Has anyone in the NYC area dealt with F.W. Honerkamp for sheet goods?

[Sean_C_G]

[size=12pt]Hello all,

First, allow me to introduce myself. I've finally gotten a chance to pursue woodworking as an avocation. After my initial purchase of Festools (TS55, MFT/3, CT22, ETS150/3), I joined this forum. This group is a fantastic resource, and I want to thank everyone for the wealth of information on it.

In the month since my Festools purchase, I've been working on the basics, measuring and marking, making square cuts, etc. I have been poring over Bob Lang's "The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker" (great book). I plan on starting out small (and making mistakes) by making a small frameless vanity cabinet. I then want to scale up to a wall of frameless storage cabinets in the basement. As for additional tools, I'm going to pick up an OF1010 router, and the LR32 system and rail. For joinery, I'm probably going to go with pocket holes screws and glue for these first projects (although I can already hear the sirens call: "Domiiino, Domiiino"). Long term, I hope to try my hand at furniture building, primarily Shaker style and Arts and Crafts.

Based on the recommendations of this forum and Lang's book, I'm interested in finding a supplier of sheet goods in the NY City area who deals with the cabinet trade. I found F.W. Honerkamp on the web. Has anyone ever used them? Can anyone in the NYC area recommend another seller of sheet goods who deals primarily with the cabinet trade? Thank you.

 

[woodshopdemos]

Sean G,
  Welcome to the forum and goodluck in your new avocation. NYC area is large so where are you in that area? I know nothing about the supplier you listed except that they have a great website and seems to have a fine mix of panel goods. The only dealer I know in area is in Westchester and if M L Condon in White Plains. I use to frequent their place for hardwood.
  Making some cabnets is a good idea. There are many projects on my website woodshopdemos.com -- have a look.
This is the sub-menu for Festool stories:http://www.woodshopdemos.com/men-fes.htm

Don't be put off by some of my shop assistants...

 

[Sean_C_G]

John, thank you for your reply. I must also add that your site has already been of great help even at this early stage of the learning process. And no, not put off by your assistants in the least! I'm actually located in Queens, so Condon is not all that far out of the way. Honerkamp has locations in the Bronx and Central Islip which is in Suffolk County. I think I might head over the bridge to check out both Honerkamp in the Bronx and Condon in White Plains.

Update: I placed a call to F.W. Honerkamp and inquired about whether they'd be willing to sell to low volume hobbyists. They told me that if I show up with a means of getting the goods home and cash in pocket, they'd be happy to sell to me. Sounds reasonable.

Thanks again.

 

[KM]

Hey Sean,

Ok, you're in Queens so you have a few choices...

Bronx
Honerkamp- good rep, great selection. right off triboro bridge
Rosenzweig Lumber- 135 st. about 5 minutes from honerkamp. great selection of ply and lumber. Hey, it's where I got my maple and zebra for my bench. Don't go until after 10:30 when they finish loading the trucks.

Long Island-New Hyde Park. Close to queens
Chesler Ply- As the name implies-only ply. Been there very recently for cherry VC. Carry columbia and Norbord. decent prices.

Side note: some of these places don't sell retail. So when you go, I wouldn't announce that you aren't a pro. I would just say Something like.... Hi, I just need a couple of sheets of 3/4  A-1 red oak veneer core ply. If they ask who you are just say, SeanG Woodworking or whatever name you choose.

ML Condon is good too, It's just much more of a hike. Nice selection of exotics.

 

[Pete Pedisich]

Sean,

FW Honerkamp is great, and I've used them at two companies I've worked at.

On Long Island, in Deer Park, is Roberts Plywood, and they are terrific for both sheet goods and solid wood.

good luck,

pete

 

[Sean_C_G]

Ken and Pete, thanks for the additional sources! It's great to have options.

Ken, appreciate the tip about how to pass myself off when I go to these places. I laughed when I read it because for some reason, the word "greenhorn" popped into my head as I imagined myself at the order counter! I work in a skilled trade (operating engineer at a powerplant) for a living, so I've always been OK at plumbing and electrical supply houses ordering stuff for home projects, but this is new territory. Funny, Lang's book also addresses this by telling the reader how to order lumber from a lumber yard; got a kick out of that too! Thanks again.

