Phoenix Woodworking Stores

Re: Phoenix Woodworking Stores

johannaj

Large deciduous trees are pretty scarce in the the southwest, so you probably would not find anything of interest. I live in northern New Mexico. Ponderosa pine is of good quality, but hardwoods are "imported" from other parts of the country.

Re: Phoenix Woodworking Stores

paul in AZ

Woodworker's Source in Tempe has a modest showroom with a good selection of many of the rarer woods. Their woods are overpriced.

https://www.woodworkerssource.com

Timber Woodworking Machinery in Mesa has a huge building with all manner of equipment new and used. Adjacent to this is another large building with lumber. A mix of domestic and some exotic woods. This is my go-to-first store.

https://timberww.com

Re: Phoenix Woodworking Stores

Ron in Sterling, CT

I agree on both of the above. The Woodworker Source Phoenix store (off Black Canyon Highway) has a larger selection of exotic hardwoods, but both are woodworkers candy stores.

Ron

Re: Phoenix Woodworking Stores

John in NM

I used to go to WW Source in Tucson quite a lot when I lived there, mostly for the exotics. I would collect exotics just kind of on a lark, buying stuff that I'd not seen often or was pretty. With exotics the price is less of an issue to me. Last time they were a lot thinner on exotic turning blanks, but the Phoenix store might have more.

I also used to buy thicker domestic lumber there - the retailers were the only ones who would stock it - 10/4 and 12/4, 16/4 on rare occasion. I do remember a wholesale yard in the Phoenix area that would also carry thick domestic wood - Spellman Hardwoods. The shop I worked for got domestic lumber from them because they carried 10/4 and 12/4 so we didn't have to glue up thicker legs but also because they carried 4/4 and 8/4 with only a very light planing done, they called it "hit or miss planed" - basically a single light pass through the industrial two side planer, finishing out somewhere around 15/16". Not as good as rough sawn, but you still had some hope of getting flat pieces >3/4" out of the material.

Spellman's is a wholesale supplier if they are still around, so its not a place to go for browsing. You go into the office and tell the order desk how much of what you need, then go out with a pick sheet and hand that to a fork lift driver. They were not fussy about dealing with non-taxible customers only when I used to go there, some wholesalers were in the 1990's and presumably still are.

If anyone gets down to Tucson, Kent's Tools on W. Grant Road is always worth a visit. Sometimes they've got nothing much of interest, but on occasion you find real gems there. Most of my old iron came from them, and I once saw an Emmert vise for sale. I didn't buy it since $250 was a lot of money to me in 2003 and I really had no need of one. I still don't need one but would now probably buy it just for the cool factor. I'm a sucker for that.

The place is always packed to capacity so if you are looking for something specific, ask. I was just in Tucson a couple weeks ago but didn't have time to drop in. I was glad to see that they survived the widening of Grant Rd.