Atlanta Glowforgers, got any material sources to share?

Everything Else
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Wood:

Atlanta Hardwoods went out of business. Sad news, they were a great source.

Good prices on BB ply and MDF at Rugby Architectural Building Supplies. They have multiple thicknesses. Call ahead for availability, they have a will-call window from what I understand.

http://www.rugbyabp.com/

Specialty woods and veneers in midtown called Carlton’s:

http://www.rarewoodsandveneers.com/

Highland woodworking is a good source:

Rockler has multiple locations in the city:
http://www.rockler.com/retail/stores/ga/sandy-springs-store
http://www.rockler.com/retail/stores/ga/kennesaw-store
(and maybe more)

Woodcraft has two locations around town:


(Woodcraft of Atlanta, and Woodcraft of West Atlanta. The others are not the same.)

Plastics:

Professional Plastics has good deals on acrylic sheet, especially if you can pick up locally:
https://www.professionalplastics.com/

Piedmont plastics, they have a scrap bin and good customer service, says @jamely :
https://www.piedmontplastics.com/locations

(Mailorder for acrylic: estreetplastics.com has the best prices.)

Leather:
Tandy leather has 2 location in Atlanta. Really good customer service.
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/

General materials:
Uline in Gwinett county:

Sam Flax art supplies in midtown has many materials:
https://www.samflax.com/

IKEA in Midtown:

Desperate times:

The following places will do in a pinch but are not recommended due to price/other considerations.

Hobby Lobby & Michael’s: Expensive for what you get, but reliable source of hobby wood and other almost ready-made things like frames and plaques.

Big Box hardware: very limited thin stock

Ace Hardware locations: Some thin stock, but unreliable supply.

Any others?

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Following as I am in SE Alabama and we have nothing around here besides Lowes and home depot.

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Another wood source would be Rockler:

http://www.rockler.com/retail/stores/ga/sandy-springs-store

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Rocker also has a store in Kennesaw
http://www.rockler.com/retail/stores/ga/kennesaw-store

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Thanks for the post. As I come across things, I’ll post here.

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Nice - this will come in handy, let’s keep it updated!

I read somewhere that standard acrylic sheet at the big box stores is laser friendly. I also have a lot of scraps from various traditional projects that I intend to play around with, and record (and share) the details…

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I’ll try to keep the top post updated to include the locations you guys find, thanks!

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Well, friendly is relative. They’re fine, but there does seem to be a difference in odor and results between cast and extruded acrylic. Cast is usually both better and more expensive.

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For wood:

(1) Home Depot has very little in the way of thin materials. Some, but very very limited.

(2) ACE Hardware and OSH/Lowe’s typically have a hobbyist wood bin that will contain a limited selection of thin to very thin hardwoods and MAYBE some basswood.

(3) Hobbyist stores like Michael’s or Hobby Barfy will have a lot of raw wood, including sheets of basswood and baltic birch plywood.

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Michaels charges 8 times what Atlanta Hardwoods charges, AND their wood has an annoying label to peel off. I’ll add it but with caveats.

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Yeah-- Good for emergency projects. Not for much else.

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Yep you’re spot on. The big box stuff is extruded and will engrave with a lot (really a whole lot) less contrast than cast acrylic. The cool LED acrylic stuff is made from cast. Extruded is also more brittle and creates sharp edges when broken.

But it’s okay for picture “glass” in frames or even overlaid on top of a plaque or something you want to keep clean & dust/dirt free.

Also, be careful because the big box stores tend to keep Lexan next to the acrylic. Lexan is generally awful to cut with the laser - prone to creating slaggy messes or catching fire.

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Do any of the Atlanta folks work with local maker’s spaces? I have a very large project idea for the Dragoncon parade that would benefit greatly from a group of folks working on it.

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Just as an aside. Ikea is opening a store in Marietta. No opening date yet.

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I met the guys from the Marietta maker space at the maker faire this year, seemed like a cool bunch. I’ve never been to their location but their site is:

https://wiki.themakerstation.com/Main_Page

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Looks like they’re having an open house/grand opening at their new location on Saturday Jan 20 - I definitely want to check that out!

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Atlanta Hardwoods is a solid deal for MDF and plywood, but I just got a crazy good deal.

I found a 4’ by 8’ sheet of 1/8" MDF in the “bargain plywood” section for $6. It had a couple of small chunks missing from it, no problem.

They cut it down for me, comes out to something like 35 cents per GF-sized sheet. Sweet!

EDIT: Sadly, they are out of business. Check original post for an update.

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Nice score…

I ended up placing a large order of various materials from Amazon. And totally forgot about the makerspace open house…

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Freeside Atlanta
Address: 675 Metropolitan Pkwy SW suite #6066, Atlanta, GA 30310
Hours: Open 24 hours
Phone: (678) 824-4176

They are a member only makerspace (no day passes, no per project) but for the $80/Mo (don’t quote me on that I could be way off, for some reason that’s the # stuck in my head) you have 24 hour access via gate code to what I have heard is a quite a makerspace with lots of equipment. If you call ahead to make arrangements they with give you a tour.

I never went down there, but only because I think I may actually own most of the tools and equipment they do, and some they don’t.
I am a total tool monger (or tool whore, depending on who you ask.)

Freeside Facebook page

https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/FreesideAtlanta

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Unfortunately, Atlanta Hardwoods sold to Rugby Architctural Building Supplies. I have updated the main post to reflect that. Rugby has very good prices on Baltic Birch ($14.50 for a 5’ by 5’ sheet) but unfortunately does not offer cutting services. Too bad, Atlanta Hardwoods was a great source.