Shipping Quotes
1.
Add item(s) to cart,
Note: All board listings are one of kind, what you see is what you get, Quantity =1 (cannot exceed 1)
2.
View Shopping cart.
3.
Enter your shipping zipcode, in the "Calculate Shipping " Field
(located in lower right hand corner)
4.
Press "Calculate" button
USPS and UPS shipping options are displayed
Ordering
Can I still order the old way by emailing you a list of items and have you give me an manual shipping quote?
Absolutely. I have the same email address: [email protected]
Include the following information:
1. Your name
2. Your shipping address including zipcode
3. Item no. (s) and cutting instructions, if applicable. Note: Packages under <47" ship at a discounted UPS rate.
May I Place An Order By Phone? If So, What Is Your Phone Number?
We are kept very busy, picking up wood, drying, milling and processing all the wood, so we handle all orders via the internet. We used to give out our phone no. but quickly realized that it left us little time to get our work done. We prefer to handle all orders via the internet. Should you need to speak with us directly, you can email us your contact info. and we can get back to you as soon as we are able.
Hey Kevin, can I call your cell phone?
No, I am the last person in the USA and perhaps the world without a cell phone. You should see the shocked look I get from millennials when I tell them I do not have one. Not even a flip phone? No, and I don't want want either !
Shipping Questions
Why isn't the shipping calculator working?
If you cannot checkout and you have a large order, you may be exceeding UPS's weight/size limits.
Please email me directly at [email protected] and we would be glad to give you a quote with the best way to send out your package(s)
Why is there a $4.00 surcharge on boards over 47"?
This is a UPS rule. Anytime you order a longer board, but do not need it long, let us know, and we can cross-cut the piece for you and send you a manual invoice, so you save the surcharge fee.
When will my order be shipped?
All orders typically ship the following business day. You will be sent a UPS or USPS tracking no.
Can you ship overseas?
Yes we can. We ship using USPS Priority Mail International or Polonez Parcel Service.
We have shipped all over the world, using USPS Priority Mail International
Please note: Some of the EU Countries have recently enacted laws requiring special certification/paperwork for wood shipments. Unfortunately we are unable to provide this documentation. USPS's shipments have been sporadically rejected.
EU countries we can ship to you via Polonez, but it's a risk as they might be intercepted by your customs office and sent back. Polonez shipping service is brokered through Poland, and they have been able to get the packages through customs.
Polonez offers an extremely affordable "by Sea" method to Europe that is slow, but has been reliable. Every other country we ship USPS. You need to contact us with the item(s) you would like, and the country you are in, so we can quote you. Each country has it's own unique size and weight restrictions, Please send your cell phone number for the customs forms.
Can you mark the customs forms to show a lower value so I don't get whacked by the tariff fees?
Officially no, but yes we can. Please note if you item is lost, or damaged USPS will only pay out the value stated on the customs forms. Let us know the amount.
Has USPS lost, or damaged any overseas items?
They have temporarily lost a couple, but other than that, they have been great. We have sent many hundreds of packages overseas with them.
Wood - General Info./Questions
Please note all wood is flat sawn, face jointed flattened, planed and edge jointed unless otherwise noted.
Wood has been dried in a Nyle kiln to 6% to 8% moisture content.
How rare is curly lumber?
With soft maple, only 3% of logs exhibit some kind of figure.
It is even less for other hardwoods with curly walnut being the rarest.
How do you select the curly lumber you sell?
We have many mills that pull their BEST curly for us.
We then sort through the curly they pulled, and pull the BEST from that.
We have been dealing with most of these mills for over 15 years now.
Who dries your wood and how dry is it?
We dry it ourselves with our Nyle dry kiln. We dry down to 6-8%.
What is stabilized wood?
This is a process where dye, or clear resin is injected into the wood at high pressures exceeding 4000PSI.
We send our stabilized out to be done professionally.
What is roasted or torrified maple?
This is a process where maple is slowly roasted over a period of time which darkens the lumber to various shades of brown. The roasting process pre-stresses the wood, caramelizes the sugars, collapses the cells and sealing the pores and rendering them more resistant to moisture and movement. The caramelizing color pervades throughout the board thus enhancing the tiger figure.
What is to quarter sawn?
Very desirable for it's stability. The end grain lines are 60 degrees to 90 degrees in relation to the face of the board. Oak, and sycamore reveal dramatic flecking. Very labor intensive with a lot of lumber waste.
What is it to rift sawn?
Very desirable for it's stability. The end grain lines are 45 degrees to 60 degrees in relation to the face of the board. Not a lot of figure is exhibited when oak and sycamore are rift sawn. Very labor intensive with a lot of lumber waste.
What is to flat sawn?