 

[woodshopdemos]

To follow on Ken's idea...create business cards on your PC. Some of the wholesale only people will accept you as a cash customer with a card. I did this with Fabricators Supply for Formica and slides for years. But they were wholesale only but just needed a reason to sell to me. The business card did it. At the time, I used Interactive Learning SYstems my real business. The counter person would ask my connection to cabinet needs. I would reply "learning carrels/" He didnt know what that meant so he sold to me as a cash customer.

 

[minimal]

M.L. Condon:  I've been there a few times, and usually get *tons* of attitude from the
"suits" upstairs, much less so from the yard workers downstairs. Yes, they have a good
list of exotics but I will go elsewhere if there is any other option.

I had great service from North American Ply, which is a little South of the city (look
up naply.com): they have no-void multi ply up to 2 inches thick, plus large cnc and
a press to make thicker pieces if that's what you need. My sales guy was "Mike".

 

[KM]

yesterday I discovered that one of the sheets of 3/4 cherry I bought from Chesler is damaged. My fault cause I shoulda inspected it closer. I'm going back today for another so we'll be able to test their "customer service" by seeing if they offer to do anything.

Sean,
what part of Queens are you in? For my money I would just go over the Triboro to both Honerkamp and Rosenzweig for my sheets and lumber. I know for a fact Rosenzweig will sell to you as a non-pro, either by cash or your own personal credit card. 2 reasons I don't go there every time I need a piece of wood:
1. I have to strap all material on the top of my car, on windy days this can be problematic. Last Jan. I went over the Triboro Bridge with 2 pcs. of 3/4 shop maple and the wind almost picked my car off the ground. I thought Oh God here we go! Felt like a scene from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
2. The cost of a single sheet or 3 pieces of wood increase by $9 (tolls), I'm not cheap but this adds up. Also, getting stuck in traffic round the bruckner SUCKS!!!!

Minimal,
Yea, condon's got a lil attitude. But don't they all?? I got some there when I went in looking for some 12/4 Balsa, after all they advertised having it on their website. Once they realized I knew what I was talking about they warmed up nicely, gotta have the lingo Down Pat. yes, guys downstairs are awesome. I'll look at naply.com too, thanks!!

John,
What can I say? you've offered me a Tremendous amount of knowledge in the past year! Just want to take a moment to personally thank you for your website and presence on this board! THANK YOU.

ps. You offer lots of great links on "How To's on your site, where the heck is the link for acquiring Hot Assistants?? I keep looking for it every time but to no avail, must be hidden or something.

If I seem like a "know it all", I apologize. I just spent countless hours shopping the NYC metro area looking for all this stuff. After all my research was done, this is my narrowed down Go-To list. 
Ken

Sean, almost forgot. Found a Gem for hardware (blum, accuride, fastcap etc.)
Allied Hardware (dist, for Richelieu.com)
1250 Brunswick Avenue
Far Rockaway, NY 11691

Need to be "pro". make cards like John said and pay cash. I had no problem. Great Prices, cheaper than online. Guy at counter cool as heck

 

[Sean_C_G]

Hey Ken,

I'm in Northern Queens, I can be over the Whitestone Bridge in no time (given the right time of day, of course!). Plus, at least I know if I strike out at Honerkamp, I can check out Rosenzweig. I almost spit up my Coke through my nose laughing about that  image of you driving across the bridge on "maple sail power," BTW.

Thanks for the hardware tip! I work in South Brooklyn, so Far Rockaway won't be too far out of the way on my trip home.

One more thing, you don't come across in the least as a know-it-all. In fact, I'm very grateful for your distilled insights. You've taken a lot of the uncertainty (and a bit of trepidation) out of this part of the process for me (and hopefully others), so again, much thanks to you. I hope I can "pay back" to someone else on this forum as I acquire more experience.