Requesting Custom Quotes

Let me first say that a great many custom orders of the best quality material can be filled by checking out my Private Stock Page or Luthier Page. You may also find something of interest on my Choice Select or Odds & End Page. That being said, I will continue with the purpose of this page.

Since every project is different from the next we all have to work within a framework of required material to complete the project and staying within a budget. It is only natural then that requesting availability and quotes for material and shipping is the prudent thing to do. However, there are some things that you must know when sending your custom request. I need to know exactly what you are requiring. Having that info available I would be happy to reply to your request. However, the only thing I can tell you by return email is whether I can fill your request or not. I cannot give you dollar amounts on custom material or shipping cost until your order is placed by providing the seven items of info listed below. After you place the order I will then research my inventory to fill the order and then email you an invoice. This all happens before I charge you credit card and ship your material.

Since we are working with rough lumber there is no such thing as just going to a rack, pulling the material and sending a quote. There are no two pieces of curly maple that are the same and no two request are duplicated. Your order is a custom order and it requires considerable time to correctly fill to your specs. Request for figured lumber range from the very best of my Private Stock material to something considerably less. All request take a great amount of time to put together. Unless you send your request as an order with all the following info I cannot proceed with your quote other than indicate whether I can fill it. The list of info that I need to proceed with your custom quote is listed below.

1) Complete list of materials required including length, width, thickness, sapwood requirement...one or two face and if you want Private Stk. or regular figured material

2) Quality of figure and where you want to be in the pricing structure

3) Complete shipping address

4) Complete billing address

5) Telephone number

6) Correct email address

7) Payment Info, eg....credit card info, etc. This info is necessary because this is the only way I know you are truly interested in procuring your requested material. It will not be used until I have your OK for shipment and will be deleted from my data base if requested.

Please do not ask me for a shipping quote as it is impossible to accurately quote what it will cost to send your material until I package it. You can, however, compute an approximate quote for yourself by using the FedEx link listed below.You will understand the complications in quoting when you read the following info.

You may compute your approximate shipping cost by using this FedEx link and filling in the required info. The information below will be useful in completeing the FedEx form request. Please use the zip code 17737 for the originating location and to be safe make sure you indicate a FedEx Ground Shipment with a length of 8 feet.

To figure the weight of your material you need to know two things....board footage and the weight/bf. A simple way to compute board footage is to use this easy formula....Length(in feet) x Width(in inches) Divided by 12 x Thickness(in inches) = Number of Board Feet. The other factor that we must consider is the weight per board foot of the different species. With the exception of a few species you have only to remember two figures.....3.5lbs/bf and 4.5lbs/bf. The first figure of 3.5lbs/bf will take into consideration just about all your request except hard maple that is 4.5lb.

So to compute the weight of your shipment: Length(in feet) x Width(in inches) Divided by 12 x Thickness(in inches) = Number of Board Feet x 3.5lbs or 4.5lbs = Weight of Shipment. This resulting number will be close but not accurate because there is the waste factor that will be different for every project.

Length of Material is an important shipping cost consideration. More info will be found here.

Extra Shipping Charges: You will have extra FedEx charges depending on the length of material, delivery surcharges and insurance. There is also a $5.00 to $10.00 packaging and handing fee per package that I must charge as all material is custom packaged in heavy gauge cardboard and securely bound with plastic strapping. The material is also end coated and cut to length to comply with FedEx specs to get the best bang from your shipping dollar. Thank you for your understanding of the problems connected with custom orders.