(02-11-2021, 09:05 AM)tablesawtom Wrote: We are planning on being in Austin and San Antonio in early April. I was wondering if there are any woodworking stores in those two cities or surrounding area to visit. It won't take much to excite me because even the closest Big Box is about 40 minutes at 70 miles an hour.
I have been lurking for a really long time and finally created an account so I could answer. I live in Austin. Two caveats: 1) these recommendations are places I visited before the pandemic and 2) I'm mostly interested in hand tools.
Somebody already mentioned that Austin and San Antonio both have a Woodcraft store. I don't know about the SA store, but the Austin store is relatively new and a pretty good size. It's a reasonable place to see machines in person. There are more machines to see in the classroom.
I would check out Berdoll Sawmill.
https://berdollsawmill.com/ They have huge native slabs along with much smaller pieces that mortals can use. If you want to build a mesquite hand plane, that would be a good place to buy a blank.
I haven't been there, but Harvest Lumber is another store with native woods, some tools and finishes. You can buy Osmo finishes there:
https://www.harvestlumberco.com/
The store that often hosted the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events is Fine Lumber. Hardwoods and plywoods you can browse.
https://www.finelumber.com/
Other non-store attractions:
I haven't been in many years, but I enjoyed the Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture in New Braunfels (between Austin and San Antonio).
https://texashandmadefurniture.com/
Pioneer Farms in Austin has some blacksmithing and woodworking classes and is fun to walk around:
https://www.pioneerfarms.org/
I also enjoyed the Sauer-Beckmann Farm, which is a living history farm next to the LBJ Ranch:
https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/lyndo...kmann-farm
If you are here at the end of the year, the Texas Furniture Makers' Show is worth seeing. It's in Kerrville in November/December.
Mark