I am building a kitchen table for my parents. I am looking for a good source for nice lumber for the top.

I am not set on any particular species, but want something that is better than what I can get at Home Depot or Lowes. I am open to suggestions. FWIW they would like the base painted white to match their cabinets and the top will be a dark stain. I can either do a slab top or I can use 6,8,10,12" boards. They are pretty open in that regard. Cost is a factor.

I am located in Denton. The only place I have found in quick searches is Rockler. Is there a better place to search?

Mind you, I am no Agrams.

I'd give Latham Stairs & Millwork a call. They are just north of you on 35. May have some excess laying around.

Woods of Mission in Sanger

I'll piggy back on that question....

anyone have a recommendation for a place near New Braunfels?

These guys in Richardson have slabs as well as "nice" lumber. Can't speak to the pricing on large pieces as I usually just buy small stuff for knife scales.

Wood World
13650 T I Blvd #101, Dallas, TX 75243
(972) 669-9130
https://goo.gl/maps/sTQ4ke4jLYZqWYBg9

There may be something actually in NB, but this is the closest one I know of (in SA):

http://dakotahardwoods.com

I found out about them through a friend who does cabinetry and finish carpentry full-time. Cool store. Overall reasonable prices.

McCoys had good oak lumber that I've used for small projects.

I will give those guys in Sanger a call. Any suggestions on a decent wood species for the table top that won't break the bank?

Trees

I used red oak from Lowes for the top of the dining table I just built. Had to dig for the boards I really wanted but on the whole, they had a decent selection. You aren't going to find perfectly plane boards anywhere so I wasn't too worried about having to clamp and straighten 1/8" here or there. Most of the places like Rockler seem to cater to the Agrams type woodworker that has their own planer/jointer and primarily sells rough cut stock.

Here are a few pics of the table I built, before and after stain. I think I have $300 in the table. Not bad compared to the price at one of the fancy places my wife wanted to buy a similar table from!

Some banks are bigger than others. I would say it's best to go look. Ask for Jim McDaniel.

And as someone mentioned above this is not going to be dimension lumber but they will sand/cut lumber down to a thickness or even S4S.....for a fee.

shoot me an email (in profile). I have wholesale at a few yards and buy enough they dont hit me with the normal setup fees to have lumber dimensioned.

edit to add: Woods of mission timber is now harden sawmill. they are ok for slabs, but not great for stock/dimensional lumber in my opinion. they did get a new wm1000 bandsaw though and have really stepped up their slab game.

oak, maple, pecan, ash are going to be your common best value hardwoods. getting in to cherry, walnut, non domestic exotics and mesquite will start hitting the wallet.

I've had the same question for a long time but I'm looking for 5/4 lumber. Used to get it at Paxton's in FW but live in CS now.

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non domestic exotics and mesquite will start hitting the wallet.

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Are you telling me I've been sitting on a mesquite gold mine and didn't know it.

You may try Craddicks? Sorry spelling may be off. Google street view Mike Andersons BBQ in dallas (medical district) there is a specialty lumber store next door. Also if you go by try to get into Mikes before they close at 230 or 3. I am hungry just thinking about it.

find me logs over 12" diameter and straight for more than 6'and we can talk. or big ass burls.

I've never bought lumber anywhere besides McCoys or Home Depot....if a find a place that has a nice slab, will they be able to plane/joint it for me? What do they typically charge? I'm looking at making a kitchen table and a matching sofa table.

slabs are usually flattened on a big CNC table with a mill bit. Most mills sell/ship slabs in a rough state, milled only and not sanded. This also helps avoid issues of a smooth piece being damaged in shipping. A rough slab can get beat up a lot and it won't matter by the time you flatten and sand it.

this is Harden Sawmills flattening setup:



That will only flatten, but leave machining marks. You will still need to sand it down. Flattening and sanding usually run about 100$/hr, and you can expect 2-5 hours depending on size/amount of work needed.

They will do both, but most large slabs require epoxy work to fill any knot holes or cracks, and you want to sand after you do that work.

Depending on what you are looking for, I have a few big slabs of honey locust that make nice tabletop bookmatches.

this is a table I made of the same log



I have like 3 more matches from the same log. I bought the whole log of slabs to get it at a lower cost, but would be fine selling some at costs to liquidate the inventory. I could also glue up, rough sand/flatten for you, so you just would have to figure out the base and do finish sanding and finishing.

Great info, thank you!

See if you can find some Black Walnut wood and logs to make a table from.

I am not a woodworker kind of a guy, but I think there's a place in downtown McQueeny you should check out. It's on 725 on the right as you go under the railroad tracks, assuming you're driving from NB to McQueeny. All kinds of wood and burls everywhere. Reminds me a LOT of the little wood sales joints you see in the Redwoods in Northern California.

I'm not as knowledgeable or talented as some on this thread, but I have used is Sweeney hardwoods in Fort Worth for several species S2S boards for some small projects.

that is who I use mainly. brazos forest products in grand prairie is a little cheaper on average but the m-f 7-4 is a challenge for me to use them. though on high volume projects, if there is enough of a price difference I will find a way to go there.

Figure out what wood you want then find a source. Oak or knotty alder will be least expensive. I just built a lot of knotty alder cabinets and really like them, but it is a fairly soft wood. For a dining table, we went with QS oak. I also considered hickory/pecan because of hardness.

For a dining table we wanted durability. Here is a list in decreasing Janka rating. I may have the last few out of order but this is close.
Hickory
QS oak
Oak
Cherry
Maple
Alder

Black Walnut would fall in with Oak and it's hardier than Cherry.

SquirrellyDan said:

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I'll piggy back on that question....

anyone have a recommendation for a place near New Braunfels?

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FM 725 in McQueeney there is a spot that has large slabs

Sgt. Hartman said:

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I am not a woodworker kind of a guy, but I think there's a place in downtown McQueeny you should check out. It's on 725 on the right as you go under the railroad tracks, assuming you're driving from NB to McQueeny. All kinds of wood and burls everywhere. Reminds me a LOT of the little wood sales joints you see in the Redwoods in Northern California.

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this is the place my post is referencing.

The Wood Butcher was selling slabs at Round Top. They had some pretty cool slabs (mostly mesquite and cedar), but I think they mill other stuff as well. Looks like they have a Facebook page and are out of Schertz.