Ok, I am one week into this turning thing, and have spend every night and this weekend at the lathe!
Have purchased bowl blanks from Lee Vally, but with a weeks vacation next week, I am wondering if anyone can recommend somewhere close to Brampton (west of toronto) that I can purchase other blanks? Local or online thats close enough to have it shipped before Friday. Have found some west coast suppliers and eBay canada does not show anything fairly close.
Much appreciated!
Exotic Woods Burlington. 2483 Industrial Street 905-335-8066
They're North from the Queen E on the Guelph line - up a few blocks then East.
There's a Lee Valley AND Home Depot nearby to. I think heaven is close by as well!
Thanks Terry,
Appears that Woodchuckers Supplies, Weston, On, is closest to me, so I've taken tomorrow off to go and "visit"!
sure is - up the road in Hamilton you can take the bus to Upper Paradise :)))
- Check my most up to date email address at:
Thought I would give a quick update on the visits, as a Thanks to those who responded.
Started off to WoodChuckers on Weston rd, as its been a few years since I was down that way. The shop was very hard to find, as its in a building that is shared with some type of automotive work.
The owner and his wife (I assume) have a small room at the back of the building, and it has a bit of everything a turner could want. Both folks were exceptionally friendly, with the gentleman being well versed in the products he has. He happily answered my hundreds of questions, and I ended up with a few small bags of supplies - bowl gouge, 1/8 parting tool, wax, food safe finish, ca glue, metal tops, taper and drill chuck to name a few. My original reason for the visit was for wood, and it turned out he keeps a large trailor at the side for storage. I found he had a fair supply of roughed bowls, but was very low on other woods. As I am new to the hobby, I wanted square blanks, as I need the practice roughing the shapes as well as turning the final product. I was not able to find anything suitable other than a small 4"x4" piece of spalted maple. He did mention that he has a large shipment arriving in January and also said that the import rules are changing, creating tons of paperwork for non-indiginious woods. Also met another turner that was shopping there, did not get his name, but if he's reading this, the visit was on Tuesday morning and he said he belongs to a club, my sincerest Thanks for your suggestions. Its nice to meet someone that does not mind sharing their experience with a beginner!
Since I still did not have enough wood for the vacation, decided to head to Exotic Woods in Burlington. For those of you in the area, its an easy drive just off Guelph line 6. The store area was a nice size, with a good selection of round blanks in various sizes, plus an amazing selection of exotic woods, with the price to match. Not complaining, just letting any new folks out there that wood is not cheap! I picked up four or five round blanks, (maple,mesquite), a walnut square blank and some finger boards I want to try segmented turning with. Can't say the staff were as friendly as Woodchuckers, I was browsing for at least 45 minutes with no one approaching me to ask if I needed help. Usually thats a good thing, but as a new turner, some advice would have translated into a bigger sale! : )
All in All, both stores were enjoyable to visit, and I would not hesitate to recommend them.
Again, Thanks to those who responded!
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.