Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Hibdon Hardwoods





Hey, I have a proselyte! Will, my son, is catching the "little guy" fever, too. So when he needed some wood for a very special knife he is making, he wanted to find a locally owned business rather than the franchised store where he usually shops. After a bit of googling he found Hibdon Hardwood. I asked if I could join him to do some blog research....sounded like an adventure I couldn't miss. He welcomed me and we were on our way to 1410 N. Broadway.


A huge sign painted on the side of the building assured us we were in the right vicinity; after only a little looking we found the door to enter the old riverfront warehouse. I knew from the moment we walked in Will was going to love this place.


What fun for me to watch him go from bin to bin,


rack to rack,


shelf to shelf, marveling at the array of more exotic fine wood than he had ever seen in his life. And there was even a scrap bin to rummage through.


He was wonderstruck!

And when Mr. Hibdon offered to show him the 2200 square foot work shop, he could hardly contain his excitement.


There are two Mr. Hibdons, actually. Jerry was working today while his brother is out of town. The brothers, Mr. Hibdon's wife, and Leonard make up the entire staff of this woodsy business. And they do know wood. The Hibdon family has been in lumber for five generations. In fact, Jerry started working with wood when he was 6 years old, sweeping up under his daddy's sawmill. I'm sure no one knows more about wood, but with the true humility of a very knowledgeable person, Jerry hurried to deny my praise.

Jerry's brother started this business in the former Merry Widow Theater on Chouteau in 1978.


They moved to this Broadway location 2o years ago, an old warehouse that used to hold wheat and corn until it was ready to be carted or shipped out to other parts of the country. They do it all right here...

cutting,


planing,


drying in the massive kiln, and selling in the showroom.

The logs come in and they are managed extremely carefully to be sure nothing is lost. (click here to catch a glimpse of what is involved in this very demanding process of turning a log into boards)


Woodworking may not be your hobby but being at Hibdon's you will wish it was!However, if you do make knives, musical instruments, bowls and candle sticks or need some floors or cabinets for your house, or maybe you have always wanted to carve an elephant....this is the place to go!


And whether you want machiche, t'zalam, ziricote, cocobolo, bubinga,


or figured maple (spelted, bird's eye, curly, quilted, flamed, or fiddle back) Jerry will have it or tell you where to find it.


Or if you just want a little adventure head on down to Hibdon Hardwood.


Stand in the midst of this old river city warehouse



and imagine the history all around you...bales of cotton and barrels of grain, bags of corn and boats filled with it all rolling down the ol' Mississippi.

And also, take a moment to marvel at the endless diversity and wonder of wood.



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