{"id":2100,"date":"2016-12-11T04:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T09:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?p=2100"},"modified":"2016-10-27T21:00:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T01:00:58","slug":"visit-west-penn-hardwoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

West Penn Hardwoods Location<\/h2>\n

In conjunction with other business taking me to North Carolina along the I-40 corridor I was finally able to visit the ultimate wood turners candy store, West Penn Hardwood<\/a>s, a turning blank and lumber supply company that is easily one of the largest wholesale and retail operations on the east coast if not in the entire country.<\/p>\n

The name West Penn Hardwoods made more sense when they were actually located in southeastern Pennsylvania, but for reasons unknown to me, they relocated in 2015 to Conover, North Carolina<\/a>.  I’ve heard that the new warehouses afford a great deal more space and perhaps real estate was cheaper as well.  Whatever the reason, it brought one of my favorite suppliers of exotic hardwoods closer to home.  To be sure, West Penn also sells domestic species but it is in the range of imported exotics that they really shine.  I’ve done business with these folks for years and I have never been disappointed.<\/p>\n

Gabon Timber<\/h2>\n

Immediately upon entering the parking lot one is confronted with stacks of imported exotic timber stacked outside like ordinary framing timber, but anyone remotely familiar with wood will know this is not SPF framing material!  If you still aren’t sure, then the stencils on the sides that say “Gabon<\/a>” for country of origin will clue you in that you might be looking at Ebony, Sapele, Bubinga, who knows what delicious hardwood treat.<\/p>\n

\"Lumber

Lumber from Gabon Africa<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Warehouse Number 1<\/h2>\n
\"Canarywood

Canarywood and Bubinga<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Olivewood\"

Olivewood<\/p><\/div>\n

The interior is divided into two distinct warehouses.<\/p>\n

\"Yet

Yet More Ebony<\/p><\/div>\n

The first one you enter from the office is home to the turning blank supplies, all neatly organized alphabetically by species on huge turquoise painted racks with large red signs with the species names painted in white.<\/p>\n

\"Pink

Pink Ivory<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Figured

Figured Imbuia<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Turning

Turning Blanks Everywhere<\/p><\/div>\n

The effect is otherworldly, sort of like a Costco of exotic woods.<\/p>\n

\"Ebony\"

Ebony<\/p><\/div>\n

The space is easily the size of several football fields and it echoes with your voice and footfalls.  West Penn is open to retail foot traffic but on the day we were there, there was no one else in evidence except a small number of staff members.  Pushing a shopping cart through the warehouse was surreal.<\/p>\n

\"Aisles

Aisles of Turning Blanks<\/p><\/div>\n

There are also thousands upon thousands of pen blanks of all species<\/p>\n

\"Tulipwood

Tulipwood Pen Blanks<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Pink

Pink Ivory Pen Blanks<\/p><\/div>\n

In bins along one wall are piles of burls, most Australian, which are sold by the kilogram.  Never in my life have I seen such a variety of tempting materials.  In addition to the burls are live edge slabs stacked against the wall, again the likes of which I have never seen.  These slabs are most likely destined to be highly finished and turned into table tops.<\/p>\n

\"Live

Live Edge Slabs<\/p><\/div>\n

Warehouse Number 2<\/h2>\n

The second warehouse is dedicated to dimensional lumber, again, of just about any and every species you can imagine and probably many you’ve never heard of.  I wasn’t much in the market for dimensional lumber but it was still an impressive sight.  I can’t imagine any other wood store where you can purchase everything from a $1.50 pen blank to a several thousand dollar live edge slab.  But you can at West Penn Hardwoods.<\/p>\n

\"Cherry

Cherry Lumber<\/p><\/div>\n

Sale Bins<\/h2>\n

One of the things I was most looking forward to were the sale bins where you can find just about anything.  These bins have material tossed in with no indication of species and they may be off-sized, no longer stocked, rejects, or material that was shipped by accident.<\/p>\n

\"Live

Live Edge Slabs<\/p><\/div>\n

It is all sold by the pound and you take what you want and exercise your creativity.  There were also some other odds and ends that were identified as to species on sale as well and yes, I couldn’t resist taking advantage of some of those pieces.<\/p>\n

\"Live

Live Edge Slabs<\/p><\/div>\n

Wholesale Operation<\/h2>\n

I noticed large pallets being shipped out to different Woodcraft locations throughout the Southeast and now you and I know where Woodcraft <\/a>sources at least some of the exotic turning blanks that they sell in every store I have ever been into.  It goes to show without question that while West Penn is happy to sell you a single turning blank that you prize, their bread and butter business is wholesale to other vendors, who of course mark up the price they paid West Penn when they pass it on to you.  The lesson should be obvious: when possible buy from the importer, and conveniently enough, West Penn does have a thriving on-line store with routine sales and nationwide shipping.<\/p>\n

\"Live

Live Edge Slabs<\/p><\/div>\n

My Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n

This was a rare and thrilling opportunity for me to go to the source of some of the most comprehensive stocks of exotic imported hardwoods in the country and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  My cart was full because of my exuberance, especially at the beginning, and toward the end I had to sort through my treasures, with a calculator, and make some tough decisions because I couldn’t take it all home, or I could provided that my bank account would support it, which it wouldn’t.  But for a dedicated wood geek, even if you couldn’t buy much of anything at all, it is still a site worth visiting just for the visual appeal of seeing so much wood of so many different types, colors, textures, and origins.  There really are few, if any, places like it in the world.  If life ever takes you to the vicinity of north-central North Carolina right along I-40, and you are a fan of exotic hardwoods, you really owe it to yourself to spend a few hours just roaming about in the cavernous spaces soaking it all in.  And who knows, perhaps you will find that special piece of that never before heard of species that you just have to take home and play with.  I know I did!<\/p>\n

\"Live

Live Edge Slabs<\/p><\/div>\n

As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The interior is divided into two distinct warehouses. The first one you enter from the office is home to the turning blank supplies, all neatly organized alphabetically by species on huge turquoise painted racks with large red signs with the species names painted in white. The effect is otherworldly, sort of like a Costco of exotic woods. The space is easily the size of several football fields and it echoes with your voice and footfalls. West Penn is open to retail foot traffic but on the day we were there, there was no one else in evidence except a small number of staff members. Pushing a shopping cart through the warehouse was surreal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":2103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,138,130],"tags":[144,148,149,159,160,161,168,187,188,200,210,214,226,240],"yoast_head":"\nVisit to West Penn Hardwoods - Wood Turning Pens ..<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had a chance to visit the ultimate wood turners candy store, West Penn Hardwoods, wholesale and retail, warehouse in North Carolina in early March 2016.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods - Wood Turning Pens ..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had a chance to visit the ultimate wood turners candy store, West Penn Hardwoods, wholesale and retail, warehouse in North Carolina in early March 2016.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wood Turning Pens ..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-11T09:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-28T01:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/West-Penn-Hardwoods-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Wood_Pens\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Wood_Pens\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/\",\"name\":\"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods - Wood Turning Pens ..\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-11T09:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-28T01:00:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47069a73b7e6a2ceecce4976634520fe\"},\"description\":\"I had a chance to visit the ultimate wood turners candy store, West Penn Hardwoods, wholesale and retail, warehouse in North Carolina in early March 2016.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/\",\"name\":\"Wood Turning Pens ..\",\"description\":\"Wood Turned into Art\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47069a73b7e6a2ceecce4976634520fe\",\"name\":\"Wood_Pens\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/author\/wood_pens\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods - Wood Turning Pens ..","description":"I had a chance to visit the ultimate wood turners candy store, West Penn Hardwoods, wholesale and retail, warehouse in North Carolina in early March 2016.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods - Wood Turning Pens ..","og_description":"I had a chance to visit the ultimate wood turners candy store, West Penn Hardwoods, wholesale and retail, warehouse in North Carolina in early March 2016.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/","og_site_name":"Wood Turning Pens ..","article_published_time":"2016-12-11T09:00:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-10-28T01:00:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/West-Penn-Hardwoods-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Wood_Pens","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Wood_Pens","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/","url":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/","name":"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods - Wood Turning Pens ..","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-12-11T09:00:05+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-28T01:00:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47069a73b7e6a2ceecce4976634520fe"},"description":"I had a chance to visit the ultimate wood turners candy store, West Penn Hardwoods, wholesale and retail, warehouse in North Carolina in early March 2016.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/visit-west-penn-hardwoods\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Visit to West Penn Hardwoods"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/","name":"Wood Turning Pens ..","description":"Wood Turned into Art","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47069a73b7e6a2ceecce4976634520fe","name":"Wood_Pens","url":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/author\/wood_pens\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}