There?s been a thread on the BAWA E-groups forum about favorite woodworking places in the Bay area. The idea is to list ones that you frequent, and recommend to fellow woodworkers. Following are some recommendations. If you have others, I?d like to hear about them, so we can publish an expanded list. buxton@tdl.com, or 650-365-3076.

Jamie Buxton

Tools

Hida Tool & Hardware, Berkeley. 510-524-3700. Japanese hand tools, kitchen knives, and Bonsai gardening tools. (Jim Voos)

Woodline/Japan Woodworker, Alameda. 800-537-7820. Japanese Hand Tools. Good finishing and sharpening supplies. (Jim Voos)

Soko Hardware, San Francisco 415-931-5510. A variety of Japanese tools and planes, some of which are not available from other suppliers. (Terry O'Donnell)

Luthier's Mercantile International. Healdsburg. 800-477-4437 www.wco.com/~lmi/catalog.htm. Tools and woods for instrument makers. (Terry O'Donnell)

Misugi Designs Inc. 510.549.0805. www.misugidesigns.com High quality (mail order only) Japanese tools, hardware, paper, and bamboo flooring. (Terry O'Donnell)

Robert Larson Company. San Francisco. 800-356-2195. (Terry O'Donnell)

Woodcraft Supply. Dublin. (925) 875-9988. (Terry O'Donnell)

Tools, Tools, Tools. Berkeley. 510-528-5516. www.toolsx3.com "A marketplace for antique and secondhand tools and factory reconditioned power tools". (Terry O'Donnell)

Lumber

Ecosource (used to be Ecotimber). Specializes in sustainably-harvested lumber and plywood. Has lots of woods you've never heard of. Berkeley. www.earthsourcewood.com (Jamie Buxton)

MacBeath. Largest hardwood retailer I know of in the Bay area. Branches in Berkeley and SF. Berkeley branch also stocks Baltic Birch and Finn-ply plywoods. www.macbeath.com (Jamie Buxton)

Northern Hardwood. Domestic and imported hardwoods. Retails hardwoods from deals with local tree surgeons. Santa Clara. www.nhardwoods.com (Jamie Buxton)

Baker Milling. Mills, air-dries, and sells local hardwoods in rough-sawn slab form. Gilroy. www.bakerhardwoods.com (Jamie Buxton)

Peter Lang. Mills, dries, and retails local hardwoods. Santa Rosa (707) 579-2551. Lang's primary business is breeding and showing exotic animals, so you can find yourself buying madrone while a giraffe peers over your shoulder. The wood side of the house does not have a web site, but the animals are at www.safariwest.com (Jamie Buxton)

Books

Builders Booksource. A bookstore for architects and builders. It has the largest woodworking section I've encountered in the Bay area. Berkeley. www.buildersbooksource.com (Jamie Buxton)

Schools or courses

???

Galleries/museums/inspiration

???