[cimmanom]

A way to purchase pre-cut lumber in small quantities.

For instance, I need an 18-24" piece of 2x4 to prop up an air conditioner, and a couple 30" lengths of 1x10 to convert steam radiators into makeshift shelving. Oh, and four 36" lengths of 1/4" dowel to sew into the bottoms of curtains.

Obstacles to my acquiring these:

1) The small corner hardware stores I can get to on foot or by transit don't sell lumber, period.

2) I don't own a car, and hate driving (I do have a license, but many of my neighbors don't, and I can get about my daily life 99% of the time without one).

3) OK, let's say I take a cab to a big box store. They'll only sell me full 8' lengths of lumber.

4) Fine, I rent a car or get a cab home, or maybe Home Depot has finally worked out that New Yorkers will buy more if they provide delivery even for small sales.

5) At this point, I've already spent $100 on taxis or more on car rental just getting to and from the store.

6) I finally get the lumber home, and I can't cut it. I live in a New York apartment, with no outdoor space for projects like this. I own a screw gun because it's useful for assembling Ikea furniture and attaching stuff to walls, but for obvious reasons I don't own a hand saw let alone a circular saw or table saw. Neither do any of my neighbors. And even if I had a saw, no way it's getting anywhere near my apartment's hardwood floors (do you have any idea how much the security deposit was?)

7) By some miracle, I find someone to lend me a saw AND a space to cut the lumber in (where??) -- I have nowhere to put the scraps and no sensible way to get rid of them.

[mattbrewsbytes]

You'd probably be surprised how fast a hand saw can cut through a board.

Buy a handsaw at the big box store when you buy your wood, cut it in the parking lot before loading it into a cab/uber/rental car. Only do rough cuts (e.g. a little longer than you need) unless you have 100% certain dimensions. Buy sandpaper and sand your way to perfect fit at home, if needed.

The 4 36" dowel rods should be purchase-able in that size. You could ask the big box store to cut larger boards, they do this in the lumber area for plywood.

If this is too much to take on - hire a handyman to do the prop for the AC and ask for them to get the other supplies.

[Declanomous]

There's a saw at home depot (and probably Lowe's) and they'll cut your lumber for you. I think it's one cut per piece of lumber for free.

Home depot lumber is super expensive to begin with, so it's kind of baked in to the cost.

[JoeAltmaier]

My big box stores will cut lumber no problem. You just have to ask at the service desk.

[cimmanom]

Last time I went to Home Depot (needed some other things), the guy in the lumber section told me Home Depot wouldn't do that at all. Something about they didn't want to be liable if it turned out you needed a different length than you told them to cut. :(

[aaavl2821]

They don't cut anything generally less than like 2 feet because with the saws they, use small fragments can shoot up and hit people. There are other types of cuts they dont do for similar reasons

[imauld]

The Home Depot on Northern Blvd in Queens will definitely cut whatever buy in to whatever size you want it. They will take the scraps if you don't want them.

It's a short walk from the R train (Northern Blvd stop) and longer but still easily walkable from the 7 (52nd Street) and longer yet but most reliable LIRR (61st Street). There is also a surprisingly good sausage and pepper stand out front of the Home Depot. Go in get your lumber cut, get a sausage and pepper hero and take a cab back in to the city. It's about 10 minutes from the 59th st bridge via Skillman Ave.

[aaavl2821]

A lot of Home Depot's have hand saws in store you can use though I dont know about NYC

I live in a tiny apartment and bought a hand saw (like $10 maybe?), used a ceramic plant container as a workbench (cut over the hole in the middle so I didn't saw through my work surface, it also collects sawdust) and just hand sawed a bunch of stuff. Hand sawing sucks and takes forever but for your needs it's manageable tho may be 3hours or work or so :)

[DoreenMichele]

Does it absolutely have to be wood?

https://www.onlinemetals.com/

[cimmanom]

For a shelf atop a steam radiator, absolutely (plastic melts; metal and glass conduct too much heat; the radiators [since they're heated by steam] get hot enough to burn flesh but not to ignite wood).

For a dowel in a curtain, not at all.

For an air conditioner prop, depends on its weather resistance properties and whether it's open at the ends (don't really want to make it a home for critters). In this case the plan was to use the aforementioned screw gun to attach the 2x4 to a piece of 2x6 that I already have -- which is a lot easier to do with wood than metal if you don't have specialized tools.

[DoreenMichele]

https://www.woodworkerssource.com/

https://www.amazon.com/lumber/b?node=13399291

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/136-5824533-098820...

https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/poll/poll-buying-lumber-onl...

[cimmanom]

1) doesn't sell standard sizes (already tried that one last year); also, relatively fancy and expensive woods compared to the cheap pine I was hoping to find

2) won't cut to custom size; mostly already-finished

3) ditto

4) discussion... mostly about buying in larger quantities, presumably from people who have full garage/basement/backyard carpentry facilities in which to cut it to size, etc.

[DoreenMichele]

Well, seems like you have identified an unserved niche. I wish I could make this company for you.

[cimmanom]

Yeah, I can't claim that it would be a profitable company. Just that I wish it existed!

[mroll]

Do you have a wide range of applications that you need this pre-cut wood for? Or is it one thing? I'm curious

[cimmanom]

See the above list: those are all current projects. Granted, that's about 3 years' backlog because I can't actually get the needed lumber - so maybe once a year or so. Another actual application from the past would be blocks of 2x6 to prop up a bed frame by a couple extra inches. I rather enjoy basic carpentry, so I might do more small projects (lap desk? monitor stand?) with better access to materials.