I begin filming a video workshop next week on box making, so over the past month or two I’ve been scouring wood piles at two local lumber yards. I’m very excited about the woods I found. I’ll use English elm for the bodies of the boxes and Claro walnut for the top and bottom panels. The trays for the inside will be made from English brown oak. Watch the video to see what I found.

The English brown oak was a real discovery for me. I went to my favorite lumber yard with the intetion of buying some white pine. Before I look through the racks, the guy who runs the yard had to move some big pallets of wood. When he did, I caught a little hand written note out of the corner of my eye. It read “English brown oak.” The stack was up high on the racks, but I could see a board that was more than 16 in. wide. I asked about it and when I heard that it was for sale, I found a tall ladder and climbed up. I ended up buying the wide board and 5 boards around 7 in. wide. It is all fantastically beautiful. I love finds like that one.

Use the comments below to tell us about your favorite find at the lumber yard.

Three exotic beauties. These might not be from the tropics, but they are by no means average woods. From bottom to top: Claro walnut, English brown oak, English elm.