so i went to lowe’sto get MDF or poplar for the stick i’m going to build. turns out they only have 5’x10’ sheets or something ridiculously big like that each like $20. i’m going to need wood for my box and a separate thickness for the control panel, so it’s gonna be like ~$40 any recommendations on where to get wood?
Lowes or Home Depot??
Go to a local wood shop they will sometimes have scrap wood you can buy on the cheap 
But yeah just building one stick can be a little expensive 
home depot sells smaller sheets of MDF that are like 2’x3’ (roughly) so you don’t have to buy an entire 4’x8’ sheet. They’re usually in the same area as the big sheets of MDF. If you can’t find, ask the dude that works there.
For the poplar, they sell it by the linear foot in varying sizes. Cut what you need.
thanks for the replies. i guess i’ll have to go to home depot…lowe’s is a stone’s throw away from my house…literally, but home depot ain’t too far, maybe half a mile. anyways, this should be fun, something to do for spring break. if i’m making a 3 layer control panel two layers of poplar or MDF and a top layer of lexan, i wanna go with a 30mm hole on the very top layer for sanwa osbn30s, then in the layers below go with larger holes?
Yea, the 3/4" MDF 2x4 is about $9.
I’ve always gone through a small, independent sawmill for my wood. Check the websites for your states Forest Services or Arborists. I had all my wood – poplar – ripped and cut to size for way under what a Lowes or Home Depot would have taken me for.
Home Depot is always better in my experience for buying MDF than Lowes. Many more thicknesses and sheet sizes. Actually I’ve found that Home Depot is generally better for anything. They also have a better selection of plexi/Lexan.
A real lumber yard not connected to a large hardware store will be most likely to work with you. During my days of building electric guitars I found out that the lumber yard was almost always cheaper and definitely always more likely to work with you to get exactly what you need. I’ve never been satisfied with the lumber department at a chain.
I’ll also echo impossible!'s suggestion of finding a local sawmill. If you have one near you that has poplar that would be your best bet.
Agreed. For some reason my local Lowes store doesn’t carry MDF sheets or lexan/acrylic.
OP, I got some poplar at Home Depot for $0.98 a foot not too long ago and the MDF cost me $5.