darlingm
Grumbler
I've been thrilled with my stretcher bar wholesaler, however their supplier (supposedly temporarily) has switched to a new type of wood.
The original bars had a strong smell that I originally thought years ago was varnish, until my wife pointed out it smelled like Christmas trees. They were well made and sanded. Hardly ever saw a warped bar or a knick or split in the wood.
The new bars seem like a rough lumber cut into stretcher bars. They're much whiter, have no smell, always need sanding, and I reject about a third of the bars that come in a box due to major defects. Some of them look like a woodchuck got to them.
My supplier's been great about crediting back for bad bars, but I can't continue going like this.
Where do you purchase your precut stretcher bars from? For a box (50 pieces) of 20" 3/4" deep bars, I've been paying between $xx.xx. Midwest or East cost preferred, as I'm in Michigan, and shipping from the West coast is brutal. At around $0.XX shipping each bar on average, that's been putting me at $0.XX per 20" 3/4" deep bar, delivered.
I'm sure the original bars were pine or fir. How do you tell these apart? I've read some bars are made out of paulowina wood, which is what I'm guessing the new bars are made of, or perhaps they really are from rough lumber.
Is there some type of supply issue on fir/pine? I've seen a few other suppliers I've ran across saying they've had to switch what type of wood their bars are made of too.
The original bars had a strong smell that I originally thought years ago was varnish, until my wife pointed out it smelled like Christmas trees. They were well made and sanded. Hardly ever saw a warped bar or a knick or split in the wood.
The new bars seem like a rough lumber cut into stretcher bars. They're much whiter, have no smell, always need sanding, and I reject about a third of the bars that come in a box due to major defects. Some of them look like a woodchuck got to them.
My supplier's been great about crediting back for bad bars, but I can't continue going like this.
Where do you purchase your precut stretcher bars from? For a box (50 pieces) of 20" 3/4" deep bars, I've been paying between $xx.xx. Midwest or East cost preferred, as I'm in Michigan, and shipping from the West coast is brutal. At around $0.XX shipping each bar on average, that's been putting me at $0.XX per 20" 3/4" deep bar, delivered.
I'm sure the original bars were pine or fir. How do you tell these apart? I've read some bars are made out of paulowina wood, which is what I'm guessing the new bars are made of, or perhaps they really are from rough lumber.
Is there some type of supply issue on fir/pine? I've seen a few other suppliers I've ran across saying they've had to switch what type of wood their bars are made of too.
Last edited by a moderator: