Wisconsin’s history is deeply rooted in forestry and woodworking. From the Northwoods to the Driftless Area, the state’s geography supports a thriving timber industry that has supplied craftsmen for generations. Whether you are building custom cabinetry, laying down a new floor, or turning a bowl on a lathe, finding the right material is the first step in any successful project.
For woodworkers, the search for quality lumber often leads beyond the big-box stores to specialized sawmills and hardwood dealers. These suppliers offer a depth of knowledge and a variety of species—from standard red oak and hard maple to exotic imports—that simply aren’t available elsewhere. This guide profiles the top hardwood suppliers across Wisconsin, helping you locate the best lumber for your next build.
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Southeast Wisconsin Suppliers
The southeastern region, including Milwaukee and its suburbs, is a hub for fine woodworking and architectural millwork. Suppliers here often cater to both professional contractors and hobbyists, offering extensive kiln-dried inventories and custom services.
Boehm-Madisen Lumber Company
Location: Waukesha, WI
Best For: Wholesale lumber, millwork, and sheet goods
Boehm-Madisen Lumber Company is a third-generation, family-owned distributor that has served the Midwest since 1934. While they primarily operate as a wholesale stocking distributor, they are a critical resource for professional woodworkers and architectural firms. Their facility in Waukesha houses an extensive inventory of domestic and exotic hardwoods, softwoods, and sheet goods.
Boehm-Madisen distinguishes itself with its ability to handle large-scale requirements while maintaining strict quality control. They are FSC® Chain of Custody Certified, making them a go-to source for LEED-qualifying projects. In addition to raw lumber, they offer custom millwork services, producing mouldings and proprietary sorted products that meet specific architectural standards.
Doral Specialty Woods
Location: Waukesha, WI
Best For: Hobbyists, small-quantity cuts, and exotic species
Doral Specialty Woods serves as the retail arm of Boehm-Madisen, specifically catering to the discerning woodworker who may not need a truckload of lumber. Located in Waukesha, this supplier focuses on providing unique, high-figure hardwoods for one-of-a-kind projects.
Their inventory is curated for quality rather than just volume. Woodworkers can find select cuts of premium domestic lumber alongside a variety of exotics. Because they operate as a retail center, Doral Specialty Woods is accessible to the public for walk-in business during specific hours, making it an excellent destination for selecting individual boards for furniture or turning projects.
Kettle Moraine Hardwoods
Location: Hartford, WI & Caledonia, WI
Best For: Domestic hardwoods, live edge slabs, and fireplace mantels
Kettle Moraine Hardwoods is a staple for woodworkers in Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. With facilities in Hartford and Caledonia, they operate as both a sawmill and a dry kiln company, ensuring they control the quality of their product from log to board.
They offer a wide variety of domestic and imported woods suitable for everything from cabinet making to carving. One of their standout offerings is their selection of live edge slabs and rustic log fireplace mantels, which appeal to the current trends in furniture design. Additionally, they stock industrial hardwood products like trailer planking and dunnage, demonstrating a versatility that serves both fine woodworking and industrial needs.
A1 Zone (Bracker's Wood Drying Service)
Location: Caledonia, WI
Best For: Vacuum kiln drying services and slabs
Located in Caledonia, A1 Zone (Bracker’s Wood Drying Service) occupies a unique niche in the local market. While many suppliers focus on selling lumber, A1 Zone specializes in the science of drying it. They utilize state-of-the-art vacuum kiln technology, which dries wood significantly faster than standard kilns while maintaining high quality.
This service is particularly valuable for woodworkers who mill their own logs or purchase green slabs. The vacuum drying process boils moisture off at lower temperatures (150-160°F), which preserves the wood’s color and structural integrity while effectively eliminating mold and insects. For furniture makers working with thick slabs or cookies, A1 Zone ensures the material is stable and ready for use.
Black Earth Wood Products
Location: Dousman, WI
Best For: Custom sawing, flooring, and eco-friendly urban lumber
Black Earth Wood Products is a small, owner-operated lumber company in Dousman that emphasizes personalized service and sustainability. They cater to a broad audience, from home builders and remodelers to crafters and furniture makers.
Their capabilities extend beyond simple lumber sales. Black Earth offers custom sawing services, allowing them to process logs to specific customer requirements. They also produce finished millwork, including wainscoting, mouldings, and tongue-and-groove paneling. A key aspect of their business model is their focus on “green” projects, where they repurpose trees removed from construction sites or storm damage, turning potential waste into beautiful, usable lumber for the homeowner.
Prairie Hardwoods
Location: Sun Prairie, WI
Best For: Local mill shop services and diverse lumber selection
Prairie Hardwoods is a local mill shop that prides itself on connecting the community with quality wood products. Serving DIY enthusiasts, contractors, and hobbyists, they offer a mix of hardwoods and softwoods suitable for a wide range of applications.
As a mill shop, they bring decades of experience to the table, ensuring that the materials they sell meet high standards of craftsmanship. Whether you are looking for stock lumber for a weekend project or materials for a larger renovation, Prairie Hardwoods provides a local, accessible source for quality materials.
Western & Central Wisconsin Suppliers
Moving toward the Mississippi River and the central part of the state, the landscape changes, and so does the profile of the suppliers. This region is home to several mills that specialize in locally harvested timber, including walnut and oak from the Driftless region.
Banks Hardwoods
Location: Menomonie, WI (Facility)
Best For: High-volume hardwood supply and grading expertise
Banks Hardwoods is a premier hardwood supplier in the Great Lakes region, headquartered in Michigan but with a significant facility in Menomonie, Wisconsin. They are known for their “Quality Everything” philosophy, which emphasizes continuous improvement and strict adherence to grading standards.
