How to buy wood from a local mill

[Aegwyn11]

Newbie DIY questions....I've tried to find the answers on my own and I either SUCK at searching or everyone buy me knows the answer (because I can't find what I'm looking for).

I'm looking start building things soon and I'm wondering how people go about finding wood mills in their local areas. I live in Sioux Falls, SD. I really just don't know what I'm looking for. I search for sawmill or wood mill in Sioux Falls and I get a few responses, but I'm not sure what I should even be asking if I call these places. I know that I need to be getting at least S2S lumber since I don't have a jointer or planer yet, but other than that I have no clue. Do all sawmills sell to the public? Do I just go out to them and see what they have? Any guidance would be GREATLY appreciated.

My first project is probably going to be a outdoor table to house a Big Green Egg barbeque and I think I want to make it out of Ipe.

 

[ForumMFG]

Have you tried: Colton Sawmill (605) 446-3925 - 409 W 1st St, Colton, SD?

Some sawmills will sell to the public, just commerical, or both.  Sometimes you can go to a sawmill that sells only commerical and ask if you can take a look at the scrapes/Drops and buy them really cheap.  Take a little block plane with you as most of the wood will be in the rough and you can take your plane to it to expose the figure.

I'm in a large city and we are stocked with sawmills and vendors so it's easy to find one.  For someone who lives in a small town, I would check the internet/word of mouth/phone book/check with a cabinet shop and see where they buy their wood from.  Checking with a cabinet or millwork shop would be the best bet because they have to get their wood from somewhere!  You can find millwork/cabinet shops just by looking in your phone book or going on the internet.

There are a lot of good resources on the web.  You might find something on www.woodweb.com

You should ask what type of material they cut.  What sizes it's in such as 4/4, 5/4, etc. Some places have planers and jointer's on site.  See if they will mill it for you to your liking for a small fee.  Thats if you don't have the equipment to do it yourself.

You really need to know what you are looking for before you call/go to any mill.  Once you figure that out, you can find out what materials they have.  Write them down, and then figure out your yields and thats one way to go about it.  Most sawmills stock your basic species but any sawmill can order in anything you want for the most part.

I don't know if this is the answer you are looking for but I hope it helps.

-Dave

 

[Les]

See if you can find any cabinet/furniture makers or lumber yards in you area. Ask where they get theirs.

 

[Aegwyn11]

Friday I tried calling a few of the places listed as "mills" in my area...one only sells resawn creasote soaked wood and the other just stores logs and mills them as the customer needs. I think this week I'm going to go down the other path (calling cabinetshops) and see where that gets me. A little looking and I found one cabinetshop that advertises quartersawn white oak as a material on their website...I'm thinking that might be a decent place to start. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[MarkF]

Not sure where you are located wrt Woodworking Guilds/Clubs but joining one would put you in touch with lots of local resources. 
Check Craigslist under the Material heading as hardwood lumber frequently shows up there.
(Here are some nice Walnut slabs in Souix Falls: http://sd.craigslist.org/mat/1319025606.html )