All Roads lead to Rockler

Re: All Roads lead to Rockler

Brian McKearney

>I haven't actually purchased wood from these places, but I kept them in my Favorites list because I hoped to get back and place an order someday soon. You might find some interesting stuff at:

http://www.nwwood.com/

and

http://www.roughoutbowls.com/rough_out_bowls.shtml

Both places seemed to have some interesting stock at (what I thought were) reasonable prices.

--- Brian

Re: All Roads lead to Rockler

Ed Kelle

>Check out this seller on ebay, he always has lots of blanks and usually they are round blanks. I haven't bought any yet, but he sure seems to offer nice stuff.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZmrQ2ebowlQ2eblank

Re: Contact Dan at roughoutbowls

Bruce McElhaney Spring Lake, MI

>I have purchased several rough outs from Dan at, roughoutbowls.com I have always found his bowls to be of very high quality, and at good prices. Dan sells a variety of woods and he is a pleasure to deal with. In fact he is a real gentleman. I also purchased one of his Laser, bowl-bottom-finders, and no longer go through the bottoms of my bowls when turning. No affliation, just a happy customer story.

Re: All Roads lead to Rockler

Craig Daymon

>I ran into that same Rockler issue recently when searching for something else woodturning/working related. I tried to complain to Rockler, but the address I got from their site sent the message back undeliverable. I suspect this is NOT the fault of Rockler, but someone scamming Rockler for cash they get everytime someone goes to Rockler from their link. Either way, Rockler should make an effort to stop it.

I see little point to ordering domestic lumber unless it is something special that isn't available locally, but I have ordered exotics and figured wood from several sites. My current favorite is Gilmer Woods because you can actually see what you are getting. (And there are LOTS of GREAT pictures!) Their prices seem reasonable, I guess. Some of what they carry is naturally expensive (exotic burls), but I picked up a 3.75"x10"x33" Curly Big Leaf board from them that was good for 3 nice size bowls at least. The site is just a collection of pictures with catalog numbers for each piece and no real sense of organization, but you can find some good deals and there are lots of blanks or blank-sized pieces. (They also have a Bowl Blanks section, but there are lots of blanks scattered throughout.)

http://www.gilerwood.com

Try some Bubinga. Gorgeous stuff that polishes like glass. I have a small bowl with a simple wax finish that looks almost like a lacquer finish. It is hard as rock though.

-Craig

Re: All Roads lead to Rockler

Ruth in So. Cal

>Thanks for all the responses. Those I haven't already tried I will certainly follow up.

Thanks to Mikeincapemay for your more than generous offer to send some blanks my way!

Thanks to Jim Pugh for your email about re-chucking!

Craig, just to get a sense, what did it cost you in shipping for your board compared to what you paid for the wood?

Thanks everyone.

Re: All Roads lead to Rockler

Craig Daymon

>I think shipping on what I ordered was about $50, but it all depends on weight and where you live. Gilmer is in Portland, OR, which is a bit closer to you than it is to me in eastern PA.

I ordered the Curly Big Leaf board described as well as a block of Figured Bubinga 6"x6"x29" and a small turning block of Camphor Burls that was about 6"x6"x4". (The Camphor seems usually pretty expensive, but the block I got was only $22, comparatively low.) The Camphor isn't so heavy, but the other 2 weighed a bit, so the $50 didn't seem unreasonable. It was about a $400 order with shipping. (I split it with a co-worker.)

-Craig

Re: All Roads lead to Rockler

Ruth in So. Cal

>Thanks Craig, that helps.