Banks Hardwoods is a major player in the industry, often serving larger commercial clients, but their commitment to education and quality makes them a notable name for any serious woodworker to know. They inspect and grade lumber after surfacing to ensure accuracy in color and yield, a practice that reduces waste and ensures consistency for the end user.
Menomonie Specialty Lumber
Location: Menomonie, WI
Best For: Urban salvaged timber, black walnut, and custom fabrication
Menomonie Specialty Lumber focuses on the recovery and utilization of urban timber. They work with arborists and homeowners in Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota to salvage trees that would otherwise be destined for landfills or firewood.
Their primary focus is on Black Walnut, but they also process species like Red Elm, White Oak, and Hackberry. Beyond selling lumber, they are a custom design shop offering furniture, countertops, and architectural steel fabrication. This combination of raw material supply and design-build capability makes them a unique resource for clients looking for bespoke, sustainably sourced pieces.
Ocooch Hardwoods
Location: Richland Center, WI
Best For: Scroll saw lumber, turning blanks, and thin stock
Located in Richland Center, Ocooch Hardwoods has carved out a specific niche serving scroll sawyers, laser engravers, and woodturners. They are highly regarded for their selection of “project-ready” wood, including thin dimensional lumber that is difficult to find at standard lumber yards.
Their inventory includes domestic species as well as exotics like Canarywood and Baltic Birch plywood. Ocooch is particularly well-known for their mail-order service, providing high-quality, defect-free boards that are surfaced and ready for intricate work. For hobbyists who need specific, smaller dimensions without the hassle of milling down 4/4 stock, Ocooch is an invaluable resource.
Bennett Hardwoods
Location: Prairie du Chien, WI (Region)
Best For: Vertically integrated hardwood supply and export quality
Bennett Hardwoods is a large-scale operation that manages the lumber process from forest to finish. With over 30 years of experience and a massive facility spanning 26 acres, they are a powerhouse in the kiln-dried hardwood market. They serve cabinet makers, flooring mills, and furniture builders who require absolute consistency.
Their “ExactSort” system and rigorous quality control mean that woodworkers can expect uniform thickness and stress-relieved drying, which is crucial for preventing movement in finished furniture and flooring. Bennett Hardwoods is ideal for manufacturers and professionals who need reliable, high-volume supply chains for species like Walnut, Cherry, and Maples.
Endeavor Hardwoods
Location: Lyndon Station, WI
Best For: Kiln-dried northern hardwoods and milling services
Endeavor Hardwoods operates a concentration yard and milling facility in Lyndon Station. They specialize in Northern species such as Red Oak, White Oak, Hard Maple, Walnut, and Ash. Their operation is focused on quality control, utilizing 250,000 board feet of kiln capacity to ensure optimal moisture content and color.
The lumber at Endeavor is stored on large concrete slabs to maintain flatness and cleanliness. Their milling facility is equipped for planing, ripping, sanding, and moulding, allowing them to deliver finished products that meet precise specifications. They serve a variety of customers, ensuring that every order—regardless of size—contains high-quality, NHLA-graded lumber.
KDR Hardwoods
Location: Green Lake, WI
Best For: Sustainably sourced local lumber and slabs
KDR Hardwoods in Green Lake is dedicated to sustainable forestry practices. They source their logs locally from tree services and arborists, ensuring that the lumber they produce has a low carbon footprint and supports the local ecosystem.
They cater to a mix of woodworking professionals, hobbyists, and homeowners. Their inventory ranges from rough-cut lumber to finished boards and impressive live edge slabs. KDR prides itself on giving urban trees a second life, offering a selection of kiln-dried hardwoods that are full of character and history.
Millcreek Mouldings
Location: Marshfield, WI
Best For: Custom mouldings, flooring, and butcher blocks
While Millcreek Mouldings specializes in—as the name suggests—wood mouldings, their capabilities extend much further. Based in Marshfield, they maintain a library of over 700 knife profiles and can grind custom knives to match historic or unique trim.
In addition to millwork, they manufacture hardwood flooring and butcher block countertops. They offer lumber sales for these projects, delivering Select & Better grade timber that is kiln-dried and surfaced. Their willingness to run custom lengths and handle unique orders makes them a flexible partner for renovations and custom home builds.
Northeast Wisconsin Suppliers
The northeastern part of Wisconsin, bordering Lake Michigan, has a strong tradition of lumber production. The suppliers here often have deep roots in the community and offer direct access to Northern hardwoods.
Algoma Lumber Company
Location: Algoma, WI
Best For: Northern hardwood lumber and log procurement
Algoma Lumber Company has been a fixture in the Algoma business community since 1950. As a mid-sized sawmill, they produce approximately six million board feet of lumber annually, specializing in Northern Hardwoods.
Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, they are a primary source for locally harvested timber. Their operation is straightforward and focused on the production of sawn lumber. For woodworkers and buyers looking to go straight to the source for species native to the region, Algoma Lumber provides a direct link to the sawmill.
Buying Hardwood in Wisconsin
When visiting these suppliers, it is helpful to keep a few things in mind to ensure a smooth transaction.
- Call Ahead: Many of these businesses are active sawmills or manufacturing facilities. Their hours for public retail sales may differ from their production hours. A quick phone call can confirm availability and ensure someone is there to assist you.
- Know Your Terms: Understanding the difference between 4/4 (1 inch thick) and 8/4 (2 inches thick), as well as grading terms like FAS (First and Seconds) versus #1 Common, will help you communicate clearly with the staff.
