowed, warped, cupped lumber. I'm not sure I can use them again. I don't have time for them to make it right and im sure they would but I can't have projects jamming up the shop for so long. Looking forward to trying other options. Thanks
Nice of you to take the time and everything to go through this process and educate us on the experience.
We have a plethora and a half of parks in my area. I cut and mill my own wood in the middle of night.
I appreciate this video as I don't have a single hardwood supplier within two hours of me, and the one two hours away is only open during my work hours, so knowing what the good options are for ordering wood online is nice to know.
OK, we need to follow up and see if ROCKLER did make it right by getting white Oak instead of red Oak
My experiences of lumberyards are that you have to scrutinise every sheet and board for defects, bends, twists and damage, so I wouldn't trust an online suppler not to dump a load of garbage on me l, knowing that the agro and hassle of returning the lumber is a real pain. Call me a cynic? 🥴
Bell Forest Products - VERY good selection, you can pick your own board
Another factor for your scoring matrix should have been - options. e.g. which ones allow for more varying widths and lengths.
I once bought 100 bd ft clear alder online from Woodworkers Source out of Phoenix. It was not clear (abundance of knots); the pieces were irregular such that a five-inch board tapered to a live or semi-live edge to 3-1/2 inches; and most had some other defect (split, gouge, bow, bend, etc.) such that the waste was phenomenal. I sent an email with pictures to the store but got no response. I did a follow-up telephone call but the guy I spoke to said he didn't look at the pictures I sent because he didn't know how to do that. I ended up eating the cost and using what I could in various projects, which was not often. In fact, that was about four years ago and I still have some of that junk in my shop. Never again.
I live close to Baird Brothers I’ve been in construction for 43 years we buy all our hardwood from them , if you go to the warehouse they let you pick whatever boards you want
Forget the wood. I’m 30 seconds in and I can’t go any further… Where did the beard go man????🤦♂️
I wish you came out with this video a week ago! I just ordered some purple heart from Woodworkers Source. It’s a 3 hour drive each way to my usual hardwood supplier so I took a shot ordering from them. Side note: I ordered from Kencraft a couple of years ago. I took a while for the wood to arrive, but it was nice quality.
Thanks for this video. I've never seen anyone test different online sources before. I've contemplated ordering online a few times, but I've always ended up going with my local shops. I may consider online for the hard to find species though.
I wish we had a hardwood store here where I live. My best option is contacting local "sawers", private ppl doing it for fun and a bit of profit. When I'm in need of a specific material, I ask them. If they don't have any, I have to go online. And I don't even have many options there EITHER haha
I've had issues with Woodworker's Source hardwood, also. I do buy plywood melamine and MDF melamine panels (black and/or white) from them at a very good price and usually free shipping. Otherwise, I usually "bite the bullet" when I need wood and make the 160 mile round trip to Austin to go to Austin Fine Hardwood. I save up $$$ for a long time and get as much as I can afford. Thx.
I have struggled with debt many times. Five times I have cleared my debt, including the mortgage.
Keep in mind that mort is the Latin word for dead. I am back in debt again. Oh well. I am not dead.
Excellent video. Looking over the comments is interesting, too for all of viewer's favorite places. My favorite sources were in the midwest in the '70s to the '80s which likely no longer exist. One was a huge space with several 3 sided sheds full of every kind of wood you could think of - if you could find it. All was completely rough. There was one guy who knew were everything was. I'd go with a sharp knife to verify the species. Shipping didn't happen.
Great video Jason. I’ve been looking for someone to do one of these. Where I live, I only have big box, online or Facebook marketplace with home lumber mills. This gives me another good choice.
This is video is probably quite helpful. Pretty tough on some of these sources as doesn't sound like they did too well. Just some comments. I've been cutting wood for 60 years. I've built over 100 cabinets, tables, furniture etc. I think each of us has different abilities with our shops. For folks with complete shops, we don't really care much if the wood is completely surfaced, has more than 1 straight edge, and for that matter, particularly caring about moisture content. We do care if it is warped and cupped, twisted etc. We very much do care about the grain and esthetics. Of course we want the moisture to be level by the time we use it with local humidity. I surface all wood that for each project with jointers and planers and my wide belt. Fortunately I live in an area that has decent hardwood sources. I go between them fairly often, but have a good relationship with the closest place. I ask them to give me a text when they break out new unit of wood. Most companies want to see you, so they will do that. I keep a fair amount of wood on hand, (another reason I don't care that much about the moisture content). So it would seem I don't need to buy wood online, right? Wrong. I've bought wood online for almost 45 years. Why? Because most hardwood lumber yards don't carry particularly "fancy" wood. Flat sawn, sure, quarter sawn, probably, but figured lumber or other special stuff, not so much. I used to find a good supplier that I could buy from and would have them go pick over their stock and have them ship me the best they could, and I'd pay a bit over the price that they quoted. I got some great wood that way. Unfortunately, most of those suppliers are gone. But not all, and more and more, with the internet, for figured wood, you usually see good pictures of the exact wood you are buying. My point is, if you are buying white oak, or maple, or common wood, try to buy extra and keep stock, especially if you have to drive a distance. But if you are looking for something special, you might well have to get it online.
I ordered 6 pieces of 7' premium black walnut from Woodworkers Source and had the exact opposite of your experience. It was listed as having at least 7" clear and half the boards showed up at 8" to 9" clear with only one board coming in at exactly 7" clear once ripped to eliminate a knot hole. They were pretty much flat out of the box, at 7' you are going to get a little bowing off of most wood, and as I was going to glue them up for a tabletop it worked out fine. They were 3/4" finished S2S and the surface finish was pretty good only needing light sanding to take it to finish and they had one edge straight ripped. I got 189 board feet for $519 - they were running a special for a 6 pack of boards and the shipping was free and I got $10 off for signing up for their newsletter. I calculated the board feet at 3/4" as that is what they arrived at despite the site listing them as 4/4 and the actual thickness is 13/16ths. I requested that the boards match as closely as possible and they did, and the little sapwood that was on one piece was on the rough edge that disappeared once I ripped the boards to size.
I'm not getting paid for this, and I don't have any relationship with Woodworkers Source other than giving them money for wood, but I was happy with what I received. The time from order to receiving my wood was 14 days but as I wasn't in a hurry that really didn't matter much to me.
0:06 Who's this? Where did you leave Jason?
5:11 Ah, here he is!