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West Coast wood dealers

Steven Forrest

Steven Forrest

Joined
Dec 23, 2014
Messages
218
Likes
357
Location
Sebastopol, California
I'm headed up to Bellingham, Washington from the San Francisco Bay area next month, mostly along I-5. Can anyone recommend any small, independent wood suppliers more or less along the way? I'm aware of Gilmer in Portland, and North West Figured Woods north of there. I've been out to C Jacobs in Tillamook when we took the coast route. Wondering who else might be out there along this inland route. Going through Ashland, Portland, Seattle, etc. Hoping to treat myself to some nice blanks. Thanks very much!
 
I am in Eugene, and have a fair supply of myrtle/California Bay Laurel logs. You can probably get that down there though. Goby Walnut is up in Portland. Can't remember, but I think there is a place outside of Jefferson OR, which may be NW Figured Woods. They had some very nice figured maple. Other than that, I don't really know. A local guy just had a sale of some of his stash, but that sale is done now.

robo hippy
 
Steven anytime I have needed crazy figured wood, which comes with crazy high prices, I have purchased from Northwest timber. Looks like they are close to i5. Check to see if they have a retail store as I have only purchased online from them. https://nwtimber.com/
 
Chris Fairbanks said:
Steven anytime I have needed crazy figured wood, which comes with crazy high prices, I have purchased from Northwest timber. Looks like they are close to i5. Check to see if they have a retail store as I have only purchased online from them. https://nwtimber.com/
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Thanks, Chris. It looks like they only deal with dimensional stuff, not really turning blanks. Or am I wrong about that? Also, I kind of prefer the funkier, lumber yard operations - I like hunting and pecking.
 
robo hippy said:
I am in Eugene, and have a fair supply of myrtle/California Bay Laurel logs. You can probably get that down there though. Goby Walnut is up in Portland. Can't remember, but I think there is a place outside of Jefferson OR, which may be NW Figured Woods. They had some very nice figured maple. Other than that, I don't really know. A local guy just had a sale of some of his stash, but that sale is done now.

robo hippy
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Thanks, Reed. Yeah, bay I can get pretty much anytime around here. I love it, but I don't need to go out of my way for it!
 
Steven Forrest said:
Thanks, Chris. It looks like they only deal with dimensional stuff, not really turning blanks. Or am I wrong about that? Also, I kind of prefer the funkier, lumber yard operations - I like hunting and pecking.
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I do flat work and segmented work so dimensional stuff works for me . Maybe ping them and see if they have other stuff that they just don’t list online. I would have to assume they have something as I think they mill most of their own lumber. I have never seen a place have for figured type lumber than them. Enjoy the trip.
 
I don't know if Klamath Falls is too far East of your route, as I'm not familiar with the area. But I have gotten several orders from CookWoods, and have been very pleased. They are a family business dealing in both regional specialty woods and numerous exotics, and are a pleasure to deal with. Though I found a place not too far from me to get great wood from with no shipping needed, I still drool over the amazing offerings on their website: https://www.cookwoods.com/pages/about
 
Aaron Harris said:
I don't know if Klamath Falls is too far East of your route, as I'm not familiar with the area. But I have gotten several orders from CookWoods, and have been very pleased. They are a family business dealing in both regional specialty woods and numerous exotics, and are a pleasure to deal with. Though I found a place not too far from me to get great wood from with no shipping needed, I still drool over the amazing offerings on their website: https://www.cookwoods.com/pages/about
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Klamath Falls is an extra 3 hour round trip - not gonna happen. Cook has nice stuff, generally for super premium prices. as far as I can tell. I haven't checked their website in a while, though.
 
Steven Forrest said:
Klamath Falls is an extra 3 hour round trip - not gonna happen. Cook has nice stuff, generally for super premium prices. as far as I can tell. I haven't checked their website in a while, though.
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Yeah, they have some high-end stuff no doubt. I have only gotten their more modestly-priced blanks on sale. I certainly can't afford hundreds for AAAA Exhibition Grade exotic blanks either.
 
A couple places I know of in Washington that deal in figured big leaf maple. I don't have any names though.

One is in Randle, on highway 12 , maybe 20 miles off I5. Randle is the southern route to Mt St Helens.

Another one on the Jackson Highway (old highway 99) which runs parallel to I5. I think it's just south of Jackson State Park (north of Longview)..

Seattle area musical instrument makers get most of their figured maple from areas around Mt Rainier. There's a high unemployment rate in those areas since jobs in logging don't exist to any extent any more. Some of the locals got the idea of profitable businesses harvesting maple off the national forests. The situation got so bad laws have been enacted such that anybody hauling logs now has to have firm proof of the ownership of the wood. The penalties for violations are fairly severe.
 
Doug Rasmussen said:
A couple places I know of in Washington that deal in figured big leaf maple. I don't have any names though.

One is in Randle, on highway 12 , maybe 20 miles off I5. Randle is the southern route to Mt St Helens.

Another one on the Jackson Highway (old highway 99) which runs parallel to I5. I think it's just south of Jackson State Park (north of Longview)..

Seattle area musical instrument makers get most of their figured maple from areas around Mt Rainier. There's a high unemployment rate in those areas since jobs in logging don't exist to any extent any more. Some of the locals got the idea of profitable businesses harvesting maple off the national forests. The situation got so bad laws have been enacted such that anybody hauling logs now has to have firm proof of the ownership of the wood. The penalties for violations are fairly severe.
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Thanks for the tips, Doug.
 
One near Portland OR is Windwood - windwoodmilling.com Mark Dubac. I've gotton some nice blank from him, green but good size maple and birch. Depends on what he has brought down recently.
 
Give Frank Pender a call 503-623-2015 located in Dallas Oregon. He has a lot of wood and specialized in burls of all sizes. Here is a pic of some of his burl stash.
 

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Steven, the place in Randle, WA is called of all things Randle Woods. They have a website and appear to be much more organized than I recall from years ago.

randlewoods.com

I'm a little shocked by their prices, but I'm still thinking of gas at $.30/gal.
 
Gary Goby was the owner of Goby walnut until he sold it. Originally he was in Albany OR. When it sold, they kept the name. Black walnut is their specialty. Gary was a doctor of some sort, and half the time did the doctor work, and half the time he did black walnut mostly, and that included planting them. I like walnut, but don't work with it any more. Makes me sneeze and itch.

robo hippy
 
Steven Forrest said:
I'm headed up to Bellingham, Washington from the San Francisco Bay area next month, mostly along I-5. Can anyone recommend any small, independent wood suppliers more or less along the way? I'm aware of Gilmer in Portland, and North West Figured Woods north of there. I've been out to C Jacobs in Tillamook when we took the coast route. Wondering who else might be out there along this inland route. Going through Ashland, Portland, Seattle, etc. Hoping to treat myself to some nice blanks. Thanks very much!
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I’d like to get some Western Red cedar for a chair project. Clear, straight grain. Anyone know where I can get boards for a good price?
Thanks,
Paul
 
Well, probably won't be able to find any for 'a good price'. It is getting rare. Might be easier to find redwood, or some southern cypress wood. Ipe can work well for 'life time' outdoor wood projects.

robo hippy
 
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