Most common cut. The end grain lines are parallel to the face of the board.
What is 4/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 1" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 1-1/8" to 1-3/16" depending on the mill.
What is 5/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 1-1/4" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 1-3/8" to 1-5/16" depending on the mill.
What is 6/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 1-1/2" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 1-5/8" to 1-11/16" depending on the mill.
What is 7/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 1-3/4" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 1-7/8" to 1-15/16" depending on the mill.
What is 8/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 2" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 2-1/8" to 2-3/16" depending on the mill.
What is 9/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 2-1/4" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 1-3/8" to 2-5/16" depending on the mill.
What is 10/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 2-1/2" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 2-5/8" to 2-11/16" depending on the mill.
What is 11/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 2-3/4" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 2-7/8" to 2-15/16" depending on the mill.
What is 12/4?
Term used at the sawmills to denote that lumber is cut to 3" in thickness.
Actually gets cut at 3-1/8" to 3-3/16" depending on the mill.
Why is thicker lumber more costly?
The thicker the lumber, the more the mills charge, and the longer it takes to dry in the kiln.
There is also more lumber per square foot as well.
What is a board foot?
Board foot is calculated by this formula. Thickness x width x length/ 144
Calculations on the website are done in inches. At the mills it is done in feet.
How do you mill your lumber?
We first cut out as many defects from the planks as possible.
We then face joint the board flat, and edge it. We then run both faces through our spiral head "Jet" planer.
What is S3S?
Planed three sides, on both sides, one straight edge.
Even though, we list our lumber at S3S, most is S4S. Surfaced all four sides and edges.
What does Luthier Quality mean?
My opinion only. Denotes a maple board the has the four "C's"
Curl: Figure is exceptional,
Clarity: few if any defects on either side.
Cut: With 8/4, optimal size is at least 1-3/4"x 7-1/2"x40+" for a slip matched guitar blank.
Color: Color is uniformly, white or pink.
What does Luthier Figure mean?
My opinion only. Denotes a maple board that is curly and clear on one side.
What does slip match mean?
Cutting a long board in two sections and gluing them together to make a shorter, wider board.
What does resaw mean?
Taking a thick board and cutting it in half thickness wise to make two bookmatched halves
What does bookmatch mean?
Cutting a thicker maple board in half to make two thinner boards that then mirror each other.
What does sapwood refer to?
Lumber that is cut from the outside, or sap side of the log. Usually white in color, but can be pink, or amber. Desirable in the maples, and ash.
What does heartwood refer to?
Wood that is found at toward the center of the tree. Desirable in cherry, oak, walnut, and others. Dark color not as desirable in ash, and maple.
Do you recommend any equipment?
We are on the sawmill/dry kiln end of the business, so we do not have a lot of woodworking equipment. We do have a "JET" planer which we have run upwards of 40,000 board feet through it. That is a great product. We have a harbor freight blower hooked up to the JET planer and it has been effective and reliable. We have a smaller Grizzly dust collector hooked up to the Dewalt chop saw and it does a middling to poor job. We have a 10" sliding Dewalt chop saw and a 12" Rigid sliding chop saw too. The Dewalt is a better product. We had a 10" JET chop saw. It was terrible for a lot of reasons. We sent it back. We use Husqvarna 365 chainsaws almost daily. We have two, and they are great. We dropped a tree on one, and other than some broken plastic parts it still ran! We use an Oregon chain saw sharpener. Other than the directions that would make a preacher swear, it's a good product that saves us a ton of time over "file" sharpening chains. We had a Bosch table saw. It was good for about two years, and then it passed on from this life to the next. We replaced it with a Dewalt, and it has been outstanding. We have a Porter cable circular saw that has taken a lot of abuse, and aside from the brushes, it is very reliable. I can't tell you how many times we have dropped it. We had a Porter Cable 6" bench top sander that we used to sand stabilized. It lasted about 8 hours. We now use a Craftsman 6" bench sander that is from the 1950's. It laughs at the abuse we give it. We use a Nyle dry kiln to dry our lumber. Reliable, and you can call them and talk to a real live English speaking person! Our jointers are Northfields and I think they were made three days before electricity was invented. Heavy cast iron and run like champs.
So good job out of Dewalt, Porter Cable circular saw, Harbor Freight's dust blower, JETS planer, Northfield jointers, Old Craftsman sanders, Oregon's chain sharpener, Nyle dry kilns and our favorite Husqvarna chain saws. BTW, every sawmill we buy from...they all use Husqvarna saws.
Bad job out of Bosch's table saw, JETS chop saw, Rigid chop saw, Grizzly's dust collector, and Porter Cable's 6" bench sander.
Are Husqvarna and Dewalt paying you to say nice things about them? No, but they can if they want to.